Beneath the stage of the $50K HORSE final yesterday was the $2K no limit hold’em event, smaller in stature perhaps but no less significant in terms of there being a bracelet at stake. It featured among others PokerStars sponsored player Kirill Gerasimov but also Alexandre Gomes, the first ever Brazilian winner.

Naturally the Brazilians in town went nuts and the drinks and celebrations began the moment photos had been taken and the cash bagged. The cheering then moved from the Amazon Room, out into the hallways and to the bars.

Part of that celebratory crowd was Team PokerStars Pro and native Brazilian Andre Akkari, who as a professional could appreciate just how much of a momentous occasion this was.

But unlike his compatriots it was not the late night you’d expect for Andre, who plays today in the $1,500 no limit hold’em. Instead, he went for dinner to toast the victory and then headed back to the hotel to be with his wife and two children for some vital R&R before playing today. And there was I thinking the dark glasses were to hide the effects of the night before.

It’s something that has changed his game this year, having his family close by, making the World Series less of an ordeal. Seven weeks is long enough, but spending those away from your nearest and dearest can make a long day even worse. So with them back at the hotel and there for him when the cards turn nasty, the whole experience has been more positive.

Akkari’s introduction to poker is a story of modest legend. Working on a software project in his native Brazil he began playing online poker as part of the research for the job. He then took advantage of the freerolls on PokerStars, soon winning them, and before too long was playing cash games with similar results – without ever having made a deposit.

Andre has the full poker player’s gear – the cap, sunglasses, a day’s stubble, headphones, working a lollipop as he plays. I tried to spot any convenient link between the angle of the lollipop stick and the hands he was playing – up for a good hand perhaps, down for bad, side to side when there’s thinking to be done. But there was nothing.

Now he’s into the last 900 players in level five of the latest $1,500 no limit hold’em event to fill the Amazon Room wall to wall. Steady progress in an event that started with 2,693.

When the poker explosion occurred some time earlier this decade, long-time players of the game could be heard sneering that it wasn't poker that was taking over the world, it was no limit Texas hold 'em. "There's more to poker than just two-card chicken," they'd sometimes add, before hastening to toss in a bring in in a stud game, or fanning a four-card pot-limit Omaha hand.

Reluctant as I am to agree with the old guard, there was an element of truth to their observation. Certainly the televised poker phenomenon was based exclusively on Texas hold 'em, and its sophisticated simplicity -- a minute to learn, a lifetime to master, etc -- remains seductive. It's still the easiest and smoothest way into the game.

But poker's durability through the centuries of its existence owes much to its continued adaptability to suit demand, and the innovations that keep it fresh. Hold 'em, Omaha, razz, stud, and stud eight-or-better, are all as old as the hills, but putting them all together, at least at the World Series, to create that HORSE we keep going on about, is comparatively new.

And now HORSE is the new hold 'em, it seems.

Yesterday, event 51 of this year's Series, a $1,500 HORSE tournament, got under way with more than 800 entrants. That's quite possibly the largest mixed-game field in poker history. These are the kind of numbers that previously only hold 'em events have attracted; proof that those enticed into the game by two-card chicken are keen to continue their poker education.

Sure, the games have sometimes been kind of slow. There are few sights more amusing in poker than seeing three or more players exposing all seven of their cards in a stud eight-or-better round and watch all those pairs of eyes flick up and down and around and around attempting to ascertain who has the high, who has the low, who's scooping, who's chopping and who has just called all the way with ace high and no low and is now out. Watching the dealer attempt to chop up the multiple split pots can also raise a pitying chuckle.

But the action has been fascinating to watch and no less enjoyable to play. Among the 179 returning competitors today were five Team PokerStars Pros: Victor Ramdin, Luca Pagano, Vicky Coren, Chad Brown and Joe Hachem. Hachem missed out on the $50,000 HORSE event as he was busy going deep in an Omaha tournament at the time it kicked off. Meanwhile, Brown made it to day four of that championship event before busting just shy of the money, but has used the experience to his benefit here.

Brown is in the top 10 percent of players a few hours into day two.

