Deeb in control at WPT Festa al Lago final

'It never gets old making money.'

With two titles and four final-table appearances on the WPT already, there's little doubt Freddy Deeb is the most experienced player to have booked one of the six seats at Festa al Lago's final table Sunday.

But the two-time World Series of Poker bracelet winner, who has more than $6.2 million in career tournament earnings, will come into Monday's fight for the title and $1.2 million first-place prize with something equally important - the chip lead.

"It never gets old making money," said the Lebanese-born American. "And I'm feeling very confident. I always feel confident. Otherwise I don't play. I really want to win though, and I'm definitely going to try my best."

The kind of player that constantly adjusts his game to best attack the players seated around him, Deeb said chip lead or not, that will be his plan at the final table.

"I'll just wait things out, see how it goes and see how they play," he said. "Every day is a different day."

Business owner and part-time poker player Shawn Cunix will come in just a few hundred thousand shy of Deeb's 3.8 million chip stack.

The Ohio native has close to $500,000 in career tournament earnings and while this is the biggest stage he's ever played on, he said he feels ready for it.

"I honestly will continue to play the game exactly like I have," he said. "I'm very confident that I'll do my best and whatever happens, happens."

The player currently sitting third in chips could very well be one of the hottest players in poker right now.

Vedes couldn't be any hotter right now.

New Yorker Tommy Vedes followed up a final-table appearance at the 2009 WSOP $1,500 Pot-Limit Omaha 8 event with a 19th-place finish in the Main Event.

Then he spent the late summer tearing up almost every tournament he played, final tabling the World Poker Open in Tunica, finishing 18th at WPT Cyprus and grabbing the early chip lead at PokerStars EPT London before fizzling out 54th.

"I think my game was always good," he said. "I just never really took a shot at playing big events before and I guess now it's showing. We'll see what happens tomorrow."

Veteran pro Craig Crivello sits right behind Vedes and with two WSOP final tables and three deep runs in the Main Event on his resume, stretching all the way back to 1995, it appears he's been on the verge of something big for a long time.

He believes experience could be the telling factor at this final table.

"I'm feeling pretty confident," he said. "Experience definitely helps. Some of these younger players have never been here before and I have.

"I know Freddy Deeb is an experienced veteran. Some of the other players though, (being on TV and playing for big money) may affect them a little, but I feel comfortable.

"We'll see what happens. I have to get some cards too. It doesn't matter how good you feel, you still have to get cards."

One of the younger players Crivello was referring to is 23-year-old Jason Lavallee, who came into the final 11 with a massive chip lead.

After a difficult play down to the final six, the Montreal, Quebec native will enter the TV final table fifth in chips in an attempt to put his fall from the top behind him.

Can the Canadian come back?

"I don't have as much room to maneuver as I wish I did," he said. "It was a tough day, obviously I took a lot of beats, but I still kept my composure and tried to not spew off too many chips.

"I'm just going to try to go out tomorrow with a fresh mind and not sweat too much over it."

Finally, the short stack at the table is 22-year-old Jason Burt, who is hoping a few years of online MTT and cash-game experience will be enough to keep him from being too shaky on the WPT stage.

"I've played a lot of tournaments, so hopefully I won't be too nervous," he said. "I've never been on TV before, except for some local stuff, so we'll see how it goes."

The final table will play out at the Bellagio in Las Vegas beginning at 4 p.m. PST.

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