Daily WSOP Photo(shop): Down the Stretch They Come!

With a mind-boggling three gold bracelets and a daunting 355 Player of the Year points, you'd think Jeffrey Lisandro would have the 2009 WSOP POY award sewn up by now.

You'd be wrong.

Granted, his rivals are fading fast. And you'd still be pretty stupid to bet against him. But it's not officially a done deal.

And, as we know in poker, stranger things have happened.

Couple factors still in play.

One, while in all previous years the Main Event was off limits for POY points, the WSOP braintrust has flipped the switch this year and the big one is now eligible for point gathering.

Two: never underestimate a rampaging Finn.

While few would argue Lisandro has put on one of the most dominating Stud performances in WSOP history, Ville Wahlbeck has hardly played second fiddle.

A win in the $10k Mixed Game World Championship, a second in the $10k 2-7 Draw Lowball World Championship and a third in the $10k Seven-Card Stud World Championship has more than proven Ville's mettle.

Top it off with a 13th-place finish in the $10k Omaha 8 World Championship, a 12th in the $2,500 Razz event and a seat at the final table of the $50k H.O.R.S.E. today, and it's no stretch to say Wahlbeck may be the true POY, official points notwithstanding.

All that, and he's still planning on quitting poker.

Nonetheless, Wahlbeck's set to make his final push as he battles it out with the short stack at the $50K.

He's guaranteed 35 POY points as it is, even if he busts first, which would still put him at 310 overall - just 45 behind Lisandro with the Main Event still to play. A win today gives him the outright lead; a 2nd puts him just 5 points back.

And how sick would that be for a Main Event subplot? He'd have to finish 7th to catch Lisandro (with no cash for the Iceman), but still.

Dominating summer for Ville. And don't doubt he's ready for a big Finnish (hiyo!).

Keep up to speed with Pokerlistings.com live updates here. For complete WSOP Player of the Year standings, check here.