For Vicky, Victor and Luca, the event offers a chance to spread their wings a little and sample the variety of the mixed games. As mentioned earlier, Vicky multi-tabled the HORSE with the $1,500 hold 'em today but is now sadly out of both. Victor and Luca, meanwhile are on the same table and having fun.

The Ramdin back is undergoing a severe pummelling from a member of Team Massage Pro, who will need to be careful not to knock over his sizeable pile of chips. Luca's stack is shorter, but he's just limbering up for his favourite event tomorrow, the limit shoot-out.

"I am going to win that one," he told me. Well, while you're still on this HORSE, let's take one jump at a time, Luca.

The pot limit Omaha started and the pot limit Omaha ended as far as Team PokerStars Pro were concerned. It was a lesson in short-and-sweet for our three returnees, each of whom busted in a slippery 15 minute period, one after the other like ducks in a shooting gallery, before the first hour of play had ticked by.

Neither Humberto Brenes, Bill Chen nor Noah Boeken were at the reassuring end of the 70-plus long chip list overnight, but each certainly had some fight left. Humberto was the underdog, starting at the back of the pack on just 14,800. He busted in fighting style, raising pre-flop before calling all-in on a 9-3-6 board. For the Godfather of Costa Rican poker his pair of kings were ultimately no good against a straight draw that found completion on the river, sending him to the rail.

Slightly better stacked at the start, Noah Boeken’s Omaha road was equally rocky and he ran his bracelet hopes into a straight draw the same way as teammate Brenes. A-A-x-x for Noah, which he bet pre-flop, and again on the flop, before being flushed by a straight on the river. Two down, one to go.

That left Bill Chen, who we have to declare exited before the dust had settled on the Humberto and Noah’s escapade. We’re sure to have the story sooner or later, which Bill will recount with typical gusto, but for now the absence of these guys has left a gap in the Brasilia room.

Fortunes change in poker - all you can do is take what steps you can to make sure it’s not your fault. Like tilting for instance, which Team PokerStars Pro Greg Raymer talked to the PokerStars video blog team about this weekend; of understanding yourself, the math and more importantly the black art of living with it...

Watch WSOP 08: Greg Raymer On Avoiding Tilt on PokerStars.tv

As we mentioned earlier in the week, Victoria Coren has finally made it Vegas and is itching to play as much as she can. Today, she very well may be playing a move out of Barry Greenstein's book.

Today, she returns for Day 2 of the $1,500 HORSE event, and, if we're to believe a late-night dispatch from her, she is in this massive field of $1,500 No-Limit Hold'em Players.

"A friend of mine has talked me (completely against my better judgment) into playing the $1500 NLH at noon," she said,"and then if I'm not knocked out in the first three hours I will be in two events - totally sick!"

Whether she's referring to the situation or herself is not entirely clear. Having known Vicky for several years now, I don't get the impression that she can't handle two tournaments at once, nor that she would feel too badly about playing both.

"What the hell," she reasoned. "Most serious poker players manage to spend seven weeks out here and play dozens of events. I had so much work in London, I only got here a couple of days ago and there were only about three tournaments left before the main event. So there's a certain twisted logic to trying to play as many as possible in the small window"

We probably should've seen this coming. When Coren arrived in town, she was eager. How eager. Check out the video blog below.

Watch WSOP 08: Victoria Coren Interview on PokerStars.tv

We're still looking for her around the room. Not finding her here immediately doesn't mean she didn't show up. It is only an indication of today's tournaments size. Whatever the result, Coren had pretty much rationalized it before going to sleep.

"My tired sun-struck brain can almost see the sense in it.. I wouldn't do it if I had a lot of chips in the HORSE, but a horrible final hand of Seven Stud left me with only 8900, so I'm gambling," she said. "This from someone who hasn't even learned to multi-table successfully on PokerStars yet, never mind live action. But I've eaten so much junk since I got here, I could probably do with the exercise."

The HORSE event is about to re-start for the day, so we should soon learn whether Coren woke up in the same mood. For the sake of the story, we hope so.

I'll admit it. Once your here in Vegas with thousands of poker players, it's easy to forget there is another world out there. The reminder comes when we take a look at the folks who cashed huge in this week's PokerStars Sunday tournaments. GoMukYaSelf took down the Sunday Million for more than $135,000. Dickson007 won the monthly Turbo Takedown and $100,000.

