Short stack

And a short run for Jim McManus' blog from the WSOP...

Like most poker players, I'd looked forward to the World Series for months as the highlight of my year. Even so, on the plane ride to tournaments we play down the cold fact that 90 percent of entrants (or more) to every event lose their entire buy-in. Another 5 percent basically get their money back, with the lion's share going to the tip of the payout pyramid. In the $5,000 pot-limit Omaha event, for example, the top three finishers (2.2 percent of the field) received over two-thirds of the prize pool.