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Sean Jazayeri is the 2012 LAPC Champion!

Wed, 31 Dec 1969 16:00:00 -0800

This tournament is over and Sean Jazayeri is the newest WPT Champion! Jazayeri receives the title, $1.37 million and the opportunity to get his photo taken alongside dealers, staff, fans and Royal Flush Girls.

The match was more or less decided by the flip of a coin. Luckily for Jazayeri he was on the winning side.

He five-bet all-in with A-K and got called by Sands with pocket queens. An ace on the flop was all it took to ship Jazayeri the majority of the chips in play.

Left with about 2.5 million to Jazayeri's 14 million, Sands three-bet shoved K-Q from the big blind a few hands later. He was insta-called by Jazayeri who held A-5.

The flop brought a king and a five, putting Sands temporarily in front, but the river put another five on the felt, giving Jazayeri trips and making his victory official.

We're about to brave the media scrum to ask our champion a few questions so check back soon for photos and quotes of the new LAPC champ, Sean Jazayeri.

Here are the full final table payouts.

1st: Sean Jazayeri - $1,370,240 2nd: David Sands - $806,370 3rd: Dan Kelly - $521,770 4th: Noah Schwartz - $355,750 5th: Jason Burt - $252,980 6th: Jason Somerville - $202,910

Victory Pics!

Check out these photos of the winner and check back in a few hours for the winner story with quotes.

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Jazayeri Doubles Big, Takes Lead - LAPC Final Table

Wed, 31 Dec 1969 16:00:00 -0800

Doc Sands looked to be in control of this match, until just moments ago.

Sean Jazayeri just won a massive preflop all-in race to cut Sands down to size and take a big step towards the winner's circle.

It was a five-bet shove from Jazayeri with A-K and a call from Sands with pocket queens that got the money in. An ace hit the flop and Sands was unable to redraw on the turn or river.

Jazayeri doubles to roughly 14 million while Sands is knocked down to 2.5 million.

Expect fireworks in the next few minutes.

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Kelly Out, Heads-Up Begins at LAPC Final Table

Wed, 31 Dec 1969 16:00:00 -0800

It’s only been about three hours since this final table started but we’re already down to heads-up play.

Dan Kelly is the unlucky player out in third, thanks to losing a big preflop all-in race against Doc Sands.

And it was a good thing for Sands he was the one to send Kelly packing, since he’ll need every chip he can get his hands on to wage one-on-one war with chip leader Sean Jazayeri.

Thanks to that pot Sands will enter the heads-up match with a slight chip lead over Sean Jazayeri.

Doc Sands – 9.47 million

Sean Jazayeri – 7 million

Dan Kelly Out in Third ($521,770)

Kelly 3-bet shoved from the big blind on his last hand, after Doc Sands had opened to 200k from the button. Kelly’s shove was for roughly 1.4 million total.

Sands thought for a moment before making the call and putting Kelly at risk.

Kelly: K♠ J♥

Sands: 2♥ 2♦

The board rolled out 4♥ 4♠#74♣ 3♥ and just like that Dan Kelly is out in third.

Dan Kelly takes $521,770 for third place at the 2012 WPT LA Poker Classic.

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The Doc Orders a Double-Up and New Pics - LAPC Final Table

Wed, 31 Dec 1969 16:00:00 -0800

We're still three handed here at the LA Poker Classic final table but David "Doc" Sands has managed to gain some ground with a key double-up moments ago.

Dan Kelly opened from the small blind and Sands moved all-in from the big blind. Kelly insta-called with A-8 and saw he was out in front against K-9.

A king on the flop turned the tables and bricks on the turn and river made Doc's double official.

Here are the new counts after that hand:

Sean Jazayeri - 9,680,000 David Sands - 4,190,000 Dan Kelly - 2,600,000

LAPC Final Table Picture Gallery

Feast your eyes on the latest photos we've got from the LAPC final table.

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Schwartz Out in Fourth - LAPC Final Table

Wed, 31 Dec 1969 16:00:00 -0800

We’ve barely been here for more than an hour and we’ve already lost half of this final table.

Noah Schwartz is the most recent bust, sent packing by his nemesis de jour Sean Jazayeri.

The blinds had just been raised to 40k/80k with a 10k ante when Jazayeri opened to 210k from under the gun. He got a call from Dan Kelly on the button.

Schwartz was on the button and three-bet shoved all-in. Jazayeri then re-shoved and Kelly got out of the way.

Schwartz: A♣ J♥

Jazayeri: K♣ K♥

The board ran out with no improvement to either hand and Noah Schwartz is out in fourth for $355,750.

New Counts

Sean Jazayeri is now in a commanding position. Check out the updated chip counts.

Sean Jazayeri – 9,830,000 Dan Kelly – 4,640,000 David Sands – 2,000,000

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The Final Jason Falls Fifth - LAPC Final Table

Wed, 31 Dec 1969 16:00:00 -0800

It’s a bad day to be named Jason as Jason Burt and Jason Somerville hit the rail, the first two eliminations this afternoon.

It’s much better to be named Sean Jazayeri. The man from Iran has smashed his way into the chip lead, taking a big pot from Noah Schwartz moments ago.

We’ve got the details on the bust below, plus an updated leaderboard, as four-handed play continues.

New Chip Counts

Here’s the updated counts for our final four players.

Sean Jazayeri – 7,525,000 Dan Kelly – 4,710,000 David Sands – 2,630,000 Noah Schwartz – 1,605,000

Burt Drowns in River (Ernie Heartbroken)

Jason Burt is out in fifth after he made the right decision for all his chips, but was rewarded only with a one-way ticket to the exit.

Burt opened from the small blind to 160k and got a call from Dan Kelly in the big blind.

The flop came down K♦ 4♥ 3♥ and Kelly check-called 180,000. The turn is the Q♠ and Kelly checks again, prompting a 370,000 bet from Burt.

But this time Kelly did not call. He check-shoved all-in. Kelly had Burt covered by about 600k.

Burt thinks for a moment before calling with K♥ J♣ and we see he’s in great shape against Kelly’s J♥ T♣.

But the river was an ace, nailing Kelly’s open-ender and making Jason Burt our official 5th place finisher.

He receives $252,980.

All That Jazayeri

Sean Jazayeri is playing poker and he’s making hands when he needs to. He’s now sitting on over 7.5 million, thanks in part to this hand against Noah Schwartz.

Jazayeri opened to 150k from the button and Schwartz called from the big blind.

The flop came down A♣ T♣ 8♣ and Schwartz check-called 180,000. The turn was the 2♥ and Schwartz check-calls again, this time for 400k.

The river was the 6♥ and the routine repeats itself: Check from Schwartz, bet 500k from Jazayeri, call from Schwartz.

Jazayeri tables A-K with the king of clubs for top pair top kicker.

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Bummer-Ville - Jason Somerville Busts in 6th

Wed, 31 Dec 1969 16:00:00 -0800

The pace of this final table was set in the first few hands as Both Jason Burt and Jason Somerville found themselves all-in.

The only difference was that while Burt doubled up, Somerville was sent packing in 6th place. The good news is that Somerville will take $202,910 for his trouble.

Read on for the details on those hands and the new counts.

No Jasons Allowed (We're Allowed One)

Jason Somerville is out of this tournament, meaning Jason Burt no longer has to share a name with anyone at the table.

On just the second hand of play Jason Somerville open-shoved from under the gun for 820,000 and Sean Jazayeri makes the call from the button.

Somerville: 8♣ 8♦

Jazayeri: A♦ Q♦

The flop and turn were safe for Somerville, who was at risk of elimination, but the river brought a queen, giving Jazayeri the best hand and knocking Somerville out in 6th.

He takes just over $200k.

Last Remaining Jason Doubles Up

We were at risk of losing our only remaining Jason but fans of the name can take a breath and relax, Jason Burt has doubled up.

Burt open-shoved for a little less than a million from the button holding A-Q and got called by Noah Schwartz with K-Q.

The board ran out with no help for Schwartz and Burt doubles up to just over 2 million.

New Chip Counts

Here's a look at the chips after those two hands.

Seat 1: Sean Jazayeri - 5,170,000 Seat 2: Jason Burt - 2,025,000 Seat 3: Dan Kelly - 2,450,000 Seat 5: Noah Schwartz - 2,845,000 Seat 6: David Sands - 3,980,000

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The Final Playdown - LAPC Final Table

Wed, 31 Dec 1969 16:00:00 -0800

The final table of this year's WPT LA Poker Classic plays to a winner today and with two WSOP bracelet winners, a former WPT Champion and a player with over over $4.8 million in lifetime earnings.

It's safe to say this will be a hotly contested title.

We've still got a few hours before the cards hit the felt so we're taking that opportunity to introduce you to the players.

Before we leave tonight one of these players will walk away with a WPT title and over $1.37 million. Click here for the full LAPC payout structure.

Levels at the final table will be one hour and we’ll be starting at 30k/60k with a 10k ante.

So without further ado, meet the players:

Seat 1 - Sean Jazayeri - 4,380,000

Bellevue, Washington native Sean Jazayeri enters the final table as chip leader after eliminating David "The Dragon" Pham in 8th place with aces against kings.

And while Jazayeri has a solid list of live cashes totaling over $160k, he's already guaranteed to blow his previously biggest cash of $48k out of the water with today's payouts starting at over $202,000.

Jason Burt

Sean Jazayeri is first in chips with 73 big blinds.

Seat 2 – Jason Burt – 835,000

This isn’t the first time Jason Burt has made it to a WPT final table.

He finished fifth at Festa al Lago in 2009 for over $208,000, meaning if he makes it to fifth or better he’ll have a new personal record for biggest cash.

Burt also made a final table at a $10,000 buy-in WSOP Circuit regional championship back in 2010.

Burt is last in chips with 835,000, roughly 13 big blinds.

Seat 3 – Dan Kelly – 2,570,000

Dan Kelly was a legend online before his breakout performance at the 2010 WSOP.

Kelly had small live results stretching back as far as 2007 but people really took notice when he won the $25k Heads-Up championship at the Series in Las Vegas.

Kelly took $1.31 million for that win and since then he’s racked up another few hundred thousand dollars in results.

Online Kelly plays as djk123 and has earned over $5.1 million playing tournaments, including three WCOOP titles.

Kelly enters the final table fourth in chips with roughly 42 big blinds.

Jason Somerville

Seat 4 – Jason Somerville – 840,000

Jason Somerville has a slew of live tournament results totaling over $1.7 million, including a WSOP bracelet in 2011.

Somerville also has a storied career playing online tournaments under the screenname JCarver, with over $2.1 million in winnings.

Somerville has had a very unique couple of weeks and is looking for his biggest live cash here today. And if he does win he’ll be one step closer to winning poker’s Triple Crown.

Somerville enters the table second last in chips with 14 big blinds.

Seat 5 – Noah Schwartz – 3,835,000

Noah Schwartz has been a fixture on the live tournament circuit for the last few years and with this final table he’s broken the $1 million mark in WPT earnings.

Currently ranked 28th on the Global Poker Index, Schwartz has over $1.9 million in live tournament winnings.

Originally from Miami, Schwartz played online as fouruhaters and has won over $780,000 playing tournaments on the internet.

Schwartz heads into the final table third in chips with 63 big blinds.

Seat 6 – David “Doc” Sands – 4,010,000

David “Doc” Sands has been crushing tournament poker for years and has to be the odds-on favorite to walk away with this title.

Over $2.8 million in online tournament winnings and $1.95 million in live earnings, Sands is most recently known for making a deep run in the WSOP Main Event alongside girlfriend Erika Moutinho.

The couple went out in 29th and 30th, both earning $242,000 and change.

Sands went on a massive heater late last night, getting lucky with pocket sevens against tens and queens all-in preflop to survive the final table bubble.

He went on to knock out Allen Carter, who had the queens in the above hand, to finish second in chips with roughly 66 big blinds.

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LAPC Final Set - Sands, Kelly, Somerville, Schwartz Headline

Wed, 31 Dec 1969 16:00:00 -0800

The final table of this year’s WPT LA Poker Classic is set and while Sean Jazayeri is in the lead, the limelight is shining on four big names.

East Coast rounder Noah Schwartz, WSOP bracelet winners Jason Somerville and Dan Kelly, plus online tournament crusher David “Doc” Sands represent the star power at the table while Jason Burt fills up the sixth seat.

Sands has had the swingiest day we’ve seen in a long time, going from the brink of bubbling the final table to second in chips in just a few short hands. Keep reading for the rest of that story.

And even though tomorrow’s roster is strong, we had to say goodbye to a few players we would have loved to see in the final six.

2005 world champion Joe Hachem went out in 12th, and seven-time WPT final tablist David Pham went out in 8th.

For the full rundown of the day’s action simply scroll down the page, but you’ll be able to find the details on the final elimination of the day in this update, plus the official chip counts.

Action begins tomorrow at 4pm and PokerListings.com will be there to ship you updates until we have a winner.

Jason Somerville is gunning for his first WPT title.

Official Final Table Chip Counts

Sean Jazayeri – 4,380,000 David Sands – 4,010,000 Noah Schwartz – 3,850,000 Dan Kelly – 2,570,000 Jason Somerville – 840,000 Jason Burt – 835,000

Carter Gets Got (7th)

Former WPT champion Allen Carter is out on the bubble, and he got unlucky to go out.

The deciding hand was the same one that put David Sands back in this tournament, and it was a sight to behold.

It was a massive three-way all-in with queens for Carter, pocket tens for Dan Kelly and pocket sevens for Sands. It looked like Sands would be our final-table bubble boy but the deck had other plans.

A seven was all it took to triple up Sands and knock Carter down to about 1.2 million.

A few hands later Sands opened from the button with pocket jacks and Carter shoved from the big blind with pocket eights. Sands called and the board ran out with no improvement to either hand.

Allen Carter is out in 7th place, taking $155,480.

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Pham Exit Starts Final Table Bubble - LAPC

Wed, 31 Dec 1969 16:00:00 -0800

With seven players left we are on the final table bubble, and sadly it was David “The Dragon” Pham that went out in 8th to make it possible.

Since we last checked in we’ve lost four players and we’ve got the details on two of them below.

Pham’s exit was nothing extraordinary, just a case of running kings into aces preflop for all his chips, pretty standard really.

The other bustications have a little more depth.

Sean Jazayeri was the benefactor of the Dragon’s bust and thanks to those pocket aces he’s now the chip leader with roughly 6 million. Sitting in second is WSOP bracelet winner Dan Kelly with just over 3 million.

The rest of the pack is sitting below the 2 million mark but we’ve got full chip counts below, along with the aforementioned eliminations.

The New Counts

Sean Jazayeri – 4,635,000 Dan Kelly – 4,200,000 Noah Schwartz – 3,850,000 Jason Somerville – 1,250,000 David Sands – 1,050,000 Allen Carter – 735,000 James Burt – 695,000

Two Kings Slay Dragon

Some hands just play themselves but judging by how much thought David Pham put into this hand, there might be a chance he was actually thinking of folding.

Sean Jazayeri opened to 100k and Pham re-popped to 350k from the big blind. Jazayeri was in middle position and put in a fourth bet to 950,000. Pham tanked for a few minutes before shipping it in for around 2.1 million.

Jazayeri insta-called and it was obvious he had aces. Pham had kings. The board offered zero sweat and Pham is gone in 8th for $110,680.

Stephen Chidwick Busts in 9th

Stephen Chidwick was the first one to hit the exit after the final table of nine was seated, getting it in bad with pocket nines against James Burt’s pocket jacks.

Burt open-shoved for roughly 850,000 and Chidwick called off for just a little less. The board touched neither hand and Chidwich takes $79,060 for 9th.

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As the Chips Turn: Somerville Takes Lead! - LAPC

Wed, 31 Dec 1969 16:00:00 -0800

The pace of eliminations may have slowed but one thing they're not doing at the LAPC is playing it safe.

A big pot just developed between former chip leader David Sands and new chip leader Jason Somerville.

You might be able to guess who came out on the right end.

Jason Dewitt opened the action with a raise and Somerville reraised in the small blind.

Sands shoved right over the top from the big and got a fold from Dewitt but Somerville called.

Sands's tens were in trouble against Somerville's kings and the board changed nothing.

Somerville's tweet report:

Doubled kk thru docsands tt. Got like 3.5m. 16.5m in play. 12 left

Somerville rocketed up to 3.5 million while Sands shrunk to 500k.

With just 12 big blinds left, Sands could be moving through the hourglass and on the rail shortly.

Hachem Hits the Bricks

Beating Sands to the rail is former WSOP Main Event champ Joe Hachem who open-shoved his last 700k from the button with eights.

Sean Jazayeri coincidentally found nines in the big blind and made the call.

The board ran out with no help for Hachem and his LAPC is over.

As Hachem tweeted:

Finished 12th, ran 88 into 99. For 15 bbs :( will talk more later

Hach marked for 12th.

He'll hit the cage and collect $60,610 for his solid 12th-place finish.

Top 6 Gets Shuffled

The huge pot between Somerville and Sands has had the most effect on the top 6 but the power has shifted over the last hour for a few players.

Here's the current top six as per the WPT with five more eliminations to go before it becomes official:

1. Jason Somerville 3,445,000

2. Sean Jazayeri 2,650,000

3. David Pham 2,585,000

4. Dan Kelly 2,020,000

5. Allen Carter 1,770,000

6. Noah Schwartz 1,350,000

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Sands Asserts Control - LAPC

Wed, 31 Dec 1969 16:00:00 -0800

The eliminations slowed over the last hour but it certainly wasn’t for lack of trying as numerous players managed the pivotal double up.

Dan “djk123” Kelly’s grasp on the chip lead only lasted one level as David “Doc” Sands rocketed to the top with just over three million chips.

A lot of players have essentially traded chip stacks as Joe Hachem managed a big double up through Sean Jazayeri and Jason Somerville did the same against Jason Dewitt.

Somerville had sevens to Dewitt’s fours. The sevens held and Somerville doubled up to 1.1 million chips.

As Somerville tweeted:

Dbld! Won 77 vs 44 aipf. Got 1.08m now. Still 13 left

Meanwhile Hachem had the fortune of picking up pocket aces to Jazayeri’s pocket kings. After a dry board Hachem doubled up to 1.4 million chips.

Jazayeri was not the most well known player in the final 18 but he’s certainly shown no fear of gambling as the final table approaches.

The last level was limited to just one bustout as Elvis Huynh hit the rail in 13th place.

Huynh received $47,430 for his efforts.

Here’s a look at the top 10 chip counts courtesy of WPT.com as we enter the next level of play:

David Sands – 3.1 million Dan Kelly – 2.2 million David Pham – 1.7 million Sorel Mizzi – 1.5 million Jason Somerville – 1.4 million Jason Burt – 1.3 million Noah Schwartz – 1.1 million Jason Dewitt – 960,000 Joe Hachem – 865,000 Sean Jazayeri – 840,000

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Dan Kelly Cracks Three Million - LAPC

Wed, 31 Dec 1969 16:00:00 -0800

The man they call djk123 became the first player to crack the three million-chip mark in the last level of play at the LAPC.

Dan Kelly has since fallen down to 2.7 million chips but he’s more than 600,000 ahead of his David Sands, his closest competitor.

Meanwhile serial qualifier Stephen Chidwick is making a serious drive to reach the top of the chip counts as he’s up to 1.7 million.

It’s been going the other way for Noah Schwartz, who’s down to 1.6 million.

The final table is getting dangerously close with just seven more eliminations to set the final six. Who wants it more?

Here’s a look at the latest action from the tournament floor.

A.J. Jejelowo Busts with A-J

Was A.J. Jejelowo named after Ace-Jack?

He better hope not because it was that hand that led to his ultimate demise here at the LAPC.