Here's a complete look at all the final tables from the big events at PokerStars this weekend.

PokerStars Sunday Million Final Table Results
Based on finishing order and three-way deal
REPORT

1. GoMukYaSelf (United States) $135,334.75
2. supadphat (United States) $105,334.75
3. jalla79 (Sweden) $105,334.75
4. central106 (Canada) $60,645.30
5. PokerED (United States)$47,603.30
6. aaaaaaaa (United States)$34,561.30
7. KtheKing (Brazil) $23,475.60
8. Patrolman35 (United States)$15,650.40
9. DumpingKGB (United States)$10,172.76

PokerStars Sunday Warm-Up Final Table Results

1. nutshot2 ((United States) )$79,950.00
2. Sir_winalot9 (Norway) $57,500.00
3. mAAdScientst (United States)$41,500.00
4. farfalla7 (France) $28,000.00
5. Sveden House (United States)$23,000.00
6. LoneHixx (United States)$18,000.00
7. JONAS 08 (France) $13,000.00
8. obywatel_g (Poland) $9,000.00
9. spank01 (United States)$5,500.00

PokerStars Sunday Hundred Grand Final Table Results

1. redone611 (United States)$18,640.00
2. winwin2 (United States)$13,048.00
3. ykastu (Spain) $9,320.00
4. Muggur9 (Iceland) $7,456.00
5. Spike1177 (United States)$5,592.00
6. TRiSTAN80 (Netherlands) $3,728.00
7. jr_status (United States)$2,796.00
8. luvbambi (United States)$1,864.00
9. trobling (United States)$1,398.00

PokerStars $215 Weekly PL Omaha Final Table Results
Based on finishing order and two-way deal

1. Teomat (Italy) $5,400.00
2. soundjata (Guadeloupe) $4,000.00
3. PearlJammer (United States)$2,256.00
4. CRossiter (United Kingdom) $1,880.00
5. Kid_Poker47 (United Kingdom) $1,504.00
6. tomgus456 (Finland) $1,222.00
7. TheNew (United States)$1,034.00
8. HAAKKOO (Germany) $846.00
9. HelloImNew (United States)$658.00

PokerStars $215 FL Omaha Hi/Lo Final Table Results
1. amichaiKK (Switzerland) $5,980.00
2. PlayaAAK8 (United States) $4,160.00
3. dvd8balls (United Kingdom) $3,159.00
4. MattyDaCobra (United States) $2,340.00
5. Iteopepe88 (Germany) $1,560.00
6. oceanvista (United States) $1,300.00
7. AngryFish (United States) $1,040.00
8. Johnjj35 (United States) $780.00
9. GiddyYup (United States) $650.00

PokerStars $215 Weekly FL Hold'em Final Table Results

1. the_merz (United States) $5,640.00
2. Görtz (Germany) $3,760.00
3. Dr_ROUX (Brazil) $2,256.00
4. PlayaPlz (United States) $1,880.00
5. dingoberg (Germany) $1,504.00
6. BlueHerons (United States) $1,222.00
7. pooli (Canada) $1,034.00
8. darrenpb (United States) $846.00
9. reelyBIGshow (United States) $658.00

PokerStars $215 Weekly Stud Hi/Lo Final Table Results

1. kanattack (United States) $3,200.00
2. DAVIDOXXX (France) $1,920.00
3. coglione (Italy) $1,280.00
4. BTDT (United States) $960.00
5. PearlJammer (United States) $640.00

PokerStars $215 Weekly HORSE Final Table Results

1. Bushman (Canada) $9,639.00
2. OISEMELE (Mexico) $6,584.76
3. Nicolak (United States) $4,441.50
4. Eschilo (Italy )$3,061.80
5. sfbob (United States) $2,381.40
6. shortcar (United States) $1,776.60
7. simmsux (United States) $1,360.80
8. xthesteinx (United States) $963.90


PokerStars Sunday Second Chance Final Table Results

1. LoneHixx (United States) $49,537.62 No Deal
2. florian69 (France) $36,322.00
3. Castro (Sweden) $27,940.00
4. leafsstanley (Canada) $20,955.00
5. gbecks (United States) $14,668.50
6. Believer82 (United States) $11,874.50
7. ryanghall (Canada) $9,080.50
8. potatopolice (United States) $6,286.50
9. shaundeeb (United States) $3,911.60


