Final 9 prep for poker series

By Oskar Garcia - The Associated Press

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LAS VEGAS -- Darvin Moon's preparations for a run at the $8.55 million top prize at the World Series of Poker included an extended hunting trip last month in Wyoming where he slept in a two-room cabin without electricity and pretty much avoided any contact with the outside world.

The self-employed logger from Oakland, Md., will get plenty of attention this weekend as the chip leader heading into Saturday's final table of the richest tournament in poker.

Moon said he played some cards, but didn't hire a coach for the 115-day break because he didn't think he could learn enough to effectively sustain a change to his style.

Chip counts are in parentheses. Chips have no monetary value. One player has to win all the chips in play to take the title, and lose all his chips to be eliminated.

1. Darvin Moon, 46, of Maryland (58,930,000)

2. Eric Buchman, 30, of New York (34,800,000)

3. Steven Begleiter, 47, of New York (29,885,000)

4. Jeff Shulman, 34, of Las Vegas (19,580,000)

5. Joseph Cada, 21, of Michigan (13,215,000)

6. Kevin Schaffel, 52, of Florida (12,390,000)

7. Phil Ivey, 32, of Nevada (9,765,000)

8. Antoine "Tonio" Saout, 25, of France (9,500,000)

9. James Akenhead, 26, of London (6,800,000)
On TV

The final table is played Saturday. See it on ESPN 9-11 p.m. Tuesday.

Moon said he thinks it's more important for him to prepare for a mental marathon at the no-limit Texas Hold 'em main event - 14 to 17 hours, he predicts, to narrow nine players down to two who will go head-to-head on Monday night.

"I'm not going to come in ninth. ... my plan is to come in first," Moon said. "You have to have patience."

And plenty of luck, too, which Moon credits for propelling himself and eight others to the top of a field of 6,494 players at the tournament that began play July 3 at the Rio All-Suite Hotel & Casino in Las Vegas.

Moon's opponents include Phil Ivey, a poker professional from Las Vegas regarded by many as the best card player alive. Five others at the final table make a living gambling, including Eric Buchman, Joe Cada, Kevin Schaffel, Antoine Saout and James Akenhead.

Jeff Shulman, 34, of Las Vegas, placed seventh at the main event in 2000 and has cashed 15 times at the series, but makes most of his money as the president of CardPlayer Media, which publishes a popular poker magazine. Steven Begleiter, a 47-year-old former Bear Stearns Cos. executive who works for a private equity firm, sits third in chips.

"Everybody knows what they're doing, and probably with a little bit of luck that's how we all got there. There's no flukes here," said Schaffel, who bought a house during the break and spent time golfing and playing $10 to $20 no-limit cash games.

Ivey, a seven-time gold bracelet winner at the world series, spent part of last month in or near Cabo San Lucas, Mexico, playing online poker and exercising with a trainer.

"We do cardio for 45 minutes, then we lift weights for a half-hour, then we do yoga for an hour and then we go golfing," Ivey told Pokerroad.com for its "Life of Ivey" video blog.

Ivey said in July that he would spend part of the three-and-a-half month break preparing specifically for his final table opponents, but wouldn't say how.

Each player was paid $1.26 million - ninth place money - the day after they made it to the final table. Harrah's Entertainment Inc., the private casino operator that runs the tournament, stashed the rest of the money in a conservative account that pushed the prizes up slightly. The first player to bust out on Saturday gets nothing more after the final table, while the other finishers will be paid the rest of their prize money depending on how high they finish.

Many poker followers have focused on Moon and Ivey as potential winners because of Moon's large stack and Ivey's history and reputation for winning at the richest games in the world.