We're down to eight with the elimination of Eugene Todd. One of the name pros at this final table, Todd was on the short stack and got his money in bad before the flop with pocket tens to the pocket queens of Jace Markgraf.

The flop was no help to the all-in Todd, coming A A 8, and he was down to his last two outs when the turn brought the J. The river was the Q, making Jace the overkill full house and sending Eugene Todd to the exit with $31,952 to show for his time here at the Wynn.

Jace Markgraf was the short stack at the table but just managed to get his money in good and double up. He open-shoved for $118,000 from under the gun and got a quick call from Chris Moore a few spots to the left. The rest of the table got out of the way and it was time for a showdown.

A K for Moore needed to improve against Markgraf's T T. The flop of T 6 4 put Jace way in the lead and the turn 8 and river 9 changed nothing. Markgraf doubles to around $255,000 and Moore loses the chip lead but is still in good shape with around $600,000.

Ryan Young continues to bully the table, taking every opportunity to try to tilt his opponents. This last hand started with Young opening from the button and both blinds calling. The flop came down Q J 6 and Chris Moore checked in the small blind. Ardavan Yazdi checked in the big blind and Young did the same on the button.

The turn was the 9 and both blinds checked again. Young reached for chips and tossed $125,000 into the middle. Moore quickly folded but Yazdi took his time, looking like he had some sort of a hand. He eventually opted to fold and Young raked the pot, showing the 2 as he did.

It looks like Chris Moore has moved into the chip lead in this first level of the day, edging out a small advantage over fellow big stack Ryan Young. Here's how the field's looking at the moment.

Chris Moore	$720,000
Ryan Young	$710,000
Larry Wright	$590,000
Ricky Chow	$420,000
Blake Cahail	$325,000
Ardavan Yazdi	$300,000
Alemu Tesema	$225,000
Eugene Todd	$190,000
Jace Markgraf	$120,000

 

Alemu Tesema stands to profit the most from this tournament, having spent the grand total of zero dollars on his buy-in. Here at the Wynn Poker Room they ran a raffle program whereby cash game players could redeem their hours of play for tickets. Before this $10,000 main event began they drew one name who would receive a seat in the tournament. That one name was Alemu Tesema and he's now guaranteed $31,952.

It's no secret that Ryan Young is an aggressive player and yet he continues to surprise. Young was the recipient of the first big pot of the day as he came over the top of a Ricky Chow opening raise, making it $79,000 to Chow's original $22,000.

Chow made the call and the flop came down Q 7 5. They both checked and the turn brought the 6. They checked that, and the river as well, as the board finished 6 J. Young tabled the always-powerful 3 5 and Chow mucked.

It looks like the tournament staff rolled the clock back to the start of Level 16 so we'll have 90 minutes until the blinds go up. Cards are now in the air as we begin the playdown to this year's Wynn Classic champion!

The tournament announcer is currently introducing the nine final-table players to the small audience gathered here in the Wynn Poker Room. Ryan Young is currently in the driver's seat with the big stack but each of our survivors has a legitimate chance at the almost $700,000 up for grabs. Here's a look at the ammunition each player brings to the table.

Seat 1	Ardavan Yazdi	$405,000
Seat 2	Eugene Todd	$236,000
Seat 3	Alemu Tesema	$230,000
Seat 4	Larry Wright	$572,000
Seat 5	Ricky Chow	$507,000
Seat 6	Blake Cahail	$299,500
Seat 7	Jace Markgraf	$167,500
Seat 8	Ryan Young	$714,000
Seat 9	Chris Moore	$536,000