PokerStars $215+R NLHE Final Table Results

1. TheCronic420 (United States) $39,780.00
2. eagle7810 (United States) $28,288.00
3. Mai916 (United States) $19,448.00
4. BOKPOWER (Netherlands) $14,144.00
5. NestOfSalt (United States) $10,608.00
6. IanMklElf (United States) $8,840.00
7. ELLEINAD (Canada) $7,072.00
8. blanconegro (United States) $5,304.00
9. Wretchy (United States) $3,536.00

PokerStars $1,050 NLHE Final Table Results

1. adam001 (Canada) $133,755.00
2. dapalma150 (United States) $96,882.00
3. loluno123 (United States) $72,300.00
4. aliwak (United States) $54,225.00
5. Iftarii (United States) $37,957.50
6 JLPARIS (France) $30,727.50
7. G8vMyLfeAway (Sweden) $23,497.50
8. TESIK (Sweden) $16,267.50
9. Hasn82 (Denmark) $10,122.00

PokerStars $1 Million Turbo Takedown Final Table Results
REPORT

1. dickson007 (United Kingdom) $100,000.00
2. Chaesi (Switzerland) $60,000.00
3. Bratcat (United States) $40,000.00
4. cRRusher (United States) $32,500.00
5. hustler730 (United States) $25,000.00
6. 2 irmaos (Brazil) $20,000.00
7. iupeli (Australia) $15,000.00
8. YWEplay (United States) $10,000.00
9. stortv (Norway) $5,500.00

Not that it matters, but I'm staying at the Palms. Every day, I walk over here to the Rio. It's rare that anything changes along the way. The poker room in the main casino is generally half-full with low-limit players. the area in front of Buzios seafood restaurant is usually empty, and the long walk from the casino to the convention hall is usually spotted with stragglers finding their seats in the days event.

The scenery changed today.

Today is the last open no-limit hold'em before the World series main event. At $1,500, it's a late-day bargain and everybody is buying. Or, at least 2,700 people are. From the poker room, to the hallways, to the Brasilia room, to the Amazon Room, everybody along that 10-minute walkament is playing in one of the biggest events you'll see around these parts.

A tournament director said a recent event of the same caliber saw, on average, five people people bust out per minute. That was a bit of an exgeration, methinks, but something along the same lines will need to happen today, because, within a few hours we're going to see a few re-starts that need some space.

The most notable of the group is the $10,000 Pot-Limit Omaha World Championship. Eighty-six players remaining in the event, including Team PokerStars Pros Noah Boeken, Bill Chen, and Humberto Brenes. The remaining players will play down to the final table today.

Also on the re-start today is yesterday's $1,500 HORSE event. Team PokerStars Pro is well-represented in the field. Among the leaders going into Day 2 are Joe Hachem and Chad Brown. Victor Ramdim, Vicky Coren, and Luca Pagano are coming back with chips, as well.

What we walkers are seeing today is the final stages of a month-long Series of tournaments. Within a few days, the run-up will be over and the big one will begin.

For now, though, we have a Monday to get through, and there's just no walking away from something this big.

At the start of today, we already knew what the headline story would be in the day-end wrap. All that was open to conjecture was the size of the font we would use to proclaim Barry Greenstein's spectacular success in the $50,000 HORSE championship event. In case anyone missed it, the Team PokerStars Pro had made the final table in poker's most prestigious event for the second year in succession, his third cash out of three. Already remarkable, we had realistic hopes that Greenstein could go all the way to the title.

When it came to it, he finished the day in sixth spot and took home $355,200. Naturally, we initially felt the disappointment attendant to any bust out. But really, three cashes out of three attempts in any event is brilliant beyond measure. In the World Series $50,000 HORSE? It's something else.

We followed his progress from paddock to track and back again throughout the day, and you can recap HERE, HERE, HERE, HERE and HERE. Barry Greenstein, take a bow.

