Today is something of a Groundhog Day for those of us who followed that tournament. It's day two of the $1,500 HORSE event at the World Series, and as we edge close to the final table, with 35 of an initial 803 left, Team PokerStars Pro again has three contenders still chipped up and stirring the mix. Chad Brown, vanquished in that championship event, is back stronger than ever here and has about 80,000. Joe Hachem, who missed the $50,000 event to focus on cashing in the Omaha hi-lo, has 62,000 and Victor Ramdin, with two cashes already this Series, has added a third. He has 60,000.

They're going to be playing into the wee hours in the Brasilia Room, ideally to fix a final table, but until 3am maximum if they don't, according to tournament officials. By that time, day one of the $1,500 hold 'em event, taking place in the Amazon Room, will be in the books. The bubble took a while to burst there, but when it did, Team PokerStars Pros Andre Akkari and Vanessa Rousso were on the right side of the exploding lather. Akkari was seen stalking out of the room not long after the watershed, but that'll be the Brazilian pro's first WSOP in the bag.

***

During the dinner break in the HORSE, Victor Ramdin joined the video bloggers in the Champions Lounge at the Rio to have a game of pool. As we've established many years ago, he's no slouch around the poker table, but who knew of this pool-playing prowess as well?

Watch WSOP 08: Victor Playing Pool on PokerStars.tv

A couple of hours ago, I gained admittance for the first time this year to the ESPN inner circle, the makeshift television studio taking up a huge square in the corner of the Amazon Room to accommodate everything required to transfer the poker action from Las Vegas, Nevada, to your television screen anywhere in the world. It's safe to say that television coverage has moved on somewhat from the early years; they're not seating them in the middle of Freemont Street any more.

Here's what it takes these days.

Right in the centre of the action, of course, is a deck of cards in the middle of a kidney-shaped table with a raised, padded elbow rail in which are housed the hole-card cameras, or "holecams", to those in the know. Suspended above is an oval scaffold of lights, hanging from which is also the overhead "flop-cam" and four television screens, relaying what the cameras see to the live audience. The screens do not show the hole-cards, of course. If a pot doesn't make showdown, no one here ever knows what a player had.

Circling the table are the players, naturally, and ghosting around them, silently on casters, are four two-man camera rigs. One cameraman sits on board and guides the camera itself, the other is the rudderman who drives the rig. Both have headphones clamped over their ears and expressions of intense concentration painted onto their faces, tongues occasionally buckled out like an amateur pool player lining up a tricky cut shot.

On three sides of the arena are the bleachers accommodating family, friends and investors in the front rows -- often whooping, especially the latter. Behind them are the less personally connected, but no less excitable, casual fans, some of whom queued for about an hour to get anywhere near their heroes. On the fourth side is a row of laptops, behind which sit twitching media fingers and tournament officials. Beside the WSOP Media Director Nolan Dalla is a table stacked with brick upon brick of hundred dollar bills.

Then, on a raised area at one end of the table is the viewing lounge, where they're four-deep to get an aerial view of the action. At the other end is a similar, smaller platform on which gleams the Chip Reese trophy and the shimmering winner's bracelet. Ringing everything is the light-encrusted curtain that you see a lot of on TV and makes us all feel as though we're on a strange rogue star -- Planet Poker, perhaps -- drifting ceaselessly through the galaxy.

It's only a couple of steps away from the bustling of the rest of the tournament area, but is another peculiar capsule within a capsule within a capsule that separates the feature table from the World Series, from Las Vegas from the real world. Please, just take me home.

***

Home, unfortunately, is where Team PokerStars Pro Barry Greenstein is now headed from his time spent in this bubble. "I can't win a hand," he lamented to a friend in the stands during a recent break, and won a consolation kiss from her instead. Then he shook a few hands and lapped up some compliments ("Barry, I think you're awesome," etc.) before returning to the table and hoping for a change in fortune.

It didn't come. He got it all in against Scotty Nguyen in a stud eight or better hand, but by seventh street had been scooped by the Prince of Poker and is now on his way out. Scotty's girlfriend carried a copy of Barry's "Ace on the River" as Barry exited.

STOP PRESS: Actually, Barry didn't go home. He's now taken his seat in the $1,500 HORSE and is back in the thick of the action. That's a poker player.

