Someone here is getting $9 mil. Makes you feel good about your career choices, no?

An Italian, two Canadians and six Americans walk into a bar. Wait, no. They walk into a poker room and one of them is walking out with $8.9 million come Nov. 6. That’s when the November Nine reconvene at the Penn & Teller Theater at the Rio for the World Series of Poker, which played down to one table this weekend.

In the lead is Canuck Jonathan Duhamel at 65.9 million in chips. John Dolan of Florida is second stack at 46.2 million, on down to shortstack Jason Senti of Minnesota at 7.6 million. Still in the hunt is Michael “The Grinder” Mizrachi. The 29-year-old pro is hanging on to 14.4 million.They come back with blinds and antes at 250,000/500,000 and 50,000. Total prize pool for the Main Event this year is $68,798,600.

By Jason Scavone

It was Affleck’s fault.

Johnny Chan, one of the last pros standing, has been eliminated from the 2010 World Series of Poker. He got cracked running kings into aces, and then bounced out running jacks into aces. We know the man must be the picture of restraint because after a double-barreled cooler like that, the Rio hasn’t been set on fire. We’re pretty sure we couldn’t have stopped ourselves from popping into the OilyRagMart and doing what needed to be done.

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  By Jason Scavone

Giving to charity the old fashioned way — with Hollywood stars and gambling. Suck it, Live Aid. (Photos by Erik Kabik | Retna)

Phil Gordon dragged $129,086 in the celebrity Ante Up for Africa poker tourney at the World Series of Poker, and then gave the whole wad back to the charity. This is why we don’t play in charity tournaments. We’d keep pretty much all of it, and then have tournament organizers running after it like we were the Hamburglar. Embezzle bezzle!

The tourney raised more than $275,000 in total, with American Pie actress Shannon Elizabeth capturing second. Co-organizers Don Cheadle and Annie Duke were in the field, plus Matt Damon, Brad Garrett, Montel Williams, David Alan Grier, Evander Holyfield, Jerome Bettis, Chris Ferguson, Andy Bloch, Howard Lederer, Phil Gordon, Phil Ivey, John Hennigan, Joe Hachem, Michael Mizrachi, Rafe Furst and Erik Seidel.

The Main Event of the Series started with day 1-A yesterday and will do four Day 1s in all. The first, and smallest field of the start days drew 1,125 players. Day 1-B just started at noon and we haven’t seen an attendance total yet, but the Series overall claims 63,706 entrants through the first 55 events — up from last year’s 52,880 — and a prize pool more than $100 million. Hooray, economic recovery!

By Jason Scavone

Uh oh. He got mo’ money. You know what that means.

After 87 hands of heads-up play over two hours and 21 minutes, Michigan’s Joe Cada became the youngest World Series of Poker champion just before 2 a.m., toppling Maryland lumberjack Darvin Moon and in the process, dethroning last year’s champ, Peter Eastgate, for the “youngest winner” title. Eastgate had almost a year on Cada, which means next year someone is going to have to enter the tourney exactly on their 21st birthday.

Cada was down 49 million to 145 mil after two hours of play, but things started to turn around for the youg pro when Moon raised all in on a 10-10-9-5 board holding 7-8 and Cada called with J-9. The river bricked out with a three and Cada took the lead 108 to 86.

Just about 10 minutes later, Moon lost another big one to Cada’s two pair and was a 2.5-to-1 dog. Half an hour after that, Moon woke up with Q-J suited and Cada had pocket nines. Moon came back on Cada’s initial raise and they got all the money in. The board ran out 8-7-2-K-7. This, coming all the way back from being down to about 2.7 million on the first day of final table play when Moon was sitting on roughly 60 mil. Click for more words and pictures »

By Jason Scavone

One of these two men cuts down trees for a living. Try to guess which.

Joseph Cada and Darvin Moon go head to head tonight for the finale of the World Series of Poker at The Rio at 10 p.m. Both guys are guaranteed $5.18 million in prize money, with the winner taking a grand total of $8.54 mil. Cada has a massive chip lead at 135.9 million to 58.8 million, and could become the youngest ever to win the bracelet. Moon, though has on advantage Cada does not: The independent lumberjack is handy with a chainsaw. That’s a pretty adequate threat to have in your back pocket if you ever need to figure out if your opponent is bluffing. Click for more words and pictures »

By Jason Scavone

The rich look to get richer.

Here we go. Someone’s winning $8 million and someone’s … settling for $1.2 million. We suppose that’s not a bad way to take a little of the pressure off. We’re not sure what’s more interesting, that the World Series of Poker’s November Nine have already collected $1.26 million at the end of the Main Event break, or that of the remaining $15.84 million, it’s only made $1,321 in interest since July 16.

This totally crushes our fantasies of scoring millions in a jewel heist and living off the interest from our Cayman Islands bank account.

Anyway, Darvin Moon, James Akenhead, Phil Ivey, Kevin Schaffel, Steven Begleiter, Eric Buchman, Joseph Cada, Antoine Saout, and Jeff Shulman get back to the felt tomorrow at noon at the Rio for the final table of the World Series of Poker. Ivey, the pro everyone expects to do some damage, starts the day with the third-shortest chip stack at 9.7 million, while leader leader Moon is at 58.9 million.