Jejelowo opened for 55,000, David Sands moved in for 1.6 million and Jejelowo made the call. It wasn’t the worst call as Sands flipped over 8♣ 8♠ for a coin flip.

Unfortunately the flip didn’t go Jejelowo’s way.

Sands is up to 1.9 million after the hand while Jejelowo picks up $47,430 for finishing in 14th place.

Wilson Skips Out

Skip Wilson just hit the end of the line in his tournament. The savvy veteran was playing from the short stack and got it all-in with a less-than-ideal 9-6 off.

Sean Jazayeri, who’s had some incredible swings today, called with A♥ 3♥.

It was the right call as there were no surprises the rest of the way.

Wilson is the first player to benefit from a pay jump today as he’ll receive $47,430 for coming in 15th place.

Leaderboard

Here are the top 10 chip counts according to WPT.com:

Dan Kelly – 2,750,000 David Sands – 2,100,000 Noah Schwartz – 1,630,000 Stephen Chidwick – 1,510,000 David Pham – 1,340,000 Jason Dewitt – 1,300,000 Sorel Mizzi – 1,220,000 Jason Burt – 1,100,000 Sean Jazayeri – 1,000,000 Jason Somerville – 670,000

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Mizzi Rising, Idema and Binger Out - LAPC

Wed, 31 Dec 1969 16:00:00 -0800

Dan Kelly has overtaken the chip in the first level on Day 5 of the LAPC but he better watch out because Sorel Mizzi is surging.

The Toronto-native, who was down to just 700 chips on Day 3, has doubled up and knocked two players out all in the first level of play. He’s up to 1.8 million and looking like a serious threat to make the final table.

Noah Schwartz hasn’t made any huge mistakes yet, however, and is now sitting on about 2 million chips.

In other news were down to 15 players as the final table is now nine players away. Hold on tight as the action refuses to let up at the Commerce.

Here’s a look at the notable incidents from the last hour:

Idema Goes Down

The penultimate day of the 2012 LAPC just got a lot less Canadian with the fall of Vancouverite Dan Idema.

It was once again Sorel Mizzi who did the damage as Idema got his short stack all in with J♠ 3♠ to Mizzi’s Q♥ Q♦.

The board didn't help and Idema was gone.

Idema has come painfully close to making the final table of two major events this year as he finished in eighth place at the 2012 Aussie Millions Main Event. The Aussie Millions final table is played out seven-handed.

He receives $39,530 for coming in 16th place.

The better Binger?

Binger Banged

Sorel Mizzi is a one-man wrecking crew here at the LAPC.

His latest casualty is recent WSOP bracelet winner Nick Binger who decided to call off his stack with AK to Mizzi’s nines.

It was a classic race situation and this time the pair proved faster as Mizzi dodged any aces or kings.

Binger didn't seem too busted up by it however per his tweet:

Busted 17th in LAPC Main. AK<99 with 35bb vs Sorel. First tourny back after 3 months off, happy with my play & had fun playing the pokers

Nick, who’s brother is 2006 WSOP Main Event third place finisher Michael Binger, ends up finishing in 17th place for $39,530.

Mizzi was up to 1.8 million chips after the hand.

Martirosian Falls First

The lesser-known Shahen Martirosian is the first casualty here on Day 5.

Martirosian was extremely short and 3-bet shoved for 127,000 against Dan Kelly in his final hand.

Martirosian had 9♣ 8♣ and couldn't beat Kelly's K♠ 7♣.

He picked up $39,530 for his efforts while Dan Kelly is simply flying in the early stages of Day 5 with 2.3 million.

Mizzi Strikes Early

Online superstar Sorel Mizzi wasted no time getting started here on Day 5 of the LAPC.

In one of the first hands of the day Sean Jazayeri opened a pot for 55,000 from early position and Mizzi 3-bet to 112,000.

Jazayeri re-raised to 200,000 and that was enough to prompt a 700,000-chip shove from Mizzi. Jazayeri called but likely regretted it when Mizzi showed his hand.

Mizzi: K♥ K♠

Jazayeri: 9♣ 9♥

Things went from bad to worse for Jazayeri when a king hit on the flop. There were no miracles for Jazayeri on the turn or the river and that was enough to give Mizzi the checkmark.

You could almost hear the field groan as Mizzi, arguably one of the best players left in the tournament, is suddenly amongst the chip leaders with 1.4 million chips.

Leaderboard

Here are the top 10 chip counts courtesy of WPT.com:

Dan Kelly – 2,370,000 Noah Schwartz – 2,030,000 Sorel Mizzi – 1,800,000 Jason Dewitt – 1,480,000 A.J. Jejelowo – 1,300,000 Stephen Chidwick – 1,290,000 David Pham – 1,120,000 Jason Somerville – 880,000 Sean Jazayeri – 770,000 Elvis Huynh – 710,000

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Schwartz, Hachem, Kelly Look for Final Table as Day 5 Begins - LAPC

Wed, 31 Dec 1969 16:00:00 -0800

It’s Day 5 of the 2012 WPT LAPC and the final 18 players all have a shot at making it into the final six.

One thing is all but guaranteed: We’re going to have a good final table.

The final 18 players are headlined by an elite group of grinders including Noah Schwartz, Dan Kelly, Jason Dewitt, Jason Somerville, David Pham, David “Doc” Sands, Joe Hachem and Sorel Mizzi.

That’s not even including other notable players like Nick Binger, Dan Idema and Stephen Chidwick.

It’s one of the most talented groups of players we’ve ever seen on Day 5 of a major tournament and the play down to the final table should be riveting.

Noah Schwartz has the chip lead with 1.77 million but online superstar Dan “djk123” Kelly is right behind him with 1.74 million.

Stephen Chidwick, Jason Dewitt, Jason Somerville, David Pham, David “Doc” Sands and Joe Hachem are all in the top 10 so they have a great chance to make the final table.

Here's how the chip stacks look at the start of the day:

1. Noah Schwartz 1,770,000

2. Dan Kelly 1,749,000

3. A.J. Jejelowo 1,573,000

4. Stephen Chidwick 1,450,000

5. Jason Dewitt 1,182,000

6. Sean Jazayeri 1,125,000

7. Jason Somerville 1,025,000

8. David Pham 855,000

9. David "Doc" Sands 819,000

10. Joe Hachem 700,000

11. Elvis Huynh 675,000

12. Skip Wilson 625,000

13. Jason Burt 609,000

14. Sorel Mizzi 600,000

15. Allen Carter 580,000

16. Nick Binger 565,000

17. Daniel Idema 433,000

18. Shahen Martirosian 226,000

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Schwartz Holds On for Day 4 Chip Lead - LAPC

Wed, 31 Dec 1969 16:00:00 -0800

A great day for Noah Schwartz has been capped off with a slight slip but a hold on the chip lead as the final 18 players have been set.

Schwartz lost a small chunk of his stack in the last level of the night when he doubled up David "Doc" Sands but with 1,770,000 he'll start the day tomorrow on top.

He'll have only a smalle edge on second-place Dan "djk123" kelly, who built most of his big stack early in the day and cruised to the finish with 1,749,000.

Seven Players up Over a Million in Chips

Five other players will join Schwartz and Kelly with 1 million+ chips to start the day and one of them is A.J Jejelowo.

Jumping up over the magic number in a big hand against Jason Somerville earlier, Jejelowo lost some of that back to Schwartz but gained it all back and then some by the end of the night.

Jejelowo will start tomorrow in third with 1,573,000.

Brit Stephen Chidwick, Jason Dewitt, Sean Jazayeri and Somerville are the others over a million.

Roller coaster for Mizzi.

Mizzi Slides Back, Sands Slides Up, Hachem Steady On

Despite hitting the million mark today, Sorel Mizzi won't start there tomorrow.

He duffed off a few hundred thousand in pots versus Elvis Huynh and Chidwick to settle back down to below average in chips at 600,000.

After having just 700 chips at one point yesterday, he'll surely take it.

Sands, who began the day near the 250k mark and stayed there for most of it has flipped his own mizzi switch and rocketed back up the leaderboard.

He peaked at around 920,000 in chips with a double up from Schwartz late in the level.

In the hand Sands raised preflop, Schwartz reraised and Sands shoved for around 445k.

Schwartz tanked and called with 9♣ 9♦ but Sands had Q♠ Q♥ and held for the double.

He'll start tomorrow just under average at 819,000 - slightly ahead of Joe Hachem with 700,000.

The Top 18

Players have now guaranteed themselves at least $39,530 but will be looking for much more with $1.3 million on the table for first.

Action kicks off from Commerce Casino tomorrow and noon and they'll play down to a final table of six.

Here's how they'll start:

1. Noah Schwartz 1,770,000

2. Dan Kelly 1,749,000

3. A.J. Jejelowo 1,573,000

4. Stephen Chidwick 1,450,000

5. Jason Dewitt 1,182,000

6. Sean Jazayeri 1,125,000

7. Jason Somerville 1,025,000

8. David Pham 855,000

9. David "Doc" Sands 819,000

10. Joe Hachem 700,000

11. Elvis Huynh 675,000

12. Skip Wilson 625,000

13. Jason Burt 609,000

14. Sorel Mizzi 600,000

15. Allen Carter 580,000

16. Nick Binger 565,000

17. Daniel Idema 433,000

18. Shahen Martirosian 226,000

Final Bustouts of the Evening

19. Sergey Pevzner $34,260

20. Casey Stewart $34,260

21. Barry Woods $34,260

22. Bob Bounahra $34,260

23. Joe Tehan $34,260

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Huge Hand Gives Schwartz Chip Lead – LAPC

Wed, 31 Dec 1969 16:00:00 -0800

Noah Schwartz, known in some circles as McLovin for his resemblance to the Superbad character, has just taken the chip lead in a huge hand with Larry Lipman.

Schwartz raised from late position and Lipman 3-bet from the big blind to 102k.

Schwartz called. The flop came 5♣ 4♣ 3♠ and Lipman bet out for 130k.

Schwartz bumped it to 284k and Lipman reraised to 484k before Schwartz shoved for slightly under 1 million.

Lipman went into the tank for a bit before emerging with a call – and AK!

Schwartz showed Lipman how bad his situation looked when he flipped over threes for the flopped set.

A four on the turn improved Schwartz to a full house but it wasn’t needed.

Schwartz dragged the huge pot and becomes the first player to hit the 2 million mark.

Lipman has to settle for a 27th-place finish and $34,260.

Recent Bustouts

24. Tyson Marks $34,260

25. Tom Marchese $34,260

26. Paul Lieu $34,260

27. Larry Lipman $34,260

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Play On! No Dinner Break, Final Table Re-Draw - LAPC

Wed, 31 Dec 1969 16:00:00 -0800

With Michael Aron's bustout in 28th, the dinner break will be passed on tonight and they'll play right through until 18 are left.

The final 27 players have hit the redraw for the last three tbales and this is how they landed:

Table 1

1. Tom Marchese - 400,000

2. Noah Schwartz - 885,000

3. Jason Burt - 200,000

4. Paul Lieu - 180,000

5. Elvis Huynh - 280,000

6. Larry Lipman - 1,060,000

7. Sergey Pevzner - 340,000

8. Sorel Mizzi - 1,040,000

9. Nick Binger - 710,000

Table 2

1. Skip Wilson - 290,000

2. Joe Hachem - 485,000

3. Daniel Idema - 725,000

4. David Pham - 500,000

5. Barry Woods - 280,000

6. Sean Jazayeri - 1,040,000

7. Joe Tehan - 430,000

8. Shahen Martirosian - 180,000

9. Jason Dewitt - 715,000

Table 3

1. A.J. Jejelowo - 1,000,000

2. Dan Kelly - 1,600,000

3. David Sands - 255,000

4. Jason Somerville - 775,000

5. Badih Bounahra - 175,000

6. Tyson Marks - 270,000

7. Casey Stewart - 950,000

8. Allen Carter - 310,000

9. Stephen Chidwick - 815,000

To watch the action at the feature table with Schwartz, Marchese, Mizzi and Binger, visit LAPCLive.

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Mizzi Hits Million-Chip Mark - LAPC

Wed, 31 Dec 1969 16:00:00 -0800

Sorel Mizzi's LA story got even better last level.

Having at one time been down to just 1/3 of a blind, Mizzi made a rapid climb up the charts today to join the chip leaders and now he’s passed another milestone – the 1-million chip mark.

He used some of Joe Tehan’s chip to get there, getting Tehan to fold to a river bet with about 500k in the pot.

Mizzi is up to 1,040,000 in chips.

Mizzi seems to be enjoying the ride as well - at least based on his latest tweets including:

A milly, a milly! #mashedpotatoes #rice and #cornonthecob yumyum

Oh hi 850k. #mashedpotatoes #withasideofrice

He may not get a dinner break to enjoy the starch as they'll play straight down to 18 tonight if they reach 27 players by the end of the next level.

Right now they're at 28.

A.J likes the A-Q.

Jejelowo Joins Mizzi in Millionaireville

WSOP-C main event winner A.J Jejelowo also topped the million-chip mark by taking a big share of former chip leader Jason Somerville’s stack the last level.

In the tide-turning pot, Jejelowo bet 40k on a flop of A♦ Q♣ T♠ and Somerville raised to 95k. Jejelowo called to see the T♦ turn.

Both players checked and the river came Q♠.

Jejelowo bet 250k and Somerville called only to muck when A.J. showed A♥ Q♦ for the full house.

The medical researcher from Rice University moved up to 1,000,000 while Somerville dropped back to 320k

Kelly Keeps Lead

Dan "djk123" Kelly is still your chip leader.

According to his tweets, it involved some good fortune earlier:

Sucked out for a huge pot. Up to 1.3 mill with 36 left. 5k/10k blinds

Whatever does the trick we say.

Top 5 counts below:

1. Dan Kelly 1,600,0002. Larry Lipman 1,060,0003. Sorel Mizzi 1,040,0004. Sean Jazayeri 1,020,0005. A.J. Jejelowo 1,000,000

Bustifications

As always, some players had to go last level and these are them. On the upside, they will be paid for their four days of work.

30. Ognjen Sekularac - $28,990

31. Robert Nahorayan - $28,990

32. David Baker - $28,990

33. Brandon Meyers - $28,990

34. Xuan Nguyen - $28,990

35. Jamie Shaevel - $28,990

36. Mikhail Timoshin - $28,990

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The Great Tuan Phan Implosion – LAPC

Wed, 31 Dec 1969 16:00:00 -0800

Tuan Phan entered Day 4 of the 2012 as the chip leaders with 1.1 million chips.

Just under three hours later he’s exhausted every one of those chips and is now on the rail.

Phan got off to a very rough start by doubling both Jason Dewitt and Skip Wilson early. Phan was suddenly working with a very average stack and it didn’t take long for him to get it in the middle.

His final hand was indicative of his entire Day 4. Phan got it all-in for 500,000 pre-flop with A-K and Sean Jazayeri made the easy call with pocket aces.

Phan failed to improve and hit the rail in 43rd place. He picks up $23,720 for his efforts but that’s obviously well short of the $1.3 million dedicated to first place.

Meanwhile the player that busted him, Sean Jazayeri, is suddenly near the top of the chip counts with over a million.

In other news we’re down to 34 players. Here’s a look at several other notable happenings in the last level of playing including the amazing resurgence of Sorel Mizzi.

Sorel Mizzi

Mizzi Mystifies the Field

Sorel Mizzi is making an incredible comeback at the 2012 LAPC.

Down to just 700 chips at one point yesterday, Mizzi is one of the hottest players on Day 4 and has chipped his way up to 890,000 chips here on Day 4.

Mizzi recently busted Bryce Yockey when he got all-in with A♦ Q♣ to Yockey’s 8♣ 8♠.

A queen came in the window and the ladies are kind to Mizzi as his queens take the pot.

Chidwick Slows Hachem

Serial qualifier Stephen Chidwick just put the brakes on Joe Hachem’s current run.

Hachem and Chidwick got all the chips in the middle with Hachem holding A♣ T♣ to Chidwick’s pair of eights.

The board bricked and Chidwick’s doubled up to 250,000 chips while Hachem tumbled down to 370,000.

Elimination Station

Larry Greenberg, Andy Phan, Randy Gill, Seth Fischer, Kenny Shih and Ron Jenkins have all been eliminated.

Leaderboard

Here’s a look at the top 10 chip counts courtesy of WPT.com:

Dan Kelly – 1.4 million Sean Jazayeri – 1 million Stephen Chidwick – 990,000 Sorel Mizzi – 890,000 Jason Somerville – 787,000 Larry Lipman – 765,000 A.J. Jejelowo – 695,000 Noah Schwartz – 680,000 Dan Idema – 670,000 Casey Stewart – 665,000

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Hachem, Baker Making Moves – LAPC

Wed, 31 Dec 1969 16:00:00 -0800

With one level down here at the 2012 LAPC (two if you count the three-minutes that remained in Level 17) no one is pulling their punches.

Nine players have hit the rail including online studs Matt Marafioti, Christian Harder and Amit Makhija.

Joe Tehan and Jason Somerville continue to rule the roost with 820,000 and 765,000 chips respectively but Joe Hachem and David Baker have been rapidly moving up the chip counts.

Amazingly Tuan Phan, who began with the chip lead, is down to a fraction of his stack after a very rough start.

We enter Level 19 with 45 players left. Here’s a look at some of the notable hands over the last hour:

Hachem Busts Patel, Looking Dangerous

Former World Champion Joe Hachem is building steam as we approach the end of the first level.

The Melbourne-native doubled through Bryce Yockey and then busted Kunal Patel to build his stack to over 500,000.

Patel shoved for 94,000 with A♥ J♥ and Hachem called with a dominating A♣ K♦.

There was a king on the flop and that was more than enough to give Patel his walking papers.

Patel picked up $21,080 for his efforts.

Christian Harder

Harder Goes Soft

There’s been a flurry of eliminations early and uber-talented online grinder Christian Harder busted to another extremely talented online player.

WSOP bracelet winner Dan “djk123” Kelly beat Harder with A-K over Harder’s A-J. Harder didn’t get any help from the board and ended up hitting the rail in 53rd place for $21,080.

Harder recently finished second at the World Poker Finals in Foxwoods for $248k but will have to wait another day for his first WPT title.

ADZ Counts to 1... 2… Busted

Matt “ADZ124” Marafioti always seems to play well at the LAPC with an eight place finish in 2009 and a 17th place finish last year but he won’t get a sniff of the final table this year.

Marafioti had the misfortune of flopping a set of eights against Bryce Yockey who turned a straight. Marafioti shoved the turn and Yockey made the easy call with the nuts.

There were no surprises on the rail and Marafioti recorded another cash at the LAPC, although this time it’s only for $21,080.

Eliminati

James Maltz, Amit Makhija, Gordon Vayo and Jordan Lewis have all been eliminated.

Leaderboard

Here’s a look at the top 10 chip leaders courtesy of our friends at WPT.com:

Joe Tehan – 820,000 Jason Somerville – 765,000 Casey Stewart – 700,000 Sean Jazayeri – 660,000 Sergey Pevzner – 650,000 Larry Lipman – 637,000 Larry Greenberg – 570,000 David Sands – 560,000 Noah Schwartz – 555,000 Joe Hachem – 555,000

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Phan, Somerville Lead as LAPC Day 4 Begins

Wed, 31 Dec 1969 16:00:00 -0800

The cards are minutes away from hitting the felt on Day 4 of the 2012 LA Poker Classic and Tuan Phan is in the lead.

Phan is the only player with over 1 million chips right now, but he's got a pack of hungry poker hounds hot on his heels.

Jason Somerville is in second with 860,000 and former WPT champion Joe Tehan is sitting in third.

Sadly last night ended with the elimination of Phil Ivey on the exact money bubble. The good news is that everyone who's still got a stack is guaranteed to get paid.