While all that was going on, <A href="so was plenty else. Team PokerStars and PokerStars sponsored players, were out in force in countless events. Matt Glantz took fourth in the HORSE; Hevad Khan cashed in the $1,500 hold 'em; and Kirill Gerasimov wore out the carpet between the $10,000 PLO event and the final table of the $2,000 hold 'em. He took sixth in the hold 'em for another notable result on his glittering resume.

Meanwhile Team PokerStars Pros were in and out and in again in all the other events running today. The $10,000 played down to its final 87 of 381, and among them still are Bill Chen and Noah Boeken, at least. The $1,500, baby HORSE (or "pony" event as it has been dubbed), also got underway. With less than an hour of the final level remaining, Joe Hachem, Vicky Coren, Chad Brown and Luca Pagano were still in the hunt.

It's been quite a day and the best thing about the World Series is that it'll be quite a day tomorrow. Click any link below for a recap of today's coverage or watch the video wrap of the spectacular HORSE event, featuring that Mr. Greenstein. We'll be back tomorrow. Good night from Las Vegas.

PLO running and HORSE ready to bolt
Ready to rumble
The 55 steps
Greenstein looking for traction
Players everywhere
In the shadow of the HORSE men
Planet poker
Thorson in search of his first Team cash
Dropping down with Barry Greenstein

Watch WSOP 08: Horse Final Update on PokerStars.tv

All video blogs from the World Series, and previous PokerStars events, can be found at PokerStars.tv

Photography ©2008, Joe Giron/IMPDI

Back in the early days of the PokerStars blog, we used to cover the qualifiers into the $10,000 main event at the World Series, and it didn't always go according to plan. Such is the scale of the event, and such was the number of qualifiers, that it was all but impossible to track them all down, especially when tables began being broken and players would up and move.

On countless occasions, a previously unnoticed qualifier would appear sitting behind a mountain of chips, and we'd wonder how on earth we'd missed them. Several other times, we'd report a player missing, presumed busted, only for them to resurface hours, sometimes days later, and we'd have to resurrect these poker Lazaruses and apologise to the bereaved friends and family tracking their progress from afar.

Something similar can happen these days with the Team PokerStars Pros, who all have a habit of either going way deep into these events, or busting early, signing up for another tournament and having a stab at another bracelet. Often they even multi-table and play two tournaments at once. We mentioned previously how the team was out in force for today's numerous events, and tracking them down has been a familiarly treacherous process: are they in, out, or have they merely moved, possibly to a different room?

With that lengthy caveat in place, here is the latest state of play from the Rio for Team PokerStars Pro and other notables -- at least as far as we know.

Let's start with the certainties. Barry Greenstein finished in sixth place in today's $50,000 HORSE Championship event, good for $355,200. He dashed across the room to the $1,500 HORSE, and still sits in that event, with about 1,800 in chips. PokerStars sponsored player Matt Glantz recently busted in fourth place from the $50,000 final table and took home $568,320 for his troubles.

He's now taking a well-earned break away from the tournament area. And who could begrudge him that?

Sponsored player Kirill Gerasimov went out in sixth place from the $2,000 hold 'em event, earning $177,111. Similarly flush this evening is Team PokerStars Pro Hevad Khan, who went deep in the $1,500 no limit hold 'em event but busted slightly short of the final table, earning $13,727 for 31st place.

Kirill played the $10,000 Omaha event but is out; Hevad did not, and can probably therefore be found on about 25 PokerStars tables as I type.

There was a huge turnout in that $10,000 PLO event, including numerous Team PokerStars Pros. Of those that remain, the young Dutchman Noah Boeken is flying the flag the highest, sitting with 120,000 in chips, which is well above average.

Bill Chen is also prospering there. He has "almost exactly 90,000" and an economical way of describing his tournament to date. "Up and down," Chen said. "I play a lot of pots and people donate money. Then I donate it back." You can't be fairer than that.

Humberto Brenes, chasing his 53rd WSOP cash, is clinging on in the same event, and has about 19,000.

That was exactly the same amount that Tom McEvoy had when I passed by on a sweep of the room, but by the time I'd returned to the laptop, he was shaking hands with friends in another tournament before heading out the door. You see how hard this can be sometimes?