Seeing as how ninth-place money has already been paid to everyone, whoever busts out first walks out without any additional cash, which would be eminently aggravating after a 115-day layoff. First place is good for $8.5 million, on down to $1.3 mil for eighth.

Moon, who controls 30 percent of the chips in play, is a self-employed logger who doesn’t own a computer. How do you even get to be a self-employed logger? The last time we heard of a professional woodsman, he was cutting up the wolf who ate Little Red Riding Hood.

By Jason Scavone

Do you still get to be Kid Poker if you’re at this point in your career? (Photo by Erik Kabik | Retna)

Yes, Cooperstown has the high-profile status and the cool building and the plaques and some rad memorabilia, but while getting elected to the Baseball Hall of Fame earns you the right to have your name forever etched next to Luke “Old Aches and Pains” Appling, getting elected to the Poker Hall of Fame puts you in the company of “Wild” Bill “I Will Murder You In a Duel Because I Owe You Money and Also My Nickname Is ‘Wild’ ” Hickock.

Up for consideration this year are Barry Greenstein, Dan Harrington, Phil Ivey, Tom McEvoy, Men Nguyen, Scotty Nguyen, Daniel Negreanu and Mike Sexton. To be considered for the Hall, a player must play for high stakes, play consistently well, stand the test of time or, for non-players, contribute to the overall growth and success of the game, plus be courteous, kind, obedient, thrifty, cheerful and brave. To be fair, that last part is just if you want the sweet pair of khaki shorts and merit badge for gambling.

To get in, 23 of 30 votes from 15 living Hall of Fame members and the 15-member Media Panel are needed. Among the media voters are representatives from Wicked Chops Poker, ESPN.com, Card Player Magazine and others.

The induction ceremony will be Nov. 7 at the Rio during the dinner break of the World Series of Poker Main Event final table. We’re curious what the side action will look like right before the final announcement. Last year, Dewey Tomko and Henry Orenstein were inducted while 2007 saw Phil Hellmuth and Barbara Enright join the Hall. There are 37 inductees in total from Doyle Brunson and Amarillo Slim to Roger Moore. Not that Roger Moore, though, which is too bad because every Hall of Fame should get at least one James Bond. The Hockey Hall of Fame would probably get stuck with George Lazenby.

By Jason Scavone

Feel the weirdly-packed-in-a-corner-of-a-spacious-room excitement!

The Amazon Room at the Rio is big. Really, really big. Yet by yesterday evening, it was more or less empty. Really, really empty.

See, when they’re in the thick of things at the World Series of Poker, the Amazon Room is a tightly packed sea of felt, chips and degenerates. As of last night, though, with only 14 players left out of nearly 6,500 entrants only two tables were left up. One was the ESPN feature table, with the cool set that’s supposed to look like poker in outer space, and a second table they used for filming tucked at the side of the risers surrounding the feature.

Aside from a media center in the corner opposite the two tables, there was just a big cavernous space for the Ghosts of Bad Beats Past to wander the ballroom while the 14 played their way down to nine before the five-month hiatus leading up to the final table. Click for more words and pictures »

By Jason Scavone

It’s been a good run, us and you, LDP.

God, we hate to have to even report this, but your boy and ours, Lou Diamond Phillips, was eliminated from the World Series of Poker on the final hand of Day 5 in 186th place. It was worth $36,626, but LDP isn’t about the money. LDP is a gamer. He was playing for the glory, just like Jose Chavez riding with Billy the Kid. A blaze of glory, even.

LDP did squeeze in dinner at Nove Italiano with his family, but come on. You can eat with your family the other 51 weeks a year. At least he was the celeb who made it deepest into the tourney, blowing French actor Patrick Bruel’s 428th out of the water. Nicely done, LDP. We owe you a fistbump.

Also at the Palms last night were Angels pitcher Jered Weaver at N9NE Steakhouse and Rams running back Steven Jackson. Silkk the Shocker was up at the Playboy Club sitting at a table with 10 others, while Dan Majerle gambled. During the day, Frank Trigg, Urija Faber and Chuck Liddell were poolside, snapping photos with fans.

Over at Lavo at Palazzo, Jason Statham and Stephen Dorff shared a table. Marcus Camby of the Clippers had two magnums of Moet Rose, and newly married Mary Carey with her apparent saint of a husband celebrated their nuptials with Champagne.

By Jason Scavone

DiamondPhillipsWatch ’09: Keeping you up to date on all things Lou Diamond Phillips.

Attention Numb3rs fans: Lou Diamond Phillips is still alive in the Main Event of the World Series of Poker. Please update your Lou Diamond Phillips blogs, message boards, fan sites and Tweets appropriately. LDP, as he’s affectionately known to us Diamondheads, has an above-average stack heading into today’s Day 3.

Other celebs who are still in the running for the $8.5 million top prize include Jason Alexander, cricket player Shane Warne, French actor Patrick Bruel, Jordan Farmar and Sam Simon. Already eliminated are wrestler Torrie Wilson, John Salley, Marlon Wayans, music video producer Joseph Kahn, Ray Romano, Brad Garrett, Godmack singer Sully Erna and Shannon Elizabeth. But we repeat, Lou Diamond Phillips is in the game. We imagine it’s from the tenacity he learned on the set of Renegades.

By Jason Scavone