Also still in with a chance at Wednesday's final table are Noah Schwartz, Tom Marchese, David Sands, Nick Binger, Tyson Marks, Matt Marafioti, David Pham and Sorel Mizzi.

Click here for the official start of day LAPC chip counts.

PokerListings.com will be on scene all day shipping you live coverage so keep it locked right here to see who will make it through to the big money waiting at the final table.

The Leaderboard

Tuan Phan - 1,140,000 Jason Somerville - 860,000 Joe Tehan - 831,500 Casey Stewart - 791,000 Larry Greenberg - 707,000

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Ivey Out on Bubble as LAPC Day 3 Ends

Wed, 31 Dec 1969 16:00:00 -0800

The worst has happened. Phil Ivey has been eliminated, and on the bubble no less.

Ivey’s elimination ends Day 3, leaves the 54 remaining players in the money and forces PokerListings.com to abandon our latest installment of All Ivey All the Time.

On a more positive note, everyone who comes back tomorrow will be getting paid. The prizes start at $21,080 and go all the way up to the $1.37 million reserved for first.

Tuan Phan’s got the best chance at it if you go by chip counts. The WSOP Circuit ring winner is in the lead, and the only person above the 1 million mark.

He’s chased by a tough lineup. Jason Somerville is in second as former WPT winner Joe Tehan rounds out the top three.

Other big names on the list to keep an eye on include Noah Schwartz, Tom Marchese, David Sands, Nick Binger, Tyson Marks, Matt Marafioti, David Pham and Sorel Mizzi, among others.

Tomorrow we’ll fight our way further into the money and get a much clearer idea of what this final table might look like.

Keep reading for details on the day’s last two eliminations, and a rough guess at the leaderboard.

Official chip counts will be up soon so check back for that.

Jason Somerville is in second going into Day 4.

Top 5 Leaderboard

Here’s an estimate on the five biggest stacks, courtesy of WPT.com.

Tuan Phan – 1,140,000 Jason Somerville – 860,000 Joe Tehan – 831,500 Casey Stewart – 791,000 Larry Greenberg – 707,000

Ivey Last Person Not to Get Paid

With 55 players left, and action hand-for-hand, Ivey was crippled in a hand against AJ Jejelowo.

Jejelowo opened to 12k from the button and Ivey three-bet to 35k from the big blind. Jejelowo four-bet shoved and Ivey called off.

They were racing, A-T for Ivey against pocket sixes. The board was dry and the sixes came out on top.

Left with roughly 65,000, Ivey open-shoved shortly after with pocket sixes in late position. David Baker, directly to his left, snapped him off with pocket kings.

There was no sweat and Ivey’s tournament was pronounced dead on the spot.

Barnhart Out One Off Bubble

Sam Barnhart won a WSOP Circuit main event in Tunica and went on to win the WSOP’s National Championship, but he’s busted in this tournament.

Going out in 56th place, aka second bubble, Barnhart was sent packing by Joe Tehan.

Basically Tehan turned a straight, and Barnhart turned two pair. The money went in and the river bricked for the software analyst from Little Rock, Arkansas.

Tehan’s stack swelled to about 800k from that pot.

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Hellmuth Out, Phan in Command - LAPC

Wed, 31 Dec 1969 16:00:00 -0800

The last level went well for Tuan Phan. Very well.

He's currently tipping the scales at over 900k, over 150k more than Jason Somerville who looks to be sitting in second.

We’ve got a few new names on the leaderboard and a few less names in the field as just 67 players remain in the hunt.

Headlining the list of busted players is one Phil Hellmuth, who finally succumbed to the donkstrikery that had been plaguing him all day long.

Keep reading for the story on that, the new leaderboard and highlights from the last level.

Updated Leaderboard

Here’s a rundown of the ten biggest stacks in the room right now, courtesy of WPT.com.

Tuan Phan – 920,000 Jason Somerville – 775,000 Joe Tehan – 500,000 Sean Jazayeri – 475,000 Noah Schwartz – 435,000 Xuan Nguyen – 430,000 Larry Lipman – 410,000 Bryce Yockey – 395,000 Casey Stewart – 386,000 Tom Marchese – 384,000

Phan Busts O’Brien and Deeb to Take Lead

Tuan Phan is sitting on over 900,000 after busting Dan O’Brien and Shaun Deeb.

O’Brien had lost a massive pot flopping top set with pocket nines and getting run down by pocket aces that turned a set.

Dan O'Brien is out.

Left with 50k after that loss he managed to chip up to around 100k before this hand.

O’Brien opened to 8k from middle position and got a call from Tuan Phan on the button. The flop came J♣ 7♣ 2♥ and O’Brien check-shoved with A♣ 9♣.

Phan called with J♥ 9♦ and made it hold up knock O’Brien out of this event.

Hellmuth Can’t Believe It

It hasn’t been Phil Hellmuth’s day. He’s been fighting hard against two players in particular at his table but, even by his own admission, he was barely able to win a pot.

Danny Illingworth is the man who ended up dealing Hellmuth the death blow, and it wasn’t pretty.

Hellmuth had turned aces-up with A-T but the bulk of the money went in after Illingworth had rivered the gutshot wheel.

Hellmuth repeated the phrase we’ve heard from him so often today, “Is this a joke? Is this for real?”

Yes Phil, this is real life.

Picture Gallery

Check out a few pics we've snapped in the last few hours. Click here for the full gallery.

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Tuan Phan Leads Heading into Dinner - LAPC

Wed, 31 Dec 1969 16:00:00 -0800

We have a new leader and his name is Tuan Phan.

Phan won the biggest WSOP Circuit main event ever held in Atlantic City last December, pocketing over $188,000. It was his first major live tournament cash.

Phan is at it again here in LA and he’s got a big edge on his nearest competitor Joe Tehan.

Phan is sitting on roughly 480,000 to Tehan’s 410k.

Other big stacks include start-of-day chip leader Gordon Vayo who’s got 380,000, 2010 CardPlayer Magazine Player of the Year Tom Marchese with 370k and online tournament legend Shaun Deeb who’s sitting on close to 350k.

96 players remain and with the schedule calling to play to the money which kicks in at 54, we’ve got a long night ahead of us.

At the end of this level we’ll be heading out for a one-hour dinner break so keep reading for highlights and join us again at around 8pm PT.

Take Me to Your Leader(s)

Here’s a look at the top ten right now, courtesy of WPT.com.

Tuan Phan – 484,000 Joe Tehan – 410,000 Tom Marchese – 390,000 Casey Stewart – 386,000 Shaun Deeb – 340,000 Xuan Nguyen – 335,000 Darren Elias – 310,000 Dan O’Brien – 310,000 Andrew Lichtenberger – 297,000 Behzad Teranie – 278,000

Mueller Kicked

Things went from bad to terribad this past level as the Canadian saw his stack cut down to size and ultimately removed entirely by Tom Marchese.

FBT doesn't like what he sees.

Mueller’s final hand began with Marchese opening to 6k from under the gun and two players calling before Greg Mueller came along in the small blind.

The flop came down K♣ 6♠ 2♠ and after a check from Mueller, Marchese fired 14,200. The other players get out of the way and Mueller check-raised to 39,200.

Marchese shoves and Mueller calls. Both players started the hand with roughly 185k.

Mueller: K♠ Q♠

Marchese 2♣ 2♦

Mueller needed a spade that didn’t pair the board but couldn’t get there as it came J♣ K♥.

Stewart Boats Baron

Casey Stewart doubled through Isaac Baron in a massive hand, knocking the man known as westmenloAA online down to about 50k and increasing his own stack to 385,000.

Playing into the last break the money went in on the river with the board showing T♣ 8♣ 4♣ 4♥ 8♥.

Boeree bricks to bust (booo).

Stewart was the one to shove, showing J♠ 8♠ for the rivered boat. According to WPT.com Baron said he had K♣ Q♣ for the flopped flush.

More Eliminations

Another handful of name-brand pros have gone broke, including Liv Boeree, John Racener, Will Failla and Matt Stout.

Stout lost a 120k pot with QQ against KK while John Racener is out thanks to a lost race with queens against A-K.

Liv Boeree raised two red kings and got two callers. She bet the T♦ 7♦ 6♥ flop and check-shoved the 9♦ turn. Too bad her opponent had pocket nines.

Boeree missed the flush redraw and was knocked out in 98th place.

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Hellmuth Gonna Hellmuth - LAPC

Wed, 31 Dec 1969 16:00:00 -0800

Phil Hellmuth is at the feature table, a fact of which he is all too aware judging by how much he’s talking.

A steady stream of F-Bombs and assorted expletives have been emanating from the Poker Brat, and after a bit of investigation we know the reason.

His name is Jeff Yarchever and he’s got a sparkly purple telephone receiver hooked up to his iPhone that he uses to talk at the table.

He’s also got a watch so jammed with diamonds it’s hard to tell if the hands are even turning.

He’s the kind of guy that, after talking to a Royal Flush Girl, points to his cheek and says he needs a little sugar. That’s not a joke. It happened while we were at the table.

We can’t imagine why Hellmuth is so bothered.

There aren’t enough ampersands and exclamation marks in the world to safely describe Hellmuth’s language, but the basic theme is that Yarchever is not only very lucky, he’s also going out of his way to get under Hellmuth’s skin.

“He’s flopped his kicker against me five times,” griped Hellmuth. "He's got no f*****g clue."

Does this annoy you Phil?

A hand developed while we were watching. Hellmuth opened in early-middle position and Yarchever called in the hijack. The flop came down 4♥ 4♠ 3♥ and Hellmuth checked.

Yarchever bet 13,300 and Hellmuth called instantly, checking the turn blind.

Yarchever fired 23,500 when the 2♣ landed and Hellmuth wasted no time calling. They both checked the T♣ river and Yarchever showed pocket sixes.

Hellmuth exploded, laying A♥ 8♥ down on the felt.

“Is this for real? The worst f******g player in the world, pissing his chips away with pocket sixes!” he said.

The very next hand Yarchever was a little late with his ante and Hellmuth demanded the floor be called to give Yarchever a warning. The floorman came over and gave the most perfunctory warning we’ve ever heard.

They don’t call him the Poker Brat for nothing.

Yarchever looked hurt, saying, “Phil you’re one of my favorite players for real bro.”

“I’m not trying to mess with you, honest,” he continued.

The very next hand Yarchever was first in with his ante, saying, “See Phil? First in!”

Matt Savage placates the Poker Brat.

Hellmuth exploded again, calling Tournament Director Matt Savage over and demanding something be done.

Joe Hachem, also at the table, burst out laughing and had to excuse himself.

“He’s acting like some sort of lunatic!” Hellmuth said. “I need some protection!”

The next hand Hellmuth came in for raise and Yarchever immediately three-bet in position.

Hellmuth had already told Yarchever he was going to bust him for sure, and it looked like he might take a shot here.

“Watch out Phil I’ve got a cracker,” Yarchever said, presumably referring to cards that could crack whatever premium hand Hellmuth was holding.

Hellmuth opted just to call and the flop rolled out 9♣ 8♣ 6♣. Hellmuth donked out for 6,000 and Yarchever immediately popped it to 25,000.

Hellmuth looked livid but eventually folded.

Yarchever tabled 5-7 for the flopped straight.

We don’t need to tell you that Hellmuth didn’t react well to seeing how good his nemesis was running.

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Greg Mueller in Front, Ivey Average - LAPC

Wed, 31 Dec 1969 16:00:00 -0800

The day’s first level is done and big things are happening in the Commerce Casino ballroom.

Canadian hockey enthusiast Greg Mueller has jumped out in front and is now sitting with close to 335,000. That’s about 20k more than his nearest competition Behzad Teranie who has retained second-place status.

Fairing much worse is a handful of big names that lost their shirts, figuratively, and their stacks, literally.

Keep reading for the highlights from Level 1, with photos and a look at the updated leaderboard.

The Top Ten

Here’s a look at the ten biggest stacks in the room, courtesy of WPT.com.

Greg Mueller – 380,000 Behzad Teranie – 315,000 Darren Elias – 290,000 Gordon Vayo – 280,000 Dan O’Brien – 265,000 Dan Kelly – 260,000 Vasile Buboi – 225,000 Keith Ferrara – 220,000 Shaun Deeb – 218.000 Sam Barnhart – 210,000

Rousso Riding High

Vanessa Rousso came into the day with just over 100k but she’s already chipped up to around 190,000.

A big part of that increase came by way of busting a player for a 65k pot.

Rousso three-bet with J♦ T♠ from the small blind and got called, seeing a 9-9-8 rainbow flop. Rousso led out for 3,500 and got called.

Rousso check-called 5,000 on the 5♦ turn and the Q♠ hit the river, completing her straight.

Will Reynolds is out.

Rousso checked again and her opponent shoved for just over 20k. Rousso called quickly, her straight miles ahead of the other player’s A-Q.

The Busted

The list of busted is swelling as an intermittent line of disheartened poker players shuffle out the door.

Here’s the blow-by-blow:

2011 November Niner Phil Collins is out, three-bet shoving A-K and getting called by pocket tens. An ace hit the flop but a ten was right behind it on the turn.

Will Reynolds has busted, losing an all-in preflop race with A-5 against Andrew Lichtenberger’s pocket fours. Lichtenberger now has around 70k.

Tony Hachem has also gone broke. He made a move with fourth pair and got called by Xuan Nguyen with top-pair top-kicker. Nguyen is now on around 200k.

The last player on our list of busted players is Jonathan Little. He ran A-K into pocket kings and paid the price.

Phan Phinished (Angle?)

John Phan is out of this tournament, and he went out in very John Phan-esque fashion.

With 100k in the middle and the board reading K♠ Q♠ 3♦ 5♠ Travis Carson shipped for 44k. Now Phan does what he does best, walk the line between angle-shooting and honest play.

He asks for the all-in button, but tells the dealer he isn’t all-in. He flips the button a few times on the table, perhaps trying to let a coin-toss decide the hand for him.

After a few flips Carson complains, saying he’s all-in. TD Matt Savage is called over and confirms this fact.

Carson has pocket queens and Phan has A-K no spade. The river’s a brick and Phan is out.

Ivey-Watch 2012 Continues

Beyond a few photos we don’t have much to report for Ivey-Watch. The most dangerous player in the room is still holding strong with around 100k.

Check out these photos while we keep watching Ivey.

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Ivey and 182 Others Alive at LAPC Day 3

Wed, 31 Dec 1969 16:00:00 -0800

183 players are still in it at the 2012 LA Poker Classic and Phil Ivey is among them.

Playing his first US live tournament since Black Friday, Ivey was among the chip leaders after Day 1, and is now sitting on an above-average stack heading into Day 3.

We're just moments away from putting the cards in the air as players begin to find their seats.

The plan calls to play down to the money before calling it quits, but we've also been told that we'll play a minimum of five levels.

That means we might make it a few spots into the cash before the night is over.

Right now Gordon Vayo is in the number one spot, trailed by Behzad Teranie and Greg Mueller, with plenty of other big names in the hunt.

Joe Tehan, Sorel Mizzi, Dan Kelly, Shaun Deeb, Sam Barnhardt and Jason Somerville are all near the top of the counts but the list goes on.

Click here to check out the full start of Day LAPC chip counts.

And make sure you're up to date by checking out our Day 1 and Day 2 coverage.

Phil Ivey is obviously going to get the lion's share of our attention today, but we'll also make time to keep you up to date on everything that's happening.

Keep it locked right here as we play down to the money at the 2012 LA Poker Classic on the World Poker Tour.

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Ivey Still in Contention after LAPC Day 2

Wed, 31 Dec 1969 16:00:00 -0800

Day 2 has drawn to a close at the 2012 LA Poker Classic and Phil Ivey is still in.

He's not the chip leader, but he is Phil Ivey. And you know the rule, an Ivey with any chips always trumps a random guy with the chip lead.

It looks like roughly 183 players have made it through to Day 3, and our best guess puts Gordon Vayo out in front by a very narrow margin.

Trailing Vayo by just a few thousand is Behzad Teranie, with Canadian Greg Mueller in third.

Action will resume tomorrow at noon as we play down to the money, which kicks in when 54 players remain. We’ll be playing a minimum of five levels, however, which means we may make it a few spots into the cash before we’re done.

The official chip counts won't be in for a few hours so check back later for those, and keep reading for highlights from the last level and a look at the unofficial leaderboard.

Behzad Teranie is second in chips.

The Leaders … We Think

Here’s the top ten, courtesy of WPT.com.

Gordon Vayo – 284,000 Behzad Teranie – 280,000 Greg Mueller – 279,700 Darren Elias – 257,400 Keith Ferrara – 235,100 Eric Cloutier – 228,000 Joe Tehan – 223,200 Sorel Mizzi – 222,000 Kunal Patel – 215,000 Shaun Deeb – 197,400

Ivey Through With More Than Average

Even with an all-star roster of poker stars still in this event, Phil Ivey is commanding the most attention.

He started the day fifth in chips and despite seeing some ups and downs, he finished strong with over 100k.

This is the first event Ivey has played in the US since Black Friday and having won this thing a few years ago, hopes are high for a deep run.

Stay tuned tomorrow for plenty more Ivey-Watch 2012 coverage.

Busted, Dusted, Done

Almost 200 players were knocked out of the tournament today, and some of our favorite players are on that list.

Mike Leah, Mike Matusow, Nam Le, Kara Scott, Lauren Kling, Mark Newhouse, Maria Ho, Tony Dunst, Tim West, Ray Henson, Randall Flowers, Bryan Devonshire, Dan Shak, Ari Engel and Jason Mercier were among them.

Join us tomorrow at noon for continuing coverage of the 2012 WPT LA Poker Classic.

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Carson Takes Lead, Ivey Over 100k - LAPC

Wed, 31 Dec 1969 16:00:00 -0800

The chip lead has changed hands once again as Travis Carson jumps out in front of last level's leader, Ryan Welch.

In fact, Welch has been knocked a few rungs down the leaderboard since Sorel Mizzi, Eric Cloutier and Sam Barnhardt and Vanessa Rousso have all chipped up.

We've got the highlights, a new installment of Ivey-Watch 2012 and the top ten chip counts below.

Ivey Trips Up (In a Good Way)

Phil Ivey is back over 100k after making trips and getting paid off by Athanasios Poychronopoulos.

We’re not sure on the action but we know there was roughly 14k in the pot on the turn, with a king-high board on the felt between the two players.

Ivey bet 10,500 and got called. He continued driving the action with a 13k bet on the river when a second king landed.

Poychronopoulos called and Ivey tabled K♠ 9♠ to take down the pot.

Poychronopoulos has about 80k now.

Dylan Hortin is out.

Vedes Vetoed

Tommy Vedes won the WPT Festa al Lago back in Season 8 but he won’t be adding a second title to his record here in LA. He is out.

Vedes was the victim of a one-two punch in two consecutive hands.

The first was a lost race with Q-J against pocket nines for a pot over 30k. The next hand saw Vedes ship his last 4,300 in with A-9 and run into pocket jacks.

Hortin Can’t Heat Up

Dylan Hortin is a two-time PocketFives triple crown winner, and he was named a WPT “One to Watch” but neither of those honors could keep him in this event.

Hortin had been battling valiantly with the shortstack all day but finally succumbed in a hand against WSOP bracelet winner Keven Stammen.

Hortin open-shoved Q-J and Stammen raised with A-K to isolate. Hortin flopped a queen but Stammen rivered a king.

Tonight’s Top Ten List

Travis Carson

212000

Darren Elias

200000

Sorel Mizzi

195000

Sam Barnhardt

180000

Eric Cloutier

178000

Keith Ferrara

170000

Vanessa Rousso

155000

Ryan Welch

150000

Josh Arieh

150000

Tyler Patterson

142000

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Welch Leads, Ivey Still Strong - LAPC

Wed, 31 Dec 1969 16:00:00 -0800

We have a new leader and his name is Ryan Welch.

