by Craig Cunningham

Plastic surgeon Roy "The Oracle" Winston has He's honed his game in cash games at the Bellagio, Commerce, and the Spa Resort in Palm Springs. His game is $25/50 NLH or $50/100 NLH. "He's a very solid, aggressive player," said pro Jean Gispard. "He likes to gamble sometimes and shows no fear. He's not a guy a game is built around, that's for sure. He's a tough player."

He's fought through a card dead day. Starting with 1.4m, he built it up to 2.2m through sheer desire and timely plays at pots. It's been a very tough grind for him as he's spent most of the day at a brutal table that included Rep Porter, Lee Watkinson, and Kenny Tran. Short stacked John Armbrust, a PokerStars qualifier, moved into the 9s and quickly doubled through Roy, cutting him deep to 225k. He's doubled up once but is clawing for survival as the night winds down. You can be sure that The Oracle has no interest in cashing up; he's only wants to get to the Final Table. He'll have to fight his way through a short stack to get there now.

Jason Welch could give him some help. He's spent the second half of the day at the ESPN Feature Table, and he's been in the bottom 20% in chips the entire time. It's been enough to get him from $58,570 for 112th up to $237,865 with 39 left. That jumps to $285,678 when it gets to 36 players remaining. It can be painful to play a short stack, but the masters can nurse a few chips with deadly effect. After all, tomorrow is another day.