Severely shortstacked, Farid pushed on the very next hand after getting crippled. Peter beats him into the pot and turns over pocket sevens. It's A-5 for Farid and he's looking for a bullet on the board. The flop comes 7 6 9 instead and Peter takes a huge lead with the set.

The turn is the 4 which gives Farid a shred of hope for the inside-straight draw but the river is the 2 and this tournament is over! Faris Meraghni is our runner-up, receiving €182,063, while Peter Jepsen, our champion, will be taking home a whopping €325,633! Congratulations Mr. Jepsen!

This tournament is all but over as Peter Jepsen has just doubled up, leaving Farid with less than $200k to his name. Peter raises from the button to $90,000 and Farid min-raises from the big blind. The flop comes 2 5 T and both players check. The 5 hits the turn and Farid fires $100k.

Peter Jepsen raises to $300,000 and Farid quickly announces all-in. It's an insta-call from Peter who turns over 9 5 for trips. Farid's hand surprises everyone when we see he shipped it with 2 3 for bottom pair. No one has to sweat the river since Farid's drawing completely dead. With that hand Peter takes a massive chip lead and Farid is all but done!

Farid has doubled up and taken the chip lead by a small margin after trapping Peter into calling a big check-raise on the river. They both limped in to see a flop of 9 2 K. Two checks preceded the A on the river and another check from Farid.

Peter bets out $80k and Farid check-raises to $190,000. After a bit of thought Peter calls and the river brings the 5. Farid open-shoves for $485,000 and after a lot of thought Peter opts to make the call. Farid turns over 9 2 and says, "It's good". It was indeed good and Frid doubles up to take a small chip lead.

They both limp in and check this hand to the flop. With the board showing A 6 T Q, Farid bets out $40k and gets re-raised to $140,000 by Jepsen. Farid mucks and Peter takes it down. With that hand trhe blinds are going up to $15,000/$30,000, still no ante.

Woohoo! Now this is a hand! Peter has just made a sick call to relieve Farid of a ton of chips. Peter raised from the button to $60,000 and after Farid made the call the flop came 4 9 7. Both players check and the turn is the 3. Farid checks and Peter bets out $80,000.

Farid check-raises to $240,000 and after a bit of time in the tank Peter calls. The river is the A, putting four spades on the board, and Farid leads out with a big bet of $280,000. Peter thinks for a few minutes before making the call and showing 7 6 for a seven-high flush. Farid turns over A 9 for aces up which are no good. Nice call Mr. Jepsen!

They both limp into a flop of J 3 5 and Farid checks. Peter bets out $80k and Farid check-raises to $240,000. Peter mucks and Farid rakes the pot.

Peter raises to $60k from the button and Farid re-raises to $160,000. Peter makes the call and the flop comes 5 3 K. Farid bets out $100k and Peter mucks.

Farid raises to $60k from the button and Peter calls. The flop comes A 3 4 and both players check. The turn is the 9 and two more checks follow. The river is the 3 and after a check from Peter, Farid bets out $80,000 and Peter makes the call. Farid turns over A-6 which is good enough to make Peter muck his hand. Hooray for showdowns!

There has not been a hand that's made it to showdown in the last ten minutes. Despite this it still looks like Peter has the edge. Jepsen's stack is growing ever so slightly as he edges out his opponent.

Another twenty minutes or so have gone by with no hands of consequence taking place. The stacks remain the same as they trade the blinds back and forth.

Farid raises from the button and Peter calls. The flop comes K 3 A and both players check. The 4 hits the tun. Peter checks again and Farid throws in $80,000. Peter mucks.

Peter raises to $60k from the button and Farid calls. The flop comes 9 Q 9 and both players check. The A on the turn brings two more checks and the 5 hits the river. Farid checks and Peter bets out $100k. Farid mucks and Peter rakes the pot.

This heads-up match has gotten of to an extremely slow start with the two players feeling each other out. The first thirty minutes have gone by without a re-raise of any kind making an appearance. Only two hands have gone to showdown so far with Peter Jepsen winning them both. The pots are staying small but despite this, more and more chips are finding their way into Peter's stack.

The tournament staff has elected to remove the antes for the heads-up match to make it easier on the players.

Ok, I think we're actually ready to go this time. Blinds are up to to $10,000/$20,000 with an ante of $2,000. Here are the chip counts at the moment:

The fifteen break had run out, the players were in their seats, the dealer had even begun shuffling the deck, when we were informed that there was actually a forty minute dinner break before the heads-up match will resume. So, join us then!

The heads-up match is about to begin. Brace yourself for the action!

The players have reached what very well could be the last level of the night. Fifteen minutes separate us from the rest of the heads-up match when the blinds will go up to $10,000/$20,000 with an ante of $2,000.

