More from the post-dinner break level:

    * Kenny Tran - Took a bad when an opponent doubled up through him with a flopped set of sevens against pocket aces.  Still with a healthy stack, Tran walked over to the rail and said to a friend, "that would have put me over $7 million.  If I had won that pot nobody at my table would have any chips."  Not only did Kenny rebound and build back up to around were he was before the beat, but also, in my opinion, showed the kind of confidence necessary to win this thing.

    * Bill Edler - "The Stunning One" doubled up to over $3 million when his pocket tens held to an opponent's A-K.  If you listen to our radio show, you know G. Smith's pulling big time for Bill, and if Gavin could have it his way, Bill would be on PokerWire Radio more times than Alec Baldwin's hosted SNL.  Which reminds me...Bill Edler will be our guest on Monday's show.

    * Lee Watkinson - Because of Lee's playing style, and the fact that he entered the post-dinner break level near the top of the leader board, the general consensus seemed to be that he'd have to run into one or two medium-to-serious coolers to not reach the final table (aka he's no maniac).  Well, minutes after talking about this with ESPN columnist, Gary WIse, I watched Watkinson lose a decent chunk of his stack to Rep Porter.  Lee had a set, Porter doubled up with a flush.   Stay tuned (remember, because he qualified online, Lee would receive $10,000,000 from Full Tilt were he to win the main event).

A pair of interesting prospects:

    * Maria Ho - Alive, and kind of well.  In the summer-of-bashing-the-female-poker-player, imagine if she won the big one...

    * Scotty Nguyen - Alive and quite well.  In the age of the never-again-see-a-two-time-champion, imagine if he won...

The announcement kinda screwed me.  I had planned on sweating current chip leader Kenny Tran, but he was embedded deep in the tournament area and I wasn't about to wait in line half-an-hour for 15 minutes on the floor.  Skipping that perpetual circle of hell, I decided to cruise the rail for some interesting action.  Luckily, I found table 27, which featured Hasan Habib, Shirley Williams (David's mom), and Gavin Smith.

Here's the thing about working the World Series - you loss track of time, space, and reality.  I thought yesterday was Monday...it was Wednesday.  That being said, I didn't even realize the main event had reached money bubble play until I got down to the Amazon Room.  Already?  But it's only Tues-- wait a second.

I talked to Gavin briefly, asked him how he was doing, and he responded, "could be better...but I could be worse."  With only ten players to go until the money bubble popped, I thought that sticking around and watching Gavin cash wouldn't take too long.  That's when I got my second dose of bad news for the day. 

Tournament Director Jack Effel got on the mic and announced that play would switch to hand-for-hand until the money.  Hand-for-hand can last a long time with three tables; we had over 600.

The next hour felt a lot like the world's largest game of "Red Light, Green Light."   People played, then stopped.  If action folded around at your table  (like it did at Gavin's numerous times), you could be waiting upwards of five or ten minutes.  In fact, the time in between hands became so long and frequent that Hasan, sitting behind a healthy stack, stood right up and headed out for an early dinner break.

Well, folks, on the fifteenth hand of hand-for-hand play, a dealer jumped up and shook his hands in the air like one of the dancers at the VooDoo lounge.  Everyone correctly assumed that the money bubble had burst, and the cheering began.

With the remaining field guaranteed to make at least $20K, I reached out and congratulated Gavin.

His response, "for what?"

"Fine.  I'll congratulate you on Tuesday."

Satisfied, Gavin nodded and turned back to his table.

Gavin Smith - "The Caveman" was one of the first people I spotted, and he greeted me with a real serious Mister-Miyagi-type nod.  He came into this morning's radio show (2007 WSOP Player of the Year Tom Schneider was our guest) well rested and in a great mood.  We didn't exchange any words down in the Amazon Room, but it's pretty easy to tell that he's focused.  I like that combination for Gavin - happy yet determined.  Gavin's Chip Stack - Healthy.

Daniel Negreanu - Daniel's playing on the ESPN televised set.  I'd like to go on record and say that there's an opponent at his table who is easily wearing the ugliest shirt on the planet.  The thing is Argyle (you know, that same pattern as your grandfather's sock) and sleeveless.  Kind of makes the dude look like a cross between a librarian and Sasha Baron Cohen's "Bruno" character.  Daniel's Chip Stack - Don't know...couldn't take my eyes off the shirt.

Court Harrington - The shining beacon of hope for all us in poker media, reporter Court Harrington is again making a strong showing at a major tournament.  He cashed in Reno, and came into day 1B with over $100,000 in chips.  When I saw him, his stack was pretty much cut in half, and he explained to me that he'd lost two set-over-set hands early in play.  Court's Chip Stack - Down but not out.

Danny Smith - Seated at the same table as one of the big stacks.  I watched Danny win one pot and he seems to be in decent shape. Danny's Chip Stack - Healthy.

