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O'Neill frustrated after exit

Sunderland manager Martin O'Neill admitted his side had got what they deserved after losing 1-0 at home to Middlesbrough in the fourth round of the Capital One Cup.

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The Mars Hand Lens Imager (MAHLI) on the arm of NASA\'s Mars rover Curiosity took this image of a rock called \"Et-Then\" during the mission\'s 82nd sol, or Martian day (Oct. 29, 2012.)

The rock\'s informal name comes from the name of an island in Great Slave Lake, Northwest Territories, Canada.

MAHLI viewed the rock from a distance of about 15.8 inches (40 centimeters). The image covers an area about 9.5 inches by 7 inches (24 centimeters by 18 centimeters). Et-Then is located near the rover\'s front left wheel, where the rover has been stationed while scooping soil at the site called \"Rocknest.\"

This is one of three images acquired by MAHLI from slightly different positions so that a three-dimensional information could be used to plan possible future examination of the rock.

Image credit: NASA/JPL-Caltech/MSSS

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Wolf-Rayet Bubble

The cosmic cauldron has brewed up a Halloween trick in the form of a ghostly face that glows in X-rays, as seen by ESA’s XMM-Newton space telescope. The eerie entity is a bubble bursting with the fiery stellar wind of a ‘live fast, die young’ star.

The bubble lies 5000 light-years from Earth in the constellation of Canis Major, the ‘greater dog’, and can be imagined to take on a dog- or wolf-like face.

It spans nearly 60 light-years across and was blown by the powerful stellar wind of the Wolf-Rayet star HD 50896 – the pink star near the center of the image that makes up one of the object’s piercing eyes.

Wolf-Rayet bubbles are the result of a hot, massive star – typically greater than 35 the mass of our Sun – expelling material through a strong stellar wind. This star’s howling wind is a million-degree plasma potion that emits X-rays, represented in blue in this image.

Where this fierce wind plows into surrounding material it is lit up in red tones as seen in the ‘cheek’ of the face.

The green halo is a result of a shock wave racing out from the star and colliding with the layers of stellar material already ejected into space.

A ‘blow-out’ of X-ray emission at the top left gives the wolf an ear, and a denser region to the bottom right can be likened to a snout.

The witching hour will soon come for this bubble and its star. The bubble will burst and disperse into the surrounding environment, while the star will end its life in a dramatic supernova explosion.

Credits: ESA, J. Toala & M. Guerrero (IAA-CSIC), Y.-H. Chu & R. Gruendl (UIUC), S. Arthur (CRyA–UNAM), R. Smith (NOAO/CTIO), S. Snowden (NASA/GSFC) and G. Ramos-Larios (IAM)

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2012 WSOP Main Event Final Table – Merson, Sylvia, Balsiger Last Three Standing

The Giants won the World Series this weekend; this week one man at the World Series of Poker is going to become a poker giant. The final table of the 2012 World Series of Poker (WSOP) Main Event got underway last night at the Rio in Las Vegas as nine players looked to become the next poker immortal. Play was suspended just after midnight once there three players remaining, as planned. Those three players – Greg Merson, Jesse Sylvia, and Jacob Balsiger – will reconvene tonight to determine a champion.

Both Sylvia’s and Merson’s presence in the final three shouldn’t come as much of a shock to anybody. After all, Sylvia had a substantial chip lead going into the final table and Merson was third and is considered by many (including Phil Ivey) to be the strongest player of the group. Balsiger’s rise, though, was rather unexpected, as he entered final table player as the second shortest stack of the “October Nine” (or “Octo-Nine,” as the cool kids say). Balsiger also has the chance to become the youngest Main Event winner of all-time. Joe Cada is the current record holder in that department, winning the 2009 Main Event at age 21, but Balsiger would best Cada’s age mark by about 75 days should he ship the title.

