Freddy Deeb pulled off an astonishing comeback this morning
This morning I overheard a conversation between Chau Giang and Melissa Hayden, both of whom were glad Freddy won. "I know he was gonna win.  Freddy play a lot of hands, more than anybody at table.  I play with Freddy for twenty years.  He deserve to win," said Chau.  Melissa agreed with Chau that Freddy winning was good for the game.  They felt like he was the best player at the final table because, "It all comes down to Razz," declared Melissa.  "You have to know when they pair and when they are counterfeited.  John Hanson is a very good player, but Freddy's been playing forever." Bruno Fitoussi had 10.5m of the 14.8m chips in play when they were three-handed. But in the end, I think Freddy had to stand on a chair to be seen over the pile of money he won ($2.28m). I'm glad ESPN stayed until 4 AM so I didn't have to.

Eugene Todd loves Phil Hellmuth, bro
I heard some obnoxious railbird yelling, "Let's go, Phil!  GO GET 'EM, PHIL!" The voice sounded familiar and when I turned around I saw none other than Eugene Todd, bro, cheering on Hellmuth as he was deep in the $5K six-handed event.  "I got money on him, bro.  Phil's amazing.  You can't say nuthin' 'bout him, bro.  The guy's got concentration....like nobody in the game, bro.  He's got the three D's: drive, determination, and devotion."  My mouth may have dropped open a bit because I didn't quite know what to make of Gene whipping out an alliteration to describe someone's poker game.

Eugene Todd has been strutting around the Rio
I was going to try to fit this in the previous Eugene Todd reference, but it really deserves it's own heading.  LA Mike ran into Gene strutting like a peacock down the hallway yesterday as he was fresh off his first major win.  When you look at Gene's results you'll see a solid string of cashes with several second and third places (including one vs. Phil Hellmuth at the $5k final table last summer). Although it's not his biggest cash, winning 1st place in a $2,500 Bellagio cup event prompted Gene to tell Mike, "The monkey's finally off the back, bro!"

There's some great poker being played in the $5,000 six-handed event
Dutch Boyd has been leading the field since halfway through yesterday, and doesn't seem like he's ready to look back.  However, he's not lacking for competition in the event.  Bill Gazes, Erik Friberg, Danny Noam, Gioi Long, Tony G, Keith Lehr, Nick Schulman, Dustin Woolf, Mike Guttman, Ram Vaswani, John Racener, Mark Vos, Lance Allred, and Alex Bolotin are still in the running as 29 players remain.  Unfortunately for Gene Todd (you didn't think I would make it through this thought with mentioning Gene, did you?), Phil Hellmuth took a bad beat when he got it all in with a set versus an overpair only to have his opponent river a higher set. 

Oh, and don't forget about everybody's favorite Wild Bill Edler.  Actually, Bill's not that wild.  At least not that I've seen.  But I've been dying to refer to him as "Wild Bill" for sooooo long...Bill's "sophisticated" approach to the game is perfect for this event; with 340k and blinds at 4k-8k Bill is the guy to watch in my opinion.  I hope we'll be seeing him at the final table tomorrow.

The best hand never seems to win
I was sweating Erick "E-Dog" Lingren in the $2,500 Six-Handed event in the hopes of getting some late-stage six-handed strategy tips from him.  Steve Wong was on a bit of a rush at his table, opening several pots in a row and E-Dog had already come over the top of him all-in.  The second time they butted heads, Steve opened for 16k,  E-Dog pushed in for 120k and Steve called with 66.  Erick had him dominated with 1010 but a 6 fell on the turn.  It was a huge overcall for Steve, and Erick had set up the situation perfectly.  If Erick wins the hand, he probably would've made his second six-handed final table in two years.

No matter how many small pots you win, it's the big ones that count
PokerWire Radio host/King of Hairy Italian comedy Joe Stapleton and I were watching a few players during their heads up matches.  I had watched Howard "Bore A Hole Through Your Skull With My Icy Stare" Lederer win small pot after small pot against Dan "Will Someone Please Buy Me a Hat That Fits" Harrington, but Harrington seemed to win the really big ones.  The same was true of Kristy Gazes against Rene Angelil.  Angelil limped in and both players checked down an A8XX8 board until the river, when they got it all in.  Kristy held 86 but Angelil slowplayed AA to double up.

However, for every moment in tournament poker that makes me vomit in my mouth, there's at least one more reason why I love it:

If it weren't for luck, Phil Hellmuth really would win every tournament
The guy is a machine.  He's already at another final table.  ESPN actually shut down play last night at 10 players because Phil was on the short-stack and they wanted him to be on TV.  It turned out to be a smart move by them, as he has already outlasted a few players.  Phil's ability to put on a clinic year in and year out at the WSOP demonstrates that it truly is a game of skill.  Yes, players go through streaks of "running good" and "running bad," but in the end it all evens out and the best players come out on top.

Mr. Bell is a hell of a guy
This good ol' boy from North Carolina always brings a smile to my face.  He waved me over to the rail to meet Mrs. Bell today, and ask about an update on his boy.  I first met Chris Bell's dad at the LAPC where his son just missed the final table.  Watching him and Mike Gracz (affectionately called "Keeeid" by Mr. Bell) pound the beers is entertainment worth paying for.  Mr. Bell is the only guy I know who could give JDN a run for his money on storage capacity for hops and barley. 

I have the best co-workers a guy could ask for
Seriously--I'm getting paid to travel around the world and watch people play poker--and I get to do it with some of my favorite people.  I tend to not be a late-night guy, but I decided to come back to the Rio last night to hang out with Alex (aka AlFX), Really Good Producer Jeremy, and LA Mike last night at Tilted Kilt.  Everyone at PokerWire has a niche and it's great to see an all-star team like this together (with Heather, Amanda, and Stapes rounding out the field).  The WSOP has been fun, but when we have the access to events we're used to (live updates, chip counts, and video), look out, because we'll have the best coverage on the net.

The Urban Dictionary accepts new poker terminology
Thanks to Gavin for pointing this out on the radio show. 

The gregarious Eugene Todd, bro commented, “You just gotta remember what #@%ing game you’re playing, bro.  And you gotta make sure you get your big hands in no-limit.”  I’m fairly certain only the best of the best are able to pull that one off. As I was walking away, Eugene Todd, bro had one more observation for me regarding the difficult task of reading the new card design.  “These cards were hard to get used to at first, bro, but I think I got it now.  It’s kind of like the first time you see a #@!%, bro, you kinda gotta stare at it for awhile before you can figure out what the hell it is.”

Two players who were both outspoken at last year’s WSOP about problems with the cards were seated at the same table in today’s event. When I asked Andy Bloch about how he was adjusting to the limit/no-limit shift, he said that not knowing the difference actually helped Mike “The Mouth” Matusow.

A player raised in early position, Mike min-raised (thinking it was limit), and his opponent called.  His opponent bet the flop, Mike min-raised and random guy called.  Mike then called the “minimum” bet on the turn which put a second on board.  Random guy then made a big bet when the third fell on the river, Mike realized it was actually no-limit and stacked the guy off with a flush.

nh, sir, nh.