WPT Championship - Live Updates

On the first hand back from break Azor raised and was put all in by Timoshenko.

Azor called and turned up his Q♣ T♦ to Timoshenko's A♠ 3♣.

Q♠ J♠ 7♦ on the flop, Azor took the lead!

Azor asked for a deuce but got a K♣ on instead.

Timoshenko had traded the three remaining aces as outs for the three remaining tens.

They stood side by side and watched the dealer deliver the river.

The T♠!

Timoshenko made broadway! Azor raised his hands in despair.

A straight, we don't believe! Yevgeniy Timoshenko 2009 WPT Champion! He grabs $2,149,960 for first and Azor takes $1,446,265 for second.

Play is set to resume after another short "TV" break.

Some of the staff in charge sense that the end is near and have begun dismantling parts of the set.

Ran Azor might have something to say about that, however.

He is still hanging tough despite being smacked down over and over again by Timoshenko.

He still has chips and in poker, that's all you need.

After a brief period of stability, Israeli Ran Azor has thrown it back in reverse.

Yevgeniy Timoshenko made it 600,000 to go and Azor called.

The flop came K♣ T♠ 3♠ and both checked.

The 5♦ came on the turn and Timoshenko called a bet of 425,000.

The T♥ came on the river and Azor checked.

This time Timoshenko fired out 1.5 million.

Azor made the call and Timoshenko turned up the Brunson!

Ten-deuce made for trip tens and Azor is back down to 5 million just like that.

Ran Azor finally found a hand he couldn't fold - pocket kings!

Although he did fold them pre-flop yesterday.

This time Yevgeniy Timoshenko had deuces, all the money went in the middle and after a board of blanks, Israeli Ran doubled up.

With almost 6 million in chips now, Azor is back in it.

Ran Azor apparently didn't get the memo handed out before the final table resumed that this is not the WPT Championship of folding.

Israeli Ran has allowed himself to get whittled down to 4 million in chips with very little resistance.

The one time he did put up a fight, Timoshenko rivered a straight against him to take another decent pot.

Timoshenko is grinding away the victory one raise at a time on over 30 million now.

"Ran folds, Yevgeniy wins the pot," are the words coming out the tournament director's mouth most often as heads-up continues.

But despite Timoshenko picking up a lot of pots, Israeli Ran Azor is still hanging in there.

Most recently Yevgeniy flat called from the button and Ran Azor made it 600,000 more.

"You don't want to see a flop," Timoshenko asked as he made the call.

The flop came 3♦ Q♣ 9♦. Ran checked and Timoshenko checked behind.

The turn brought the T♦.

Ran checked again, but this time Timoshenko bet 1,050,000.

"Ran folds and Yevgeniy wins the pot," the TD said yet again.

"Let's see more flops," Timoshenko said. "What do you say?"

Ran said nothing audible there, but he did talk to the WPT's Amanda Leatherman before the final table began. Check out the video below:

#Video:wpt/wpt_2009-04-25-005726.flv#

It looked like Azor was headed in the right direction, but that didn't last too long.

Azor opened for 650,000 and Timoshenko called. The flop was the T♠ 7♦ 4♠ and Azor continued with 700,000. Timoshenko made it 2.1 million to go and Azor called.

Both players checked the K♠ turn.

Timoshenko then checked the T♣ river.

Azor bet 1.6 million and Timoshenko thought for a bit before check raising it to 7 million.

Azor looked a little flustered and mucked his hand. Just like that Israeli Ran was back down to 7 million.

Israeli Ran Azor suddenly climbed back over the 10 million mark when he hit a straight on the river.

The board was J♦ T♠ 9♦ A♥ when Azor fired 560,000.

Timoshenko called and the river delivered the 7♠.

This time Israeli Ran bet 800,000. Timoshenko called and was shown the T♥ 8♠ for a straight.

On the next hand, Azor bullied his way in another pot to bring his total closer to 11 million. It ain't over yet folks!

Despite all the aggression, Ran Azor still has a huge mountain to climb and he just took a step backwards.

He made it 650k pre-flop and Yevgeniy Timoshenko flatted. The flop came 9♠ 6♣ 3♠ and after a check from Timoshenko, Azor fired again.

This time he made it 550k, but when Timoshenko check-raised it up 900,000 more, Azor was forced to drop his hand.

It's now 25 million for Timoshenko with Azor under 8 million.

Ran Azor has ramped up the aggression heads-up.

He's raising almost every button and re-raising from the big blind when Yevgeniy Timoshenko tries the same.

A moment ago he was reminded to show his cards to the hole-card cam after yet another raise.

"Now after you can see all my hands," he said to Timoshenko.

"Does that mean that was a bluff?" Timoshenko asked.

Both Christian Harder and Bertrand Grospellier have been eliminated and suddenly Ran Azor and Yevgeniy Timoshenko are heads-up for the WPT Championship title.

The double elimination came after Harder open shoved. Azor made the call and ElkY shoved behind him.

Azor called for an extra 180,000 having both players covered. It was A♠ 8♠ for Harder, A♥ J♥ for Grospellier and Azor had the worst of it with A♦ 7♠.

However, the K♦ 3♦ 7♥ flop changed all that, putting the Israeli in the lead.

The Q♠ turn gave ElkY some more outs, but the 2♣ wasn't one of them.

