After an absolutely dominating heads-up performance, Ram Vaswani has captured the bracelet in the LHE Shootout event. The Crazy Horse absolutely destroyed Andy Ward, playing an aggressive style and reversing Ward's chip advantage with lightning speed.

On the final hand of heads-up, Vaswani raised to $60,000 and saw Ward re-up to $90,000. Vaswani called and the flop came A J 2. Ward bet out and was called, and the turn was the 8. Ward bet out again and Vaswani raised him all-in, letting out a whoop of exhultation when his opponent called with A T to the Hendon Mobster's K Q for the king-high flush. Ward was drawing dead, and after the meaningless river card was 5, Ram Vaswani had won his first WSOP bracelet!

Vaswani will take home $217,438 for his performance and also receives the exclusive opportunity to talk to a PokerListings.com reporter, while second-place Andy Ward receives $124,816 and no conversation. Congratulations to both finalists!

Just a few hands back from the level break, Ahn Van Nguyen raises from the button and Ram Vaswani calls in the big blind, and the flop comes A 6 5. Vaswani checks to Nguyen, who bets out $30,000. The Crazy Horse raises to $60,000 and Nguyen calls. The turn is the 8 and Vaswani bets out. Nguyen moves all-in for $110,000 total and shows A 6 for two pair, while Vaswani is chasing clubs with K 8. The river card is the 7 and Anh Van Nguyen flinches like he's been shot, a heart-attack second-place finisher and recipient of $83,538.

We're now heads-up between Andy Ward and Ram Vaswani, with Ward holding about a 1.5-to-1 chip advantage. Stay tuned!

As the sixth round of the shootout comes to an end, Anh Van Nguyen, crippled by Ram Vaswani when he folded to the Hendon Mobster on Fifth Street of a board that came 4 3 2 5 7, checks his option in the big blind after the Crazy Horse limps-in from the small blind. The flop comes 7 5 2 and Vaswani checked to Nguyen, who bet out $20,000. Vaswani raised and was called, and the turn was the T, prompting Vaswani to bet out and Nguyen to raise all-in for $15,000 more.

Crazy Horse makes the call and shows K K to Nguyen's T 5 for two pair and after the river is the Q, Anh Van Nguyen has doubled through Ram Vaswani to keep the game at three-handed.

We're now on a fifteen minute level break but the action will resume shortly. In the meantime, current chip counts are as follows:

Chip counts courtesy www.worldseriesofpoker.com

Action and inaction brought to you by www.PokerListings.com

As a very drunk Johnny Lodden berates Ram Vaswani from the rail ("Ram Vashwazi! Did you play that hand good?"), Vaswani cripples David Mosca after Mosca raises from UTG and Vaswani re-raises from the button. Mosca calls and the flop comes 5 5 4. Mosca checks to Vaswani, who bets, and Mosca calls. The turn is the Q and the same pattern is followed as Mosca check-calls again. The river is the 4 and again Mosca check-calls the Hendon Mobster, who turns up 4 4 for quads to take the pot.

A few hands later, Mosca raises from the button for about half his stack and Vaswani is quick to re-raise. Action folds back to Mosca, who re-ups again and Vaswani caps it by putting his opponent all-in. Mosca shows A 2 and will need to improve against Vaswani's pocket tens, but cannot as the board comes J J 9 8 6 to send him to the rail in fourth place. Mosca earns $58,968 for his time.

We're now three-handed, and here are the latest chip counts:

Chip counts courtesy www.worldseriesofpoker.com

Garbled translation of J-Lo's drunken cries courtesy www.PokerListings.com

Just after the limits were bumped, Ishak Noyan raised from under the gun and was called by Ram Vaswani in the big blind. The flop came T 5 4 and Vaswani checked to Noyan, who led out for $20,000. Vaswani raised to $40,000 and Noyan came over the top all-in for another $15,000. Vaswani called with T 6 for top pair while Noyan tabled K 9 for king high. The board finished out 7 Q and Ishak Noyan was eliminated in fourth place. He'll take home $31,450 for his time.

New chip counts are as below:

Railbird-wise, we've seen Kristian Kjondal and Andy Black among the latest to sweat this event, which is not being held at any of the previous WSOP final tables but rather at an anonymous table adrift in the Amazon Room. PokerListings.com is there.

Chip counts courtesy www.worldseriesofpoker.com

Tireless coverage of endless supposed shootouts courtesy www.PokerListings.com

After round after round of surrious poker action that sees Sondre Sagstuen and Ishak Noyan both become crippled, Sagstuen at the hands of Andy Ward when Ward made two pair, aces and sevens with pocket rockets early in level five and Noyan just recently after bluffing into David Mosca and auto-mucking after being called down on the river with the board showing 5-5-3-8-6 with two diamonds (Mosca showed A Q), we've had our third elimination of the final table.