JC Tran - An honorable mention on my list of fantasy busts, JC's looking to pull some Steven-Segal-revenge-type-business on my @#$#.  The man has a huge chip stack, and everyone at his table his giving him more respect than Don Corleone got in The Godfather.  It's still early though, and JC's blown off some pretty big stacks already in this Series.  JC's Chip Stack - We're gonna need a bigger table.

Chris Bell - Apparently Chris brought a $100 + stack to his table, but when I saw him he didn't have much more than a card protector and a pack of gum.  Chris's Chip Stack - Slimmer than Nicole Richie.

Bill Edler, Carlos Mortensen, Ted Forrest, Peter "Nordberg" Feldman, and Gus Hansen - All five of these dudes have amassed a lot of ammo.   Should be interesting to see how many chips some of these maniacs (not so much Edler or Nordberg) will have by the end of the day.  Quick note: Currently Carlos is working behind straight towers, and has yet to build one of his architectural masterpieces.  Bill's, Carlos's, Ted's, Nordberg's and Gus's Chip Stacks - Big ballin'.

Prahlad Friedman - "Prahlad Friedman, everybody!"  Like I said before, I haven't been in the Amazon Room since the Senior's event, but word on the street is that Prahlad ain't been around too much.  I watched him play one hand.  He busted when he moved all in with pocket eights against pocket tens.  On the bright side, he was wearing a hoodie that I think said "Craptastic." Prahlad's Chip Stack - Rebuy!

George Clooney:  He's won "World's Sexiest Man" so many times People Magazine might have to ban him from the competition.  The Ocean's series appears to be his only real connection with poker/gambling.  That being said, he's known for his work with charitable/non-profit organizations, and why wouldn't the "World's Sexiest Man" want a good excuse to come to Vegas?  Still, he's a long shot.  Odds: 80-to-1

Brad Pitt:  See above...only add a wife and three kids to the equation.  Odds: 100-to-1

Matt Damon: How could Mike McD not be a lock for this event?  Easy, the guy who played him hasn't been seen in a card room since making Rounders references was cool.  Still, Damon did play in the 1998 main event, he's friends with former poker regular Ben Affleck, and healways seems to step it up when necessary.  Odds: 75-to-1

Ben Affleck:  This guy used to play a lot of poker and he was once mentored by "Ante Up for Africa" co-founder, Annie Duke.  Unfortunately, fans couldn't separate the guy who just wanted to sit at the table, from the guy who starred in Armageddon, and many believe the constant hounding burned him out.  Now he's married and has a kid...but I think Ol' Ben still loves the game.  Odds: 70-to-1

Jennifer Tilly: She dates Phil Laak, plays in WSOP and WPT events, and once gave Patrik Antonius credit for quad kings against her full house on Poker After Dark (PA had 10-8).  Odds: 2-to-1

Hank Azaria: Played in last year's main event, and even made calls and folds using the voices of his Simpsons' characters Moe and Apu.  Odds: 7-to-2

Danny Masterson: Played in last year's main event.  Also, has participated in numerous poker shows and is supposedly a regular on the Hollywood home game circuit.  Odds: 7-to-2

Mekhi Phifer:  Played in last year's main event, ER’s on summer break, and I don't think they'll be making an 8 Mile: The Sequel anytime soon.  Odds: 7-to-2

Charles Barkley: The biggest sports name on the list of potential participants, I don't know how much poker Sir Charles actually plays.  He is, however, an admitted gambling degen and estimates his loses at the table games to be in the area of $30 million.  Odds: 10-to-1


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Not only am I ranked somewhere in the 4,000's on Full Tilt (behind such names as blindguy1906 and TheMiracleWhipCommando), but I can't even post a decent showing among the PokerWire/PW Radio crew.

Here's how we rank currently in our league:

1. Really Good Producer Jeremy (37th Place) - An absolute shocker.  The guy knows less about poker than a Mormon kindergarten class.

2. Gavin Smith (59th Place) - Gavin ranks as one of the world's most DL geniuses.  He's the intellectual equivalent of Keyser Soze pretending to be Verbal Kint.  I expected him to be my toughest competition, I just didn't think he'd be PWNING me.

3. Jeremiah "Lead Tournament Reporter/Hellmuth Jr." Smith (101st Place) - Also not a huge surprise.  An incredibly knowledgeable poker fan, he's basically our "Schwam."

4. JDN aka "Bossman" (166th Place) - [Insert Nervous Laughter]...what can I say, he's my boss.

5. LA Mike (218th Place) - In between stealing poker players' cars, he's made some pretty decent tournament-specific picks.   LA Mike also happens to be my favorite non-pro.