So, when he showed up at noon today to play in the $10,000 PLO event (three hours in advance of the HORSE final table), he probably didn’t think way too much about what happened upon his arrival. The flopped set of kings getting outrun by quad queens for a 50,000 chip pot was just a bad turn of fortune and not a sign of things to come for his HORSE final table appearance.

A more superstitious person, though, might have thought otherwise. In the first few minutes of final table play today, Greenstein managed to make a 7-6 in Razz and find out it was no good for the big pot. At the break, he had fallen down to around 1.3 million in chips. His face looked no different than it ever does. He could have half the chips in play and look the same as he did during the break.

Back at the table, they sat seven-handed. Patrick Bueno had made his exit in the first level of the day. Greenstein stayed in action, but picked up precious little traction as they finished Stud-8, Hold’em, and O/8 rounds. When he raised in hold’em, he got three-bet by PokerStars-sponsored player Matt Glantz and had to fold on a raggedy flop. When he played a sizable pot in 0/8, it ended in a chop.

By the time they had made it back around to Razz, Greenstein had around 1.2 million, barely less than what he started the level with. The remaining Razz hands saw Greenstein in action, but not making it to showdown. It took until the Stud round that Greenstein raked a pot worth stacking.

Once they reached the Stud round again, Huck Seed hit the rail in seventh place. Six-handed, Greenstein sat on the shortest stack. That said, he was down to 600,000 yesterday and managed to climb back to 2,000,000 in short order. Nothing to say he couldn't do that again.

They will be headed to break in just a few moments. Upon their return, expect to see some fireworks. The blinds and limits will be going up again. Few people are safe and one big hand could send any of a few players to the rail.

While we wait, check out what Greenstein had to say before the start of play today.

Watch WSOP 08: Barry Greenstein Pre HORSE Final on PokerStars.tv

Instead, Effel filled us in on all the biographical details one could ever wish for on the eight players, a line-up including Team PokerStars Pro Barry Greenstein, and PokerStars sponsored player Matt Glantz.

Greenstein is one of poker's best known and well-respected ambassadors, multiple bracelet winner (including this year), generous philanthropist and the only man to cash three times in all three renewals of this $50,000 HORSE championship at the WSOP.

Twelfth in 2006, seventh in 2007, Greenstein is a pretty good bet to go even further this year, maybe all the way to the top, a feat that would give him a near unassailable lead in the running for the Player of the Year accolade.

Glantz, on the other hand, is not quite a household name, but perhaps should and could be. He's a high-stakes cash player on the east coast, frequenting Atlantic City and Foxwoods, among others, to seek out the top limit games.

But he's also no slouch at tournament poker and is today earning his seventh World Series cash, on his third final table. He previously took $364,620 for second place in a $3,000 hold 'em event in 2005, and a couple of weeks ago finished third in the $10,000 mixed event, good for another $185,000. Today he's sporting the PokerStars livery as a sponsored player.

The HORSE event was always designed to be the one that really sorted the men from the boys at the World Series, testing players' skills across five poker variants, as well as their bankrolls. At $50,000 a seat, there were no make-weights in the field, simply taking a fly for the sake of it. In its first year, the man who came out on top was Chip Reese, consistently recognised among the top players as the best of the best.

Reese died in December last year, at the age of 56, and the poker community was united in its desire to honour such a great player. None would argue with the decision to name this event in Reese's honour, and this year HORSE players have been battling for the Chip Reese Trophy, which was unveiled for the first time in the run up to this final table.

The trophy is an appropriately sizeable thing: 60 pounds of black marble, topped by a poker hand rendered in gold. Not just any old hand, of course, but the one held by Reese when he wrapped up the inaugural title. The base is engraved with the slogan "Standing the Test of Time" and the winners' names will be added year on year.

Reese's daughter, Taylor, joined Doyle Brunson in making announcements ahead of the final table. Brunson paid tribute to his friend and sparring partner, describing him as "certainly the best player I ever played with," which is some compliment coming from the celebrated rounder.

Taylor, meanwhile, quoted her father as the final eight looked to book their own place in poker folklore: "As my dad would say, 'May the best man win,'" she said.

Those eight are now trying to do precisely that. We'll let you know how they get on.

Well, here's a new one.

