Bellagio Five Diamond - Live Updates

This heads-up battle took us all the way to 3:15am and it's Antonio Esfandiari standing in the winner's circle, along with thirty or forty drunken supporters.

Things got rowdy here in the Fontana Room with drinks flowing and energy high. The action on the felt heads-up, however, was restrained, until the final hand.

The Magician opened to 800k and Andrew Robl moved all-in. Esfandiari called and saw his K♣ J♦ was leading Robl's Q♦ T♣. The flop gave both players a sick sweat, coming A♦ K♦ 6♦ and giving Robl a gutshot and a flush draw.

The turn and river failed to deliver any of Robl's outs and he's out in second place.

Andrew Robl takes $549,003 while Antonio Esfandiari pockets $870,124 and his second WPT title!

Check out the winner interview we did with Antonio moments after the win!

After a long period of three-handed play we've got our heads-up match! Vanessa Rousso fought valiantly but she'll have to content herself with 3rd place and $358,964.

She was short and open-shoved Q-2 from the button. Antonio Esfandiari was in the big blind and made and easy call with A-Q. The board improved neither hand and Rousso is eliminated.

Esfandiari will be going heads-up with fellow Victory Poker pro Andrew Robl. Check out the chip counts and stay tuned to see who takes this thing down.

Seat 1.  Antonio Esfandiari  -  8,155,000
Seat 6.  Andrew Robl  -  9,500,000

We are still three-handed and chances are we'll be staying that way for a little longer given that Antonio Esfandiari just doubled up.

He open-shoved his small blind with K♥ 9♥ and Vanessa Rousso made a thin call in the big blind with K♣ 8♣. The flop was terrible for Esfandiari, rolling out K♦ 6♣ 2♣. Another deuce on the turn gave her a long list of chop outs.

The river was the 3♦ and Esfandiari doubles to a little over 5 million.

Seat 1.  Antonio Esfandiari  -  5,155,000
Seat 2.  Vanessa Rousso  -  5,060,000
Seat 6.  Andrew Robl  -  7,340,000

Blinds are 80,000/160,000 with a 15,000 ante.

Vanessa Rousso isn't giving up without and fight and she just picked up a lot more chips with which to wage war.

It started with Andrew Robl opening from the button to 300k and Rousso defending in the big blind. The flop came down T-9-2 with two hearts and and Rousso check-called 300k.

The turn is the 7♦ and Rousso quickly moves in. Robl goes into the tank, as we've seen him do on a regular basis today, and eventually came up with a call.

Q-T for Rousso was in great shape against Robl's T-5 and the Q♦ on the river made it official.

Seat 1.  Antonio Esfandiari  -  4,625,000
Seat 2.  Vanessa Rousso  -  7,355,000
Seat 6.  Andrew Robl  -  5,675,000

Blinds are 80,000/160,000 with a 15,000 ante.

Vanessa Rousso just doubled up in a hand tailor-made for television. Rousso was all-in  preflop with A-Q to Andrew Robl's A-K and things were looking bleak.

Rousso's cheering section is seated directly in front of us and they went absolutely mad when a queen hit the flop. Robl's fans outdid them when a king hit the turn.

Rousso was down to two outs to win the pot and she nailed it with another queen on the river!

Seat 1.  Antonio Esfandiari  -  6,105,000
Seat 2.  Vanessa Rousso  -  3,565,000
Seat 6.  Andrew Robl  -  7,985,000

John Racener has been eliminated and it was Antonio Esfandiari who did the deed.

Racener was short and we knew it was only a matter of time before he made a stand. He open-shoved from under the gun with Q♣ 8♣ and Esfandiari called in the small blind with K♣ Q♥.

A king hit the flop and after the turn bricked Racener was drawing dead. He takes $232,271.

New Counts

Seat 1.  Antonio Esfandiari  -  5,660,000
Seat 2.  Vanessa Rousso  -  2,790,000
Seat 6.  Andrew Robl  -  9,205,000

We have another elimination and it's Kirk Morrison headed out the door in 5th. Andrew Robl was the one to deal him the death blow, moving himself into a commanding chip lead four-handed.

Morrison managed to get his stack in drawing dead. It was on the turn with an ace-high board. Morrison had A-J and Robl had a set of fives, and the check mark.

Morrison takes $168,924 for the finish, adding to his already massive record here a the Bellagio.

