It took a few lucky breaks but nothing was going to stand in the way of Tommy Vedes and the 2009 WPT Festa al Lago title.

After managing a massive suckout against Freddy Deeb for a huge percentage of the chips in play earlier in the day Vedes never looked back.

In the final hand of the tournament Jason Lavallee decided to open-shove for his last two million and Vedes called.

The audience was on their feet as the players revealed their hands:

Vedes: K Q

Lavallee: 8 6

Vedes was in the lead and with the luck he’s had tonight it seemed very likely his K-Q would hold.

The flop came A 9 5 and Vedes retained his lead with king-high. The turn came Q and Lavallee was drawing to a seven for a straight.

Instead the river finished an emphatic Q!

Vedes takes down the 2009 WPT Festa al Lago with a set of ladies. He will receive $1.2 million and a WPT bracelet while Lavallee will be consoled with the $795,150 for second place.

This victory will likely feel like redemption for Vedes who very nearly made the final table of the 2009 WSOP Main Event but instead busted out in 19th.

Congratulations to Vedes, Lavallee and the rest of our final table contestants who put on an epic display of poker at a fast-paced final table.

For more on Vedes' victory, including a few words from the man himself, check out this news story.

We hope you enjoyed our coverage of WPT Festa al Lago and we'll be back in Vegas in barely one week's time to give you live updates of the 2009 WSOP Main Event final table featuring Phil Ivey.

It seems that fate is firmly on the side of Tommy Vedes at the final table of Festa al Lago.

We just witnessed two epic hands play out in quick succession.

In the first one Lavallee opened for 400,000 and Vedes quickly moved all-in for his last 3.7 million.

Lavallee flipped over A J, which had Vedes' A T dominated.

If you’ve been following Vedes throughout our updates tonight you might have a feeling what was coming next.

The flop came A T 6 giving Vedes the lead with a pair of tens!

The board finished with the Q and then the 7, which was enough to secure Vedes the double up.

After the hand Lavallee only had a two million chip lead but that didn’t stop a huge pot from developing just three hands later.

Vedes opened for 600,000 and Lavallee moved all-in. Vedes snap-called with a modest 5 5, which amazingly had Lavallee’s 4 4 dominated.

The board ran out A T 6 Q 7 and that was enough to double Vedes up again. Lavallee is reeling after the hand with only 2.4 million.

We could see a winner at Festa al Lago very soon.

After donating some chips back to Tommy Vedes, Jason Lavallee just won a huge pot.

The players limped to a flop of 8 4 3 and Vedes bet 200,000. Lavallee called and the turn came Q.

Once again Vedes bet. This time for 400,000.

Lavallee wasn’t going anywhere and he eventually called to see a river of 8.

Vedes bet 800,000, Lavallee thought for a minute and then raised to 2.5 million.

Vedes went all-in and Lavallee snap-called.

Lavallee flipped over K 4, which was enough to beat Vedes 8-7 for trip eights.

Here are the chip counts after the hand:

Jason Lavallee – 12.9 million

Tommy Vedes – 3.5 million

It appears that Jason Lavallee is starting to overwhelm Tommy Vedes.

Lavallee won several smaller pots before the following hand occurred.

Vedes bet 340,000 pre-flop and Lavallee popped it up to 900,000.

Vedes called and the flop came K 4 3.

Lavallee announced a million chip raise and Vedes folded in short order.

Here are the latest chip counts:

Lavallee – 11.2 million

Vedes – 5.1 million

It’s officially Level 27 as our heads-up combatants continue to try and claim the WPT title.

The new blinds are 80,000/160,000 with a 15,000 ante.

Blinds will now be going up every 30 minutes as we attempt to establish a winner. 

Jason Lavallee has held the chip lead for so long in this event he’s got to feel at least slightly entitled to the WPT title.

Lavallee just made a strong case for his game by winning the first significant pot of heads-up play.

The Montreal native bet 300,000 and Vedes flatted pre-flop.

The flop ran out J 5 4 and Vedes checked but Lavallee made a continuation bet of 400,000. Vedes once again called and the turn came J.

Vedes checked and Lavallee bet 900,000. Vedes finally had to relent to all that aggression and folded his hand.

The chip counts after the hand are as follows:

Lavallee – 8,680,000

Vedes – 7,810,000

It’s been a strange road getting to heads-up and if it wasn’t for a miracle queen on the river it’s likely Freddy Deeb would be playing for his third WPT title.

Instead we have Canadian cash game player Jason Lavallee facing New York pro Tommy Vedes.

Neither player has a WPT title although Tommy Vedes did run deep in the 2009 WSOP Main Event before busting out in 19th place.

Vedes has the slight chip lead as we enter heads-up.

Tommy Vedes – 9.5 million

Jason Lavallee – 7.3 million

 

Craig Crivello is the latest casualty in the all out race that Festa al Lago has been so far.

Jason Lavallee bet 280,000, Crivello shoved all-in for his last two million and Lavallee insta-called.

The players revealed their cards:

Lavallee: T T

Crivello: K J

Crivello has been a bit of a darkhorse at this final table and this was his big chance to double up and start seriously competing for the WPT title.

It didn’t happen as the board ran out Q 8 3 9 9 to eliminate the Denver-based poker pro.

Crivello will receive $477,090 for coming in fourth place.

With five eliminations in barely four hours of play, the final table of Festa al Lago is shaping up to be one of the fastest in recent history.

We’ll see if that changes heads-up.

Here are the chip counts after Crivello’s elimination:

Tommy Vedes – 9.5 million

Jason Lavallee – 7.3 million

The great run that Freddy Deeb was having at Festa al Lago has come to a heart-breaking end.

In his last hand Deeb shoved all-in for about 800,000 from UTG and Vedes snap-called from the button.

Jason Lavallee and Craig Crivello both got out of the way.

Deeb flipped over A 4 while Vedes showed 6 6.

The board ran out 8 7 2 T Q and that was it for Deeb. The experienced poker pro will not be winning a third WPT title at Festa although he will take home $278,300 for coming in fourth place.

Remember that Deeb bought into this tournament minutes before registration closed late on Day 2.

“I have less chips than some of these people but I’m luckier than them,” he said at the time.

In the end Deeb was true to his word and luckier than every player except Tommy Vedes, Craig Crivello and Jason Lavallee.

Vedes now has 9.5 million chips.

We’ve reached Level 26 and the new blinds are 60,000/120,000 with a 10,000 ante.

Tommy Vedes continues to dominate and he just hit a flush against a Craig Crivello straight. Although there was no all-in, Vedes picked up more than a million chips and is looking unstoppable.

Deeb is in bad shape with only one million chips and could very well be our fourth place finisher.