In the three-year history of the $50,000 HORSE event, Greenstein is the only person to cash every year. In year one, he nearly made the final table. In year two, he finished in seventh place. Now, he is headed into tomorrow's final table with the third-highest chip stack. The star-studded event will set up on the ESPN stage at 3pm PST. Here's how all eight players stack up.

Seat 1: Matt Glantz 1,445,000
Seat 2: Huck Seed 1,200,000
Seat 3: Patrick Bueno 695,000
Seat 4: Lyle Berman 1,430,000
Seat 5: Scotty Nguyen 3,535,000
Seat 6: Barry Greenstein 1,955,000
Seat 7: Michael DeMichele 905,000
Seat 8: Erick Lindgren 3,680,000

Greenstein's off-table demeanor following his finish tonight was barely one degree off from his stoic appearance all day long. His face betrayed precious little emotion as he signed some autographs and bagged his chips. It's all in a day's work for him.

Where many players at this point would be contemplating their final table strategy, it's second nature for Greenstein. In fact, as he readied himself to leave, the only thing he seemed unsure about was whether he would be able to make a TV interview at 2:30pm. It seemed curious that he might not be able to show up half an hour early. No, it wasn't that. Thing is, he might have other plans. The $10,000 Pot-Limit Omaha championship kicks off at noon.

Noting how long the PLO hands take, Greenstein said, "It's the best game to multi-table."

That's Barry Greenstein. He's near the top of the leaderboard in one of the most important poker tournaments in the world, and he very well may play two tables at once. With all due credit to the online pros who can play 20 tables, I don't think they have anything on Greenstein.

If Greenstein plays the PLO event, he will very likely see fellow Team PokerStars Pro Daniel Negreanu there. Negreanu made a very good run for the final table in the HORSE event, but finished up just a little short. He finished in 13th place for $142,000.

Joining Greenstein and Negreanu in the money is PokerStars Supernova Elite Joseph "bigjoe2003" Michael. Michael bought into the $50,000 event with his PokerStars Frequent Player Points. Though he just missed the final table, he turned those FPPs into $142,000 for his 14th place finish.

Before his exit, Michael offered us these thoughts on the HORSE event.

Watch WSOP 08: Joseph Michael SuperNova Elite on PokerStars.tv

Here's a wrap-up of HORSE Day 4 from the PokerStars Video Blog Team

Watch WSOP 08: Horse Day 4 Update on PokerStars.tv

Greenstein may not be the only one we're watching at a final table on Sunday. At this hour, PokerStars-sponsored player Kirill Gerasimov is one of fifteen players remaining in the $2,000 No-Limit Hold'em event. More than 2,300 players entered, and Gerasimov is not wasting his opportunity to fight for the $700,000 first prize.

Coverage will resume here tomorrow with the $10,000 PLO event. See all today's coverage by clicking any of the links below.

Another wave floods into the Rio
Team out in force for $1,500
Gerasimov again among the leaders
The entertainment budget
The outer fringe of the Amazon
Greenstein, Negreanu control HORSE
From FPPs to $142K
RaiNKhaN doing what he does best
The Kiril System
Negreanu misses final table
From short-stack to contender

Photography © 2008, Joe Giron/IMPDI

Witness the fall of Daniel Negreanu. At the dinner break, Negreanu sat near the top of the leader board. Moments ago, he walked out in 13th place.

As has been mentioned more than a few times, Negreanu helped serve as the inspiration for this event's creation. After winning his bracelet earlier this Series in the $2,000 Limit event, Negreanu aimed to win his fifth. This looked to be one of his best opportunities.

Instead, his 13th place finish earns him $142,080 and the opportunity to play in tomorrow's $10,000 Pot-Limit Omaha World Championship.

At this hour, Barry Greenstein is the only member of Team PokerStars Pro remaining in the $50,000 HORSE event. His fortune hasn't been much better in the last couple of hours. His girlfriend Alex described the past several hours with one word: "Rollercoaster"

***

While we look for a bit better news to report, Joe Hachem has some ideas about how to balance math and instinct in big poker events. Check it out the video blog below.

Watch WSOP 08: Joe Hachem On Math on PokerStars.tv

"I am the best sweater, baby," Scotty said.

We have not failed to mention here that the Supernova Elite bought into the big event with his Frequent Player Points. It's not technically a freeroll, but it's pretty damned close.

After tonight, Michael is now not only a poker pro and business man. He is one of few people who can claim a cash in the the World Series $50,000 HORSE event.