6. Me (242nd Place) - Yes, I know I'm stuck in the basement with two of the biggest yee-haw's in poker talk radio.  I'm not worried.  I'm a perennial slow starter; I've mastered the bounce-back.   It's all about making adjustments.  Take my most recent run in fantasy football.  I started 1-6, pulled off some crucial trades (thank you unnamed friend who gave me Frank Gore for Daunte Culpepper and his Paper-Mache knee) and reached the league championship.  That's the great thing about WSOP fantasy poker; you draft a whole new team with each event.  Endless adjustments!  Screw what I said about regretting my previous blog, domination is around the corner (I can't possibly stink it up again...can I).

7. Joe Sebok (246th Place) - Vowed to not change his team at all during the WSOP.  He might want to rethink that decision.

8. Joe "The Original King of Hairy Italian Comedy" Stapleton (308th Place) - An absolute mess.  In our March Madness bracket challenge he picked Tennessee to beat Memphis in the national championship because, "there's no way a city could beat an entire state."  I'm pretty sure his fantasy poker A-team includes Bob Stupak, Lennox Lewis and a "dancer" he met at Sapphire.

But enough about me and my degenerate friends, without further ado let's take a look at the top five fantasy studs and duds through the first two and a half weeks of the 2007 World Series of Poker.

Top Five Studs

1. Phil Hellmuth Jr. - "A machine," "the greatest no-limit hold'em tournament player of all time," call him whatever you want, Hellmuth has already won a record-breaking 11th WSOP bracelet.  And, as I write this, the "Poker Brat" has just finished 6th in Event #28 ($3,000 NLH), so add another $76,464 to his impressive '07 WSOP cashes ($641,155).

2. Burt Boutin - Man, do I love Burt Boutin, and I'd love the guy even more if I put him on my fantasy team every once in awhile.  Not only is the Burt one Red Bull away from launching into outer space, but he currently sits atop the '07 WSOP money-winner's leader board ($836,675).  That, combined with three cashes already, makes B.B. a fantasy monster.

3. Steve Billirakis - The "youngest bracelet winner in WSOP history" also happens to be one of the most consistent players at this year's Series.  At twenty-one years and ten days, Billirakis kicked things off by winning the first event in '07 ($5,000 Mixed Hold'em).  He's since gone on to cash twice more, and is in the top ten on the money winner's leader board.

4. Michael Binger - I'm not sure if they're combining Michael's stats with his brother Nick's, but the 2006 main event third-place finisher has already reached the money five times in 2007.   That's a pretty decent year for some players.  Which is exactly why I think Michael and Nick are pooling their results.  Not fair, but still good for over $350,000 in winnings.

5. Humberto Brenes - DE CHAARK HAAS TREE CASHES!  DE CHAARK HAAS  MADE TREE FINAL TABLES!  DE CHAAARK EZ DOMINATING!  (Translation: Humberto Brenes has three cashes, all of them final table appearances.)

Top Five Duds

1. Michael "The Grinder" Mizrachi - One of the most dominant tournament players on the planet...except at the World Series.  Grinder is following up an abysmal 2006 WSOP by failing to cash in an event so far.  My advice if you want to keep The Grinder on your fantasy team - trick him into thinking he's playing a World Poker Tour event.

2. Jared "TheWacoKidd" Hamby - Arguably you couldn't find a hotter player coming into the Series than Hamby.  Since then...not so much.  Zero cashes, which is disappointing for a guy who was crushing WPT prelims and finished second at last month's Mandalay Bay Poker Championship.

3. Men "The Master" Nguyen - "The Master" once held the record for most WSOP-in-the-money-finishes.  He was passed by Hellmuth in 2006, and will continue to fall further behind if his results don't improve soon.  Somebody needs to bring back, "Nice hand, sir"...fast!

4. Patrik Antonius - Nobody doubts this guy's skills in both tournaments and cash games, but where has he been during this WSOP?

5. Jamie Gold - J-Go lasted cashed at the World Series on 8/10/06, when he won the main event.  Nuff said.

There you go my students.  Take that knowledge, apply it to your fantasy poker league, and prosper...just don't prosper more than me.

Here's the deal.  Two weeks ago, Internet whiz Sorel "Imper1um" Mizzi compared the WSOP ladies event to the Special Olympics.  Since then, it has been made known that the comment was a humorous one-liner taken out of context (Mizzi seems like a good kid, we had him on PokerWire Radio, and I tend to believe that he was making a harmless joke).  Well, that information didn't stop the idea from perpetuating.  Apparently some people thought the Mizzi comment gave them license to diss the ladies event and it's participants.

The truth is, there are just as many male donkeys in the game as female ones.  The 2006 main event field featured over 8,770 players, and women participants made up like 1% of that number.  That leaves a lot of dead money on the other side of the gender line.  Plus, many of the game's top women players compete and succeed on a regular basis against the men's poker superstars.

That's no NBA to WNBA comparison.