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.

As you know from reading my first 18 World Series entries, I came to Vegas for the beginning. I was there for the long lines and endless complaints before the first event (Mixed Hold 'Em), the casino employees event, and the first GIGANTIC no-limit hold 'em event. I made it to day 2 of that event, cashed, and braved the the tent-city of Loserville waiting to get paid. I played late in some other events without getting paid and even got to experience the feeling of playing lousy and going out early.

I've been at the Rio at 9 AM; I've been there at 3 AM.

I've seen an incredible march of history, both part of the moment and frustrated that I wasn't doing more to record it. Tom Schneider, a very nice guy from Scottsdale who is friends with my buddy Robert Goldfarb, won a bracelet and made another final table. Annie Duke and Chris Ferguson, two of my very best friends in poker, made the same final table where Tom won his first bracelet. I was so addled by the break-in of my car that I couldn't give them and their situation enough attention. Plus Gavin Smith, my friend and collaborator, was in the process of falling just short of winning his first bracelet at exactly the same time.

Phil Ivey came close to number 6. Humberto Brenes and Marco Traniello have each made a pair of final tables. Many, many top pros have been knocking at the door. And I feel like it's been a struggle to keep up.

Wait, I've definitely lost the battle to keep up. It's been a struggle just to keep within hailing distance. I'm pleased with what I've written so far and I'm catching up with my notes from the first 10 days, but I want to do a lot more. And, paradoxically, I'm playing well during all this, which both gives me a closer view of what's going on and some stories of my own, but makes it difficult for me to write detailed pieces in real-time.

I already skipped my first trip home. I combined trips 1 & 2 into a 1-AM-Sunday-to-Thursday-morning trip to Scottsdale, to call dibs on my family and watch Valerie's dance recital rehearsal and one of her two performances.

So what happens when I get home? All hell breaks loose in Vegas.

On Saturday afternoon, Melissa Hayden invites me to use her and Allen Cunningham's spare bedroom. Home on Sunday night, I am sending her text messages after Allen wins his fifth bracelet. On Monday, I see Howard is hanging around the limit hold 'em championship late on day 2. Apart from being a good friend, he wrote the limit hold 'em chapter of the FULL TILT POKER STRATEGY GUIDE. If he makes the final table, I have to get to Vegas. It would be a monster promotional opportunity, and I don't think he has a single copy of the book with him.

We have out-of-town guests but I keep excusing myself to check chip counts and flight schedules. If he makes the final table, I'll fly out Tuesday morning, miss Val's dress rehearsal, then fly back home Wednesday morning. I'll watch her Wednesday performance and Thursday performance, and blow off the Thursday interview I've scheduled in Las Vegas.

But he busts out, which disappoints me, but keeps my schedule as I planned.

Then I see Phil Hellmuth has won his ELEVENTH bracelet. I am not close friends with Phil Hellmuth, but I have great admiration for his game and his place in poker's history. I think this is a great development and one I would have preferred watching from a closer vantage.

By the way, I may have blown an opportunity to do just that. BLUFF is doing one-hour delayed complete webcast final table coverage of 17 bracelet events (I think Phil's 11th was their first). They do hole cards, every hand. The whole shot. They're also doing the final tables of Circuit Championships and all the events at the WSOP Europe. I read that Robert Williamson III did final table commentary yesterday. The whole package is just $50, through worldseriesofpoker.com. I want to be THERE and be PART of it but I'm sure that's better than missing it like I did and moaning and groaning about it.

Just as I'm writing these words, I get a call from Matthew Parvis, my editor at BLUFF. He is asking if I'll write the cover profile on Hellmuth for the August issue. It's a tight deadline and I don't know Phil especially well, but I never want to say no to a cover. I never want to say to no BLUFF. I never want to say no to feature money.

I never want to say no.

I said I'll think about it and we'll talk tomorrow.

And now there is Mike Matusow to balance in all this. He is near the chip lead after Day 1 in the $2500 NLHE. The longest final-table streak in WSOP history belongs to T.J. Cloutier. He has made a final table every year since 1992, but he hasn't made one yet this year. Phil Hellmuth has made a final table every year since 1999 and now has made one nine years running.

Guess what streaky, erratic, inconsistent maniac is the model of steady success with a similar 1999+ streak. Not Cunningham or Chan or Negreanu or Juanda. Mike Matusow. And he's made final tables in the $2500 NLHE event in 2003 and 2006.

So I am once again looking at flight schedules and rescheduling interviews and dance recital performances. Because you better believe if Mike makes the final table of this one, I'm going to be there.

I can't believe it's 48 hours until I'm SUPPOSED TO be back in Las Vegas. Who knows how the world of poker will turn between now and then?

When I'm at the Series, I wish I was home. When I'm home, I wish I was at the Series.