Other confirmed absentees from that event include Chris Moneymaker, who picked up a nasty beat when his flopped set got rivered by a bigger set, and Chad Brown, Joe Hachem and Victor Ramdin, all of whom migrated to the $1,500 HORSE. They're all faring better in that event: Chad has 24,000 and is close to the chip lead, Victor has nearly 10,000 and Mike Matusow on his left. Joe has close to 11,000 and plenty of game.

In the same event, Vicky Coren has about 11,000, Isabelle Mercier 8,000 and Luca Pagano 6,500. Meanwhile, I have a lot of scrawling and scribbling on a notepad that will only get more untidy as the evening progresses. Still, that's what we're here for, and you can't see the scribbles on the screen.

6,521 players made their way into the Sunday Million via direct buy-in or satellite, making another huge field for the biggest weekly guarantee tournament in online poker. After nearly ten hours of play, GoMukYaSelf stood alone atop the leader board, with a first-place finish in the PokerStars Sunday Million to add to his resume, and $135,334.75 to add to his bankroll.

KtheKing took a big chip lead into the final table, but Jalla79 took over the top spot in a brutal boat-over-boat hand. On a flop of 5d-Js-2h, jalla79 led out, and KtheKing raised. Jalla79 shoved all in over the top with pocket fives for middle set, and KtheKing called with pocket deuces for bottom set. The turn and river were both eights, giving jalla79 to higher full house and the chip lead.

“Dumping”KGB came into the final table as one of the shortest stacks, and his after an initial period of feeling out, with several players jockeying back and forth for position, “Dumping”KGB got all his chips in the middle for the last time against online star aaaaaaa. “Dumping”KGB moved all in on a flop of 3h-8d-Ad, and found one caller in aaaaaaa. Aaaaaaa led the whole way with Kh-Qh to “Dumping”KGB’s Jc-9s, and as the board ran out 3h-8d-Ad-5d-Qd, aaaaaaa made a pair of queens to send “Dumping”KGB to the rail in 9th place, good for $10,172.76.

With “Dumping”KGB’s elimination, Patrolman35 was the short stack, and he ran his As-9s into PokerED’s pocket tens for his elimination. Patrolman35 pushed all in preflop, and PokerED made the call. The board ran out 8c-9h-2h-Qs-Qh, and Patrolman35 was finished in 8th place, but took home $15,650.40 for his troubles.

Shortly after Patrolman35’s elimination, GoMukYaSelf moved into the chip lead after taking down a huge pot from aaaaaaa in a hand that went to the river, but didn’t show down. GoMukYaSelf then took out KtheKing in 7th place ($23,475.60) when his pocket deuces held up against KtheKing’s As-Kd. After GoMukYaSelf called a preflop raise from aaaaaaa, KtheKing moved all in over the top. Aaaaaaa got out of the way, and GoMuckYaSelf went into the tank for a while before making the call with deuces. The board ran out 6d-7s-10s-5s-2d to give GoMukYaSelf a set and send KtheKing to bed in 7th place.

Short-stacked online star aaaaaaa was next to fall. Aaaaaaa moved all in preflop with 10d-10c, and found one caller in jalla79 with As-7d. The flop was kind to aaaaaaa, coming down Ks-9c-9h, and the Js on the turn helped neither player. The Ac on the river, however, gave jalla79 the pot and sent aaaaaaa home in sixth place with $34,561.30 to soothe his pains.

Supadphat was pretty quiet on the final table until his picked up pocket sixes to send PokerED home in 5th place. PokerED moved all in preflop with Qc-Kh, and supadphat called with 6d-6c, and promptly hit a set on the 6h-9d-Ks flop. The turn and river came down 4s-5s and couldn’t save PokerED, who picked up $47,603.30 for his 5th-place finish.

Supadphat continued the final table rush when he took out central106 in 4th place. Central106 moved all in preflop with 9c-6d from the small blind, but had the misfortune to run into supadphat’s Ah-Kh in the big blind. The board ran out Td-As-2h-2s-8c, and central106 was eliminated in 4th place for $60,645.30.
With three players remaining, the chip stacks were amazingly close, with less than one small blind separating first place from third. The players paused for a moment to discuss a deal, and agreed on an even chop of $105,334.75, with $30,000 left over for the winner.