John Conroy has been eliminated in third place. He went busto when his A-K ran into the pocket aces of Peter Jepsen. Conroy will receive €109,238.

Marius Torbergsen has become the latest casualty after running into an absolute monster from Peter Jepsen. Farid Meraghni limped from under the gun and Peter and Marius called and checked from the blinds. The flop came 5 4 6 and Jepsen checked. Marius bet out $50,000, Farid folded and when it got back to Peter he check-raised to $200k.

Marius would be all-in if he made the call and after a bit of thought he did just that. Jepsen turned over 7 8 for the nut straight, which he had flopped, and Marius needed a lot of help with Q-5. The turn was a queen and the two players were forced to sweat the river. It was neither a queen or a five though and with that hand Marius Torbergsen is out and Peter Jepsen adds a few more chips to his stack. Marius will receive €78,027 for this fourth place finish.

We're on to a new level and the four remaining players will now have to cough up $8,000/$16,000 and a $2,000 ante if they want to stay in the game.

Here are the approximate chip counts for the four surviving players:

In the fourth huge hand in a row, Team PokerStars member Katja Thater has been busted, dashing the hopes of this event's sponsor of keeping the first prize money in the family. Katja open-shoved from the button with pocket deuces and got a call from Peter Jepsen in the big blind. A-Q for P-Jep was in a race but after two bullets hit the flop the situation was changed considerably. A two was Thater's only hope but it was not to be and she is out in fifth place, taking home €64,502.

On the very next hand after the last elimination, John Conroy got all-in good against Farid Meraghni. Bullets for Conway were dominating Farid's A-Q and the board was unable to change a thing. With that hand John is second in chips behind Farid Meraghni.

And on St. Patrick's Day! The pace has picked up this last level, to put it mildly, and the eliminations are happening faster than we can run back and forth from the press room to the tournament area to report them. The latest casualty of war is Andrew O'Flaherty, busted by the one-man wrecking crew Farid Meraghni. It was Marius Torbergsen who opened the pot to $32,000 followed by an all-in from Andrew.

Farid was next to act and pushed all-in over the top of the Irishman. It was folded back around and when they rolled the cards we saw that Andrew was in terrible shape. Pocket deuces were way behind the pocket jacks of Farid and once the board had come and gone with no miracle to be found, O'Flaherty is sent to the rails with a €50,978 consolation.

Patric Martensson has become our second elimination of the day after taking a semi-bad beat at the hands of Farid Meraghni. The money went in before the flop and it was Patric in great shape to double up with A-K to Farid's A-Q. Everything looked good until the river when a queen hit the board, putting an end to Martensson's tournament life. He will take home €40,574 for his seventh place finish.

After more than two hours of play we've got our first elimination. It's the Dane Frederik Hostrup Pederson who is the first player to be sent to the rails this evening. Frederik pushed from under the gun and when it got to Andrew O'Flaherty a few seats down the line, he shipped the rest of his chips as well. The rest of the table got out of the way and it was K T for Pederson in bad shape against the Irishman's pocket tens. The board came Q 7 5 3 5 and Pederson is gone! He takes home €29,130 for his 8th place finish.

Before the last break, Andrew O'Flaherty managed to double through Marius Torbergsen with K-J to the T-J of Marius. No help came on the board and Andrew gets a little bit of breathing room.

Hot off the presses:

We've reached a new level and the blinds have gone up, as they are known to do. We're now at $6,000/$12,000 with an ante of $1,000, shuffle up and deal!

Marius Torbergsen has just doubled through Andrew O'Flaherty after winning an all-in pre-flop confrontation. It was Frederik Hostrup Pederson who opened the pot, followed by all-ins from both Marius and Andrew.

Pederson gets out of the way and it's A K for Andrew and pocket sevens for Marius. The flop comes 7-3-8 rainbow, putting Torbergsen way ahead in the hand. A jack hits the turn and Andrew is officially drawing dead. The ace on the river is inconsequential and as Marius rakes the pot, Andrew is left with only $75,000.

Peter Jepsen checks his option in the big blind after Farid Meraghni limped in from second position. The flop comes K 3 T and both players check. The turn is the 9 and Jepsen fires $40k which is called. The river card is unknown but a $100k bet was made by Peter and called by Farid. Jepsen shows two pair, kings and treys which are good to take down the pot.

Katja Thater has doubled up once again, this time in spectacular fashion. Farid Meraghni opened to $22,000 and after Katja shoved for $76,000, Farid made the call. It was pocket kings for Katja leading Farid's T-J and as if that wasn't bad enough, a king on the flop made matters worse. The turn was no help to Meraghni and the river added insult to injury by putting up another cowboy. Four of a kind for Thater is more than enough to earn her the check mark and the double-up.