Harder takes fourth, Grospellier takes third and it's time to cue the money presentation.

Heads up will begin with Azor on about 10 million to Timoshenko's 23 million.

The average chip count may be over 8 million in chips, but no player at the table except Yevgeniy Timoshenko has even half that amount.

In fact, the mountain of chips sitting in front of Timoshenko represents more than twice as many chips as the rest of the players combined.

We're not saying it's over, but the engravers just got to work on the championship trophy as the blinds were bumped to 100,000/200,000.

Shannon Shorr just busted fifth adding to the massive stack in front of Yevgeniy Timoshenko.

Shorr moved all in pre and Timoshenko called.

Shorr didn't seem too happy about flipping over his 6♣ 7♣, but his crowd cheered when Timoshenko turned up pocket fours and the less-than-classic race was on.

The A♣ 3♥ 9♠ flop was no help for Shorr and the J♠ turn kept Timoshenko in the lead.

The K♠ river sealed Shorr's fate as fifth place finisher. He grabs $408,550.

Interestingly enough, Shorr's elimination sealed up a different race.

Bertrand Grospellier just won the WPT Player of the Year title - now back to the real business at hand.

Check the video below to see what Shorr had to say heading into the final:

#Video:wpt/wpt_2009-04-24-235102.flv#

Yevgeniy Timoshenko moved just a little bit closer to becoming this year's WPT Championship winner moments ago.

He opened for 375,000 from under the gun and just Shannon Shorr called.

The flop came Q♣ T♥ 4♣ and Shorr led for 490,000. Timoshenko called.

The turn brought the T♣ and both players checked.

The A♥ river looked like a good bluff card for Shorr. Holding pocket eights, he took a 1.3 million chip stab at it.

Unfortunately, Timoshenko called with A♣ Q♥ and raked another pot.

The rich keep getting richer here at the final table.

Yevgeniy Timoshenko just rivered trips when the case jack came down to drag four million chip pot from Christian Harder and his aces up.

The 2008 APT Macau champ could be running away with this thing on over 15 million now.

It may only be a matter of time before it happens, but Scotty Nguyen will not become poker's all-time leading money winner at Bellagio tonight.

Left short by the Shannon Shorr double, Scotty didn't waste time much time before moving all in.

He was called in two spots by Shorr and Christian Harder.

Scotty must have gotten his hopes up when he saw two aces come out on board to go along with the ace-four in his hand.

Unfortunately, Harder, who pushed Shorr off the pot, came up with a slightly better ace-nine to out-kick Nguyen's trips.

Out sixth, Nguyen will take home $285,985 for his trouble, inching him ever closer to 2006 WSOP Main Event champ Jamie Gold. 

Check out what Scotty had to say to the WPT's Amanda Leatherman the night before the final six in the video below:

#Video:wpt/wpt_2009-04-24-231056.flv#

The folks from Alabama just found something more to cheer about.

Ran Azor raised pre-flop and Scotty Nguyen made the call.

Shannon Shorr, possibly looking to pick up some freshly squeezed chips, moved all in for about 1.5 million.

Azor let it go, but Scotty tanked it awhile before making the call.

Shannon tabled pocket tens to Scotty's pocket sixes.

The crowd rose to their feet as the dealer dealt the flop: A♥ K♠ 3♥. The turn was close for Scotty, but not close enough as the 7♣ fell.

The Q♠ river drove Shorr's cheering section wild as suddenly he has twice as many chips and Nguyen was left crippled.

It's a nit fest ladies and gentlemen!

The first half hour has seen very cautious play by almost everyone at the table.

After moving all in four times, Shannon Shorr has found enough breathing room to sit a few hands out.

Yevgeniy Timoshenko seems to have picked up on everyone's reluctance to play a hand and has come out raising several times.

Nobody has put up any resistance, so for now it appears he will continue to apply pressure whenever possible.

Check out what Timoshenko had to say to the WPT's Amanda Leatherman the night before the final six in the video below:

#Video:wpt/wpt_2009-04-25-003034.flv#

Shannon Shorr has the loudest cheering section of all the players here at the final table and they're definitely making themselves heard.

Shorr moved all in twice in the first four hands to scoop in some much needed blinds and antes much to his fans delight.

Play is underway at the WPT Championship final table.

There is still 16 minutes left in the 60,000/120,000 level which will give a couple of the short stacks a little extra breathing room.

This is it kids - The Season VII WPT Championship final table!

A more than a $2.1 million first-place prize and a World Poker Tour Championship title is on the line here at Bellagio.

2008 APT Macau champ Yevgeniy Timoshenko will come in holding 13.3 million in chips and a massive lead over the field.

Two-time EPT finalist Christian Harder is second in chips with 7.4 million, just above Bertrand "ElkY" Grospellier's 5.95 million.

Next is the venerable Scotty Nguyen with 3.2 million in chips and a chance to become poker's all-time leading money winner should he take this down.

The short stacks coming in are Israeli Ran Azor with 2.5 million in chips and 2006 Bellagio Cup champ Shannon Shorr on 1.3 million.

Outside of the prestigious title in the offing, Grospellier, who took down the WPT Festa al Lago title this past October, can grab WPT Player of the Year honors with a fourth place finish or better.

PL.com will have all the action from start to finish beginning at 4 p.m. PT.

Get your popcorn ready - The Season VII WPT Championship final table is next.