Short-stacked going into the Stud rounds, Michael went on the attack. He doubled, he chopped, he picked up the antes. He, in short, did all he could to get back into serious contention. In the end, though, his two pair was not good enough to beat David Bach's bigger two pair. Michael's hand hit the muck and that was that.

With his brother on the rail cheering him on, Michael finished in 14th place for $142,080.

Congratulations, Joe on a great finish.

Meanwhile, the chip lead once controlled by Team PokerStars Pro has, for the moment, been given up. The last level was kind to neither Barry Greenstein nor Daniel Negreanu. Both have fallen below one million chips. That said, with the levels getting so high, we can expect to see some pretty dramatic swings over the next few hours and both members of Team PokerStars Pro still stand a good chance of making the final table. The 13 remaining players have taken their dinner break and will return in an hour and a half.

While we're waiting, check out this video blog with Daniel Negreanu as he discusses HORSE.

Now, with 15 players remaining, Team PokerStars Pros Barry Greenstein and Daniel Negreanu hold first and second position respectively. You might recall, Greenstein took seventh place in this same event last year. He has since put up five more WSOP cashes, including the $1,500 Razz bracelet he won a couple of weeks ago. To say he is in good form would be a pretty sizable understatement.

Fellow Team member Daniel Negreanu is looking to win his second bracelet of this year's Series. After a very rough Day 1 in this event that saw him fall down near 20,000 in chips, he has been in top shape for the past three days. Negreanu's ideas helped inspire the creation of the $50,000 HORSE event, and now he wants to claim it for himself.

Finally, Supernova Elite Joseph "bigjoe2003" Michael has just turned his Frequent Player Points into at least $124,000. Michael used his FPPs to buy into the $50,000 event. He sighed with relief when the bubble popped. Now, he is setting about making his way to the final table. He will have some work to do, but it's not out of reach.

Play in this event will continue until we reach eight players.

In the meantime, check out this video blog with Greg Raymer on what games he likes the best, and why.

Watch WSOP 08: Greg Raymer On Prestigious Events on PokerStars.tv

Safe to say, the people who remain in the $50,000 HORSE event are not in it for the entertainment. As we inch toward the top 16 spots and the money, there are several people facing a harsh reality. They put in their $50,000. They put in more than three long days of work. They returned here today to work some more.

And they will walk away with nothing.

It's a sick part of any poker tournament, but the pain is compounded in this event. Not only was the buy-in huge, not only is the potential payout enormous, but these people have been forced into three overtime work days and won't get a paycheck. Just imagine having to pay your employer to go to work, toiling for a week, and then getting laid off without getting paid. It's not an entertainment budget. It's a less-than-mild form of masochism, and one only certain players in the world can withstand.

It is our unfortunate duty to report that Chad Brown is one of those players. After putting in his time and effort here, he has exited just short of the money.

Brown's departure and a few others leaves us with 20 players remaining. Among them and near the top of the leaderboard are Daniel Negreanu, Supernova Elite Joseph "bigjoe2003" Michael, and Barry Greenstein. At the start of play today, Phil Hellmuth reached across the rail and shook Greenstein's hand.

"I got touched by Phill Hellmuth," Greenstein said with a wry smile. It seemed clear, Greenstein wasn't counting on the luck of the Poker Brat to get him through the day.

Apart from the world class poker going on here, one of the most prounounced images of the day is the size of the rail that has formed in the past few hours. Railbirds are stacked three deep along the back side of the HORSE event. These players are used to the fans, to be sure. Regardless, the added pressure hundreds of leering people doesn't do anything to reduce the amount of stress already involved in this contest.

Day 4 is now two hours old. There is no time-limit on the night. They will play until eight remain. With this group of players, we could be in for a very long night.

Thirty-four players means five tables of action -- four with seven players and one with six -- enough, you'd think, for some separation among team-mates. Not so. Table number one, positioned furthest away from where we sit, features Katja, Bill and Joe, while table number two, right beside it, is the home of Chad, Daniel and Barry. They're sticking together for warmth beneath the ferocious Rio air-conditioning.

That second table might as well be called the television table, although it is not yet under studio lights. Rather, its denizens are somehow all TV-related: Chad is a former actor and presenter, while Daniel and Barry are regulars on "High Stakes Poker," the huge televised cash game from Las Vegas.