The end of this level has arrived and with the newly embiggened ante of $1,000 it's time to race off the $100 chips. The new blinds will be $5,000/$10,000 and will remain so for the next sixty minute levels.

The Irishman John Conroy has doubled up, having started the day as the shortest player at the table with $73,000 he's now sitting pretty, so to speak, with close to $450,000. Conroy and Marius Torbergsen got all the money in the middle after seeing a flop of J-T-7 and it was the J-T for Conroy that was leading Torbergsen's A-J. The turn and river changed nothing and Conroy doubles, leaving Marius as the new shortstack at the table with about $130,000.

Farid Meraghni and Frederik Hostrup Pederson clashed in this hand with Farid taking down the pot in the end. Meraghni opened to $21,000 from the hijack and when it got to Frederik in the big blind he made the call. The flop came 9 2 T and both players checked. The K on the turn with a check from Frederik and a $50k bet from Farid to follow. The action's on Pederson and after a few minutes he folds A-Q face up. "What can I beat?" he asks. "My hand," is the response from Farid as he rakes the pot.

Andrew O'Flaherty, quiet in terms of playing hands so far, has spoken up by re-raising a Peter Jepsen bet. Jepsen made it $25k from second position and when it got to Andrew in middle position he announced all-in. It was an overbet to be sure, totaling $142,800. It was folded back around to Peter who went into the tank to come to a decision. He was obviously skeptical about the size of the bet but in the end opted to fold.

The Irishmen Andy Black has made an appearance on the rails and, despite there being a final table in progress, has shifted the center of attention to himself. According to Andy he's been successful in the cash games, taking the equivalent of fourth place in the main event yesterday, and sixth the day before. As usual, Andy's still carrying on, mischevious grin and all. Ducking under the ropes to give Katja a kiss he cheers, "Go Germany!" Quickly followed by, "Sorry Ireland!"

In the last hand, when Katja Thater doubled, there was a bit of confusion on the dealer's part when she began to push the pot to Marius instead of Thater, its rightful owner. Katja responded by saying to the female dealer, "C'mon, I'm the only other woman here with you!" In response to this John Conroy piped up with, "Well I do have breasts!" I'll leave it at that.

Katja Thater has doubled up and is on her way to getting back in contention at this final table. Marius Torbergsen raised to $33,000 from the cut-off and when it got to Katja in the big blind she moves all-in. It's a total of $48k and Marius is priced into the call. 5 6 for Marius is behind Thater's K J going to the flop. The board comes 8 9 K, putting Katja in the lead but giving Torbergsen an inside straight draw. The board finishes T 6 and Thater's top pair is good for the win.

John Conroy has succeeded in tripling up after flopping a set to take down this pot. Conroy moved all-in from second position for $69,000 and got calls from Peter Jepsen, int the cut-off, and Farid Meraghni in the big blind. The flop comes K A T and with Conroy all-in it's left to Jepsen and Farid.

The both check and the turn is the 9. Farid bets out $25k and Jepsen lays it down. They turn over their hands and it's K-J for Farid that needs some help against John's pocket tens for the set. Farid needs a queen for the straight but the river is the A and Conroy makes his full house. With that hand Conroy is up to just over $200,000.

Katja Thater raises to $30,000 from under the gun plus one and when it gets to Frederik Hostrup Pederson, in the cut-off, he re-pops to make it $85,000 to go. It's folded back to Katja and she takes her time making a decision. The call would pretty much put her all-in and she begins to talk to Frederik. "I wouldn't do this to you Katja," says Pederson, referring to making a move on her. After a few minutes Katja folds and Pederson shows A-K.

Katja Thater has moved all-in and received no callers, leaving Peter Jepsen as the only player at the table yet to win a hand.

The players are taking their time and easing into the action today like an old man into a hot bath. The first six hands have gone by without one flop and each player except Katja Thater and Peter Jepsen has taken down a pot. The highlight so afar has been John Conroy moving all-in from under the gun and receiving no callers.

It seems that the tournament staff has seen fit to roll back the blinds one level for this final table. Due to this we are starting the day at $4,000/$8,000 with an ante of $800. Play on!

The cards are in the air as we begin this final table. We finished last night part of the way through the current blind level so we'll keep playing at $5,000/$10,000 with a $1k ante for a little longer before movin' on up.

To all our dedicated readers, despite what the publish times in the top right hand corner of the live updates may lead you to believe, these reports are live! The mysteries of website code have so far eluded us on this matter but I assure you, we'll have it sorted out soon!

Here is the relevant information at the onset of the final table.

The final table is about to start as the players are making their way into the tournament room to take their seats. The media is not being allowed in the room just yet so we'll be posted up at the door waiting for the moment when they let us in.