A short-stacked Sagstuen raised from the cut-off and was called by Andy Ward in the big blind. The flop came Q-5-3 rainbow and Ward checked to Sagstuen, who bet out and was raised. Sagstuen tanked for about a minute before calling all-in and showing T 7 for no pair and no draw, while Ward had 6 4 for the open-ended straight draw. The turn was the 8 and the river the 6, giving Ward a pair of sixes and sending Sagstuen and his sizeable railbird contingent (including Age Spets, the smilingest man in poker) out of the Amazon Room.

Sagstuen receives $19,656 for his sixth place finish.

Andy Ward limps-in from the cut-off and David Baker raises out of the big blind. Ward calls and the flop comes Q J 2. Baker checks to Ward, who bets out, and Baker raises to $20,000 and is called. The turn is the 2 and Baker again check-raises Ward, this time moving all-in and earning a call from Ward, who tables A Q for two pair. Baker is once again in a world of hurt, turning up Q 9 for the same two pair with a weaker kicker, and after the river is the 8, Ward wins the pot and Baker is eliminated.

According to Greg Mueller, "David Baker is the 7th place finisher and I hereby stop announcing." Baker takes home $12,776, while Mueller departs with the knowledge that if poker and hockey don't work out, he can move on to tournament announcing in a snap.

In the railbird department, Davood Mehrmand, Simon Trumper and Shawn Buchanan are in the gallery.

We are now on a fifteen minute break.

David Baker has been on the ropes multiple times during this final table but has thus far eluded elimination with a pair of timely spikes on the river while all-in.

The first saw Baker get all-in on a flop of 8 7 5 while holding 6 5 and getting a call from Ram Vaswani, who turned up A 7 for a pair of sevens. Baker needed to complete his open-ended straight or hit a five or running clubs to survive, and after the turn was the 8 the river was the 9, giving Baker the nine-high straight and doubling him through the Hendon Mobster.

About a half-hour later, Baker got all-in on a flop of A T 2 with David Mosca, who turned up J T for a pair of tens to Baker's pocket kings. The turn looked like Doomsday for Baker, bringing the J, but Baker again dodged the fatal blow when the river brought the K to make a set of Kings and double-up again.

Gone but not forgotten like that legendary Minnesotan slugger, Rayvenia Puckett is the first casualty of this somewhat ill-advisedly-named "Shootout" event. Puckett was crippled when her pocket kings were cracked twice within an hour, and put up a valiant effort before succumbing on the following hand:

David Mosca limped-in and David Baker moved all-in for his last $15,000. Puckett and Mosca both called and the flop came A J 4. Both players checked, and checked again on the 8 turn. The river brought the 9 and an all-in wager for Puckett, who committed her last $10,000 and was called by Mosca, who showed K J for second pair. Puckett mucked and was thus eliminated, while Baker turned up A 5 to triple up.

For her eighth-place finish, Rayvenia Puckett takes home $9,582. So long, slugger!

Meanwhile, in the railbirds department, Greg Mueller has been given a microphone and the rail now includes William Thorsson, Kyle Wilson and 2007 WSOP bracelet-winner Robert Cheung among its members.

Another level has come and gone and we've yet to see an elimination. That's not to say there hasn't been plenty of action, although there hasn't been. Anyways, here's the scoop:

Vaswani = The Nuts

Ram Vaswani, David Mosca and David Baker see a flop come 9 6 5. Baker bets out, Mosca folds and Vaswani raises. Baker calls and the turn is the 2, prompting a check from Baker and a bet from Vaswani. Baker calls and the river is the 4. Baker again checks and Vaswani again bets out. Baker calls, but mucks after Vaswani shows A J for the nut flush, leaving himself nearly crippled and in dire need of improvement - and fast.

Earlier in the proceedings, Vaswani took another large chunk off of Baker when he turned a straight with J-10 on an A-8-7-9-8 board, thus contributing to further to Baker's sticky situation.

Kings No Good

Ishak Noyan raises from UTG+1 and Rayvenia Puckett re-ups from middle position. Ram Vaswani calls in the small blind and Noyan four-bets it. Both players call and the flop comes Q 6 5. The action checks to Puckett, who bets, and after Vaswani folds Noyan raises and Puckett re-raises. Noyan calls and the turn is the 2, prompting a check from Noyan and a bet from Puckett. Noyan flat-calls and check-calls the 4 on the river, but when Puckett turns up pocket kings he triumphantly slams down a pair of red aces.

It's the second time Puckett has seen her kings cracked, having earlier fallen to Ram Vaswani's rivering a flush to put more of a dent in her stack.

Railbirds

Among the railbirds at today's event are Greg Mueller, who is acting as impromptu tournament announcer, as well as Joseph Tehan and a drunk Johnny Lodden, who is acting as impromptu event photographer.

