The bet involved no skill whatsoever. It was based entirely on what cards were dealt. For example, if a 10 came, Brunson would win $1,000, $2,000 or $3,000 depending on what had happened on the hands before. Brunson quickly lost $77,000 on the side bet.

Juanda's victory was muddied by the fact that he was the first player at my table to bust out of the actual tournament, not to mention the fact that he had played three tournaments that day and, in between, managed to lose $50,000 at Chinese poker -- a game that barely involves skill. Brunson, meanwhile, was the second player at my table to bust out of the tournament.

Almost all the great players you've heard of: Daniel Negreanu, Phil Ivey, Barry Greenstein, Phil Hellmuth, etc. find themselves embroiled in such wild side action during the World Series. When Brunson was at my table, he mentioned the hundreds of thousands that had been wagered on whether Hellmuth would set a record by winning a World Series event this year (he has).

For some poker pros, the highlight of this year's Series is Erick Lindgren winning a $340,000 bet against Gavin Smith, Ivey and others. The bet had nothing to do with poker: To win, Lindgren had to play four rounds of golf from the pro tees in one day, walking every round, and breaking 100 each time. It was, it has been reported, something like 105 degrees on the golf course that day, and a dehydrated Lindgren simultaneously padded his bank account while losing 10 pounds.

World Series month is always full of delicious weirdness, but with that bet and the disappearance/reappearance of tournament grinder Vinnie Vihn, this year's Series is already one to remember. Come Friday, when Day 1 of the main event starts, the shenanigans could hit an all-time high. Expect at least one female poker player in lingerie and pros dressed up as cartoon animals. Expect to hear about more prop bets that are at least 10 times the $10,000 main event buy-in.

Given the difficulty online poker sites have been having in the United States, the turnout probably won't be high as the 8,000-plus players who came last year. But even if it's half last year's turnout, this is still poker's Super Bowl in every possible way. (The Bellagio, which in many ways runs better events, has tried to go head-to-head with the World Series this year, but it's gotten beaten up worse than Lebron James against the San Antonio Spurs.) There's just no poker event that brings out the masses like this one.

I, of course, fully expect to win it all.

I won't be lacking for emotional support if I get deep. For poker players, even those who aren't ready to play the main event, this is really the time to be in Vegas. I just got an e-mail telling me that about a dozen players from a home game hosted by Charlie Prince (Charlie and I are two of the producers of a forthcoming documentary about the rise and fall of underground poker in New York City) will be at the World Series, and many of them will just be there to soak up some of the action and play in some side games and other events. I'm especially delighted that my pal Pete "The Gentle Giant" Herold (dude, buy in already) is making the trip this year after skipping last year's World Series – and it'll be fun to hang out with Kristin "The Red Tornado" Bruan like I did last year.

As for those who already have seats in the main event, I should send some shout outs and good wishes (with the caveat that I fully intend to bust them if they're at my table) to Irv Lorenzo Gotti and Chris Lorenzo Gotti., whom I've played some pretty surreal late-night poker with recently. Chris, I'm especially cheering for you, and I know you know why. Also, you should probably keep folding J-4 of diamonds.

And for anybody who read my blog last year, know that I'll also be on the lookout for those who helped me out with that in 2006, including Peter Alson, Mike May and Chris Fargis.

Here's hoping I don't get as unlucky as I did last year and here's knowing that it will be a decent story no matter what happens.

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