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And then there were nine. Yesterday the World Series of Poker field was finally narrowed to the final nine players. This left most people with a strange, unsatisfied feeling as the WSOP ground to a halt for the first time with no Main Event Champion being crowned. It was sort of like getting a hot fudge sundae with the actual fudge. Regardless of anyone's feeling on how the setup has been changed to make ESPN happy, we are still looking forward to eventually seeing the final nine play it out until there is a champion.

Sometimes it seems everyone absolutely adores Vanessa Rousso. Despite all the love she was getting from the gallery, Ms. Rousso couldn't hold on and make it through Day 3 of the World Series of Poker. The thing that probably stung the most is that she lost on hands that would usually have been winners. She was crippled on a hand where her opponent hit both the turn and the river to complete a straight. In the final hand she was all-in with her A-J vs. Q-4, and a Queen fell on the river.

Wouldn't it be interesting if the World Series of Poker final table would include 11 time bracelet winner Phil Hellmuth and 10 time champion Johnny Chan? With Phil looking for his 12th piece of WSOP jewelry and Johnny trying to tie Phil, it would have been compelling. Well, it's not going to happen, both are now out of the tournament. Of course with that story evaporating, another, equally interesting one is taking shape. At the end of the day today we had Tiffany "Hot Chips" Michelle sitting at third in the chip count.

It is almost unfair that in a field of players that is bigger than some rural cities, one player commands more attention than the rest of the field. Unfortunately for a lot of lesser known players who want to say, "Hi Mom" on ESPN, Phil Hellmuth is, as always, the story of the day. He started the day with a modest stack of chips, and while finishing the day still in the middle of the pack, he had managed to more than double his starting stack.

Ray Romano has became one of the most high profile casualties of Day 2A. Of course he was not alone on the rail today. A whole lot of players with recognizable faces found themselves making the sad transition from competitor to spectator. Ray was playing at the featured table, so his removal from the event was pretty high profile, but among the eliminated were also the following players: Barry Greenstein, Vicky Coren, Bill Edler, John Hennigan, Svetlana Gromenkova, and Paul Wasicka.

Today was a rare off day at the World Series of Poker so most of the players spent the day taking a well deserved breather while preparing for the next stage of the Main Event. For the most part people were still buzzing about hijinx from Day 1d. For example, General George Patton and the hero of Stalingrad, General Zhukov, were probably spinning like centrifuges in their graves when Phil Hellmuth showed up dressed as an 11 star General.

So what do Dylan Linde and Steve Austin not have in common with Jennifer Tilly? Well if you include a Y chromosome and a penchant for really cute shoes, the list is probably pretty big. Specifically though, Dylan and Steve are still alive in the Main Event and Jennifer Tilly along with Ms. Duke have been eliminated. Not only are Dylan Linde and Steve Austin still hanging around in the tournament, but they are the Day 1D chip leaders.

When Phil Hellmuth is hanging around near the top of the chip count, any player with a healthy sense of self preservation should probably start thinking of the best way to sneaking a large dose of NyQuil into Phil's water bottle. This is of course a joke, but as it turned out some backhanded chemical warfare was not necessary to take the 11 time World Series of Poker bracelet winner out of Event #51.

The cheering section for Marty Smyth as he played for the Event #50 ($10,000 Pot Limit Omaha) championship may as well have been wearing togas and singing "Louie, Louie": they were that loud. This was the sort of rowdy crowd that would have been right at plotting the downfall of Dean Wormer with John Belushi and the boys during the film "Animal House". With these sorts of people cheering him on, it is no wonder that Marty lost track of his hand and didn't notice that his clubs were working themselves into a bracelet winning flush. According to the new champion, "I didn't realize I had clubs."

There are a lot of things that a body can do with $50,000. Somebody can buy one of the newly designed Dodge Challengers and have enough left for a wussy little, testosterone draining Prius. This would satisfy a person who not only wants to satisfy the NASCAR fan in them, but the eco-Nazi as well. Of course the more responsible people would simply invest the money, while the type of person who kisses babies while trying to buy your vote with a bumper sticker and a catchy little slogan would probably spend every cent of that amount at the famous Nevada Bunny Ranch. Those who played in Event #45 paid $50,000 for the pleasure of being part in this H.O.R.S.E. tournament.