Also on that show is Erik Lindgren, who now is currently two seats to Daniel's left. And between them is Gabe Kaplan, who sits in the commentary booth.

Throw into the mix Marcel Luske, the singing, Flying Dutchman who has enjoyed his own share of TV time over the years, and you have a TV show right there without even any help from the producers.

At the moment, it is Barry and Daniel having the best of it. Erik is the short stack, on life support. He's been all in twice and both times the defibrillator doubled him up, keeping his heart beating for the time being. Chad is also struggling slightly, down to less than his last 75,000, which is few enough to put him all in by fourth street, should he choose to play. At the other end, Barry and Daniel are making hay. They're both comfortably in the top ten in this event, possibly the top five, where they'd also find Joe Michael.

We'll follow this HORSE all the way into the money tomorrow.

* * * * *

Earlier in the day, Bill Chen, who was still going strong in the HORSE at the time of shooting, gave some insight to the video blog team into the acceptance of short-term luck in what is, in Bill's opinion, a largely mathematical pursuit. Unfortunately for Bill, just as I was typing up this introduction, he was sent to the rail in a coup with Doyle Brunson. Brunson surely exemplifies the fact that skill can prosper in the longest of long terms, but Bill seems to be right on the money with regard to that short-term luck element. Hard luck, Mr. Chen.

Watch WSOP: Bill Chen on Acceptance on PokerStars.tv

You can see more from the PokerStars video bloggers over on PokerStars.tv

And haven't those purists found reason to purr this evening.

Just take a look at this photograph:

For about three hours this evening on table six, these six players sat next to one another: Lyle Berman, Barry Greenstein, Bill Chen, Doyle Brunson, Phil Ivey and Layne Flack. In those six chairs -- which were, remember, in a row -- sat the owners of 29 World Series bracelets: three and three and two and ten and five and six, respectively.

It was quite a line-up, arguably the most bling-heavy table ever arranged in a World Series event, exactly what the organisers could have wished for when they conceived of a tournament with such a monstrous buy-in and mountains of prestige.

But the shelves holding the jewelery boxes of Messers Berman, Brunson, Greenstein and Chen are not the only ones creaking under the strain in their respective homes. Their libraries are surely also pretty well stocked. These four are among the most noted poker authors in the business, with Chen responsible for the much-vaunted 2006 tome "The Mathematics of Poker", Greenstein clutching the pen that wrote "Ace on the River", and Berman contributing a chapter to Brunson's "Super System II".

Much has been written before about Greenstein's habit of handing an autographed copy of his book to his vanquisher in whatever tournament he plays. The Team PokerStars Pro dutifully brings a copy of "Ace on the River" along with him before he sits down and will always sign the front page before shaking hands, handing over the book and leaving, once his time comes. For the hours preceding the final moment, the book lies beneath his chair. If he takes a bracelet, he takes the book home.

Today, Berman has also brought along a copy of "Super System II", presumably for the purposes of similar benevolence. It's difficult to imagine the three-time bracelet winner needing to indulge in any last-gasp cramming. So it is that Nordics PokerStars blogger Lina Olofsson (whose WSOP musings in some scarcely-recognisable hieroglyphics, traditionally known as Swedish, can be found HERE) was able to take two of the more quirky images you'll see at this year's World Series, one from afar, and then a little closer.

Those are the boots, bags and the books of Berman and Greenstein, poised, ready to be signed. But don't hold your breath, folks. Although Flack departed shortly before the dinner break, and the table was subsequently broken, all of the remaining five are sitting with hefty stacks. Greenstein, in particular, is looking like a very sound bet for the latter stages.

We've just been told that they'll be playing either six levels or to 24 players tonight, whichever comes soonest. It's my bet that "Ace on the River" will be being carried home at the end of the night. And maybe tomorrow night too.

Normally, during a break between levels, I’ll catch up players for updates from a primary source. With Team PokerStars Pro Katja Thater I take a different approach. Few players are as focused as Katja during a tournament and prefer not to be disturbed. Just ask her husband Jan von Halle.

“The best word I could use is ‘patient’. ‘Patient’ and ‘aggressive’.”

As reported earlier Katja’s day 2 was one of those where you strap yourself in and hit the gas. Maybe you’ll spin off the road leaving a glorious trail of destruction. Or maybe you’ll speed past a few people, putting some distance between yourself and the pack.

