[Otis' note: C.J. Hoyt is a career journalist and longtime poker player. Hoyt works in the broadcast news industry when he's not using his luckbox powers to suck out on the people at the tables]

by C.J. Hoyt

That's the word from Eric "saintclarky" Clarke. And it seems to be a theme with the PokerStars qualifiers I've come across. They don't want to get in a big pot early and find themselves losing a lot of chips. It's probably the best way to go. As they've watched other players risk their chips without the best of it, it gives them even more reason to wait for the right spot. Eric is joined at Table 184 by PokerStars qualifiers Chuck "wineguytx" Barnes and Brian "Koop78" Kooperman.

It's PokerStars convention at Tables 161 and 162. Sitting in a row from Seats 3 to Seat 7 at Table 161 are James "Chelsea16" Goodman (a FPP qualifier), Chris "TheDon5156" Lowrie, Matt Tailby (from England), Chad "Nofoldit" Deschene, and Nate "Jimmtogni" Kelley.

Table 162 does them one bettert with six qualifiers. Gordon "Blotzilla" Cross in Seat 1, Ron "Super Ron" Blount in Seat 2, Endre "Loss Vegas" Eikeseth in Seat 3, Jim "Mooknows" Morris in Seat 6, Sumit "Pool_shark_1" Kumar in Seat 7 and Gus Echeverri in Seat 9.

Inevitably, there's going to be a bit of PokerStars cannibalism going on. At 161, the five guys in a row seem to be having a good time. James Goodman told me that at least three of PokerStars guys from his table will be at the final table. He also gave me another tip, "He's (Matt Tailby) is from England, so he doesn't talk much." The laughter from the table was genuine, and in this charged atmosphere, that's a good thing.

C.J. Hoyt