Play continued three-handed for a while before GoMukYaSelf took out both opponents in back-to-back hands to claim the extra $30,000. In the first hand, GoMukYaSelf and jalla79 saw a flop of 5d-Kc-5h. Both players checked, then jalla79 led out on the 7h turn. GoMukYaSelf raised, then jalla79 moved all in over the top. GoMukYaSelf called and tabled Kd-8s for two pair. Jalla79 showed Ks-4h for two pair with a worse kicker, and needed a river card higher than and eight for the chop. The 2s wasn’t it, and jalla79 was busted in third place.

With a commanding chip lead going into heads-up, it only took one hand for all the chips to end up in the middle. After GoMukYaSelf raised preflop, supadphat moved all in over the top with 5c-5s. GoMukYaSelf called with 7h-7c and typed “lets end it now plz” in the chat box. The fates complied, and the board ran out Kh-4h-10d-8c-6c. GoMukYaSelf’s pocket sevens were good for the win and $135,334.75.

The final table finishes and payouts looked like this at the end of the tourney and as a result of a deal for the final three finishers.

1st Place – GoMukYaSelf - $135,334.75
2nd Place – supadphat - $105,334.75
3rd Place – jalla79 - $105,334.75
4th Place – central106 - $60,645.30
5th Place – PokerED - $47,603.30
6th Place – aaaaaaa - $34,561.00
7th Place – KtheKing – $23,475.60
8th Place – Patrolman35 – $15,650.40
9th Place – “Dumping”KGB - $10,172.76

Congrats to all the final table competitors and to GoMukYaSelf for the win!

Just a few hours ago, Barry Greenstein was sitting at one of the most elite poker tables in the world, and certainly the most important of the day. Piles of money sat just feet away. As the tournament director read Greenstein's resume over the PA system, the crowd erupted in cheers. Scotty Nguyen doffed his cap in honor. After all, Greenstein is the only person to cash in the $50,000 HORSE event every year since its inception. There was no doubt about Greenstein's importance, both at the micro moment and in the big picture.

Just a few hours before that, Greenstein had bought into the the $10,000 Pot-Limit Omaha World Championship, a planned multi-table excursion with the $50,000 HORSE event. A flopped set of kings outrun by quad queens ended Greenstein's time there.

After earning more than $300,000 in the HORSE event and busting early from the $10,000 PLO event, most people would probably take an evening--or at least a few hours--to breathe. Not Greenstein. He walked immediately to the other side of the room to play...a $1,500 event.

It's hard to relate it to anything. Playing the Masters and then dropping down to play miniature golf? Flying an F-16 followed by a flight simulator? Getting dumped by Angelina Jolie and hooking up with Abe Vagoda? It's impossible to equate. Is it possible to take a $1,500 seriously after the week--the Series!--Greenstein has had?

In a word, yes.

I know this, because as the $1,500 HORSE event resumed after dinner break, Greenstein walked in the door and realized he was about to miss the first hand.

He ran to his table.

If there was a picture of how seriously Greenstein takes poker, it was watching him hot-step across the carpeted floor and slide into his seat before his last card came off the deck. That's where he sits now, in a field of more than 800 players and playing for a prize pool of roughly what first place in the $50,000 paid.

Nobody can truly get in Greenstein's head and know for sure why he does it, but he makes no real secret about the most basic of his intentions. There's quite a bit of money involved. He has side bets on who wins bracelets. He knows people are betting on him. He bets on himself, too.

At the beginning of the World Series, a poker forum poster suggested it was likely Greenstein wouldn't make a final table here. Greenstein responded promptly, offering to take action on himself and telling everyone he would carry money around in $5,000 increments if anyone wanted to bet. Four final table appearances and a Razz bracelet later and the original forum poster is eating some serious crow.

There's something else at stake here as well. Greenstein's performance in the 2008 WSOP has put him in contention for the Player of the Year here at the World Series. It will take a strong finish, but at this hour, it's not impossible.

Over the past couple of years, I've probably spent more time around Greenstein than any member of Team PokerStars Pro. As I look back and try to figure out why, it's clear there are a couple of reasons. First, he's been expectedly successful and due coverage on this blog. Second, he's intriguing beyond my ability to explain. I want to understand, but it may be on the outside edge of my ability to do so.

But, that doesn't mean I won't keep trying.