With a huge stack yesterday the last level saw Katja endure a chip stack collapse. Finding herself down to 18,000 from 280,000 she was forced to refocus and effectively start again. Testament to the kind of player she is she persevered and made her way back to safety and 240,000.

“She’s very confident” said Jan. “She believes no one has an edge against her and that she can play better than most.”

It’s the kind of attitude and never-say-die spirit that sees her into the last 40 players.

Jan, who is also the founder of the German PokerStars blog, went out of the HORSE event himself in level ten yesterday after a bad 45 minute spell. Kenny Tran acted as vanquisher.

“He ignored me for about three hours and then all of a sudden introduced himself and we started talking. From then on he won every hand against me! It must have been magic or something.”

It’s the first time either Katja or Jan have played in the HORSE, “We were more responsible last year!” But after a good year - which included a bracelet in the Razz event for Katja 12 months ago and multiple cashes for each of them - they opted for a healthy mixture of ‘something to prove’ and ‘what the hell’, taking their seats at the start of one of the World Series’ most anticipated event on Wednesday.

It’s been a memorable summer for Jan also, in keeping with his results from 12 months ago when he cashed four times and made the final table of the $1,000 No Limit Hold’em - albeit making only a brief appearance.
“I was the first player out. I moved with 9-2 off-suit. Whoosh... I’d do it again!”

This year was memorable for another final table and fourth place in the Pot Limit Hold’em, but also for something else, as I was about to find out...

“Did you hear how I missed a royal flush?”

This sounded good.

“I was on a table with all the top players and I overlooked a royal flush. I even checked behind two times! I’d been working in the office full time for six months – I was tired. I thought I had a black jack not a red one, so I figured I just had the straight.”

Trying to hide that kind of embarrassment isn’t easy and it’s now one of the most popular stories on German poker forums, alongside a picture of Jan with a t-shirt reading “Royal Flush, checked behind.”

“It wasn’t a big pot anyway” added Jan in consolation.

Still, worth the t-shirt...

“Yeah, I think so...”

Back to Katja though, who currently sways to the massage tempo. Whilst she's been playing the HORSE her husband has busted out of two tournaments. She's in for the long haul. Her stack? That’s now somewhere on the sunny side of 300k.

Michael doesn't hide his identity. In a matter of just a couple of years, he's become a bit of a superstar for a number of reasons. He was the second person to ever achieve PokerStars VIP Club Supernova Elite status. He then used Frequent Player Points to pay for a huge down payment on a huge house.

"I grew up in a trailer park, so being able to live in a million dollar house was always a dream of mine," Michael said at the time.

In a field full of huge names and veteran players, Michael has been among the most successful newcomers to the big HORSE event. He has been among the chip leaders all day long.

Unlike most everybody in this event who doled out bricks of cash to play, Michael chose to go a different route. He used his FPPs to fund his buy-in to the big event.

So, just consider that for a moment. Anybody who plays at PokerStars earns their share of FPPs. Some people play freeroll events, other people buy hats and books. Michael buys houses and enters one of the most expensive and prestigious poker tournaments in the world.

So, while Joseph Michael may not be a poker household name yet, he is working on it...one house and $50K buy-in tournament at a time.

***

Team PokerStars Pro Greg Raymer had a rough go of it yesterday and departed before Day 3. Here's what he has to say about the big event.

Watch WSOP 08: Greg Raymer On The HORSE. on PokerStars.tv

This is the HORSE event, so amidst the rush of an Amazon Room shoehorned full to the doors with poker tables, a few equine puns and references might inadvertently slip in. Bear with me.

Here’s the first. In the racing world the term “mudder” is a one of endearment and refers to a thoroughbred horse that favours difficult conditions (read muddy ground) – the type of turf able to render the competition sluggish and ready to quit. Well, at the risk of comparing Daniel Negreanu to a horse, he may be this tournament’s “mudder.”

Back on day one it started well for the Team PokerStars Pro, his usual chipper demeanour in place all day. But as the day became night a few hurdles appeared, a few bad hands that left Daniel towards the back of the pack with some difficult ground to make up and down to 26k he was at risk of being among the first fallers.

"It was a whole load of hands" reasoned Daniel on day one. "I couldn't scoop anything. And you can't bluff...not as effectively."

