During the dinner break, he seemed happy enough to have 105k because he knew how well he was playing.  Of much greater concern to him was how his stable of horses were faring. 

Kyle also attributed some of his success today to not bother counting his chips unless it was break time. “Usually I count my chips after every hand, but if you lose a pot all you end up thinking about is that you had 15k a few minutes ago.”  He’s taken the same approach he does to cash games—let each hand play itself by chipping away at the small pots.

In one key hand, Kyle turned a straight flush draw with 87 and rivered the straight taking 30k from the big stack at the table in the process.  It was winning those small that enabled Kyle to afford the necessary races versus the short stacks.  His AK bested 1010 for an additional 15k just before his JJ held up versus AQ for an 80k pot.

All of the attention that had been given to Table 25 suddenly shifted to Table 38 when Carlos Mortensen filled the empty seat to Kyle’s immediate left.  Carlos wasted no time mixing it up, taking about 60k from the young player seated between him and Humberto Brenes.  The cameras love the shark and the matador, so there’s a chance you might catch a glimpse of Kyle mixing it up with them on ESPN.

Greg FBT Mueller decided he couldn’t stay away from the action at the Rio despite a full day in the Bellagio Cup III.  Although hometown buddy Shawn Buchanon was eliminated, FBT ended with 35k. He’ll have the day off tomorrow to sweat Kyle as he enters Day 3 with a very healthy stack.

- Read Parts 1, 2, & 3 of The Vancouver Boys

Kyle Wilson has been playing well today despite taking a couple coolers.  He managed to lay down KK face up on a board reading Q10XX—his opponent did in fact have QQ. Kyle only lost 20k on the hand.  A few hands later the ESPN cameras rushed to his table when a player in late position raised and he called in the cutoff.  Humberto Brenes then reraised, the initial raiser shoved, and Kyle came over the top all in.

Humberto showed his AK before tossing in the muck. Kyle’s opponent had 1010 but Wilson had him crushed with AA.  Both players flopped a set, but the ending board read five hearts, and they ended up chopping the 220k pot.  He's hanging around the 150k mark.

Then there’s the schlubs like Daniel Negreanu who can only manage 145k.  Daniel Alaei, Darrell Dicken, and even Chris Moneymaker are all hanging around that range as well.  It looks like the pros waited until Days 1C & 1D to turn out en force, and they are clearly making their presence felt on Day 2B.

Kyle didn’t start playing poker until the end of his basketball career.  He was called “the next Steve Nash” as Canada’s top high school recruit during his senior year.  After playing college ball in the states, Kyle found poker to be a natural fit for his competitive nature.  He quicly rose to the top of the ranks as one of the best online cash game players in the world.

Using the name “krisqueen” (a tribute to his wife), Kyle dominated no-limit when it was introduced online (remember the 50 big blind days?).  A constant winner, Kyle has two great strengths: the ability to think like his opponents and bankroll management.

“I’m very competitive, so it’s natural for me to try to think like my opponents.  It’s really what I’m best at.”  Kyle doesn’t think so much about his hand or even his opponent’s hand.  “It’s about getting into the mind of your opponent to see the game from his perspective.”  Although he’s known primarily for his cash game play, Kyle does have a highly respected World Championship of Online Poker victory under his belt as well.

When most poker players get a hold of a bit of money, they naturally start moving up to the next biggest game.  After a few rough lessons, “krisqueen” has decided that putting too much money on the table at once just isn’t worth the risk.  With a beautiful wife and three young children, this very young “family man” has his priorities squarely in line.  He plays a few tables of $25-$50 online for no more than five hours a day. This may not seem like much playing time to the poker junkies, but when you consider this 25 year-old has had several million-dollar years you may find yourself rethinking bankroll management. If you measure the best poker players in the world by their ability to not just make money but hold onto it, Kyle ranks among the elite.

If you want to get Kyle talking, all you have to do is ask him about his current business endeavors.  Kyle has invested in five restaraunts in the Vancouver region, but it’s the newest one that has the most potential.  “It’s called Player’s Chophouse & Lounge.  I own it with several pro hockey players and some big-time athletes.  We are having a big opening party when I get home—it’s exciting because it’s right across the street from the Canucks’ stadium.”

Another investment Kyle enjoys come WSOP time is buying pieces of players.  Along with FBT (and sometimes Buc), they have bought a small percentage of—get this—28 players in the main event.  It gives them both rooting interest and the opportunity to win a big chunk of money for a very small price.

With several hours of play before players even reach the money, Kyle still has his work cut out for him.  As long as he can get those ten-fives to hold up, I’m sure we’ll be hearing more from “krisqueen” soon.

Soon after he began playing $1/$2 limit holdem online, quickly moving up limits and ultimately adapting his game to no-limit.  In September 2005 "Buc" won a promotion that made him an honorary member of the Ultimatebet team for 2006.  He represented them in five major tournaments, cashing in three (his screen name was "pud99"). 

During one tournament series, Shawn had just busted from a satellite.  As he started leaving his seat the guy who busted him yelled, "They're just giving it away here at the World Series!"   A few months later he sat down in a game at the River Rock Casino in BC when he heard the same obnoxious voice declare, "The pros are coming from everywhere!" Thus, his friendship with FBT was born. 

"He likes to give the juice and he didn't even know me."  They have been traveling the circuit together as roommates since then.

