The World Series of Poker history book is filled with stories of multiple wins, amazing cashes, and empty chairs, of bad beats and world-class drawouts, of piles of silver and crashed racecars. The 2008 WSOP should be no different.

Nick "The Takeover" Schulman exploded onto the poker scene when he won the 2005 World Poker Finals at Foxwoods, but the main reason that he ventured up to the Connecticut casino was to play cash games. Before he began playing tournament poker, he made his living as a cash-game player in New York City's underground poker clubs. Schulman, only 24 years old, already has amassed more than $3.3 million in tournament winnings and continues to prove that he is one of the game's most solid all-around players.

Erica Schoenberg has won nearly $600,000 in tournaments in the past two years. The former member of the MIT Blackjack Team is a recognizable face whenever she plays an event. The following hand took place at Caesars Palace in a $1,000 World Series of Poker Circuit preliminary event this April, and it provides an example of the "hero call" in action.

At only 27 years old, Gavin Griffin already holds one of the most impressive collections of poker's most prestigious titles. The former poker dealer won the $3,000 buy-in pot-limit hold'em event at the 2004 World Series of Poker, a win that, at the time, bestowed upon him the record as the youngest bracelet winner in history. Since then, he has accumulated more than $4.5 million in live tournament winnings, and made history again by winning the European Poker Tour Grand Final Championship, which boasted the biggest first-place prize in EPT history at the time, more than $2.4 million. Griffin continued his quest for major titles at the 2008 World Poker Tour Borgata Poker Classic, where he snagged a triple crown by winning the coveted WPT title and the $1.4 million first-place prize.

Massachusetts Congressman Thomas "Tip" O'Neill was no peacenik or Viet Cong sympathizer. Although his congressional district included 22 colleges, with more students and professors than any district in America, the majority of this burly Irish Democrat's votes came from the working-class precincts of Boston and Cambridge, where in the mid-1960s support for the war was close to unanimous. The result was that very few members of Congress spoke up for President Johnson's troop escalation more strongly.

As we huddle over the last few proofs for this issue, the 2008 World Series of Poker starts in just three days. While we anticipate a ton of noteworthy storylines to sink our teeth into this summer, the one topic that is dominating discussions before the first card is even dealt is the four-month delay for this year's main-event final table.

In the recent $25,000 World Poker Tour Championship, I made a weak play that cost me my last 40,000 in chips. First, let me say that I had wanted this tournament as much as I've wanted another World Series of Poker bracelet. The WPT Championship is prestigious, important, and filled with skilled players. It's one of the most highly sought-after titles in the poker world, along with the NBC National Heads-Up Poker Championship and, of course, WSOP bracelets.

There weren't many Americans (or even Englishmen, for that matter) in the Irish Open, so it was no wonder that once we drew for seats, I knew no one at my table. Most everyone seemed to know me, however, and this put me at a disadvantage on this particular day. One guy on my left decided that he was going to impress me, or was trying to show off -- I don't know which. But for the first few hours, every time I raised a pot, he reraised. And every time I just limped, he did, as well.

Some years back, I wrote a column about the exact same hand (Q-J suited) being played completely differently when dealt to me twice in three hands. Recently, I picked up K-K and A-A three hands apart, and as was the case with the Q-J suited, they played incredibly differently.