The Tennessee native won a WSOP bracelet in 2010 and has earned over $850,000 playing live tournaments, and over $3 million playing tournaments online where he plays as “gutshtallin”.

Welch is the only player to hit the 200k mark so far, and he’s eclipsed former chip leaders Keith Ferrara and Michael Rocco.

Phil Ivey is still going strong, despite losing a bit of ground in the last level and a half. He’s on just under 100k.

Keep reading to see how all that went down, along with a few other highlights from our last trip to the floor.

The Fall of Ferrara

Keith Ferrara, former big stack, has fallen a few spots from the lead but still controls one of the larger stacks in the room.

Andy Philachack had something to do with it, doubling through Ferrara to get to roughly 70k.

The two played a big hand to the river with the remainder of Philachak’s stack going in when he rivered the nut flush.

Ferrara is now on around 150k.

Mizzi Bitsy Spider Climbing Higher

Sorel Mizzi is up around the 110k mark after sending two notable names to the exit.

Sean Getzwiller and Ray Henson both had pocket queens, all-in before the flop against Mizzi’s pocket aces.

No miracle straights or flushes presented themselves and Mizzi takes the whole thing.

Obits

Among the players to lose their tournament lives this past level are Jonathan Aguiar, Allen Kessler, Men “The Master” Nguyen, Chance Kornuth, Lauren Kling, Kara Scott, Mike Sexton and last year’s LAPC champ Greg Brooks.

The defending champ got it in bad with pocket tens to Nick Schulman’s pocket jacks and suffered the consequences.

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Prize Pool Announced, $1.3M for Winner - LAPC

Wed, 31 Dec 1969 16:00:00 -0800

With a final tally of 549 players coughing up their $10k buy-ins for this event we're officially playing for $5,270,400, with $1.37 million going to first.

We'll have the full payout structure posted right here in a few minutes so feel free to click through for that.

Liv Boeree, pictured right, is among the happiest to hear the prize news, given that she just scored a big double up to over 90,000.

She got her stack in on a 9-3-3 flop with aces against pocket queens, and made them hold up to give herself a much better shot at making the money.

In other news, start-of-day chip leader Michael Rocco has hit a few bumps, his stack knocked down to about 100k.

He doubled up Dylan Hortin not long ago but only lost 7.5k in the process. Hortin is still short but he's got a fighting chance with 15k.

Keith Ferrara looks to be leading the pack now with just over 160,000.

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Going, Going, Gone - LAPC

Wed, 31 Dec 1969 16:00:00 -0800

The first level of the day isn't even over but a handful of big names have already hit the rail.

Michael Rocco still looks to be in the lead but he'll have a few less players to contend with after the following eliminations.

Hinkle Hung Out to Dry

WSOP bracelet winner Blair Hinkle is out, thanks to zero cooperation from the deck.

He lost the majority of his stack on a flopped flush draw that picked up a gutshot on the turn, then got unlucky with K-J versus J-T all-in preflop.

Hinkle has narrowly missed a few final tables on the WPT, having finished 8th, 11th and 24th over the past four years. He won't be besting those results this time around.

Sowers Patched

Mike "SowersUNCC" Sowers found a great spot to triple up but couldn't win a race to make it happen.

He was all-in preflop with jacks against tens and A-K. Dan Shak, the man with big slick, turned a gutshot and nailed it on the river to bust Sowers.

Former WPT Champ Von Kriegenbergh Out

Taylor Von Kriegenbergh, winner of last season's Seminole Hard Rock Showdown, has been eliminated.

He got it in with A-K against A-K and queens, but couldn't get there. And now he is gone.

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The Room is Filling Up; The Cards Are in the Air - LAPC

Wed, 31 Dec 1969 16:00:00 -0800

A few minutes have already elapsed on the clock as the first level of Day 2 gets underway, but players are still filing into the quickly-filling expanse of the Commerce Casino ballroom.

Registration was open until teh start of play today which means if you haven't bought in by now, you won't be playing this year's LA Poker Classic.

The board reads 545 entrants, which by our estimate puts the prize pool somewhere in the neighborhood of $5.23 million. Stay tuned for the official prize pool info which will be released soon.

We're getting ready to hit the floor but we snapped a few photos to get the day started.

And don't forget, Phil Ivey is in the top 5 and we're going to be giving him the preferential coverage he deserves, all day long.

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LAPC Day 2 Begins with Phil Ivey in Top 5

Wed, 31 Dec 1969 16:00:00 -0800

PokerListings.com is on the scene in Los Angeles for the 2012 LA Poker Classic and right now it's all about Phil Ivey.

We're eagerly awaiting the beginning of Day 2, starting at noon, so we can get back on the floor to bring you more Phil Ivey coverage.

Right now he's in fifth position with 116,300 and we'll be paying special attention to him all day as we continue Ivey-Watch 2012.

But Phil Ivey isn't the only player we'll have our eye on this afternoon, and he's not the only big name starting the day stacked.

Michael Rocco is in the lead right now while 2010 WSOP bracelet winner Chance Kornuth is sitting in third. David "The Dragon" Pham is in 9th.

Amazingly, Pham has made seven final tables on the World Poker Tour, but he's yet to take one down.

Narrowly missing a spot in the top 10 is former world champion Jonathan Duhamel with 98,950. Duhamel was up around 115k at one point and held the chip lead for much of Day 1. He's heading into Day 2 in 13th.

Also through to Day 2 with above average stacks are Tom Marchese, Shaun Deeb, Tony Dunst, Joe Hachem, David Sands, Yevgeniy Timoshenko, Joe Tehan, Phil Hellmuth and many more.

Click here to see our coverage from Day 1 to get up to speed.

Click here for the full official LAPC chip counts as things get started today, and stay tuned for full live coverage all day long.

Here's the top 10.

MICHAEL ROCCO

156200

TUAN PHAN

141500

CHANCE KORNUTH

131275

TRAVIS CARSON

118950

PHIL IVEY

116300

BEHZAD TERANIE

110000

JESSE YAGINUMA

103550

ERIC CLOUTIER

103225

DAVID PHAM

103175

MICHAEL ARON

102300

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Ivey, Duhamel Headline LAPC Day 1

Wed, 31 Dec 1969 16:00:00 -0800

The first day of the 2012 LA Poker Classic has come to a close and according to the board 395 players have survived to return on Day 2.

The official chip counts have yet to arrive but our best guess puts California native Michael Rocco out in front with 156,200.

Joining Rocco near the top of the chip counts is Tuan Phan, Chance Kornuth and the 2010 world champion of poker Jonathan Duhamel.

Finishing fifth overall and gobbling up most of the attention today was Phil Ivey.

The man many believe to be the greatest poker player alive made his return to US tournament poker today, not having played an event since Black Friday.

Ivey has made nine final tables on the WPT and won this event back in 2008 for over $1.5 million.

By the end of the night Ivey had quietly stacked 116,300.

Jon Duhamel held the chip lead for much of the day but topped out right around the 100k mark headed in the second day of play.

Click here for the official end of day chip counts!

The field today was absolutely stacked with big names, as expected for one of the biggest stops on the World Poker Tour schedule.

523 players have bought in so far but with registration open until 12pm tomorrow, we should see that number go up.

Phil Ivey plays his first US tournament since Black Friday.

It’s very unlikely we’ll reach the 681 who played this event last year, but with $9,600 of every player’s buy-in going to the prize pool, we’ve already got over $5 million in the pot.

The Loser List

We lost 128 players today, among them some of the most successful players in the game.

Daniel Negreanu barely made it through the first level of the day, sitting at the feature table with Kathy Liebert, Jason Somerville and David “The Dragon” Pham.

Kid Poker went broke in a classic cooler situation, set-under-set to the Dragon.

Liebert made it much deeper but busted just a few minutes from the end of the night, losing a race with big slick against pocket queens all-in preflop.

Former WPT winner ElkY Grospellier also went broke, along with Canadian Xuan Liu in a double elimination by Amit Makhija.

Scott Clements, Vanessa Selbst, Luis Velador, McLean Karr and Olivier Busquet were also busted.

Action begins tomorrow at 12pm at the Commerce Casino and we’ll be on the scene all day long. Hit us back then for more live coverage and check back later for the official chip counts.

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Makhija Up, Liu and ElkY Out! - LAPC

Wed, 31 Dec 1969 16:00:00 -0800

We're approaching the end of Day 1 and the board is telling us that just under 400 players are still standing. That's down from the 522 that have bought in so far.

Xuan Liu and ElkY are among the over 100 players that have hit the rail so far, both sent packing in the same hand by Amit Makhija.

Liu was absolutely crippled in the previous hand, left with less than one big blind. Makhija had flopped top set with the money going in on the river. Liu just mucked when she saw the set.

The next hand was a multi-way pot that saw big action between Makhija and Grospellier.

ElkY was driving the action on a board of 7-4-2-4 and the money went in with the Frenchman holding 4-5, out-kicked by Makhija's A-4.

Liu was drawing dead with Q-3.

Makhija is now on roughly 50,000.

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Hellmuth in the House - LAPC

Wed, 31 Dec 1969 16:00:00 -0800

Phil Hellmuth has arrived, late as always.

And even though he didn't have much in the way of fanfare planned for his entrance, he got a little help from two Royal Flush Girls who walked him to his seat.

The former world champion and 11-time WSOP bracelet winner has never won a WPT event, despite making numerous final tables.

What we do know is that Hellmuth looks very pleased with himself (picture right).

Here are a few quick shots of his entrance. We love how unglamourous he looks waiting to buy in.

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Busts, Doubles, Counts and More - LAPC

Wed, 31 Dec 1969 16:00:00 -0800

The intensity level has been high since the first hand here at the LAPC but this past level it's been ratcheted up another couple of notches.

A handful of players have broken the 80k mark, Jon Duhamel and Shaun Deeb among them, while a growing number of big-name pros now find themselves on the rail.

We've got the essentials below.

Duhamel Can't Stop Winning

Jon Duhamel is on a major heater so far this year and currently sits in 7th on the 2012 live tournament money list.

He’s made over $1.2 million in the last month and a half, including a runner-up finish in the $5k event last night here at the LAPC.

Duhamel can’t seem to stop and is now leading the 450 or so players left in this tournament.

He’s got 85,000, edging out David Baker and Shaun Deeb for the lead.

The Bear Bites Back

Barry Greenstein made it to the last break on fumes but was rewarded with a key double-up moments ago.

We arrived to see Greenstein in the cut-off, embroiled in a pot with the player on the button.

The money went in on the turn with the board reading K-K-2-6. Greenstein flipped pocket deuces for the boat while his opponent tabled K-J for trips.

The river was a brick and Greenstein doubles to around 18k.

The Eliminati

While players like Jon Duhamel and Barry Greenstein are feeling the warm embrace of lady luck, others haven’t been so lucky.

Vanessa Selbst, who beat Duhamel heads-up last night to win the $5k event, is among the busted.

She got it in with top pair and a flush draw but couldn’t get there against an overpair.

Also out is Mohsin Charania, who got it in good with kings against queens but couldn’t dodge a queen on the flop.

Joining Selbst and Charania on their way out the door are Andy Frankenberger, Jason Koon, Alex Outhread, and actor Kirk Acevedo.

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Ivey-Watch 2012 Begins - LAPC

Wed, 31 Dec 1969 16:00:00 -0800

Making his first US tournament appearance since Black Friday, Phil Ivey is quietly making moves in one corner of the Commerce Casino tournament room.

The tables around Ivey are littered with big-name pros like Mike Matusow and David Williams, but they might as well be empty. Everyone's focus is on Ivey.

During our last trip to his table we were treated to an Ivey all-in that brought his chip count up to nearly 36,000.

We arrived as the preflop action was closing and it looked like Ivey three-bet from the button after a raise and call in front of him.

The flop rolled out A♣ 7♥ 5♠ and David Miscikowski led out for 1,500. The player in the hijack made it 3,600 and Ivey bumped it to 7,500.

Miscikowski folded but the hijack called, making way for the J♣ on the turn.

The hijack checked and Ivey immediately moved all-in for 13,825. His opponent went into the tank, deep, and eventually TD Matt Savage had to be called over to enforce a one-minute countdown.

Before the minute was up Ivey's opponent's cards went in the muck and he was free to scoop up the sizeable pot.

Check out these photos we shot during the countdown. Stay tuned for more installments in Ivey-Watch 2012!

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Pham Bam Thank You Ma'am (Kid Poker Busts) - LAPC

Wed, 31 Dec 1969 16:00:00 -0800

One of the toughest tables in the room just lost one of the biggest names in the room, Daniel Negreanu.

Kid Poker was all energy this afternoon, chirping away good-naturedly with table-mates Kathy Liebert and Jason Somerville, before being struck down by a classic cooler.

Negreanu had just shipped a sizeable pot to Jason Somerville when he saw a K-6-4 rainbow flop with David Pham and a third player.

It was checked around and the 7♣ hit the turn, putting two clubs on the board.

Pham fired from the small blind and got calls from both his opponents. The A♠ on the river brought another bet from Pham, and a raise from Negreanu.

After the third player cleared out Pham moved all-in.

Negreanu had roughly 5,200 behind, which he called off after a short deliberation.

Pocket sixes for Negreanu and pocket kings for Pham mean Kid Poker is off to an early exit.

Pham, meanwhile, has close to 60,000.

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The LAPC Starts Now!

Wed, 31 Dec 1969 16:00:00 -0800

PokerListings.com is up and running in Los Angeles at the Commerce Casino for this year's LA Poker Classic.

Always one of the most popular stops on the World Poker Tour, the LAPC has once again succeeded in attracting the biggest names in the business.

The tournament room is quickly filling up but players will have the opportunity to register all the way up until the start of play tomorrow.

There will only be one starting day for this event, and we'll be playing five 90 minute levels before calling it this evening.

PokerListings.com will be offering summary coverage of all the action three times a day for the duration of this event.

Past LAPC champions include names like Phil Ivey, Michael Mizrachi, Gus Hansen and Antonio Esfandiari so stay tuned to see who's name is will be added to that illustrious list!

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Speidel Aces 2012 Aussie Millions Final Table

Wed, 31 Dec 1969 16:00:00 -0800

Oliver Speidel added a storybook finish to his magical run at the 2012 Aussie Millions on Sunday in Melbourne.

In the final hand of the tournament Speidel, as he’s been doing for the entire final table, opened the betting for 160,000 from the button.

Ken Wong raised to 485,0000 but Speidel wasn’t going anywhere. He re-raised 900,000. Wong replied by re-raising to 1,900,000.

At this point Speidel 6-bet shoved all-in, easily covering Wong. Wong called and the cards were on their backs:

Oliver Speidel: A♣ A♠

Ken Wong: 9♣ 9♥

Incredibly Speidel had picked up the best starting hand in Hold’em and Wong looked slightly shocked when the cards were turned over.

Of course, as any poker pro knows, aces don’t always hold and Speidel was likely still sweating with a $600,000 pay jump on the line.

The flop came K♠ T♠ 8♥, which gave Wong some backdoor straight draw outs.

The turn was the 4♣, however, which quickly ended those hopes.

Finally the 7♥ ended the tournament and secured Speidel the title.

Wong still picks up $1 million (AUD) as a consolation prize for coming in second place.

From the start of the final table Speidel appeared destined to win this tournament and the Melbourne local ended up eliminating five of his six opponents at the final table.

Speidel is the fourth consecutive Australian to win the Aussie Millions and he will keep the title here in Melbourne.

That’s going to do it for us at the 2012 Aussie Millions and we’ve got to put in a special thank you to the Crown Casino for hosting us and running an amazing series of poker tournaments. They do poker right in Melbourne.

We’ll see you at the next one!

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Aussie Millions Day 6: Speidel Punishes Krstanoski (Third)

Wed, 31 Dec 1969 16:00:00 -0800

Oliver Speidel has sucked out on Mile Krstanoski to usher in heads-up play at the 2012 Aussie Millions final table.

In the hand Speidel open-shoved from the small blind and Krstanoski decided to call.

The players immediately flipped over their hands:

Speidel: 9♠ 8♣

Krstanoski: K♥ 8♥

It’s one of the first times at this final table that Speidel has actually been behind his opponent. The way Speidel has been crushing this final table it almost seemed like he was due for a suckout, however.

That’s exactly what happened when the flop came A♥ 9♣ 6♦ giving Speidel the commanding lead with his pair of nines.

Krstanoski was left praying for a king as the turn fell 4♥. That gave him more outs to a flush but those hopes were rudely crushed with the 7♣ on the river.

Krstanoski finishes in third place and picks up $610,000 (AUD) for his efforts in this tournament.

With Krstanoski’s departure we are now officially heads-up with the Aussie Millions title on the line.

The chip counts going into heads-up are as follows:

Oliver Speidel – 15.2 million Ken Wong – 4.6 million

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Aussie Millions Day 6: Speidel Terrorizes Kowssarie (Fourth)

Wed, 31 Dec 1969 16:00:00 -0800

Oliver Speidel is rampaging his way through the remaining players in the 2012 Aussie Millions final table.

His latest victim is none other than Swedish pro Mohamad Kowssarie, who you may know as Fast_Freddie or TerrorOfSweden online.

Speidel opened for 160,000, Kowssarie shoved and Speidel insta-called with pocket kings. Kowssarie could only shake his head, as he revealed A-2 off suit

The flop didn’t help matters for Kowssarie as it came down K-8-5 bringing a thunderous applause from the Speidel fans.

Kowssarie was dead to runner-runner trip aces and his tournament was over when the turn instead peeled off the deck 9♥.

The Swede picks up $405,000 (AUD) for his efforts in Australia. It’s his biggest live tournament cash ever.

Here’s a look at the chip counts after the dust has settled:

Oliver Speidel – 14.4 millionKen Wong – 4.2 millionMile Krstanoski – 1.1 million

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Aussie Millions Day 6: Speidel Wins Massive Pot Off Krstanoski

Wed, 31 Dec 1969 16:00:00 -0800

Oliver Speidel just took a stranglehold on the final table of the 2012 Aussie Millions Main Event.

The Melbourne-native is now up to nearly 14 million chips thanks to a huge pot against Mile Krstanoski.

In the hand Speidel bet the button and Krstanoski called from the big blind to see a T♥ T♦ 7♦ flop.

The turn came 5♣ and Krastanoski checked but Speidel threw 500,000 chips into the pot.

The river finished with the 4♣ and Krastanoski fired a one million-chip be into the pot.

Speidel immediately raised to 2.7 million and Krastanoski eventually made the call but Speidel immediately showed pocket sevens for the flopped boat.

Considering there are only are only 19.7 million chips in play, this tournament is pretty much Speidel’s to lose at this point.

Oliver Speidel – 13.5 million Kenneth Wong – 3.7 million Mohamad Kowssarie – 1.6 million Mile Krstanoski – 1.1 million

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Aussie Millions Day 6: Speidel Smashes Healy (Fifth)

Wed, 31 Dec 1969 16:00:00 -0800

Patrick Healy is out of the 2012 Aussie Millions Main Event and Oliver Speidel is looking downright unbeatable right now.

Healy was fighting from the short stack for the last level and knew he needed to snag a double-up to continue in this event.

Healy opened for 160,000, which was enough to chase everyone except chip leader Oliver Speidel who made the call.

The dealer threw down a 9-8-4 flop and that’s when the real fireworks began.

Healy led out for 100,000, Speidel raised to 350,000 and Healy immediately moved all-in for his last 1.8 million.

Unfortunately for Healy, Speidel snap-called and tabled 9♥ 8♥ for top two-pair. Healy could only muster A-K, which put him in a very bad spot.

The board finished with the 5♦ and then the K♣ to give Healy his walking papers.

