by C.J. Hoyt

Those that know me from my online persona know my nickname is "The Luckbox." I have a slight tendency to get in behind and suckout. It's kinda my thing. It's what I do, so I've moved past apologizing for it.

It seems, however, that an apology is in order. Earlier this evening I told you about Table 16. It's where actor Matthew Lillard was holding court. He's long gone, but three PokerStars players are still there, including "amichaikk."

"Since I talked to you, it's gotten worse and worse and worse," he told me. His chip stack sits at about 10,000. It had been as high as 26,000, so he might have a point. Greg "Kode" Severson has seen his stack dwindle from about 15,000 down to only 4000. Even Team PokerStars player Katja Thater hasn't been able to climb much above 20,000. Hopefully things turn around while I'm gone.

Table 119

Last time I caught up with Adrian "ach3" Herr, he was just joined at the table by Clonie Gowen. Well, Clonie is long gone, but Adrian is not. Unfortunately, flopping a set with your pocket pair and turning your boat isn't always a good thing. Especially when your opponent turns a better boat. Adrian is now fighting back from 4,000.

Table 161

I probably shouldn't play favorites, but there's not a table I like more than this one. These 5 guys have been together since James Garner shouted, "Shuffle up and deal!" And more than 9 hours later, they're still together.

The PokerStars Five

"We don't want them to separate us," Nate "Jimmytogni" Kelley told me. He's still got 19,000, but looking to move up. His table mates are all in similar situations. James "Chelsea16" Goodman is at 10,000. Chris "TheDon5156" Lowrie is at 9,000. Matt Tailby holds about 15,000. And Chad Deschene is doing the best of the bunch with about 20,000.

Unfortunately, time is against them. The WSOP folks are breaking down tables as people bust and there are just two tables between them playing together and them saying goodbye. I don't think there will be tears, but it will make it a lot harder for me to follow them!

Table 138

Tammy "bighearted" Rocco is at 20,000, but that doesn't mean she's happy. Since a little before the dinner break, she's dropped about 6,000 chips. Her PokerStars tablemate Assani "jwvdcw" Fisher is also treading water at about 10,000. The real mover at this table is Ray "kgbs nutz" Uy.

When I first stopped by the table, he had gotten himself up to about 18,000. When I worked my way through the room and got back to his table, things had changed. Perhaps some of The Luckbox was rubbing off on him.

"I had Ace-Queen with the Ace of spades and he had King-Jack with the Jack of spades. The flop came down 234, all spades. I bet, he put me all in, I called. There was a Jack on the turn, but a 9 of spades on the river," Ray told me. He's now up to 25,000.