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The following article was in USA TODAY....so good to see the big boys covering the big poker tourneys......hopefully this year will see the protection we are looking for by our government........
By Gary Mihoces, USA TODAY
LAS VEGAS — Phil Ivey is a superstar of professional poker. Darvin Moon is a logger who works with a chainsaw in the woods of western Maryland. Yet it is Moon who will start with a hefty chip lead when the final table of the World Series of Poker is played in November.
"I'll go back to work in the woods, and when it's time to come out, I'll come out here," says Moon, 45, of Oakland, Md., a big, red-haired man with thick forearms.
Ivey, 33, who lives here and has won just about everything in poker except the Main Event at the World Series, says he won't take anybody lightly.
"They all know what they're doing. Anyone at the final table is capable of winning. I'm excited to be in, and I'm going to try to win this thing," says Ivey.
The tournament, which began 6,494 entries, was played down to the "November Nine" Wednesday night at the Rio hotel and casino.
When the players' chips were sealed in large plastic bags for secure storage until play resumes Nov. 7, Moon had the biggest stack. His chip count of 58.93 million is about 24 million more than his nearest competitor. Ivey is seventh with 9.77 million.
Top prize this year is $8.55 million. All nine finalists are assured at least ninth-place money of $1.26 million.
Moon, a first-timer in the series in Las Vegas, had planned to fly home Thursday morning and get back to work. But he found a good reason to stay over: players were given checks for their ninth-place money Thursday.
"They told me to wait and get a million something to take home with me," said Moon.
The buy-in for the Main Event was $10,000. Moon earned his seat by winning a tournament in Wheeling, W.Va.
How does a man who started playing poker with friends just three years ago become the WSOP chip leader? He says it was all in the cards he was dealt, and that was typified by the last hand Wednesday night in which he eliminated 10th-place finisher Jordan Smith of College Station, Tex.
Smith had two aces as his hole cards. He pushed his chips all in against Moon, who was holding a pair of eights. But the three-card flop in Texas Hold 'em gave Moon a third eight that finished Smith.
"My cards ran like that the whole tournament. I didn't hardly have to play poker. I mean, I didn't have to gamble at all," says Moon. "I never had my chip stack all in at any time the whole tournament. It's great to have cards that run like that for eight days."
But Moon did have a hunch Smith was holding a big hand. "I knew he had a big pair," says Moon. "And the stack (of chips) I had, I thought if I can flop a set (three-of-a-kind) I've got him trapped."
Might Moon get some coaching before the final table? Some players did that last year when the 115-day break was introduced between the final table.
"No, I'm an amateur. I don't want to be a pro player. I just do what I do, and wherever it goes, it goes," he says.
High finance to high stakes:
Steven Begleiter, third in the chip count, is a former executive with Bear Sterns, the global securities firm which collapsed in 2008. Does his financial experience translate to the poker table?
"Who knows? I think that it certainly didn't hurt," says Begleiter, 37, of Chappaqua, N.Y. "I've been in some high pressure, stressful situations over the years."
Begleiter says he learned from being eliminated on day three of the Main Event last year. "This year I danced between the raindrops in a minefield," he says.
He says it was a relief to make the final nine. "I can't believe I actually did it. This is really surreal," he says.
Ivey ready:
Ivey had to work his way up Wednesday into the final nine after dropping a "bunch of hands in a row." But he's already won two other events this year at the World Series, giving him seven WSOP championship bracelets in his career.
"I'm in a zone. I'm playing good ... and I'm just grinding on every hand and trying to do my best," he says.
He is the second black player to make the final table in the Main Event in the 40-year history of the WSOP. David Williams did it in 2004 and finished runner-up to Chris Moneymaker.
"There haven't been too many ... black players to play the game," says Ivey. "Hopefully, with me playing and my success, there will be more that are successful."
He added, "I don't really recommend this as a profession. So the fact that there aren't that many, I'm not really too disappointed in that because I know how tough it is to make it in this business."
Shulman shuns bracelet:
The poker website wickedchopspoker.com reported Wednesday that Jeff Shulman (seventh in the chip count) plans to throw the championship bracelet "in the garbage" if he wins the Main Event.
The website said Shulman, editor of Card Player magazine, feels his magazine has been treated unfairly by Harrah's Entertainment, which owns the rights to the WSOP.
At the finish of play Wednesday, Shulman said his distaste for the bracelet has "nothing to do" with Card Player.
"I'm shocked that people wear those ugly things while they play. I actually made a joke with one guy at our table, like who would actually wear a gold bracelet. ... I don't even wear a wedding ring," said Shulman.
However, he does have differences with Harrah's. That was apparent when he was asked about the general view that the bracelet is a symbol of poker excellence.
"No, it's a symbol of corporate greed," he said. "Harrah's corporate greed."
What are his specific grievances?
"There's an entire list," he said. "And I've been playing for 60 hours. I'll have to think of it. ... Everyone knows what they've done."
Jeffrey Pollack, president and commissioner of the WSOP, was asked about Shulman's remarks.
"Our hope is that each member of the November Nine recognizes that, in some ways in the next few months, they are an ambassador for the game of poker," said Pollack. "We would hope that they each carry themselves accordingly in their own way."
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