Here is how the chip stacks looked to begin as the final table began:

1. Jesse Sylvia – 43.875 million
2. Andras Koroknai – 29.375 million
3. Greg Merson – 28.725 million
4. Russell Thomas – 24.8 million
5. Steven Gee – 16.86 million
6. Michael Esposito – 16.26 million
7. Robert Salaburu – 15.155 million
8. Jacob Balsiger – 13.115 million
9. Jeremy Ausmus – 9.805 million

The night started off fairly slowly, though players weren’t totally afraid to test the waters. They just did so while keeping bets relatively small. Things finally got interesting on Hand 30. Steven Gee raised to 900,000 pre-flop and both Merson and Russell Thomas called. After a flop of 7-4-5, Gee led out with a 1.6 million bet, getting a call from Thomas and a fold from Merson. The turn was the J and Gee fired out a bet of 3.25 million and was again called by Thomas. On the river 3, Gee shoved all-in for 11.35 million, causing Thomas to tank for several minutes. While he was thinking, commentator Antonio Esfandiari reviewed the hand, saying that Gee’s line “doesn’t make sense.” Esfandiari’s thought was that Gee started the hand like he was representing an overpair, but ended it like he had a straight. He said he would call because he didn’t believe Gee. And that’s what Thomas finally did, flipping over pocket Queens. Gee had just pocket 8’s and was therefore eliminated in 9th place.

That first elimination took 30 hands and the next took just over that amount. Robert Salaburu, who had started well, found himself down to under 8 million chips. Action folded around to chip leader Sylvia, who went all-in from the small blind. In the big blind, Salaburu called with two red 7’s and Sylvia showed Q-5. The flop of A-A-4 kept Salaburu safe, as did the 2 on the turn. But the Q gave love only to Sylvia and Salaburu was gone in 8th place.

It was easy to predict that Michael Esposito would be the next to go, as he had just 5.625 million after that elimination. On Hand 70 of the final table, Merson opened the betting pre-flop with a raise to 1 million and Esposito, now up to 10.7 million, moved all-in with A-J. Merson made the call, dominating Esposito with A-K. Esposito got no help from the board and hit the rail in 7th place.

After that elimination, there was a log jam at the top of the leader board with Merson taking a 1.5 million lead on Sylvia (44.875 million to 43.375 million), who was less than 3 million ahead of Thomas. The lone non-American at the final table, Hungarian Andras Koroknai, had 31.2 million, and Balsiger, who had doubled-up earlier, was in 5th place with 22.475 million. Jeremy Ausmus, the short stack from the get-go, was still at the bottom with 15.125 million.

It took almost 40 more hands for the next knock-out, and it was a big one. On the button, Merson raised to 1 million. Sylvia three-bet to 2.6 million from the small blind and Koroknai four-bet from the big blind to 5.3 million. The room started to buzz in anticipation. Merson was undaunted, five-betting to 9.2 million. Sylvia bowed out, but then Koroknai shoved for around 36 million chips. Merson didn’t need to think about it and called, creating by far the largest part of the night.

It turned out to be a gigantic misstep for Koroknai, who had just K-Q, dominated by Merson’s A-K. The board came out 8-3-2-7-7 and just like that, Koroknai was done. Merson was now a huge chip leader with 86.6 million chips. Sylvia was next with 51.025 million.

Considering that he languished at the bottom of the pile virtually the entire final table, it was pretty impressive that Jeremy Ausmus made it to 5th place and earned himself an extra $1.4 million over 9th place. But 5th was as far as he would go. On Hand 129, he raised to 1.2 million pre-flop and Sylvia called from the big blind. Both checked the flop of 3-8-9 and saw a turn of 3. At that point, Sylvia checked, Ausmus bet 1.5 million, then Sylvia check-raised to 3.6 million. After some deep though, Ausmus moved all-in for 14.5 million and Sylvia insta-called. Ausmus held T-7 for an open-ended straight draw, while Sylvia held A-9 for top pair. It was a 5 on the river, no help to Ausmus, and was out in 5th place.

Just six hands later, the final three was determined. Russell Thomas raised to 1.5 million pre-flop and Balsiger shoved for 15.825 million. Thomas went into the tank and eventually called with A-9. Balsiger had him dominated, showing A-K. The community cards were of no use to Thomas and he went home in 4th place.

On the back of the huge pot against Koroknai, Greg Merson will go into Tuesday’s play as the chip leader with 88.35 million chips, followed by Jesse Sylvia with 62.75 million and Jacob Balsiger with 46.875 million. Action gets underway tonight at 5:45pm Pacific time and can be viewed on ESPN with a 15 minute delay.

