Phil Ivey & the November 9

A little look inside Phil Ivey's life thanks to the newest ESPN E60.

http://espn.go.com/video/clip?id=4620789

The piece is pretty good and gives some insight into the mysterious world that Mr. Ivey lives in and we all love to follow.

Television finally played all the way up to the final table World Series Main Event last night. These are the chip counts and players:

Darvin Moon - 58,930,000
James Akenhead - 6,800,000
Phil Ivey - 9,765,000
Kevin Schaffel - 12,390,000
Steven Begleiter - 29,885,000
Eric Buchman - 34,800,000
Joe Cada - 13,215,000
Antoine Saout - 9,500,000
Jeff Shulman - 19,580,000


Darvin Moon-fish. The hand with Billy Kopp where he check/calls the flopped Q high flush, then check raises the paired board turn and calls Kopp's shove is terrible by both players but just as bad by Darvin imo. This hand basically proved to me that he is your standard regular fish player who is not capable of laying down what he perceives to be the nuts without considering his opponents hand range in that spot. "I has a flush.....im allllllllllliiiiiiiinnnnnnnnnnnnn!!!" Also its pretty easy to get AA/KK/88 at the perfect times and bust guys or double up every single time. I will give him credit for at least acknowledging the fact that he knows hes running good and is not a professional caliber player. I do dislike the fact that he said he would not get a coach nor wear any sponsorship patches for the final table. Apparently he really hates free money. He said something along the line of "I made it this far without a coach, Im just gonna keep playin my game." If you recognize that you are not as good as the other players then why not spend a few thousand to get coaching to maybe get a little bit of an edge???? I understand he is a simple man with very simple needs in life but don't be the arrogant old man and think you don't need help because "its not broke so dont fix it". Darvin if you run normal you will get crushed by these guys and will exitjust like Dennis Philips per last years final table.

James Akenhead-European tourney pro with success who is backed, seems like a legit player

Phil Ivey-best poker player alive. For Ivey to win would be wonderful for poker all around.

Kevin Schaffel-Part time tourney donk who kinda knows what hes doing....I've heard/read some interviews you can just tell by the way he talks about things hes not a really good player but has some concept....apparently

Steven Begleiter-Seems competent as some of the hands he played on tv. Seems maybe above average but probably not per hand reading and such but overall your standard amateur rungood pro who thinks and acts like hes awesome since hes run well for a tournament. I also have a strong disliking for the guy as he's an ex Bear Stearns high up vp?? or something

Eric Buchman-Apparently a pro from New York, but I don't know much about the guy besides some sponsorship fiasco leading up to the last few tables.

Joe Cada-Seems like a well tempered and mannered younger guy who actually recognizes the significance of making the final table and appreciates it. He also plays for a living....I think. I don't like that he is wearing UB logos leading up to to the final table but apparently signed a deal with Pokerstars or Fulltilt. Seems like a good player.

Antoine Saout-He's foreign and I know nothing about the guy besides the hand where Begleiter "playfully" hits him after Saout shows AQ and got Begleiter to fold 77.

Jeff Shulman-Obviously a good pro. He never really shows any emotion and seems to play a pretty solid game. I absolutely despise the fact that he said he would throw his World Series bracelet in the trash if he wins, however due to some personal beef/vendetta he has with the people running the tournament (whether that is the casino, media or people involved behind the scenes im not real sure). For a guy like him to say this (His family owns and operates Cardplayer magazine btw) is basically sacrilegious considering you make your living off of the game. I'm sure there are many things involved that I/the public do not know about but it comes off very d-baggy either way.

The final table starts this Saturday and will air the following Tuesday and I can't wait to see how it plays out.