Legendary investor T. Boone Pickens has picked up 10 million shares of Yahoo (NSDQ: YHOO), on the basis that betting on Carl Icahn is a good one. Pickens made the announcement in an interview with CNBC’s Becky Quick (via MarketWatch). Also on his side: abritrage specialist John Paulson, whose holdings were disclosed last week. And for all we know, there could be others all smelling the same blood.

For some context and background, Andrew Ross Sorkin profiles Icahn in today’s NYT discussing his strategy and what makes him tick: “He’s looking for a catalyst — something that will move the stock price. And he doesn’t care about understanding the intricacies of the business. His great talent is for smelling blood in the water first. ‘I used to be a poker player,’ he said. ‘I play the odds.’”

It’s no surprise then that he that he didn’t dither at all before making his move, picking up shares the first day after Microsoft (NSDQ: MSFT) withdrew its bid.

Update: According to Reuters, activist Dan Loeb has been accumulating shares and may acquire more. Last week his firm Thid Point disclosed relatively insignificant holdings of $29 million as of March 31. Word is he now owns about 5 million and may go up to 10 million. With all these guys circling the company, it’s getting harder and harder to see a path that involves the Yahoo as we now know it coming out unscathed on the other and.