2012 World Series of Poker Main Event Final Table Chip Counts

1.11 1Greg Merson – 88,350,000
2.11 1Jesse Sylvia – 62,750,000
3.11 1Jacob Balsiger – 46,875,000

2012 World Series of Poker Main Event Final Table Results

4.11 1Russell Thomas – $2,851,537
5.11 1Jeremy Ausmus – $2,155,313
6.11 1Andras Koroknai – $1,640,902
7.11 1Michael Esposito – $1,258,040
8.11 1Robert Salaburu – $971,360
9.11 1Steven Gee – $754,798

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The Nightly Turbo: $1 Million WSOP Tournament Returns, WPT National Barcelona, and Mo

The Big One for One Drop will be returning in 2014, and Sergio Adio won the World Poker Tour National Barcelona Main Event.

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Greg Merson Leads 2012 WSOP Main Event Final Table; Sylvia, Balsiger Remain

http://cdn.wickedchopspoker.com/wp-c...inal-table.jpgThe final table played out as expected on Monday. Will Merson finish it off?

And then there were three.

The 2012 WSOP Main Event final table out the way many people expected on Monday night. Most pro’s pros expected Greg Merson to chip up and take the lead. He did, ending play as the big stack with188,350,000.

The chip leader at the start of play, Jesse Sylvia, avoided any Phillip Hilm-ish disasters and built his stack to162,750,000.

And the kid everyone thought could make a run, Jake Balsiger, made a run, ending play at146,875,000.

With that out of the way, here are the 12 STORYLINES WE’RE WATCHING FOR TONIGHT:

Phil Ivey showed up briefly, as much as he could be bothered, to root on Greg Merson on Monday. However, Michael Phelps, who was rumored to be in Merson’s cheering section, did not. Now that Merson is the chip leader with three left, will Phelps show?
Can Merson finish the drill, win the tournament, dethrone current leader Phil Hellmuth and capture 2012 WSOP Player of the Year honors?
What exactly is it about Jesse Sylvia that you people don’t like? We received many texts throughout the night to the effect of, “Not sure what it is but I don’t like Sylvia…” Anyone?
Why does Jake Balsiger make us think of this?
On that note, will Jake Balsiger do what we’d do if WE WENT TO ASU AND WERE 21 YEARS OLD AND A MULTI-MILLIONAIRE AT THE FINAL TABLE AND FLY IN THE HOTTEST SORORITY ON CAMPUS AND THREE WAY KISS MULTIPLE MEMBERS AFTER WINNING EVERY HAND. Seriously, why is he not doing this? He’d be an insta-legend. Get your shit together, Jakey.
Semi-related/less exciting, can Jake Balsiger become the youngest person to ever win the Main Event title?
Will whoever is the marketing genius at Ivey Poker who made the most illegible patch in the history of patches just get a thick black permanent marker, a piece of paper, write “IVEY POKER” in all caps and duct tape it onto Merson? Because that would look better than the patch he was wearing last night. Superman couldn’t read that shit.
Will Dennis Phillips be sitting in the front row on stage again for no apparent reason other than to mug for a little extra camera time?
Will Robert Salaburu come back and do media interviews, or be the only November Niner since Phil Ivey to entirely skip it?
Will Ty Stewart randomly invent a new rule like this was an episode of Bachelor Pad and insert Elisabeth1Hille or Gaelle1Baumann as a “wild card” at the final table?
On that note, with Hurricane Sandy either knocking out power or galvanizing people’s viewing attention, what will the rating be for last night’s broadcast?
Will PokerPROductions get it together and smooth out some of the1sloppiness1of the broadcast?

And that’s it for now. Final table is on ESPN prime time again tonight.

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http://feeds.feedburner.com/~r/Wicke...~4/uYZY_Y0P9dM

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Cassini: 15 Years of Exploration

http://saturn.jpl.nasa.gov/multimedi...6-th100-75.jpgA new video highlights sights and sounds from the Cassini's journey.

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Daily Pic # 1696, Voyager Ladies

http://www.treksinscifi.com/trekdail...ger_ladies.jpg

A great promotional pic of some of the lovely ladies from the early days of Voyager featuring (l to r): 1Roxann Dawson, Kate Mulgrew, and Jennifer Lien.

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