PokerWire blogger Thomas Wahlroos did not make it through the day in the $10K PLO, which resumes play in a couple hours.  But, Eric Froehlich did make it to day two, with 125k in chips.  Also in the top twenty are Full Tilt Poker's Marco Traniello, Andy Bloch, Joe Beevers, and Robert Mizrachi.  Robert has 204k, which puts him in the top 10. Doyle Brunson will also be vying for his 11th bracelet when he returns to play.

With all the action today, it would be easy to miss everyone's favorite tall, blonde, and goofy-Canadian-ex-pro-hockey-player-turned-WSOP-machine Greg FBT Mueller will be playing at his second final table of this series.  He made a nice charge late yesterday to make the $1,500 No-Limit final table with just over 1m chips. I'm thinking about doing a running commentary on the final table, critiquing every hand FBT plays. 

Andy Bloch was at my table, two to my right. We signed up at the same time and talked about how it was going to be a "Battle of the Book." He showed up 15 minutes late, during which time I lost half my stack and almost busted a couple times. One of the things that slowed down my out-of-control-freight-train was making sure I at least lasted until he arrived.

On Andy's second hand, he raised. I folded 3-2o, though I'd have called if I was in the blind, just to see if I could flop something and mess with him. The big blind called and the flop was 2-3-4. Andy and the other player got it all in. Andy had A-5 for the straight and the other player had 2-2 for a set. The straight held up.

This event was movin'. There was a line at the cage at the start and I heard 25 tables of alternates called.

I built my stack to 4000, then lost half of it trying to bluff Andy. I thought he should have folded but he claims I didn't bet enough on the turn. Maybe so.

After I won a small pot with 8-3o (I was in the BB and it wasn't raised), I called out "octo-crab" when I took it, and that started a discussion on hand names. Robert Williamson III told me about octo-crab and I've been using it ever since. (Merely having opportunities to utter that name probably speaks volumes about my game.) No one's ever heard of it and I suspect Robert made it up, but I use it whenever I can. It sounds like a sci-fi name out of the 1950s, or a monster in a Roger Corman flick, or a Star Trek episode.

The dealer even taught me a new name, Versace, for A-Q. (Queen with a bullet. Nasty, I know, but don't ace the messenger.) Bloch called down my bluff with Versace and I lost some of my diminished stack with it when my opponent had K-K.

In the end, I lost all-in with 5-5. Presto! I was up against 7-7.

7-7? Does that even have a name? Someone in the media room (which had a couple other victims of today's event when I arrived at 1:20 PM) said "walking sticks." Walking sticks? I'd throw a hand away that had such a lame name.

P.S. - I've taken a lot of heat for not moving in with Clonie Gowen and Shannon Elizabeth. Would it help if I mentioned to you that they warned me they were going to suspend their nightly tee-shirt-and-panties pillow fight during my stay?

P.P.S. - Lots to do later today. I'm NOT entering the HORSE mega-satellite, even though Andy Bloch coaxed me to play. (Actually, he said, "you gonna play it?" But he should know by now that asking that question constitutes coaxing to me.) I'm going to catch up on writing, move from my discredited digs, and maybe play a little on Full Tilt. Hope to see you at the tables.

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.