Last week, I joined the Vancouver boys for a late night trip to the Bellagio buffet.  Actually, it took us a while to get there because a "discussion" over where to eat had to be moderated.  Shawn wasn't too hungry* so he ruled out Fix, voting for Chinese.  So, naturally, FBT steered us back to Fix (even though Shawn had just made the final table at Mandalay Bay, these guys weren't about to cut him a break).  The place was packed, and we ended up at the sushi joint--but the hour long wait was about three too many for these guys--so ultimately we made our way to the buffet. 

After a quick game of credit card roulette to see who would pay the bill, we finally found ourselves at a table (where FBT ordered his magical poker juice).  The conversation quickly went to how Kyle, FBT, and Shawn are always able to accumulate a ton of chips early in a tournament, but sooner or later find themselves struggling in the middle stages of an event.

After ending the day at Mandalay Bay as chip boss, Shawn had commented to me that this was the stage where he has a difficult time "gauging the value" of his hands.  "The reason we're so good early on is because it's basically a cash game."

FBT continued, "When the stacks are deep we each have the ability to control the table, but, man, it gets tough right in the middle."  As a reporter, I often see winning cash game players not able to adjust to the mounting pressure that comes with each stage in a tournament.  We discuss this concept on every final table preview show for PokerWire Radio--at certain points all of the factors come together and it's just about winning pots as quickly as possible. 

Kyle elaborated, "When I've got KQ on a K high flop, I'm gonna check-call someone in a cash game; I want to give him some room to hang himself while keeping the pot small."   FBT chimed in, "But in a tournament, man, it's tough to know when you have to just start taking it down."

It's obvious they've figured out at least part of the equation--Shawn won Mandalay Bay and Greg dominated the Mixed Holdem WSOP event on his way to a bittersweet second place.  Hopefully they will both be able to finish strong in today's event.

^{*The not-too-hungry Buchanan polished off three plates of food.}

I hated him because I was winning every other pot before he sat down.  After he sat down (actually it was more like a short descent down a level in the atmosphere) there wasn’t anything I could do to win one.  On the hand in question, I had raised preflop, he called from the blinds and an early position limper called.  I felt good about my hand on a J high flop with two diamonds.  Action was checked to me, I bet, and both players called.  I knew that Random Guy was drawing to a , but I had no idea where FBT was at.  

He knew just where I was, though. On the  non- turn, FBT led out, the player in between called, and I put in a big overraise figuring to squeeze this blonde-haired behemoth out of the hand.  Instead, the big jerk shoved, random Guy called (on the draw), and I folded.  Greg had a weak J but knew exactly what was going on.  He read the situation perfectly and played the hand perfectly.  

He spotted me the next day on the floor at the WSOP and was dying to ask me about the hand.  While I still wanted to hate him for being right, I just couldn’t bring myself to do it.  There’s something endearing about a gimongous ex-professional hockey player who wears pink hats.  I’m fairly certain that my favorite poker writer will be adding him to his shortlist of the world’s largest eight-year olds (FBT can give LA Mike a run for his money).

Over the last year, I have been able to spend a little more time each tournament hanging out with Greg.  That’s because he keeps making it deeper and deeper each event he plays (and when everyone else starts going home there's no one else to hang out with but wanna-be writers). This A-list cash game player has been making all the right moves in becoming an A-list tournament player.  

I think the main reason he has been doing so well in making the shift over the last several months has everything to do with the crew he hangs out with when he’s away from the tables.  While every player who’s vying for a bracelet has a crowd there to cheer him on, it’s clear that Greg has two friends who may as well be brothers.

The genuineness of their relationship is something often not seen on the tournament trail. There’s an authenticity to their friendship because there’s an authenticity to each individual.  I look forward to telling the story of Kyle Wilson and the newest WPT Champion Shawn Buchanon over the course of the WSOP.  

FBT ranks them in the top 1% of cash game players in the world. There’s a good chance that by the end of the 2007 WSOP, we will be counting them in the top 1% of tournament players in the world as well.

Here's the scene:

• Shawn Buchanon just made the final table of 10 at Mandalay Bay World Poker Tour event
• Greg "Full Blown Tilt" Mueller was scrambling around, well, pretty much everywhere between the Bellagio sports book and Mandalay Bay poker room searching for a winning receipt for the Cavs/Pistons game
• Kyle "krisqueen" Wilson (who's at least 10 years younger and 20 years more grown-up) was ribbing FBT while Adam Schwartz laughed it up in the background

Fast forward 24 hours and:

• Shawn was resting up for his first WPT final table;
• Kyle was winning a nice chunk of change in the $25/$50 No Limit game at the Bellagio;
• And the guy who couldn’t find a piece of paper the night before did find himself ending the first day of the first WSOP event as  chip leader

I’ll be honest—I’m kind of pissed at these guys for ruining this great three-part feature story I’ve had planned for the last several weeks.  I had this great idea of following FBT, Shawn, and Kyle through the Series because each one of them has been playing some great poker on the circuit (and online) over the past several months.  I figured one of them would have their breakthrough moment at the WSOP and I would look like some kind of genius poker analyst for giving them lots of coverage before anyone else…

Thanks a lot, guys, for letting the cat out of the bag way too early.   You could have at least waited until I was able to write about your discussion of the different stages of tournament play I had planned for this weekend.  Or, better yet, wait until I was actually hounding you all day, blogging about each stage of a tournament from your perspective.   I’ll probably get around to doing those sooner rather than later since…

…ahh, never mind.  Just keep playing lights out poker on Saturday so you can bring a WPT and WSOP bracelet back to Vancouver with you.

^{*Author's note: As it turns out, the Root Beer/Sprite combo seems to be FBT's magical poker juice** as he ended the day with the chip lead.}

^{**Patents pending.}