The judging for this essay contest, in which entrants were asked to choose a coach for the final table of the Main Event of the World Series of Poker and describe payment and responsibilities, was very difficult. There weren’t any killer jokes to make an entry stand out, though some tried. There wasn’t a “right answer” - though if I had entered I’d have told you otherwise (see next post on the contest for the right answer). And the reasoning for the entrants was generally pretty similar.

Still, the entries were extremely interesting to read and fun to tabulate. Based on my subjective opinion, the winning entry was that of AlanRubin81.

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I’m decompressing after a busy WSOP Final Table, a big load of blog posts - hope you liked them - and a number of overdue obligations, including several months of personal bills and reporting the results of my three essay contests. Then a book got in the way. Not even a book I was writing, for chrissakes. I started reading David Carr’s The Night of the Gun and vowed that I wouldn’t sleep until I finished it. That blissful moment occurred at 4:43 AM, and then my mind was so busy spinning what I learned from the book that I couldn’t sleep.

So let’s summarize:

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I’ve been driving all day, I’m playing 2 FTOPS events, I still have to judge my essay contests and write about this, I have additional things to tell you about the experience of the final table - and I haven’t paid bills in six weeks, so on top of all this other stuff Mercedes Benz has a hit out to get me for $397.

So I’m not able to watch the 2-hour presentation of the final table tonight (Tuesday). So please write me a comment and tell me what you think. I THINK it’s going to be good based on what I saw transpire and what I think about televised poker and what works.

But leave me a comment and share your opinion. I gotta get cracking on all the other stuff.

It took exactly one hand after the break, at 2:31 AM, during the 500k-1M/150k level. Peter Eastgate has made history. He has knocked out Ivan Demidov to take all the chips, the $9.1 million, the bracelet, the World Championship, and history.

In doing so, the Dane has also knocked out Phil Hellmuth, taking from him the one title Hellmuth can never regain: the youngest ever world champion.

Just when it looked like Ivan Demidov was fighting his way out of his corner, Peter Eastgate staggered him in a couple big pots and knocked him down by catching a trey on the turn to go with the pair of treys in his hand, making a full house and getting paid on the turn and river.

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As we proceed beyond the opening rounds of this battle, Peter Eastgate has most definitely asserted himself. After a brief period in which Ivan Demidov’s assaults evened the score, Peter connected solidly on some big pots and has the Russian backpedalling.

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The Penn & Teller Theatre is positively abuzz with activity. As the appointed hour approached, the packed house featuring such luminaries as Chris “Jesus” Ferguson, Erick Lindgren, Jamie Gold, and Chris Moneymaker were brought to silence by a singular figure.

Michael Buffer.

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Sorry, but with all the work I’ve had to do the past couple days - I pride myself on both studiously avoiding work most of the year and putting out full bore (full tilt?) when I actually get going - I haven’t been able to complete judging of the trio of essay contests outstanding.

Don’t dispair. I’ve been reading the entries and there are some that are interesting and excellent and thought-provoking. I hope to have judging completed tomorrow or Wednesday. The prizes will remain $216 in tournament entries or cash-game account money; it’s just looking unlikely I can complete all this in time for providing entries into Tuesday night’s FTOPS event.

Thanks for understanding, and stay tuned for more WSOP final table action as Ivan “the Terrible” Demidov and Peter “the Kid” Eastgate tangle for the $9.1 million, the bracelet, and the World Championship.

In short, fame and fortune are in the cards, and I’ve got plenty more to write about.

After fighting valiantly and most likely recognizing he was the target of both opponents’ aggression, Dennis Phillips made a move and ran his last 15 million chips with nothing, not even a draw, into Peter Eastgate’s flopped set of treys.

He was drawing dead after the turn and goes out in third place. Ivan Demidov and Peter Eastgate will contest the World Championship heads-up tomorrow night at 10 PM.

I don’t know; was I too tough on that guy groaning out cheers for Dennis Phillips? I mean, what if the guy was Dennis’s father or something. On the other hand, it’s more likely he’s Dennis’s 300th best friend. (If he was Dennis Phillips’s dad, I think some of that $900k would have gone for orthadontia.) I don’t know if I’d want to get tagged with the behavior of my 300th best friend. Who is my 300th best friend?

Gasp - it’s probably YOU.

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