Andrew Robl had edged out a small lead before this hand occurred and now he's the dominant chip leader with 8 million, more than twice his nearest competition.

Brand New Counts

Seat 1.  Antonio Esfandiari  -  2,915,000
Seat 2.  Vanessa Rousso  -  3,745,000
Seat 4.  John Racener  -  2,985,000
Seat 6.  Andrew Robl  -  8,010,000

Up until a few minutes ago this was the Vanessa Rousso show but Andrew Robl just succeeded in doubling through her. Rousso's still the chip leader but by not nearly as large a margin.

Robl opened from the cut-off to 180k and Rousso re-popped to 440,000 from the small blind. Robl called and the flop came T♣ 6♦ 4♦.

Rousso moved all-in and Robl made a quick call. A♦ 8♦ for Robl wasn't a huge dog against Rousso's pocket nines but he'd have to improve to stay alive.

The sweat lasted all of five seconds as the K♦ hit the turn, leaving Rousso drawing dead on the river. Check out the new counts below.

Seat 1.  Antonio Esfandiari  -  2,390,000
Seat 2.  Vanessa Rousso  -  5,385,000
Seat 4.  John Racener  -  3,715,000
Seat 5.  Kirk Morrison  -  2,115,000
Seat 6.  Andrew Robl  -  4,050,000

The five remaining players have settled in nicely but so far we haven't seen a ton of action. Things slowed down considerably after Ted Lawson's early exit and there have been only a few hands of note in the interim.

Antonio Esfandiari's cheering section is by far the most vocal, and they're sitting directly in front of media row. Phil Laak is sneaking trays of beers disguised as coffees in and if they keep it up things could get a lot more lively in here.

Vanessa Rousso is still killing it and she's increased her stack to over 7 million. She took a big pot from Andrew Robl, checking her big blind after Robl limped.

The flop came 9-9-5 and Rousso checked. Robl bet 60k and Rousso min-check-raised to 120k. Robl called and Rousso bet 200k on the jack turn. Rob called that, and another 500k on the river.

Rousso turned over Q-9 and scooped the pot.

John Racener also took a small bite out of Robl's stack, cold-four-bet shoving from the big blind over a Kirk Morrison raise and a Robl re-raise.

New Counts

Seat 1.  Antonio Esfandiari  -  2,225,000
Seat 2.  Vanessa Rousso  -  7,250,000
Seat 4.  John Racener  -  3,240,000
Seat 5.  Kirk Morrison  -  2,540,000
Seat 6.  Andrew Robl  -  2,400,000

Ted Lawson was the shortstack at this final table and he wasted no time putting his 650,000 into play.

Vanessa Rousso opened from under the gun and Lawson shoved from middle position. Rousso called when it got back to her and turned over pocket queens. Lawson needed help with pocket nines.

The dealer threw the flop down on the felt with a nine in the door and a gasp went up from the assembly. Just as quickly a queen hit the river, reversing Lawson's fortune once again.

The river was a brick and Lawson is forced to get up and go just two hands into the day. He takes $126,693.

Blinds are 25,000/50,000 with a 5,000 ante.

The players are being introduced and we're moments away from getting going at this WPT main event! We've got an unbelievable line-up, one of the best we've seen in a long time.

Antonio Esfandiari is a household name in the poker world but he's by no means the only talented player at the table.

Andrew Robl has had success live, with over $800k in earnings, but he's better known for his online accomplishments where he plays under the screen name Good2cu.

Vanessa Rousso is one of the best female tournament players in the world and she's got a chance to add almost $900,000 to her career total of $2.6 million!

John Racener has had an unbelievable year, taking second in the WSOP Main Event for $5.5 million and final tabling the £5k PLO event at the WSOPE.

Kirk Morrison is no stranger to final tables here at Bellagio, having finished second in the 2007 WPT Championship for over $2 million.

Ted Lawson is the live grinder's grinder. He plays everything and he's won over $2.4 million since he started playing live events back in 2000.

Counts

Seat 1.  Antonio Esfandiari  -  2,105,000 
Seat 2.  Vanessa Rousso  -  5,830,000 
Seat 3.  Ted Lawson  -  635,000 
Seat 4.  John Racener  -  3,235,000
Seat 5.  Kirk Morrison  -  2,650,000 
Seat 6.  Andrew Robl  -   3,210,000