LAS VEGAS–Hmm, trouble … the man seen here at right is in my teammate’s Rob Mariano’s seat … but that’s not Rob. And whoever he is, he’s not wearing any Milwaukee’s Best Light apparel!

Upon further reporting, we have learned that Rob did indeed bust out of the $1,500 NLH event. Bummer. Especially from a Pokerati photography perspective. Of course, assuming Rob has further poker aspirations, he can always qualify for the main event via Milwaukee’s Best Light freeroll here. (In theory, at least.)

Fortunately, here at the World Series, you can always rely on ImageMasters to provide you with the shot you need. At least that’s what they tell us. But they didn’t get a shot of Mariano either … perhaps because Pokerati didn’t ask for them to take one, but still:

LAS VEGAS–One of the key themes emerging at the 2007 WSOP is the quest for corporate sponsorships — of the non-online-poker variety. These relationships were possibly neglected in previous years, because the PartyPoker/PokerStars/Full Tilt cash was so easy to come by. Now, not so much … and in the long run, it’s probably a good thing … if poker indeed wants to evolve into something more akin to NASCAR or the PGA.

With that said, Pokerati, you know, likes to sell out be on the journalistic front lines, and thus we’ve partnered up with Milwaukee’s Best Light. On our team of players we have one blogger (me), one pro (Robert Williamson), and one Hollywooder … Rob Mariano. Today is Rob’s day to play under an MBL banner … he’s in the Event #15 — $1,500 NLHE. We just had a little introductory get-together at the Rio Starbuck’s (seen here) because that’s how sponsorships roll.

“Boston Rob” reminds me a lot of Gonz. Except that he seems nice. Last Pokerati checked on him, his starting stack was unchanged, and he had folded a bunch of hands.

UPDATE: He has a few more chips than before, but still isn’t sitting in a way conducive to my “casually” capturing the MBL logo. But I did manage to get this shot in the interim: