There has also been a steady influx of more media types from all over the world, converging on Las Vegas to cover the greatest event in poker.  And those numbers will continue to grow.  Although the crowds have been thinning,  the prize pools have been increasing as the buy-ins to each event have been going up.  Every day a fresh batch of inexperienced players arrive with a dream of becoming the next bracelet winner.  They all have hopes of taking down some of the best pros in the world.  Unfortunately the sharks see them differently. As Phil Gordon commented,  “I have never seen so much dead money in my life.”

The satellite tables seem to be more popular than the cash games. Thousands of amateur players with limited bankrolls are hoping to win a single-table shootout.  There are other various satellites that are running 24 hours a day where players can win their entry into the  $10,000 main event. Earlier this week,  I was fortunate to have a rare night off.  I immediately left the media room and headed straight to the satellite area.  I signed up for a $125 single table tournament where the winner takes all the prize money.  I came in fourth against a field of terrible players.  I honestly felt that I was the best player at the table.  I doubled up on the second hand of the tournament with pocket Queens against a guy who moved all in with 99.  Some of the hands these players pushed in with were atrocious.  I was eliminated by the loosest player, too,  an old Greek guy who popped a Viagra pill about 20 minutes into the satellite.  When his medication kicked in a few levels later,  he didn’t care if he won or lost.  He pushed all in on almost every hand with junk cards because he had a hot date with a  “lady of the night.”

I watched a few pros play in cash games after they were eliminated from various tournaments.  One night in particular,  Clonie Gowen,  Phil “Unabomber” Laak,  Antonio Esfandiari,  and actress Jen Tilly sat down to a $25/$50 NL table in a game that lasted until sunrise.

Back to the actual WSOP tournament action,  where history was being made in almost every night:

Mike Gracz from Raleigh,  North Carolina,  outlasted a field of 826 players to win the largest rebuy tournament in the history of the World Series of Poker.  Last year,  Daniel Negreanu set a record with 26 rebuys.  This year he settled for only 12,  although he had a stack of $100 bills ready to be thrown into the prize pool. Mike Gracz captured his first WSOP bracelet and $594,460 for first place, beating out a tough final table that included David  “The Dragon”  Pham,  Phil “Tilt Boy”  Gordon,  Ming Lau,  and Chuck Thompson.

Of course the biggest story of the week had to be about Johnny Bax,  a former stockbroker from New York.  Supposedly he had never played Seven Card Stud before he entered the $1,500 event.  He’s a solid NL player who’s won a few seats by qualifying online.  He got a few tips from Scott Fischman five minutes before the tournament.  And yes,  Johnny Bax did become an instant Las Vegas legend after his victory.  Cab drivers,  bartenders,  and poker dealers will be telling his story for decades to come.

Erik Seidel made history too.  He won his 7th World Series of Poker bracelet, which put him into a unique category.  Only four players have won more bracelets than Seidel,  and only Phil Hellmuth has won more bracelets since he started playing professionally.  Seidel never thought he would make the final table again,  let alone win another bracelet because the fields were so enormous.  He beat out 1402 players to win the $2,000 NL event.  He played a tough heads-up match against Cyndy Violette.  Seidel ended up getting lucky on the hand that won him his seventh bracelet.  When Cyndy pushed all in with 99, he called with 88.  He flopped a full house and knocked out Cyndy for the victory.  And a few days later,  Seidel made his second final table this week in the Pot-Limit Omaha with Rebuys event.  It looks like he's finally snapped out of his funk.

There was a marathon three-way session during the final table for the $2,000 Limit Holdem event.  In one of the strangest events so far,  John Myung,  Reza Payvar,  and Toto Leonidas played in a three-way non-stop battle for over five hours without anyone getting eliminated.  Whenever someone was shortstacked,  he would mount a comeback.  Eventually Reza Payvar prevailed and he won his first bracelet.

Then there was the story about the guy without a permanent address who won the Pot-Limit Holdem event.  Edward Moncada is a free spirit and loves to travel. He prefers to move around a lot instead of living in the same place.  Most recently,  he had been living in southern California,  where he won a few smaller tournaments.  This week it was his turn to share the spotlight after he won his first WSOP bracelet.  He did it against a final table that was comprised of players from all over the world:  Mexico,  Japan,  Belgium,  Armenia,  England, Italy,  Lebanon,  and the United States.

Josh Arieh took third at last year’s $10,000 WSOP Main Event and was looking to add a second bracelet to his collection.  He was up against a tough final table at this year’s Pot-Limit Omaha event.  There were several bracelet winners at his table including Chris  “Jesus”  Ferguson,  Erik Seidel,  and Ron Graham. After blowing the chip lead to Chris Ferguson during their heads-up battle, Arieh came from behind to win it all despite the fact that the crowd was definitely pro-Jesus.