The biggest story at every World Series of Poker is always who will play well and who will struggle.

If you have a bad series, it can put you more than $100,000 in the hole, and not to mention, it can mess with your confidence for the rest of the year. Rarely do players have a bad series and bounce back later. The saddest day in poker is when you bust out of the main event — I can attest.

So for top story No. 2, we’ll look into the players who I predict will have a disappointing World Series of Poker:

Tom Dwan — Tournaments just aren’t his game, he thrives in situations facing people for big chunks of their bankrolls, and in tournaments, all players lose are their buy-ins.

Tony Poker is predicting a terrible series for Tom Dwan

In two years at the WSOP, he’s got just two cashes. Because of his new Full Tilt contract, Durrrr will likely be grinding in about 20 events, and I’ll guess the frustration will set in for him around the sixth or seventh event he plays in. Durrrr’s best chance for a big cash may be Event No. 35, the $10,000 Heads-Up No Limit Hold’em Championship. There’s almost no one better at heads-up poker.

David Williams — Caught lightning in a bottle at the WPT Five Star World Poker Classic, but I don’t see this 2004 Main Event runner-up doing anything substantial this series. He’s never cashed more than four times in a series.

Annie Duke — A lot of people are predicting this will be the year of the woman at the World Series of Poker. I have to agree, the problem is there are much more talented female poker players than Duke. If she has more than three cashes I’ll be amazed. You’re better off betting on good woman players like Vanessa Selbst and Liv Boeree.

Jeff Lisandro —Not that I think he’ll have that bad of a series, but there’s no way he’ll be able to recreate last year’s amazing three-bracelet performance. No where to go but down.

Ted Forrest — He’s one of the greatest gamblers around, but for some reason, his game has disappeared since 2008. Poker players have up-and-down years all the time, but I don’t like that Forrest hasn’t cashed in a single poker event since last year’s WSOP.

Chris Ferguson — I think this can go either way, but I’m leaning toward a rough series for Ferguson. He’s got the possible Full Tilt investigation on his mind, and he’s been filling his time with speaking engagements instead of poker.

Joe Cada —One cash in many tournaments since his Main Event win. Cada may be an online “pro” but he’s closer to Chris Moneymaker’s skill. I don’t see a Greg Raymer-esque run from Cada. But I’ve been wrong before.
Gus Hansen — He’s never been the same since 2008. Struggling online and in tournaments isn’t a good recipe for success entering the WSOP.

Tony G — He’ll probably play about five events.

Doyle Brunson — He already took the first part of 2010 off because of health concerns. As much as it pains me, I don’t see him having a good series because of this. Hopefully he’ll prove me wrong and make a final table or two, because he’s good for the game, and one of my favorite players of all time. I worry now that each series could be his last.

There’s one guarantee with this list: Not any or all of these predictions will be right. So you should probably bet $10 on each to win the Main Event.