The Perth-native picks up $300,000 for finishing in fifth place in this tournament.

Meanwhile Speidel is simply running over the final table at the moment. Here are the updated chip counts:

Oliver Seidel – 10.2 millionMile Krstanoski – 4.7 millionKen Wong – 3.7 millionMohamad Kowssarie – 1.6 million

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Aussie Millions Day 6: Bjorn to Bust (Sixth)

Wed, 31 Dec 1969 16:00:00 -0800

Our chip leader at the start of the day is now nothing more than a memory at this final table.

Bjorn Li doubled up a couple of short stacks early on and then became the shortest stack in the last level thanks to losing a big pot against Ken Wong.

In his final hand Li open-shoved for 600,000 with A♣ Q♦ and Mohamad Kowssarie opted to make the call with 3♦ 3♣.

The board ran out K-7-2-2-9 and that was more than enough to give Li his walking papers.

The Hong Kong-born Li was one of the most experienced players at the final table and must be disappointed with finishing in sixth place.

Li picks up $230,000 (AUD) for his sixth-place effort here at the 2012 Aussie Millions.

In other news Oliver Speidel is crushing. Here are the updated chip counts:

Oliver Speidel – 7 million Mile Krstanoski – 5.4 million Patrick Healy – 2.6 million Ken Wong – 2.2 million Mohamad Kowssarie – 2.1 million

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Aussie Millions Day 6: Yann Banned (Seventh)

Wed, 31 Dec 1969 16:00:00 -0800

Canadian Yann Dion is the first casualty of the 2012 Aussie Millions final table.

Dion, who plays online as yadio, entered the final table with 2.3 million in chips but never really got anything going.

He fell from fifth in chips to last in a hurry and at the start of Level 25 he made his move.

Oliver Speidel opened for 155,000 and fellow Aussie Mile Krstanoski called, but Dion immediately moved all-in.

Speidel re-shoved to isolate and that was enough to get Krstanoski to lay down his hand.

Dion flipped over pocket sevens and would need some help as Speidel had him crushed with pocket queens.

The board ran out A-J-3-2-T and that spelled doom for Dion.

The Canadian picks up $170,000 (AUD) for his efforts in this contest.

We are now six-handed in the 2012 Aussie Millions Main Event.

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Aussie Millions Day 6: Kowssarie Doubles Through Li

Wed, 31 Dec 1969 16:00:00 -0800

Bjorn Li was dominant in the initial stages of the final table here at the Crown Casino but Mohamad Kowssarie just hit a big double against the Chinese-born pro.

Li made a standard pre-flop bet and both Ken Wong and Mohamad Kowssarie decided to come along for the ride.

The flop came K♥ Q♥ 7♥ and Kowssarie checked but Li fired 200,000 into the pot. Both Wong and Kowssarie made the call and that brought the A♦ turn.

Once again Kowssarie started with a check but Li kept the pressure on with a 430,000 bet. That was enough to chase Wong but Kowssarie wasn’t going anywhere.

The player formerly known as the Terror of Sweden moved all-in for 1.3 million more.

Li tanked for a few minutes as he weighed his options.

Finally he decided to call only to have Kowssarie flip J♥ T♣ for the broadway straight and a flush draw. Li could only muster pocket sevens for a set leaving him drawing pretty thin on the river.

The river was a meaningless 4♣ and that was enough to secure Kowssarie the pot and move him into the chip lead.

Here’s a look at the chip counts after the first break:

Mohamad Kowssarie – 4.4 million Oliver Speidel – 4.1 million Bjorn Li – 2.7 million Patrick Healy – 2.6 million Mile Krstanoski – 2.1 million Kenneth Wong – 1.9 million Yann Dion – 1.8 million

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Aussie Millions Day 6: The Final Chapter Begins

Wed, 31 Dec 1969 16:00:00 -0800

It’s been one hell of a journey getting here but today the last seven players in the 2012 Aussie Millions will be reduced to just one.

That player will walk away with $1.6 million and the title of Australian poker champion.

At this point it almost feels like an afterthought thanks to Phil Ivey busting out of the Main Event in 12th yesterday and then storming back to win the $250k Challenge for $2 million early this morning.

There’s still a life-changing amount of money to be won today and that fact likely hasn’t escaped chip-leader Bjorn Li.

The University of Chicago grad will attempt to parlay his 4.7 million chips into the $1.6 million first place prize. Li is actually one of the most experienced players at the final table with a high roller win in Macau and a deep run in the Main Event this summer.

Li isn’t the only notable player at the final table as Yann Dion is a known online crusher. The French Canadian plays as yadio online and has over $1 million in lifetime earnings.

This event has been won by an Australian for three years running and the three remaining Aussies have a chance to keep that streak alive.

Oliver Speidel likely has the best chance with 3.4 million chips, good enough for second place. The Melbourne local also has over $200k in lifetime tournament earnings, which more than anyone else at the final table.

Perth’s Patrick Healy is right behind Speidel with 2.9 million chips. Speidel is a bit of a wild card entering this event and made some very unusual moves, such as opening for a massive amount and then folding, with just eight players left.

Also from Perth is Mile Krstanoski who stealthed his way into the final table with very little fanfare. Krstanoski is second to last in chips with 2.2 million.

Fill out the final table is Canadian Kenneth Wong who will enter the final table with 2.3 million chips.

Last in chips is Swedish online cash game player Mohamad Kowssarie. Kowsarrie is the short stack at the final table with 1.7 million chips but used to inspire fear online as Fast_Freddie and TerrorOfPoker.

The dealer just announced the shuffle up and deal so here are the chip counts to start the day:

1. Bjorn Li – 4,775,000 2. Oliver Speidel – 3,415,000 3. Patrick Healy – 2,995,000 4. Kenneth Wong – 2,330,000 5. Yann Dion – 2,325,000 6. Mile Krstanoski – 2,295,000 7. Mohamad Kowssarie – 1,750,000

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Aussie Millions Day 5: Bjorn Li Leads Final Table

Wed, 31 Dec 1969 16:00:00 -0800

Bjorn Li will take the chip-lead into a Phil Ivey-less final table at the 2012 Aussie Millions.

Li, a former University of Chicago student, has made deep runs in big tournaments before and finished 329th in the 2011 WSOP Main Event.

The Hong Kong-born Li finally won a major tournament this summer when he took down a high roller event for $61k at the Macau Poker Cup.

After an impressive four-day run, Ivey was the first player to hit the rail today when he shoved got all his chips in the middle with A-Q against Yann Dion’s A-K.

Although the final table is missing the celebrity draw of Phil Ivey there are still several compelling stories in the lineup.

Yann Dion plays online as yadio and has earned over $1.5 million. The French Canadian has limited live tournament experience but has cashed for just over $80k. He will enter the final table 2.3 million chips.

Mohamad Kowsarrie is a formidable online player who used to be known as Fast_Freddie and TerrorOfSweden.

He was also accused of cheating by Johnny Lodden and Patrik Antonius on separate occasions - allegations he vehemently denied - so this will be his chance to prove that he can actually play.

Local Oliver Speidel has perhaps the best chance to keep the title in Australia.

The young pro has over $200k in live tournament winnings including a first place finish in the $1k No-Limit Hold’em event at the Aussie Millions last year.

The entire final table has under $1 million in lifetime tournament earnings so it’s safe to say there are also some slightly lesser-known players at the final table.

Mile Krstanoski, Kenneth Wong and Patrick Healy fill out a final table that is lacking a heavy hitter.

The final table will begin at 12:30 p.m. tomorrow and one player will walk away with $1.6 million and the 2012 Aussie Millions title.

Here are the complete chip counts heading into the final day of the 2012 Aussie Millions Main Event:

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Aussie Millions Day 5: Ivey Ousted in 12th

Wed, 31 Dec 1969 16:00:00 -0800

Phil Ivey put on an amazing show here at the 2012 Aussie Millions but the magical ride has come to an end.

Ivey entered Day 5 as the shortest stack in the room with only 699,000 to his name. Ivey is obviously playing to win the tournament not fold into the higher payouts so he was active early.

In Ivey’s final hand online pro Yann Dion opened for 40,000, Ivey raised to 140,000, Dion shoved, easily covering Ivey.

Ivey called and the players tabled their cards:

Ivey: A♦ Q♣

Dion: A♠ K♦

Ivey has an interesting relationship with ace-queen.

He busted out of the 2009 WSOP Main Event final table when his ace-king failed him against Darvin Moon’s ace-queen. He also busted 10th in the 2003 Main Event when his pocket nines were cracked by Chris Moneymaker’s ace-queen.

Ivey’s also crashed out of several WPT events with ace-queen when he was the favorite to double up.

His luck with ace-queen didn’t change this tournament either as the board ran out:

2♦ 2♣ 2♠ 8♣ 9♠

No luck for Ivey as Dion’s A-K easily holds up.

It’s not all bad for Ivey as the pro outlasted 646 players and will take home $100k (AUD) for finishing in 12th. Hey that’s a good chunk of the $250,000 Challenge buy-in if he plays!

Meanwhile Dion is now up to 3.1 million chips and looking incredible dangerous as we draw ever closer to the final table.

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Aussie Millions Day 5: Can Ivey Hold On?

Wed, 31 Dec 1969 16:00:00 -0800

It’s Day 5 of the 2012 Aussie Millions and the final table is just a handful of eliminations away.

We’re coming back with only 12 players and with the final table starting at seven players there’s a chance we won’t be here for long.

The railbirds have already congregated around Phil Ivey’s table. The former Full Tilt pro enters the day last in chips with 699,000 and everyone is wondering if he can pull off a minor miracle and make the final table.

The first level should be interesting as it’s getting pretty close to shove/fold time for Ivey.

Canadian Yann Dion enters the penultimate day as the chip leader with 2.6 million chips. A skilled online player Dion is a safe bet to make the final table.

With just 12 players left Lee Nelson is in position to do something no other Aussie Millions champ has done before: repeat as champion.

The New Zealander is stacked with 1.6 million chips.

Other notables still in the field include recent WSOP bracelet winner Dan Idema with 1.8 million chips and Swede Mohamad Kowssarie, formerly known as TerrorOfSweden online, who has 2.2 million.

Here’s a look at the complete chip stacks as play begins:

Yann Dionn – 2,670,000 Bjorn Li – 2,471,000 Mohamad Kowssarie – 2,300,000 Karim Jomeen – 2,063,000 Dan Idema – 1,840,000 Lee Nelson – 1,651,000 Patrick Healy – 1,565,000 Janis Lesinkskis – 1,501,000 Kenneth Wong – 1,498,000 Oliver Speidel – 809,000 Mile Krstanoski – 755,000 Phil Ivey – 699,000

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Aussie Millions Day 4: Ivey Short as Day Concludes

Wed, 31 Dec 1969 16:00:00 -0800

Phil Ivey will live to see another day at the 2012 Aussie Millions but he is no longer among the chip leaders.

In just over four hours of play a total of 14 players were sent to the rail as online pro Yann Dion amassed a tournament-leading stack of 2,670,000 chips.

It was not Ivey’s best day as the former Full Tilt Pro dropped from 1.1 million chips all the way down to 699,000, which will make him the shortest stack entering Day 5.

It didn’t help that Ivey lost a million-chip pot with set over set to Karim Jomeen. Ivey continued to bleed chips for the rest of the day and will likely have to get some luck to make the final table. Then again, it's Phil Ivey we’re talking about so all bets are off.

A number of pros were eliminated on Day 4 including high roller specialist David Steicke who had the misfortune of running pocket kings into Patrick Healy’s pocket aces.

Former APPT winner Grant Levy also succumbed to the rail when he lost a coin flip against Janis Lesinski.

Matt Turk, who you might remember as the player that busted Jason Koon to win a massive 2.6 million pot yesterday, was one of the last eliminations of the day as he shoved pocket tens into Yann Dion’s pocket kings.

Australian Danny Chevalier was the final player to hit the rail on Day 4 as he got all-in with K♦ J♠ for his last 270,000 and Dion snapped him off with A♥ Q♦.

The Big Chick held up for Dion and busted Chevalier in 13th place for a payout of $75,000 (AUD).

There are still several interesting stories left in this tournament, however.

New Zealand pro Lee Nelson finished with 1.6 million chips. He won this tournament in 2006 and could become the first player to repeat as champion. That might be tough for Australian poker fans to swallow.

Also Canada’s Dan Idema, who won a WSOP bracelet this summer, has a good shot at making the final table with 1.8 million.

Tomorrow we’re likely going to need 5 eliminations to set a final table of seven. In years past, however, organizers have changed the final table to eight players to accommodate star players such as Patrik Antonius and Barny Boatman, who were both short stacks.

We have a feeling if Ivey is the shortest stack with eight players left they might just call play early.

Either way here are the complete chip counts of the final 12 players at the end of Day 4:

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Aussie Millions Day 4: Ivey Falters as End Approaches

Wed, 31 Dec 1969 16:00:00 -0800

We’re down to 14 players here on the dinner break of the 2012 Aussie Million’s fourth day and Phil Ivey suddenly finds himself amongst the short stacks.

Ivey was slow and steady in the early part of the day but as the dinner break approached he started bleeding chips.

Things started to go badly for Ivey when he had the misfortune of flopping bottom set to Karim Jomeen’s middle-set. Suffice to say all the money went in the middle and Jommen won the 1.1 million-chip pot.

Ivey would get most of those chips back when he rivered an ace-high flush against Oliver Speidel but then Ivey started to dropping a number of small pots.

Those pots began to add up and by the dinner break Ivey had fallen down to 645,000.

Where Ivey faltered, Bjorn Li has soared. The former University of Chicago student is up to 2.4 million chips and looking particularly dangerous. So is WSOP bracelet winner Dan Idema as he’s got 2.2 million.

2006 Aussie Millions winner Lee Nelson has fallen considerably but he’s still sitting on 1.1 million as he attempts to become the first repeat champion at the Aussie Millions.

Former APPT Sydney winner Grant Levy hit the rail midway through Level 20 when his pocket sixes failed him against Janis Lasinski’s A-Q.

He finished in 15th place and picked up $75,000 (AUD) for his efforts in Melbourne.

We need just two more eliminations to wrap it up here at 2012 Aussie Millions so stay tuned for what should be a thrilling finish to Day 4.

Here’s a look at the top 10 chip counts as play resumes:

Bjorn Li – 2.4 million chips Dan Idema – 2.2 million chips Mohamad Kowssarie – 2.2 million Karim Jomeen – 2.1 million Yann Dion – 1.8 million Patrik Healy – 1.5 million Oliver Speidel – 1.4 million Kenneth Wong – 1.3 million Lee Nelson – 1.1 million Janis Lesinskis – 940,000

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Aussie Millions Day 4: Ivey Eyes Final Table

Wed, 31 Dec 1969 16:00:00 -0800

It’s Day 4 of the 2012 Aussie Milions and with 26 players left the final table is starting to become more than just a glimmer in the distance.

No one knows that more than Phil Ivey who has been the story of this tournament and is sixth in chips with 1.1 million.

If Ivey is able to keep pace with the rest of the field today he could become almost unstoppable as we head into the final table.

The money bubble burst yesterday and every player left is guaranteed at least $35,000 (AUD) but we have a feeling Ivey is more concerned with the $1.6 million first place prize.

Ivey isn’t the only notable looking to crack the final table, however, as New Zealand’s Lee Nelson, who won this event in 2006 is still holding on with 878,000 chips. He could become the first player to repeat as champion.

Some of the other note-worthy players with chips include online grinder Yann Dion (1,156,000 chips), WSOP bracelet winner Daniel Idema (1,033,000), Oliver Speidel (614,000), Grant Levy (381,000) and David Steicke (183,000).

Everyone is still chasing Matt Turk who amassed 2,675,000 chips yesterday and is the overwhelming chip leader.

Strangely organizers have decided to play down to just 12 players today and then suspend play. That means we’ll likely return tomorrow to find just four eliminations before calling it a day. We’ll see what players think about that.

Play begins today in Level 18 with blinds of 5,000/10,000 and a 1,000 ante.

Shuffle up and deal.

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Aussie Millions Day 3: Short Day Ends, Ivey Still Rocking

Wed, 31 Dec 1969 16:00:00 -0800

Day 3 may very well be remembered as the shortest day in the 2012 Aussie Millions.

In just three levels we saw the money bubble burst, nearly 50 players hit the rail and play called early.

Of course all eyes were on Phil Ivey as the former Full Tilt pro continued his exceptional run at the Crown Casino.

The day started with a bang as Ivey managed to get Stuart Kerr to fold pocket kings on the first hand.

Just two players away from the cash, Kerr had already invested 115,000 in the pot but simply couldn’t bring himself to call for his last 123,000.

Kerr pleaded with Ivey to see his hand after he folded but Ivey apologized and said he didn’t like to show his cards in tournaments. Kerr did end up making a min-cash for $15,000 (AUD) but that hand will likely torment him for years to come.

Ivey continued to be aggressive on the bubble and eventually built his stack up to over one million chips.

After the bubble burst Ivey was somewhat more subdued and he managed to steadily build his stack to 1,107,000 million by the end of play without playing any huge pots.

Ivey wasn’t the only player going on Day 3 of the Aussie Millions, however, and the last hand of the day was an absolute blockbuster for Matt Turk.

Jason "NovaSky" Koon

The surging Jason Koon got into a pre-flop raising war with Matt Turk where Turk finally shipped the last of his chips in the middle with T♣ T♥ and Koon decided to call him down with A♦ K♣.

“Let’s flip for all the chips,” quipped Koon at the time.

The flip didn’t go Koon’s way as the board ran out K♥ T♠ 9♠ 4♣ A♥ to give Turk the checkmark and the biggest pot of the tournament – worth over 2 million.

When the final chip was counted Turk ended up having 2.6 million chips in front of him for the overwhelming chip lead.

Meanwhile a couple poker pros were relegated to the rail on Day 3 as both Michael Tureniec, Billy “The Croc” Argyros busted in the money.

There are still a number of notable players in the hunt, however, with David Steicke, Grant Levy, Oliver Speidel, Daniel Idema and Yann Dion all in the final 26.

Lee Nelson is one of the most compelling stories as he is the only former champ still in the mix and could become the first player to repeat as champion. Nelson finished with 878,000 chips.

Near the end of the day tournament organizers announced a somewhat surprising change to the Aussie Millions Main Event schedule.

With the $250,000 Challenge rumored to be pushed back to Saturday due to the request of several interested players, the final table of the Main Event, which was originally scheduled for Saturday, will shift to Sunday.

With only 26 players left and three available days left to play we could be in for some very short days at the Crown Casino.

Day 4 begins at 12:30 p.m. tomorrow and we’ll be on hand as the players make what could be the last push to the final table.

Here are the top 10 chip counts as the last level expired:

Matt Turk – 2,675,000 Tim O’Shea – 1,376,000 Patrick Healy – 1,353,000 Bjorn Li – 1,222,000 Yann Dion – 1,156,000 Phil Ivey – 1,107,000 Daniel Idema – 1,033,000 Minh Nguyen – 992,000 Borge Dypvik – 882,000 Lee Nelson – 878,000

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Aussie Millions Day 3: Who Wants to Get Paid?

Wed, 31 Dec 1969 16:00:00 -0800

It’s Day 3 of the 2012 Aussie Millions and we’re all but guaranteed to see the money bubble burst today.

There are only 74 players left in the tournament and every player that makes it into the final 72 is walking away with at least $15,000 (AUD).

One player the bubble means very little too, however, is Phil Ivey.

Ivey is stacked with 778,000 chips and has looked nearly unbeatable at times in this tournament. Ivey has only played a few tournaments since Black Friday but he’s showing no rust as he continues to give his opponents fits.

There several other known poker pros still in the field, however, with David Steicke (453,000), Lee Nelson (432,000), Michael Tureniec (289,000), Matt Wakeman (170,000) and Grant Levy (80,000) looking to do some damage.

