Festa al Lago - Live Updates

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.

Tommy Vedes was one card from being eliminated but now has a giant stack to work with.

Freddy Deeb opened for 400,000 and Vedes re-raised an extra 850,000. Deeb thought for a minute and then announced he was all-in.

Vedes snap-called and Deeb looked concerned as he flipped over K♠ K♦. He had no reason as Vedes showed Q♥ Q♦.

“Ladies love me,” said Vedes as he shrugged.

The flop came J♣ 9♣ 5♠ and Deeb’s cowboys looked good. The 6♥ on the turn further cemented Deeb’s lead.

Vedes was left praying for a two-outer and that’s exactly what happened when the river came Q♣.

The crowd went crazy and we think there's a good chance that hand will be shown when the final table airs on Fox Sports.

After the hand, Vedes was up to 6.4 million while Deeb stumbled all the way down to 1.7 million.

Jason Burt just became the fifth place finisher here at Festa al Lago, handing his stack over to Freddy Deeb.

Deeb opened, Burt shoved and when it came back to the two-time WPT champion, he made the easy call with A♣ Q♦.

It turned out he was dominating Burt's A♠ J♠.

The flop fell K♣ Q♠ 4♣ pairing Deeb, but giving Burt the gutshot.

However, the 9♦ turn and 8♠ river brought no ten and Burt bowed out fifth.

The 22-year-old, whose previous best live score was a small cash at a PokerStars EPT London prelim, cashes $208,725 for a few days work here at Bellagio.

We have our first elimination at Fest al Lago and it’s a bit of a surprise who has been relegated to the rail.

In the hand Shawn Cunix, who was down to 515,000 chips, open-shoved and action folded to Craig Crivello.

Crivello thought for a minute and then announced he was calling.

The players flipped over their cards:

Crivello: A♦ Q♣

Cunix: 8♥ 6♥

The flop came K♦ T♦ 6♦ and although Cunix was in the lead, Crivello had picked up a metric ton of outs with the flush draw and the gut-shot straight draw and two overs.

The turn came 3♥, which changed nothing, but the river came J♦ to give Crivello and eliminate Cunix.

Cunix entered the day as second in chips so it’s a bit of a surprise that he’s out in sixth place. Perhaps the $168,970 consolation prize will help cheer him up.

We’ve finished Level 24 and we’re still waiting for first elimination.

Freddy Deeb has been the target over the last 20 minute of play as both Tommy Vedes and Jason Lavallee picked up pots from him.

New blinds for Level 25 are 50,000/100,000 and a 10,000 ante, which should stimulate the action.

Here are the chip counts at the end of Level 25:

Jason Lavallee - 5.1 million
Freddy Deeb - 3.8 million
Tommy Vedes - 3.8 million
Craig Crivello - 1.8 million
Jason Burt - 1.1 million
Shawn Cunix - 630,000

It’s getting wild here in the Grand Ballroom at Bellagio.

In a recent hand Craig Crivello opened for 240,000 from UTG and Freddy Deeb, Shawn Cunix, Tommy Vedes and Jason Lavallee called.

The flop came K♦ Q♣ 6♥ and action checked to Cunix who made it 720,000. Vedes announced he was all-in and everyone else got out of the way.

Cunix snap-called and flipped over 6♦ 6♣ for a diabolical set. Vedes was stunned as he showed K♥ Q♦ for two-pair.

Cunix had Vedes covered and it looked like we might have our first casualty of the day.

The audience was on their feet as the dealer prepared to deal the turn.

It came… K♣!

Vedes took the lead with a full house leaving Cunix drawing extremely thin.

“Quads, quaaads!” yelled an overly excited fan.

Instead the river came 5♣ and that was enough to secure Vedes the double-up.

After the hand Vedes was all the way up to 3.8 million while Cunix sunk all the way down to 600,000.

Perhaps Freddy Deeb is human after all.

In a recent hand Lavallee opened for 160,000 and Deeb called from the big blind.

“What are we playing limit now?” said Deeb in reference to bet-sizing.

The flop came K♠ K♥ 3♠ and Deeb checked.

Lavallee C-bet to 250,000 but Deeb re-raised to an even 500,000.

Lavallee called and the turn came 6♠. Deeb checked but Lavallee bet 650,000.

Deeb tanked for a couple minutes but eventually folded.

Lavallee, who was the chip leader for much of this tournament, is starting to become dangerous again with about 3.2 million chips.

It might just be Freddy Deeb’s day.

In the third hand of the final table Freddy Deeb opened for 255,000 and Shawn Cunix called.

The flop came K♣ T♠ 4♥ and Deeb checked. Cunix thought for a minute and then bet 350,000.

Deeb called and the turn came 6♣. Once again Deeb checked and Cunix fired a bet. This time Cunix made it 600,000 to see the river and apparently that was a good price for Deeb as he made the call.

The river came A♦ and both players immediately checked.

Deeb showed QQ and Cunix immediately mucked his hand.

After the hand Deeb was up to approximately 5 million chips while Cunix sunk down to 2.5 million.

It’s final table day here at Festa al Lago and Freddy Deeb is chasing his third World Poker Tour title.

A win at Festa would tie Deeb with Gus Hansen for the most wins in WPT history.

To make it into the record books Deeb will have to get through Tommy Vedes, Shawn Cunix, Jason Lavallee, Craig Crivello and Jason Burt.

It may not be the most name-heavy final table but Vedes went deep in the 2009 WSOP Main Event and Crivello has two WSOP final tables to his name.

If that’s not enough to excite you, there’s a chance the $1.2 million first place prize might.

We very nearly had online superstar Aaron “aejones” Jones join us for the final table but he was the last player to bust yesterday when he made an ill-timed shove with K-8 to Crivello’s pocket jacks.

Last year Bertrand “ElkY” Grospellier demolished a final table that included Nenad Medic, Nam Le and Adam Levy. We’ll see if Deeb can pull off a similar victory tonight.

Jack McClelland just told the dealer to shuffle up and deal so we are officially live from Bellagio at the 2009 WPT Festa al Lago final table.

Don’t go anywhere, live updates are incoming.

Here are the chip counts to start the day: