For anyone following the PokerStars Million Dollar Challenge, you couldn’t help but remember the poker-playing priest, Andrew Trapp.

The Father – known by his friends as “Father Rambo” due to his love of paintball – made his way through the first round of the competition by taking down NBA Champ John Salley, PokerStars pro Vanessa Rousso, and four-time WSOP bracelet winner Daniel Negreanu.

Sure, Negreanu gave a few handy hints to Trapp along the way, but his good nature and firm playing style eventually earned him the $100,000 prize money.

Now, with the final table just around the corner, and a cool $1 million on offer for the winner of the PokerStars event, here’s a couple of nifty videos of the Father calling to give the good news of his victory, and a clip of him taking down Negreanu with a top pair against a straight draw.

The final table of the PokerStars Million Dollar Challenge will air on December 27, and will see Kid Poker take on the likes of Father Trapp, Brian Barboza, and the winner of the final qualifier on December 13.

I have to tell you, I breathed a sigh of relief when Joe Cada cleaned up at the WSOP Main Event final table. Nothing against Darvin Moon, but another amateur winning the most prestigious poker tournament in the world would send the pros into a rage. It was frustrating enough to see him reach the final table and then actually be the one to take out Phil Ivey (yes, the bookies were right). If he had managed to take the title, I am not ashamed to say that there is a distinct possibility I’d have wept openly.

Joe Cada is another story entirely. Now the youngest ever poker pro to have won the WSOP Main Event, at just 21, a pattern looks to be emerging. Peter Eastgate only recently won the 2008 World Series of Poker at 22. Okay, two doesn’t really make a pattern, but it does resemble one and that’s all that’s needed to give poker a bit of an image change.

Now, it isn’t as if poker wasn’t already popular with young people. If it weren’t, is there any way we’d have seen Peter Eastgate or Joe Cada win? Nevertheless, many of poker’s biggest stars are middle-aged. There’s nothing wrong with that, but it is harder to draw younger people into online poker when practically every well-known professional player is 10 or 20 years older.

I think the younger stars – Phil Ivey, Tom Dwan, Peter Eastgate, Joe Cada and quite a few others – are the ones who bring in the future poker professionals, the ones who start practicing as soon as they are able to. A family man who discovers poker when he’s 35 or 40 just doesn’t seem likely to achieve the same level as an equally dedicated player who started when he or she was 18.

About the only better outcome for a WSOP Main Event would be for a female player to win. Seriously, I cannot wait until this happens, as I think it will bring an incredible numbers of new players. Unfortunately, a large influx of female players is probably necessary before that happens, just to improve the odds against the masses of male players. That’s not to say women can’t play poker just as well as men. It’s simply an acknowledgement that when the best player in the world can’t rely on winning the Main Event, it might take more than a lone female player with incredible skills to ensure a future female WSOP Main Event champion.

Joe Cada was recently signed by PokerStars, so if you’re interested in getting an opportunity to play with him, be sure to sign up for a real money PokerStars account. A 100% welcome bonus on deposits of up to $600 will help you to get started on honing your own poker skills. Just don’t drop out of college.

According to sportsbook and major news outlets, Darvin Moon is the favorite to win the final table of the 2009 WSOP Main Event, with +250 odds at BetUS. He is a logger from Maryland, which is no handicap to winning, but he also does not play online poker and only plays about 3 times a week. This is apparently all compensated for by his chip stack of 58,930,000 chips, an admittedly commanding lead considering the next closest player only has 34,800,000 chips.

What seems to be getting lost in all this is that the next player is Eric Buchman, who has 9 WSOP cashes for a total of $320,893 from that prestigious series alone. Further down in the chip counts are Phil Ivey, with 7 WSOP bracelets to his name and over $3 million in prize money from the WSOP, as well as Antoine Saout and James Akenhead who both recently played in the final table of the WSOP Europe Championship Event.

If you couldn’t tell, I seriously doubt that Darvin Moon will win the final table. I also don’t think he will finish last, as that chip lead is indeed formidable. What utterly boggles comprehension, however, is that BetUS has offered odds on which player will eliminate Full Tilt Poker’s Phil Ivey, and the favorite is still Darvin Moon at +300.

I’m sorry, but it’s one thing to believe that a massive chip stack, a bit of luck, and competent poker playing will win a tough final table against poker pros, but it’s another thing entirely to think that the least experienced player at the table is the most likely to bust out one of the greatest poker players in the world.

Let’s be realistic. I don’t think Darvin Moon will do so poorly he busts out first. I just don’t think his chip stack is enough of a reason to expect him to prevail against so many other tough competitors. If he pulls it off, I’ll be pleasantly surprised, as it’s always an interesting story to see an amateur get an WSOP win when up against seasoned pros. Having said that, I just happen to think that a victory by Moon should be considered an upset, not the expected outcome.

What do you think of Darvin Moon’s chances in the WSOP Main Event Final Table coming up in November? Do you think he will beat the likes of Phil Ivey and take the massive first place prize? Please discuss your opinion in the comments below.