They’re all chasing a $1.6 million first place prize and the title of Aussie Millions champ.

It could be a short day here at the Crown Casino considering we’ll likely try to get down to around 36 players. It’s a welcome respite considering we’ve been going for over 13 hours every day.

We just heard the shuffle up and deal so we are once again live from the Aussie Millions. Here’s a look at the top 10 chip counts as play begins:

Tim O’Shea – 921,000 Phil Ivey – 778,500 Jason Koon – 667,500 Oliver Speidel – 540,000 Patrick Healy – 521,000 Yann Dion – 495,000 Mohammed Kowloon – 477,000 Rob Angood – 470,000 Janis Lesiwski – 463,000 David Steicke – 453,000

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Aussie Millions Day 2: Money on Hold Till Tomorrow

Wed, 31 Dec 1969 16:00:00 -0800

The action virtually never stopped on Day 2 of the 2012 Aussie Millions and by the end of play only 74 players were still standing.

That’s an impressive number considering just over 300 players entered the day with hopes of achieving poker glory Down Under.

Indeed the payouts were also announced on Day 2 and with a $6+ million prizepool the top 72 players will get paid.

The players got tantalizingly close as only two eliminations were needed to bust the bubble when the seventh level expired at just past 1:30 a.m. local time.

The pros took a huge hit on Day 2 as the majority of the well-known players were eliminated but certainly not Phil Ivey.

Ivey has been a wrecking ball in this tournament and despite some ups and downs on Day 2 he finished with 778,500.

Tim O’Shea was the only player to finish above Ivey as he picked up 921,000 chips on Day 2.

Day 2 of the 2012 Aussie Millions was anything but boring with over 200 eliminations including big name players Maria Ho, James Dempsey, Brian Roberts, Raymond Rahme, Gus Hansen, Annete Orestad, David Bach, Tom Dwan and Tony G.

It was slightly ironic when PartyPoker qualifier Diego Zeiter busted PartyPoker pro Tony G.

Perhaps is Tony G was worse at promoting PartyPoker, Zeiter would never have qualified for the Aussie Millions and he’d still have chips.

Jason Mercier and Tom Dwan

Tom Dwan and Aussie Tom Grigg had a massive battle on Day 2 that ended with Grigg getting the majority of Dwan’s chips.

In one of the notable hands they played against each other Grigg did everything in his power to get a read on the one they call durrrr.

Dwan shoved on the river of a K♠ K♦ 4♥ A♥ 9♣ board and Grigg went deep into the tank contemplating his decision. Grigg went into the tank for over 10 minutes and asked Dwan countless times what he had and resorted to waving his hand in front of the stone-faced pro’s eyes to get a reaction.

Finally Dwan had enough and called the clock on the Australian. Grigg ended up folding and Tom scooped the 180,000 pot.

It was Grigg who would have the last laugh, however, as he flopped a straight against Dwan. Even worse Dwan hit a set on the turn and that was enough to get all the chips in the middle.

Dwan lost the hand, was crippled, and busted shortly after.

Ivey is easily the biggest name left in this tournament but David Steicke (453,000), Lee Nelson (432,000), Michael Tureniec (289,000), Matt Wakeman (170,000) and Grant Levy (80,000) all have chips.

Play resumes at 12:30 p.m. tomorrow with the money bubble virtually guaranteed to explode in the early stages of the Day 3.

We’ll leave you with the top 10 end-of-day chip counts:

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Aussie Millions Day 2: The Magic Number is 659

Wed, 31 Dec 1969 16:00:00 -0800

We’ve made it to the dinner break of Day 2 of the 2012 Aussie Millions and we have the final registration numbers for you.

This year’s Aussie Millions drew a total of 659 players creating a prizepool of $6.5 million. First place will take home a whopping $1.6 million (AUD).

We’ll update the payout tab momentarily so you can see the complete payouts for this year’s Aussie Millions.

In other news Phil Ivey continues to be the story of the tournament and has amassed 334,000 chips. He’s still chasing Bjorn Li who has over 500,000 but everyone’s eyes are on Ivey.

English pro James Dempsey is also looking dangerous with 335,000 chips.

Jason Mercier has Tom Dwan have been seated next to each other, which is bad for them, but fantastic for railbirds.

The two pros have been trading tips on betting tennis, restaurants in Melbourne and stacking donks. OK, maybe not that last one.

Gus Hansen was one of the handful of players who signed up for the tournament in the very last level of registration but he didn’t last long. You’ll find the details of his exit below.

Feature Hand: Tony G Sends Gus Hasen Packing

It’s never fun busting out of a tournament but it’s gotta be significantly worse when you have a loud Lithuanian needling you with phrases like, “On your bike! On your bike!”

Gus Hansen experienced that first hand when he lost all his chips in a big pot against Tony G.

Aage Ravn led out for 2,500 from middle position and Tony G called with A♥ K♦ in the small blind.

Hansen looked down to see A♦ Q♦ and got frisky with a 10,000 bet. That chased Ravn but Tony G wasn’t going anywhere as he re-raised all-in.

The Great Dane called, the board blanked, and the former Aussie Millions champ was eliminated from this year’s contest.

Elimination Station

We’re nowhere near the money here at the 2012 Aussie Millions and players have had no qualms with shipping it all in here on Day 5.

We’re already down to 131 players as JP Kelly, Sebastian Ruthenberg, David Vamplew, Chris Brammer, Annette Obrestad, Tyron Krost, Vitaly Lunkin and Van Marcus have all been eliminated.

Big Stack City

Here’s a look at the notable players with monster stacks through the first four levels of play:

James Dempsey – 335,000 Phil Ivey – 334,000 Brett Watson – 308,000 Lee Nelson – 220,000 Isaac Baron – 220,000 Kenna James – 208,000 Tom Dwan – 175,000

Tweet of the Day

“No political speeches on TV here in Australia. Just two hot Russian chicks sweating and grunting a lot. And I think tennis is on as well.”

-Terrence Chan (@tchanpoker)

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Aussie Millions Day 2: Last Chance for Glory

Wed, 31 Dec 1969 16:00:00 -0800

It’s Day 2 of the 2012 Aussie Millions and for the first time every player still in the tournament is in the Crown Poker room.

That means that all 305 players left in the tournament are currently looking for their seat in the tournament.

We could have a few more, however, as Crown has decided to leave registration open for one more level in a slightly unusual move.

One such player who is rumored to join the field today is Tony G who was apparently too busy with unicycle prop bets yesterday to actually take a seat in the tournament.

On the bright side Tony G has already outlasted 50% of the field but on the other hand he’ll have to contend with players like Brett Watson (250,000 chips), James Dempsey (189,000) Phil Ivey (184,000), Tom Dwan (107,000) who all amassed massive stacks.

The G will also be looking up to unicycle rival Melanie Weisner as she picked up 118,000 chips yesterday. Perhaps it’s just as well he didn’t pay her buy in.

Currently there are 650 players registered for the 2011 Aussie Millions so the Crown is no doubt hoping that a few players will wander through the door this afternoon.

Hey if you’ve got $10,000 you won’t find a bigger tournament in the southern hemisphere.

We’re scheduled to play seven more levels today, which means we should be wrapping up at about 1:30 a.m. local time every night.

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Aussie Millions Day 1c: Highlight Reel Finish for Ivey

Wed, 31 Dec 1969 16:00:00 -0800

Phil Ivey crippled former Australian cricketer Shane Warne in a massive hand to finish Day 1c with a bang.

Ivey, who’s been gambling all day, got into trouble during the last few levels of play and dropped down to below 80,000 chips for the first time in hours.

Fortunately for Ivey he made up for it in a big way in this huge hand against Warne.

Ivey, Warne and George Moussa saw a downright scary flop of A♥ Q♥ J♥. Ivey quickly chased Moussa with a big bet but Warne wasn’t going anywhere and shipped in 84,000, which was enough to cover Ivey.

Ivey made the call and peeled 8♥ 6♥ to Warne’s A♦ A♦. The board bricked out with the 3♦ and finally the 5♥.

Ivey scooped the pot and rocketed up the chip counts to finish with 184,000. Warne was left with only 300 chips and busted on the next hand.

It was a dramatic end to a day that saw 317 players cram their way into the Crown Poker room including poker pros Daniel Negreanu, Joe Hachem, Jason Mercier, Erik Seidel, Sorel Mizzi, JC Tran, Nam Le, Dan Smith, Melanie Weisner and numerous others.

Weisner had a particularly interesting day as she nearly made her buy-in back by winning a unicycle-riding prop bet against Tony G.

She may not have been able to win the prop bet but she made up for it by being an absolute force at the poker table and finished with over 100,000 chips.

There were 168 eliminations on the day with Daniel Negreanu, Erik Seidel, Sorel Mizzi, Tony Hachem, Nam Le, Brandon Adams and Chris Moorman all hitting the rail in relatively short order.

Tomorrow promises to be an intriguing one as Ivey will get some company at the top of the leaderboards from fellow online crusher Tom Dwan who finished Day 1b with over 100,00 chips.

Everyone will still be chasing local Brett Watson who finished with 257,000 chips on Day 1a.

Interestingly registration will remain open for one level tomorrow, which means we could see couple more famous faces join this tournament.

It all begins at 12:30 p.m. local time so be sure to check in with PokerListings.com.

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Aussie Millions Day 1c: Phil Ivey Crushing

Wed, 31 Dec 1969 16:00:00 -0800

Phil Ivey has been called the best poker player in the world and it’s days like today when that seems like a fitting title.

Ivey seemed to be playing on another level as he absolutely ran over his table through the first five levels of play.

The former Full Tilt pro appeared unstoppable as he played an incredibly high percentage of hands and always seemed to have the best hand, or get his opponent to fold the best hand.

It helps when you’re also getting good cards and Ivey had the fortune of picking up pocket aces to Mike Watson’s pocket queens to bust pro Mike Watson.

By the dinner break Ivey had amassed 178,750 chips and looks to be the overwhelming chip leader.

Although Ivey is taking all the attention right now it’s also worth mentioning that Day 1c is the biggest day of the tournament by far.

We won’t have exact registration numbers for a few more hours but we would estimate there are more than 300 players in the field today.

Here's a look at a few notable incidents from the last four levels of play:

Who’s Playing

It’s a shooting gallery of poker pros out there today with Daniel Negreanu, Erik Seidel, Jason Mercier, Melanie Weisner, Michael Pedley, Jason Koon, James Obst, Isaac Baron, Joe Cheong, Jason Mercier, Shane Warne, David Gorr, Brandon Adams, Joe Elpayaa, Jay Kinkade, Sam Trickett, JC Tran, Mark Teltscher, Angel Guillen, Joe Hache, Tobias Reinkemeier, Dan Smith, Nam Le, Mike Sowers, Dan Shak, Chris Moorman, Sorel Mizzi and Mike Watson in the thick of the action today.

Melanie Weisner

Feature Hand: Weisner Winning

Melanie Weisner may not have won her seat into the Main Event from Tony G but she might be on her way to a cash anyways.

Weisner is off to a hot start here on Day 1c of the Main Event and is already up to 58,000 chips.

In the biggest hand for her thus far Weisner opened to 500 from UTG and had her opponent raise to 1,500.

Weisner called to see a flop of T♦ 7♦ 4♥. Weisner checked but her opponent threw 3,000 into the pot.

Once again Weisner called and dealer peeled the 5♠ turn. Again Weisner check-called, this time for 5,500.

The board finished with the K♦ and Weisner’s opponent fired a final bet of 5,000 into the pot. Weisner thought for a minute but then re-raised to 15,000.

Her opponent called and flipped over A♦ A♥ but Weisner had rivered him with K♥ K♠.

Weisner was up to 58,000 after the hand.

Elimination Station

Victor Ramdin, Mike Watson, Roberto Romanello, Tony Hachem, Chris Moorman, Sorel Mizzi and Tony Bloom have all been eliminated.

Big Stack City

It’s still early but there are a collection of players who have managed to put some distance between themselves and the rest of the field.

Here’s a look at that group of players:

Phil Ivey – 178,750 Michael Pedley – 104,000 Brandon Wong – 76,000 Jason Koon – 76,000 Azusa Maeda – 62,000 James Obst – 61,000

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Aussie Millions Day 1c: One More Time With Feeling!

Wed, 31 Dec 1969 16:00:00 -0800

It’s the final starting day of the 2012 Aussie Millions and we’re expecting a blockbuster.

Day 1a and Day 1b have been slightly underwhelming attendance-wise drawing a combined total of 340 players but fortunately Day 1c stands a good chance of being the biggest day yet.

With the $100k Challenge out of the way we’re expecting a high percentage of big name pros with heavy-hitters like Joe Hachem, Daniel Negreanu, Jason Mercier, Gus Hansen and Erik Seidel likely to hit the felt.

Once again the cupcake patrol is on full alert handing out delicious Aussie Millions-themed cupcakes to every player in attendance as part of a special promotion the Crown is running.

Of course the cake that everyone really wants is the cash at the end of this tournament. A good day 1c won’t guarantee that but it can certainly help.

Yesterday English pro James Dempsey built a stack of 187k in his bid for a deep run at the 2012 Aussie Millions.

The biggest stack thus far, however, belongs to local Brett Watson who amassed 250k on Day 1a.

We just found out from social media master Kevin “Kevmath” Mathers that the Crown Casino is kicking in some extra motivation for players as the 350th person to register today will receive a fancy dinner with the Crown’s own Natasha Stipanov.

In our opinion that’s pretty much worth the $10,000 alone but we’re pretty big fans of Stipanov.

The cards just hit the air so stay tuned for updates on the biggest tournament in the southern hemisphere.

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Aussie Millions Day 1b: It’s Bag and Tag Time!

Wed, 31 Dec 1969 16:00:00 -0800

Another seven-level starting day is complete here at the 2012 Aussie Millions and we’ve got several compelling poker players finishing with massive stacks.

James Dempsey, Kenna James and wildcard Tom “durrrr” Dwan all finished in the top 10 chip counts.

Day 1b started with 187 players all looking to grab some Australian poker glory. It was a noted increase from Day 1a where only 153 players took to the felt.

Tristan Wade, Grant Levy, Jared Graham, Jonathan Karamalikis, Stewart Scott, Grant Levy, David Bach, JP Kelly, Simon Watt, Mel Judah, Tyron Krost, Vitaly Lunkin, Marvin Rettenmaier, Max Weinberg, Kenna James, Casey Kastle, James Dempsey, Shawn Buchanan, Andrew Scott and Annette Obrestad were amongst the numerous known poker pros who hit the tables.

Dwan played his usual wacky game that frustrated opponents all day long and he finally bagged up an impressive 107,400. There’s no telling if he’ll dust that stack in the first level of Day 2 or build a real monster.

James Dempsey, David Bach, Grant Levy, Billy Argyros, JP Kelly, Stewart Scott, Annette Obrestad and Jonathan Karamalikis will all join Dwan on Day 2.

Recent WSOP bracelet winner Tristan Wade seemed to be well on his way to joining that crew as he had nearly 70,000 chips in the last level of play but lost two huge pots and busted right out of the tournament.

Wade wasn't alone as Mel Judah, Simon Watt, Shawn Buchanan and Andrew Scott all hit the rail on Day 1b.

In total 80 players busted on Day 1b, which means 104 punched their ticket to join the survivors from Day 1a (and eventually Day 1c) on Day 2.

Tomorrow is the final starting day of the 2012 Aussie Millions and we’re expecting a huge field as Daniel Negreanu, Jason Mercier and Gus Hansen have yet to play the Main Event.

Could we also see living poker legend Phil Ivey?

You’ll have to tune in at 12:30 p.m. local time tomorrow to find out.

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Aussie Millions Day 1b: Wade, Obrestad Making Noise

Wed, 31 Dec 1969 16:00:00 -0800

Despite Chinese Poker tournaments and $100k Challenge final tables we’ve made it to the dinner break of the Main Event.

We don’t have the final registration numbers for the day but the field looks about the same size as yesterday, which means we could be in for a significantly smaller tournament this year unless we have an absolutely massive turnout for tomorrow.

Tristan Wade, Annette Obrestad and Grant Levy have been doing quite well over the first part of the day but Australian Dennis Huntly is absolutely crushing.

Here’s a look at the latest news from the Main Event:

Who You Got?

There’s a wave of recognizable poker players in the Crown poker room today with Annette Obrestad, Tristan Wade, Jonathan Karamalikis, Stewart Scott, Grant Levy, David Bach, JP Kelly, Simon Watt, Mel Judah, Tom Dwan, Tyron Krost, Vitaly Lunkin, Marvin Rettenmaier, Max Weinberg, Kenna James, Casey Kastle, James Dempsey, Shawn Buchanan and Andrew Scott all paying their $10,000 to get in on the action today.

Feature Hand: Huntly’s Hundred

Melbourne resident Dennis Huntly won a massive pot mid-way through the third level when he turned a flush against an opponent with pocket aces.

Huntly had a modest 9♣ 7♣ but decided to call his opponent’s pre-flop bet to see a flop of J-8-4 with two clubs.

Huntly’s opponent bet about 1,000, Huntly raised to 2,400 and his opponent re-raised to 11,000. Huntly thought for a long while but eventually made the call.

The turn brought the K♣ and the initial raiser kept the pressure on with a 15,000 bet. Huntly moved the last of his stack into the middle (he started the hand with about 50,000).

Huntly immediately flipped over his flush and the player with aces broke into tirade about the way Huntly played the hand.

Through it all Huntly calmly stacked his chips into a pile worth 103,000. He’s the first player crack the 100k mark and looks to be the early chip leader.

Elimination Station

It’s been pretty slow out there today but Jamie Pickering, Xin Zhao, Andrew Scott and Justin Cohen have all been eliminated.

Big Stack City

It’s still a wee bit early to crown a winner in this tournament quite yet but we did a quick inventory of the notable stacks out there right now:

Dennis Huntly – 103,000 Annette Obrestad – 68,000 Tristan Wade – 60,000 Jonathan Karamalikis – 53,500 Grant Levy – 44,000 Steward Scott – 44,000

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Aussie Millions Day 1b: Let’s Take Two!

Wed, 31 Dec 1969 16:00:00 -0800

It’s another starting day at the 2012 Aussie Millions and we’re going to see another room full of new players looking to build a big stack.

Yesterday 153 payers bought into the massive tournament but Day 1b has the potential to be even bigger as the poker pros have started to descend on Melbourne en masse.

We noticed a few pros as we fought our way to the media room including recent WSOP bracelet winner Tristan Wade, Chris O’Donell, Shawn Buchanan, Andrew Scott and Australian fixture Mel “The Silver Fox” Judah.

For the second straight day players were hit by a barrage of cupcakes as the Crown Casino has provided every player with a special Aussie Millions-branded cupcake. At least you’re guaranteed something for your $10k right?

Of course the Aussie Millions is no one-trick pony and the final day of the massive $100k Challenge will also take place today starting at 2:30 p.m. In addition the $5,300 buy-in Chinese Poker tournament begins at 4 p.m. today and we’re honestly pretty thrilled to see how that one turns out.

We’ll provide coverage of both events in the news and blog sections of the site.

Meanwhile in the Main Event players begin 30,000 chips, blinds start at 50/100 and we’ll be playing a total of seven 90-minute levels. That means we should finish up around 1:30 a.m. local time.

Will anyone be able to top the 257,000 chips that Brett Watson ended with yesterday? You’ll have to wait and see.

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Aussie Millions Day 1a: Watson Finishes on Top

Wed, 31 Dec 1969 16:00:00 -0800

And so the first day of the 2012 Aussie Millions comes to an end with 72 players booking a seat in Day 2.

Day 1a began with 153 players, which means the starting field has essentially been cut in half.