His plight wasn’t helped by the tough scenery at his table, one that featured Phil Ivey on the one side and Phil Galfond to the other. But Daniel rallied in the conditions (after a back rub), defying the expectations of the vulture press to finish the day on 70k. Not a lead exactly but certainly close to the pace. From there the conditions changed from harsh to fair, bringing him to where he began today on over 370,000.

Even a time lapse of these tentative stages of day three would show little action, just more of the careful atmosphere at the table with no one among the all star list of names ready to blow it all and risk a shot at $2 million - and perhaps the most distinguished title in the modern game.

They’ll do it their way thanks. Marcel Luske chews peacefully on a green drink straw, occasionally using it to get the attention of whomever he wants to talk to. Team PokerStars Pro Chad Brown in seat one mixes it up with a few pots, one of which he gives up to the Flying Dutchman without a fight...

“Do you know how hard it is to give Chad Brown chips?” joked Marcel, getting a quick laugh.

As play went on Daniel stepped out of his seat to go through a series of stretches. This is long distance poker, a poker pentathlon with the events coming up over and over again in an endless procession worth over $7.1 million. Being in peak condition certainly helps but few doubt Daniel to be among the most serious when it comes to this.

Take the green bag for instance. Sat by his feet, it’s full of whole foods and various assorted goodies – the type that are unlikely to shorten your life in any way. It strikes guilt into the nearby reporter who just inhaled pizza for lunch.

So play goes on, switching from Razz to a round of Stud and collectively the railbirds mentally shift gears, re-organising their mind into what’s now a good hand and what’s bad.

The trouble behind him, Daniel plays on into level 13 with 348,000, alongside the 59 players remaining. Sure he may be a mudder, but he’s a fair weather stayer too.

That’s it. No more references to horses from me.

Today, however, the tournament is down to its final 70-odd players and the hefty beast that is the $2,000 no limit hold 'em event has come barging into sight. It is as though a demure gathering in the drawing room of one's mansion has been gatecrashed by a frat party; crystal tumblers of finest Scotch have been swept to the floor in favour of beer-pong with plastic cups on tressle tables.

One of the results of this reorganisation in the tournament area is the slight tightening of media restrictions around the tables. "There is to be no sweating of players," an announcement recently boomed over the Tannoy. "Please move back from the tables."

In one way, this was actually not a bad thing. I, for one, found in it an excuse to cease a spell of vulturing: that unfortunate period in any poker reporter's life when you're forced to hang around one particular notable player and their ever-shortening short-stack in order to record the details of the inevitable and imminent elimination. Once a player gets below a certain number of chips, the rail swells, the reporters swarm, and we're all after some meat from the carcass of the recently departed.

Today, that ailing beast was Team PokerStars Pro Dario Minieri. I had started vulturing the Italian bracelet-winner late yesterday, when it looked for all the world as though he was heading out the door at the end of day two. In the event, he managed to sort-of double up, splitting a pot with Doyle Brunson after three players had made it to showdown. He came back today as the tournament short stack, with 50,000 in chips. And Dario isn't the kind of player to hang around. We knew he'd be speculating either to accumulate, or to get himself to that frat party next door.

In the short time I was with him, I saw him make a judicious lay-down to Paul Fisher during the hold 'em round, but it left him with just 20,000 in chips. They all went in very soon afterwards, behind Qs-Js and he was called by Mark Gregorich's pair of eights. That was about as good as he could have hoped for, and sure enough the jack popped on the flop to double him up. That means he's back to about 50,000 again, and the process of battling for life, vulturing and survival or extinction starts again.

Similarly last night, I was keeping a watchful eye on Team PokerStars Pro Katja Thater, lest it be her to surrender a relatively short stack and join team-mate Greg Raymer on the rail. Thater had been cruising earlier in the day, with close to 250,000. But that quarter of a million was sliced down to 18,000 in just four hands, twice during a stud round when Gabe Kaplan's flush draws made it, each time for pots of around 80,000.

But when she was forced to put all her remaining chips in the middle very late on, in an eight-or-better hand, she scooped and bounced back to about 30,000, which, about an orbit later, was up to about 140,000, the very definition of yo-yo. The vultures have flapped away from Thater's table now, at least after Max Pescatori, who did perish early today from a seat to Katja's right.

It's still touch and go for Dario, but no one is ruling out a miracle.