Tim O’Shea, Michael Egan, Maria Ho, Lee Nelson, Ramzi Jelassi, Sebastian Ruthenberg and Jamie Rosen are all in the upper echelon of chip counts.

Hometown hero Brett Watson finished with the overall chip lead with well over 250,000 chips.

McLean Karr had an up-and-down day that saw him nearly bluff off his entire stack, recover, get red hot, implode and finally bust on the last hand of the evening.

Day 1a was obviously not kind to everyone and Jeffrey Lisandro, Barry Greenstein, Matt Jarvis, Randy Dorfman, George Youssif, Anton Wigg, Richard Ashby, Tyler Bonkowski and Eoghan O’Dea were among the many pros who hit the rail.

Patrik Antonius had a very interesting Day 1a that saw him enter late, build a big stack, implode and then bust in the span of a couple levels.

Recent PCA final table finisher Faraz Jaka was feeling the wrath of the poker gods as an opponent hit a two-outer against him to win a 250+ bb pot.

Day 1b of the 2012 Aussie Millions begins tomorrow at 12:30 p.m. local time and there’s a good chance it will be much more pro-heavy with busted players from the $100k Challenge looking to make their money back.

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Aussie Millions Day 1a: The Thunder Down Under

Wed, 31 Dec 1969 16:00:00 -0800

We’ve made it to the dinner break here on the first day of the 2012 Aussie Millions Main Event and the action hasn’t disappointed.

Although getting some serious competition from the $100k Challenge, which is taking place upstairs, the first five levels offered several surprisingly massive pots with big-name players making moves.

So far a total of 153 players have bought into the tournament, although only 118 of that number are still standing.

Here’s a summary of the action over the last few levels:

Star Power

Are there any notable players out in the field today?

Only if you count Barry Greenstein, Maria Ho, Patrik Antonius, Sebastian Ruthenberg, Sam Holden, Jeffrey Lisandro, Matt Jarvis, Tyler Bonkowski, Terrence Chan, Ramzi Jelassi, Dan “djk123” Kelly, Raymond Rahme, McLean Karr, Rupert Elder, Leo Boxell, Richard Ashby, Faraz Jaka, Lee Nelson and Jamie Rosen.

It’s also worth noting that a good portion of the world’s most well-known poker players are preoccupied with the $100k Challenge that is currently taking place upstairs including Daniel Negreanu, Phil Ivey and Erik Seidel.

We’ll see those players either tomorrow or the next day on Day 1b and Day 1c respectively.

Oops.

Feature Hand: Karr Stalls

McLean Karr was off to a flying start here at the 2012 Aussie Millions but just hit a brick wall.

An unidentified player opened for a standard 3X bet UTG but Karr raised to 2,050 from late position.

The UTG player called and the flop came 9♠ 8♠ 4♥. That brought about a quick check but Karr fired for 2,700.

Karr’s opponent check-raised to 6,300 and Karr thought for a minute but then eventually called.

That brought the 5♣ and the UTG player recklessly threw 10,000 chips into the pot. Karr wasn’t going anywhere, however, and re-raised him all in for about 27,000 more.

The player snap-called and showed 4♣ 4♦ for the set.

“I’m an idiot,” sighed Karr as he flipped over A♠ J♣ for the naked ace.

The river was a meaningless 7♦ and that was enough to clip Karr’s wings and send him tumbling all the way down to 11,000 chips.

Elimination Station

Patrik Antonius, Eoghan O’Dea, Dan Kelly, Faraz Jaka and Florian Langmann have all busted from the 2012 Aussie Millions Main Event.

It was an interesting day for Antonius who arrived late, built a big stack, lost half that stack when his pocket aces were cracked by pocket queens and then bluffed the rest of his stack off with Q-3 against an opponent who hit top-pair top-kicker with A-K.

That’s how you do it like a pro, kids.

Meanwhile former November Niners Matt Jarvis and Eoghan O’Dea played a big pot where Jarvis made a huge call with A-Q pre-flop to send O’Dea and his K-Q packing.

Finally recent hot-hand Faraz Jaka was cooled completely when an opponent hit a two-outer to cripple the Californian pro to 7,000 chips.

Several hands later Maria Ho dispatched Jaka with A-5 > K-Q.

Big Stack City

It’s still early but we did a quick round of the floor at the end of Level 4 and took note of some of several notable big stacks. This is by no means comprehensive but will give you an idea of the early movers and shakers here on Day 1a of the 2012 Aussie Millions Main Event.

Michael Egan – 93,000 Ramzi Jelassi – 69,0000 Lee Nelson – 47,000 Jason Gray – 42,000 Raymond Rahme – 32,000

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Aussie Millions Day 1a: Game On!

Wed, 31 Dec 1969 16:00:00 -0800

Break out the vegemite sandwiches and grab a couple Fosters because the 2012 Aussie Millions has officially begun.

After a brief 30-minute delay the cards are officially in the air and the Crown Casino spared no expense on the shuffle up and deal ceremony.

The ceremony included a special video preview of the tournament as well as showgirls and an explosion of confetti. A number of former Aussie champs were also on hand and hometown hero Joe Hachem provided the official shuffle up and deal.

In Australia, much like Texas, they go big.

We took a quick look around the floor as we were heading back to the media room and we already spotted a number of pros at the tables including Terrence Chan, Faraz Jaka and David Vamplew although we’re sure there are hordes more.

This tournament has produced notable champions in the past with Gus Hansen, Lee Nelson and Peter Costa all holding Australian titles but it’s also had some near misses over the years with superstars Erik Seidel, Sorel Mizzi, Peter Jetten, Andy Black and Annette Obrestad all getting some final table experience Down Under.

Before you get in our face about update volume you’ll notice that this tournament we’ll be taking an abbreviated approach to coverage with about three summaries posted a day (not including the final table).

This is because we’ll be concentrating on breaking some news stories while we’re down here (we hear you guys like those) as well as blogs and photos about the biggest tournament in the Southern Hemisphere.

Players get 30,000 chips and blinds begin at 50/100. Let's see who can bust that stack first.

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2012 Aussie Millions Main Event Begins Saturday!

Wed, 31 Dec 1969 16:00:00 -0800

Every 12 months the live tournament calendar kicks off with two giant events, the PokerStars Caribbean Adventure and the Aussie Millions.

And now with the PCA is out of the way PokerListings.com is heading to Melbourne for the 2012 Aussie Millions main event.

Action at the Crown Casino is already ramping up with a slew of preliminary events but the real fun starts this weekend with the $10,000 buy-in main event.

In 2011 we saw Melbourne local David Gorr defeat a field of 721 to earn $2 million AUD.

He waded through an absolutely stacked final table including James Keys, Randy Dorfman, Chris Moorman, Patrik Antonius and Sorel Mizzi.

Also spicing up our trip down under was some amazing live nosebleed action with Phil Ivey, Tom Dwan, Patrik Antonius and a group of mega-rich Malaysian businessmen.

We're going to be on location for the entire main event shipping you news, photos and three-times a day live coverage from the felt.

Join us starting Saturday (that's Sunday in Australia!) to follow along as we crown the newest Aussie Millions champion.

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Pius Heinz Wins the 2011 WSOP Main Event!

Wed, 31 Dec 1969 16:00:00 -0800

In the very late stages of Nov. 8, 2011, 22-year-old Pius Heinz became the first German to claim poker’s ultimate prize.

The Cologne resident outlasted 6,856 players and then beat a final table that included Sam Holden, Anton Makiievskyi, Bob Bounahra, Eoghan O’Dea, Phil Collins, Matt Giannetti, Ben Lamb and Martin Staszko to win the 2011 WSOP Main Event.

In addition to a world championship gold bracelet, Heinz also took down $8.7 million – one of the biggest payouts in the history of poker.

Heinz entered the final table with the third shortest stack but started winning early and, after winning a huge pot against Eoghan O’Dea, never really looked back.

One of the most aggressive players at the final table, Heinz won pot after pot without having to show his cards and he quickly became a contender as play went from nine-handed to three.

Heinz was the first player to break the 100 million-chip mark and by the time play got down to the last three players he was the chip leader with 107 million.

After nearly four months of waiting, players took one-day break after they reached three-handed, putting even more pressure on Ben Lamb, Martin Staszko and Heinz.

The final day didn’t go exactly as Heinz would have planned as Staszko knocked out Lamb very early and then took over the chip lead but the German was as resilient as a Panzer tank and refused to give up.

Finally Staszko made the mistake of shoving with T♣ 7♣ and Heinz called with A♠ K♣. Heinz successfully faded all of Staszko’s outs and his Big Slick became the winning hand of the tournament.

Heinz rockets up poker’s all-time winning list by taking down the $8,711,000 prize and all of Germany can take pride in his accomplishment.

Thanks for tuning into PokerListings coverage of the 2011 WSOP and be sure to check back for interviews and stories with the winner and runner-up.

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2011 Main Event: Staszko Falls Short! (Second)

Wed, 31 Dec 1969 16:00:00 -0800

Martin Staszko came into the 2011 WSOP Main Event as the chip leader and put in a performance that nearly won him a world championship.

Nearly.

After the stunning hand that saw Staszko and Pius Heinz essentially trade stacks, Staszko was playing from the short stack.

With about 40 million chips to his name, Staszko looked down at T♣ 7♣ and decided to ship it all in the middle.

Unfortunately for Staszko, Heinz woke up with a veritable monster in A♠ K♣ and made the quick call.

Staszko shook his head as he saw Heinz’ hand and knew that he would need some luck from the board if he wanted to swap stacks with the German at least one more time.

By this point the entire Penn and Teller amphitheater was rocking as fans realized this could be the final hand of the tournament.

The flop came 9♠ 5♣ 2♦ and the Heinz’ supporters went crazy as their hero was still ahead.

With tension so thick you could cut it with a knife the dealer flipped over a J♥ turn. That changed nothing and Heinz was officially within one card of winning the 2011 WSOP Main Event.

The river came… 4♦!

The Penn and Teller amphitheater literally exploded with confetti as Heinz ran to his friends and family and embraced them.

Staszko, who was the first player from the Czech Republic to make the final table, finishes in second place and will receive $5.4 million for his efforts.

Stay tuned for a complete final table recap.

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2011 Main Event: Heinz Stuns Staszko with Double

Wed, 31 Dec 1969 16:00:00 -0800

It took more than five hours but we just had our first all-in and call of the heads-up match between Martin Staszko and Pius Heinz.

On the first hand of Level 43 Staszko completed and Heinz popped it up to 7.9 million pre-flop. Staszko called and the flop went down K♠ T♣ 7♣.

The German did not let up and moved 8.2 million in the pot. Staszko responded by pushing 17.5 million into the middle.

Heinz thought for a minute and announced quietly to the dealer that he was all-in. Staszko has acted fast for the majority of the final table and made a quick call.

The players revealed their hands and it turned out they were both drawing.

Pius Heinz: A♥ Q♥

Martin Staszko: Q♣ 9♣

The room was buzzing as Heinz’ tournament life was on the line and he definitely didn’t want to see any clubs.

The turn came 3♥ and then the river fell… 6♠!

Heinz successfully faded all of Staszko’s outs and is suddenly in command of the match with a huge chip lead.

Here’s how the chips looked after the gigantic hand played out:

Pius Heinz – 161,500,000

Martin Staszko – 44,400,000

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2011 Main Event: Staszko Slips

Wed, 31 Dec 1969 16:00:00 -0800

Once again Martin Staszko has been unable to deal the killing blow to opponent Pius Heinz.

Heinz opened to 4 million and Staszko called. The flop came J♦ 5♥ 4♥ and Heinz immediately led out for 4.5 million.

Staszko thought he sensed weakness and threw 10.2 million into the pot. Instead Heinz re-raised all-in for his last 44.1 million.

Staszko carefully weighed his options for a few minutes but eventually decided he couldn’t make that call.

Heinz raked in that pot and, after adding a few more small pots, is gaining on Staszko. We've been heads-up now for close to five hours.

Here are the updated chip counts:

Martin Staszko – 126,000,000

Pius Heinz – 76,000,000

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2011 Main Event: Trouble for Heinz

Wed, 31 Dec 1969 16:00:00 -0800

Martin Staszko has put together a nice string of wins and Pius Heinz is starting to dip into danger territory.

None of the pots were particularly big over the last 20 minutes but Staszko has been hammering the young German with a number of re-raises.

In perhaps the biggest pot of the last while both players checked their way to the turn of a K♠ J♣ 9♣ 7♣ board.

Heinz bet 3 million and Staszko made the call, which brought the A♥ river. Heinz fired again, this time for 6.5 million but Staszko wasn’t going anywhere and made the call.

Heinz immediately mucked and Staszko showed K♦ 8♥ to take the pot.

The German lost a few pots after that hand and these are the updated chip counts:

Martin Staszko – 161,000,000

Pius Heinz – 44,900,000

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2011 Main Event: Heinz Begins Slow Road to Recovery

Wed, 31 Dec 1969 16:00:00 -0800

Don’t look now but Pius Heinz is once again on his way to evening up the chip stacks.

There hasn’t been a ton of action over the last 10 minutes but Heinz has been consistently winning.

After winning three hands in a row, Heinz added this slightly more significant pot.

Heinz opened for 4 million pre-flop and Martin Staszko called bringing a A♠ A♦ J♦ flop.

Staszko checked but Heinz threw 4 million more into the pot. Staszko flat-called and the turn came 9♠.

This time Staszko bet, putting 6 million into the pot. Heinz called and the board finished with the 4♦. Both players checked and Heinz showed 9-5, which was enough to win the pot.

So far neither player has shown the ability to close out an opponent and there’s no telling how long we could be here if Heinz re-takes the chip lead.

Here are the updated chip counts:

Martin Staszko – 129,000,000

Pius Heinz – 76,900,000

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2011 Main Event: Staszko Takes Heinz to the Brink

Wed, 31 Dec 1969 16:00:00 -0800

The pressure is suddenly on Pius Heinz.

Martin Staszko called and Heinz checked his option to see a flop of J♥ T♣ 3♥. Both players checked and that brought the Q♥ turn.

That’s when the fireworks began and Heinz threw 3 million into the pot. Staszko raised to 7.5 million and Heinz went into the tank, pondering his next move.

Finally Heinz called and that brought the 6♠ river. This time Heinz checked but Staszko chucked 10 million into the pot.

Heinz spent several minutes planning his next move but eventually decided to call. Staszko immediately showed K♦ 9♣ for the king-high straight and that was enough to give Staszko the pot.

The Czech player now has a huge lead over Heinz. Here are the current chip counts:

Martin Staszko – 143,300,000

Pius Heinz – 62,600,000

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2011 Main Event: Staszko Strikes Back

Wed, 31 Dec 1969 16:00:00 -0800

It seems like an understatement to call these two players evenly matched.

For the umpteenth time this heads-up match the chip lead has switched hands and Staszko is once again on top.

On the very first hand of Level 42, Heinz opened for 4.2 million and Staszko responded by raising to 11.5 million.

Heinz stared down his opponent but eventually opted to re-raise to 20.6 million. Staszko immediately moved all-in and the entire room was nervous as they waited for Heinz to make his choice.

In the end Heinz laid it down and the Staszko supporters went crazy. The Czech player once again has the chip lead and this how the chips currently look:

Martin Staszko – 109,900,000

Pius Heinz – 96,000,000

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2011 Main Event: Heinz Overtakes Staszko

Wed, 31 Dec 1969 16:00:00 -0800

Apparently you can’t keep a resilient German down and Heinz has once again taken the chip lead here at the 2011 WSOP Main Event.

Heinz has had all the momentum in the last 10 minutes and finally won a big enough pot to give him the chip lead.

The Cologne resident bet 2.7 million pre-flop and Staszko responded with a 9.5 million raise.

Heinz thought for a minute and then fired 19.9 million into the pot. Staszko thought for a couple minutes but, after some visible frustration, decided to lay his hand down. Heinz picks up a 20+ million pot without ever seeing a flop and he now has the chip lead.

We have yet to experience an all in and call in heads-up play.

Here how the stacks currently look at the final table:

Pius Heinz – 115,000,000

Martin Staszko – 92,800,000

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2011 Main Event: Heinz Wakes Up

Wed, 31 Dec 1969 16:00:00 -0800

Pius Heinz seems to have survived the recent barrage of big Martin Staszko pots and just took down a big one of his own.

Staszko finally opened a pot for a standard bet and Heinz raised to 5.1 million. Staszko thought for a minute but then called.

The flop ran out 9♠ 4♣ 2♥ and Heinz bet 5.1 million. Staszko called and the turn came 3♥.

This time Heinz checked but Staszko bet 7.5 million. Heinz opted to make the call and the river fell 5♣.

Both players apparently lost their will to bet at this point and checked it down.

Heinz showed T♠ 9♦ and that was enough to prompt Staszko to throw his hand in the muck. The German won a few minor pots after that and is now closing in on Staszko’s chip lead. Staszko and Heinz have now been heads-up for nearly three hours.

Here are the latest counts:

Martin Staszko – 114,500,000

Pius Heinz – 91,400,000

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2011 Main Event: Staszko Drags Monster Pot

Wed, 31 Dec 1969 16:00:00 -0800

We’ve been waiting for the next big hand for a while now and it feels like we just witnessed it.

The potentially tournament-defining hand began with Pius Heinz opening for 3.4 million and Staszko calling.

The flop came A♦ 9♠ 3♦ and Staszko checked but Heinz threw 3.8 million into the pot.

Staszko called and the turn brought the A♠. Once again Staszko checked but Heinz bet 8.4 million.

As he’s been doing all night, Staszko suddenly shifted gears and check-raised to 18.5 million.

Heinz called and the dealer flipped over a 6♦ river.

This time Staszko was the aggressor and he bet 20 million, leaving Heinz with a critical decision.

Finally Heinz shook his head and threw his hand into the muck. Staszko takes a 2-1 chip lead over the young German. Here are the updated chip counts:

Martin Staszko – 141,340,000

Pius Heinz – 65,750,000

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2011 Main Event: Heinz Up Then Down

Wed, 31 Dec 1969 16:00:00 -0800

It’s turning into all-out war here at the 2011 WSOP Main Event.

Pius Heinz successfully battled back and re-took the chip lead when he forced a huge fold from Staszko on a Q♦ 5♦ 2♣ A♥ 3♦ board after a 16 million bet.

Shortly after that hand, however, Staszko won a monster pot to take the chip lead back.

Staszko opened for 3.5 million pre-flop and Heinz made it 10 million to play. Staszko called and the flop came T♠ 7♦ 2♥.

Heinz continued to pile on the pressure with a 9.8 million bet. Staszko immediately called and that brought the A♣ river.

Yet again Heinz bet and this time he poured 21.3 million chips into the pot. Staszko thought for a minute but then announced he was all in.

It didn’t take long for Heinz to fold and once again Staszko has the chip lead. The Czech player has won several pots after that hand and the chip counts are now:

Martin Staszko – 124,800,000

Pius Heinz – 81,100,000

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2011 Main Event: Staszko Fights Back

Wed, 31 Dec 1969 16:00:00 -0800

Martin Staszko has successfully turned the heads-up match around and now holds the chip lead.

Heinz never let up in his pressure but Staszko found a couple good spots to fire back at the young German.

In one of the bigger hands Heinz, as usual, made an opening bet of 3.3 million and Staszko called.

The flop came Q♥ Q♣ 9♥ and both players checked. The turn came 3♥ and Staszko checked again but this time Heinz threw a 3.7 million bet into the pot.

The board finished with the 9♣ on the river and Heinz finally checked. Staszko followed suit and showed K♥ 8♣ for king-high, which was enough to win the pot as Heinz threw his hand into the muck.

About 10 hands later, Staszko successfully reclaimed the chip lead after the following monster hand.

Staszko had the button and completed while Heinz checked his option to see a flop of Q♠ 9♥ 2♣.

Heinz led out for 2 million and Staszko called. The dealer peeled a K♠ turn and Heinz fired for 4.5 million.

Once again Staszko called and the board finished with the 7♠. Heinz went for the triple barrel and threw 14 million in the pot.

Staszko pondered his decision for about two minutes but then called and showed Q♥ 7♣, which was enough to beat Heinz’ 7♦ 2♥.

After the hand the stacks looked like this:

Martin Staszko – 110,650,000

Pius Heinz – 95,250,000

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2011 Main Event: Heinz Takes the Lead

Wed, 31 Dec 1969 16:00:00 -0800

Pius Heinz and Martin Staszko have only been heads-up for about 30 minutes but the German is causing all sorts of problems for Staszko.

Heinz, who we’ve been calling the German Raising Machine for the last couple days, has been putting an extraordinary amount of pressure on Staszko and has won several huge pots without showdown.

The biggest hand so far saw Heinz bet 3.7 million pre-flop and Staszko made the call to see a flop of 9♦ 8♦ 5♣.

Heinz made a continuation bet of 4.3 million and Staszko immediately called. That brought the Q♦ and Heinz kept the pressure on by betting 8.8 million.

Staszko called and the river came T♣. Heinz finally checked but Staszko had no intention of following suit and bet 14.5 million.

With nearly 50 million in the pot, Heinz thought for a few minutes before announcing he was all-in.

Staszko looked tormented by the play and carefully weighed his options. Finally he decided to throw his hand in the muck.

Heinz took the chip lead in the hand and has since added to his stack. Here’s how it looks at the moment:

Pius Heinz – 135,250,000

Martin Staszko – 70,650,000

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2011 Main Event: Lamb Sacrificed! (Third)

Wed, 31 Dec 1969 16:00:00 -0800

There’s a good chance the last 15 minutes are going to haunt Ben Lamb for a very long time.

In less than five hands of three-handed play the Tulsa, Oklahoma, native went from second in chips to the rail paving the way for a heads-up match between Martin Staszko and Pius Heinz.

In his final hand Lamb open-shoved for his last 10 million with Q♠ 6♥ and Staszko woke up with J♦ J♣.

Lamb looked sick as the dealer prepared to put out the board.

The flop came 5♣ 5♥ 2♠ and that didn’t offer a whole lot for Lamb. The turn also changed very little when it came 2♣.

Lamb was left hoping for one of the three remaining queens in the deck. Considering the incredible WSOP Lamb's had, it wouldn’t have been a complete shock to see a queen peel off the deck on the river.

Instead the river came 7♠ and the pro-Staszko crowd thundered with approval.

Lamb is out in third place and will take home $4 million for his incredible performance here at the 2011 WSOP Main Event.

The crowd seems stunned here at the Main Event final table, as there was a huge contingent of Lamb supporters that have been silenced.

Our advice? Don’t blink! This event could be over in a matter of minutes.

Here are the stacks as Heinz and Staszko enter heads-up play:

Martin Staszko – 117,000,000

Pius Heinz – 88,600,000

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2011 Main Event: Boom! Staszko Doubles on First Hand

Wed, 31 Dec 1969 16:00:00 -0800

Apparently the three remaining players have no intention of messing around. We just had a double up on the very first hand of three-handed play.

Pius Heinz, Ben Lamb and Martin Staszko had just received their official introductions and UFC announcer Bruce Buffer had just finished the official shuffle up and deal when Staszko and Lamb got into a pre-flop raising war.

Lamb opened for 3 million chips and Staszko raised to 7 million. Lamb thought for a minute and then shoved. It didn’t take long for Staszko to call as he flipped over 7♣ 7♠.

It turned out that we were in for one heck of a coin flip as Lamb had K♥ J♦. The entire crowd was on their feet as there was a chance of an elimination on the very first hand of the session.

The dealer quickly threw down a 9♠ 3♥ 2♦ flop, which gave nothing to Lamb. The turn came 3♠ and Lamb was down to six outs to win the hand.

Instead the river finished with the T♣ to give Staszko the pot and cripple Lamb. Here’s how the stacks look after the hand:

Pius Heinz – 107 million Martin Staszko – 85 million Ben Lamb – 12 million

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2011 Main Event: The Final Lap

Wed, 31 Dec 1969 16:00:00 -0800

It’s November 8th and after nearly four months of waiting we will have finally have a new world champion either tonight or early tomorrow.

Pius Heinz, Ben Lamb and Martin Staszko have already outlasted 6,862 players but will have to bring their A-game one more time if they want to claim the title and the $8.7 million that goes along with it.

Heinz will carry the chip lead into the final three with 107 million and is looking to become the first German Main Event winner in the history of poker.

Lamb is second in chips with 55 million and has the chance to top off a WSOP where he won Player of the Year with a championship title.

Finally Staszko enters third in chips with 42 million but has been a formidable opponent throughout the final table. He has a shot at becoming the first Main Event winner from the Czech Republic.

Barry Greenstein and Linda Johnson have just been inducted into the Poker Hall of Fame after rousing speeches by Mike Sexton and Doyle Brunson.

We’re now just 30 minutes from getting the final shuffle up and deal and fans are getting downright antsy as they prepare for the conclusion to one of the biggest poker tournaments ever held.

All we can say is get ready. It should be one hell of a night.

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2011 Main Event: Lamb Ends Giannetti, Final Three Set

Wed, 31 Dec 1969 16:00:00 -0800

In the end it could happen no other way.

Ben Lamb, the 2011 WSOP POY and one of the hottest players in recent memory, simply would be not be denied a seat in the final three here at the Main Event.

Matt Giannetti, who played well at this final table but got unlucky against Lamb, finally made an ill-timed shove with A♦ 3♠ and smacked right into Lamb’s monster K♦ K♠.

The air in the Penn and Teller amphitheater was electric, as it’s been for most of the night, and it truly seemed something momentous was about to happen.

That feeling was justified when the flop came a stunning K♠ K♦ Q♠ to end Giannetti’s tournament in dramatic fashion. The board finished with a meaningless 4♥ and then the Q♦.

Giannetti crashes out in fourth place but on the plus side picks up $3 million for his efforts in the tournament.

The Texan’s elimination leaves just three players – Pius Heinz, Ben Lamb and Martin Staszko – still chasing poker’s ultimate prize.

It’s been an interesting day down here at the Rio as action shifted gears more times than the average Formula 1 driver.

The day started very tentatively as no player wanted to end their Main Event run with the minimum payout. Finally Sam Holden, the short stack to enter the final table, crashed in ninth place.

Holden’s elimination heralded a rapid succession of bustouts. Anton Makiievskyi (8th), Bob Bounahra (7th) and the aforementioned Holden all hit the rail in the same level.

Eoghan O’Dea (6th) and Phil Collins (5th) weren’t far behind and both bowed out just before dinner at 6:45 p.m.

That’s when action slowed and it took several hours to find the final elimination of the evening. Giannetti got unlucky against Lamb and then ended up on the rail in fourth place.

The final table will now go on break for one entire day as the ESPN production crews scramble to edit their footage for the final broadcast.

Action resumes on Tuesday at 5:30 p.m. Las Vegas time so be sure to check back for the exciting conclusion to one of the biggest tournaments in the history of poker. In the meantime be sure to check our news section for interviews with eliminated players and a preview of the final three.

Here’s a look at the chip counts of the final three players heading into action on Tuesday:

Pius Heinz – 107,800,000 Ben Lamb – 55,400,000 Martin Staszko – 42,700,000Matt Giannetti Phil Collins Eoghan O’Dea Bob Bounahra Anton Makiievskyi Sam Holden

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2011 Main Event: Lamb Scores Massive Double Against Giannetti

Wed, 31 Dec 1969 16:00:00 -0800

The Ben Lamb heater lasted an entire summer, so what's a couple more days?

Matt Giannetti opened for a standard bet and Ben Lamb, who had been the shortest stack at the final table for the last while, decided to ship it all-in.

Giannetti thought for a minute but then called and tabled J♣ J♦ while Lamb showed A♥ 7♥.

Lamb was in a scary place, with his tournament life on the line, but the poker gods have been extraordinarily kind to the Las Vegas resident and you had to wonder if what the board would bring.

The dealer flipped over a K♥ 9♦ 5♥ and suddenly Lamb had picked up a massive draw. The crowd was thrilled and went into an absolute frenzy when the turn came 4♥, completing Lamb’s flush.

Yet again, Lamb dodged a bullet and in the process crippled the popular Giannetti down to 6.7 million.

Shortly after the hand Giannetti doubled up with Q-T suited against Staszko’s Q-2 but he is still on life support with 14 million.

Stay tuned.

Here are the latest chip counts:

Pius Heinz – 93,400,000Ben Lamb – 54,200,000Martin Staszko – 43,950,000Matt Giannetti – 14,400,000Phil Collins Eoghan O’Dea Bob Bounahra Anton Makiievskyi Sam Holden

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2011 Main Event: Staszko Doubles through Heinz

Wed, 31 Dec 1969 16:00:00 -0800

Short stack Martin Staszko finally found the double-up he’d been looking for in Pius Heinz.

Staszko open-shoved for the third time in the last hour and Pius Heinz finally decided to see what the Czech was messing around with.

It wasn’t a bad call as Staszko flipped over A♠ 8♣ to Heinz’ 6♠ 6♥. Staszko was in for approximately 20 million and in danger of becoming our final elimination of the evening.

The dealer flopped 8♥ 8♠ 5♠, which put Staszko firmly in the lead. The turn brought the 4♦ and Heinz had picked up an inside straight draw.

Fortunately for Staszko the river was a safe Q♣ to give him the checkmark. Ben Lamb is now the short stack at the final table.

Here are the latest chip counts:

Pius Heinz – 73,800,000 Matt Giannetti – 56,000,000 Martin Staszko – 44,550,000 Ben Lamb – 31,600,000

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2011 Main Event: Who Will Blink First?

Wed, 31 Dec 1969 16:00:00 -0800

Outside of a couple uncalled Staszko shoves, action has gotten downright tentative over the last 30 minutes of play.

It’s understandable as the stacks have gotten significantly deeper compared to the previous three hours of play and the final three players are no slouches when it comes to final table strategy.

Every remaining player seems focused intently on making it to the final day of the 2011 WSOP Main Event and considering every player that makes it to Tuesday will receive at least $4 million its easy to see why everyone wants to hang on.

Pius Heinz has done a fantastic job as the chip leader over the half our and is a serious threat to break the 100 million chip mark soon.

Here’s the latest chip counts:

Pius Heinz – 96,625,000 Matt Giannetti – 55,775,000 Ben Lamb – 29,750,000 Martin Staszko – 23,775,000

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2011 Main Event: One Must Fall!

Wed, 31 Dec 1969 16:00:00 -0800

We’re once again live from the 2011 WSOP Main Event and the four remaining players now set about ousting one of their own to set the three-player final day of the event.

Pius Heinz, Ben Lamb, Matt Giannetti and Martin Staszko all of chips now but by the time the evening is complete one of them will hit the zero mark.

Interestingly Guy Laliberte, the founder of the One Drop foundation and, co-creator of the $1 million buy-in Big One tournament at the WSOP this summer, stopped by to share some information on the upcoming event.

According to Laliberte 24 players have already expressed their interest in playing the event and he’s planning taking a trip to Russian and Macau to recruit more businessmen who enjoy high stakes poker.

Bertrand “ElkY” Grospellier and Jonathan Duhamel both confirmed they would play the tournament.

Finally Laliberte wished the remaining November Nine players luck and gave the official shuffle up and deal.

We're officially in Level 40 and blinds are 600,000/1,200,000 with a 200,000 ante. Here are the chip counts as we head into what should be the final portion of the evening:

Pius Heinz – 85,500,000 Matt Giannetti – 50,325,000 Ben Lamb – 46,300,000 Martin Staszko – 23,900,000Phil Collins Eoghan O’Dea Bob Bounahra Anton Makiievskyi Sam Holden

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2011 Main Event: Dinner for Four

Wed, 31 Dec 1969 16:00:00 -0800

Another level is down here at the 2011 WSOP Main Event and the action simply refuses to let up.

Over the last level we’ve seen Eoghan O’Dea and Phil Collins hit the rail as Pius Heinz continues to build his massive stack.

The resurgent Ben Lamb also looks very dangerous as we get ever closer to crowning a champion.

Once we hit one more elimination, however, the entire final table will go on break for one day to give the ESPN production crews some time to catch up.

Right now the shortest stack is Martin Staszko with 23 million as Ben Lamb snapped him off just before the level ended. Staszko still has some room to wiggle so he doesn’t need to get too crazy just yet.

As we mentioned above, players are officially on their dinner break. Check back here at the 8 p.m. local time for more red-hot poker action live from the Rio.

Here are the updated chip counts at the dinner break:

Pius Heinz – 85,500,000Matt Giannetti – 50,325,000Ben Lamb – 46,300,000Martin Staszko – 23,900,000Phil CollinsEoghan O’Dea Bob Bounahra Anton Makiievskyi Sam Holden

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2011 Main Event: Heinz Denies Collins One More Night (Fifth)

Wed, 31 Dec 1969 16:00:00 -0800

They certainly haven’t wasted much time here at the 2011 WSOP Main Event final table.

With Eoghan O’Dea’s seat still warm Phil Collins decided to make his big move.

Pius Heinz initially opened for 2.1 million but Collins decided to shove for 18 million. Heinz eventually decided to make the call with 9♣ 9♥ while Collins could only muster A♦ 7♦.

The flop came 6♠ 5♣ 4♦ and, although Heinz was still in the lead, Collins had picked up a ton of outs with his up-and-down straight draw and backdoor flush draw.

The turn came 9♦, which gave Heinz a set but more importantly gave Collins even more outs with the flush draw in play. The dealer finally flipped… 7♠!

Collins missed his outs and Heinz knocks out yet another player.

On the bright side Collins does pick up $2.2 million for coming in fifth place and his crew seemed to understand this as they broke into “In the Air Tonight” for one more time in the Penn and Teller amphitheater.

Just one more player must fall before this final table goes on a one-day recess.

Here are the updated chip counts:

Pius Heinz – 82,350,000Matt Giannetti – 53,175,000Ben Lamb – 39,650,000Martin Staszko – 30,850,000Phil CollinsEoghan O’DeaBob Bounahra Anton MakiievskyiSam Holden

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2011 Main Event: Staszko Sends O’Dea Packing (Sixth)

Wed, 31 Dec 1969 16:00:00 -0800

Irish pro Eoghan O’Dea was in a very unique position at the 2011 WSOP Main Event final table.

He was the only player that had a relative who also made the Main Event who also made the final table.

Way back in 1983, Eoghan’s father - Donnacha O’Dea - made the WSOP Main and eventually finished in sixth place. In 1991 Donnacha made the final table again, this time finishing in ninth place.

As luck would have it, O’Dea finished in the exact same spot his father did, in 1983.

O’Dea was crippled in an earlier hand against Lamb and decided to ship it with Q♥ 6♣ and Martin Staszko called with 8♥ 8♦.

The board came T♥ 9♣ 5♥ J♦ 2♥ and that was enough to end O’Dea’s run here at the 2011 WSOP Main Event.

Fortunately for O’Dea he’s taking home a lot more than his father did (Donnacha took $43k in 1983) as he’ll earn $1.7 million for finishing sixth.

Here are the latest chip counts after the huge hand:

Pius Heinz – 67,500,000Matt Giannetti – 49,875,000Martin Staszko – 40,750,000Ben Lamb – 28,700,000Phil Collins – 18,150,000Eoghan O’DeaBob Bounahra Anton MakiievskyiSam Holden

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2011 Main Event: Lamb Cripples O’Dea

Wed, 31 Dec 1969 16:00:00 -0800

Ben Lamb has been a shell of his former self since getting unlucky against Phil Collins but the poker gods finally shined on the pro in a recent hand against Eoghan O’Dea.

O’Dea opened for 1.6 million from the cutoff and Lamb decided to just ship his last 14 million in the middle.

The play seemed to torment O’Dea and the Irish pro was unsure of his next move. Having about 16 million, O’Dea barely covered Lamb and was essentially making the decision for his tournament life. After carefully calculating his decision, O’Dea finally decided to make the call with A♣ 9♦.

On paper it looked like the right call as Lamb flipped over a miserly Q♦ 8♦. The poker gods, as we mentioned earlier, had other ideas.

It was a quite a sweat as the board came J♠ J♦ 6♦ 4♣… 8♥! The rivered pair of eights were enough for Lamb to take the pot.

It’s been awhile since we’ve seen much emotion from Lamb but this time he ran to his fans and enthusiastic high-fived them. After the hand Lamb moved up to 29 million while O’Dea moved all the way down to 2.6 million and is in serious danger of going out in sixth.

Players just went on a 15-minute break but you’ll see the updated chip counts below. When they return they’ll have to deal with Level 39 and blinds of 500,000/1,000,000 and a 150,000 ante.

Pius Heinz – 65,200,000Matt Giannetti – 51,675,000Martin Staszko – 38,250,000Ben Lamb – 29,450,000Phil Collins – 18,750,000 Eoghan O’Dea – 2,600,000Bob Bounahra Anton MakiievskyiSam Holden

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2011 Main Event: Against All Odds Collins Doubles Up

Wed, 31 Dec 1969 16:00:00 -0800

Phil “USCPhildo” Collins just survived a heart-wrenching close call.

Collins had been getting short over the last 30 minutes and with 13.5 million chips left finally looked down at Q♥ J♦ and decided it was go time. Collins open-shoved and everyone folded… except for Ben Lamb.

Lamb decided to call and it was easy to see why. The 2011 WSOP POY flipped over A♣ Q♣ and Collins was in a very rough spot.

The flop came K♦ 5♦ 3♠, which meant Lamb was still in the lead but Collins picked up a backdoor flush draw. The turn was an intriguing T♦. The card gave Collins a metric ton of outs as he had straight and flush draws.

With the entire room on it’s feet the dealer finally flipped over the hand-defining Q♦! Collins takes the pot with a queen-high flush.

All the Collins fans immediately broke into a delirious rendition of “In the Air Tonight” as he raked in the pot.

Here’s how the stacks looked after the hand:

Pius Heinz – 53,500,000Matt Giannetti – 49,875,000Martin Staszko – 45,750,000Phil Collins – 28,150,000Ben Lamb – 15,325,000Eoghan O’Dea – 13,325,000Bob BounahraAnton MakiievskyiSam Holden

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2011 Main Event: Staszko Strikes Bounahra (Seventh)

Wed, 31 Dec 1969 16:00:00 -0800

Bob Bounahra may have been the most beloved player at the final table today but even that couldn’t save him from hitting the rail in seventh place.

Bounahra was extremely short-stacked for the last 10 minutes and, after a 1.7 million bet from Martin Staszko, he moved all-in with A♥ 5♣.

Unfortunately for him Staszko called with A♠ 9♦ and all of Belize was suddenly gasping for air.

The flop came 7♣ 6♥ 2♣ and that changed nothing. The turn was an eventful K♥ and all Bounahra could do was pray for one of the three remaining fives in the deck.

Finally the dealer peeled off… the 6♦! It gave Staszko fans a scare but it wasn’t good enough to give Bounahra the checkmark.

Bounahra is out and we’re assuming he’s going to take his small army of Belizean fans with him. He picks up $1.3 million for his efforts in the 2011 WSOP Main Event.

Here’s a look at the updated chip counts:

Pius Heinz – 52,300,000 Matt Giannetti – 47,175,000 Martin Staszko – 39,875,000 Ben Lamb – 32,900,000 Phil Collins – 15,375,000 Eoghan O’Dea – 11,625,000Bob BounahraAnton MakiievskyiSam Holden

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