Chip Counts

Here are the latest chip counts from the door in the floor:

Chip counts courtesy www.worldpokerlistings.com

Updates lowballing or otherwise courtesy www.PokerListings.com

Another round has come and gone and the chips, they are a-flowin'. Kind of. We're still not seeing much in the way of major action but here is what the last hour has produced:

Mosca Rebuilds

Short-stack when last we checked, David Mosca spent the last hour rebuilding his stack, making moves and taking pots, including a nice one from Sondre Sagstuen near the end of the last level. Mosca raised from the button and Sagstuen defended his big blind, and the flop came 8 7 4. Sagstuen checked-called the flop and then bet the turn, which was the Q. Mosca called and the river was the 8, prompting Sagstuen to fire again and Mosca to call, turning up pocket sixes to Sagstuen's T 9 and taking the pot.

Pot for Puckett

Sondre Sagstuen raised from middle position and Rayvenia Puckett called out of the small blind. Andy Ward called in the big blind and the flop came T 6 6, prompting a bet from Puckett, a fold from Ward, and a raise from Sagstuen. Pucket called and bet the turn, which was the 3. This time, Sagstuen simply called and the river was the 5. Both players checked and Puckett showed A T for two pair, while Sagstuen mucked a ten face-up as he surrendered the pot.

Vaswani Cruising like Huey and Gwyneth

Ram Vaswani limped from UTG and was joined in the pot by Sondre Sagstuen and David Mosca. The flop came K 9 2 and everyone checked to see the turn card, which was the T. Now Mosca checked but Vaswani bet and was raised by Sagstuen, prompting Mosca to fold and Vaswani to call. The river was the K and Vaswani checked to Sagstuen, who bet out $12,000. The Hendon Mobster made the call and turned up J T for a pair of tens, while Sagstuen, who is quickly emerging as the maniac of the table, felted 8 7 for eight-high. Vaswani took down the pot.

Chip Counts

Here are the chip counts after a little more than two hours of play:

Chip counts courtesy www.worldseriesofpoker.com

Getting counts from www.worldseriesofpoker.com so you don't have to courtesy www.PokerListings.com

We're now on the second level of final table play, with blinds and limits as delineated below. Here's the top action from the last hour:

Straight for Vaswani

Action folds around to Ram Vaswani, who limps-in from the small blind. Sondre Sagstuen checks his option in the big blind, and the flop comes J-9-6. Vaswani bets out and Sagstuen calls, and the turn is a 10, prompting checks from both players. The river is a queen and Vaswani bets out again, prompting a snort of derision and a call from Sagstuen, who shakes his head and mucks when the Hendon Mobster turns up 8-7 for the low end of the straight.

Pot for Baker

David Mosca raises from middle position and Sondre Sagstuen re-ups from the small blind. David Baker makes it three bets from the big blind and both players call. The flop comes A T 6 and Sagstuen checks to Baker, who bets. Both players call and the turn is the 4. Baker again bets out and Mosca folds while Sagstuen matches the wager. The river is the 9 and Baker bets out a third time, this time inducing a fold from Sagstuen and taking a tidy pot.

Sagstuen = Hit with the Deck

David Mosca raises from middle position and Sondre Sagstuen re-raises from the cut-off. Mosca calls and the flop comes A-A-10, prompting a check from Mosca and a bet from Sagstuen. Mosca calls and the turn is a seven, putting two diamonds on the board. Again Mosca check-calls a bet from Sagstuen and the river is a third ace. Mosca checks a third time and Sagstuen bets out a third time, getting a call and turning up A J for quads to take the pot.

On the very next hand, Sagstuen raises from the hijack and is called by David Baker to his left. The flop comes 10-7-6 and Sagstuen bets out and is called. The turn is a queen and the same pattern is followed, with Sagstuen betting out and getting called. The river is a deuce and Sagstuen bets out a third time. Baker flat-calls again and folds out when Sagstuen turns up 9-8 for a flopped straight to take the pot.

Chip Counts

It has been a slow first hour, but here are the ebbs and flows of the chip tides thus far:

Chip counts courtesy www.worldseriesofpoker.com

Updates of Love courtesy www.PokerListings.com

The final table is big, bold, and beautiful for the penultimate preliminary event on the 2007 WSOP schedule. We're underway from the Amazon Room and will play down to a bracelet tonight, so stay tuned to PokerListings.com for all of the action.

All players will start with $300,000 in chips, and here are the seating positions as the action gets underway.

Final Table Set

Victor Ramdin, Sondre Sagstuen, David Mosca, Anh Nguyen, David Baker, Ram Vaswani, Raye Puckett and Ishak Noyan have all made it to the final table. Check back at 8:30 p.m. to see how it all plays out.

Break Time

Players are on a break from all the shooting out. Trigger fingers are sore, muzzels are red; and all those free drinks need somewhere to go. Like to those cute Swedish railbirds -- where did you think we meant? 

Ramming the Final Table

First, Ram Vaswani raised from the button -- then called a re-raise from Bret Winograd. On the J 9 4 5 turn, Winograd bet for a call from Vaswani, to see the K river. Winograd bet; and Vaswani raised to earn a fold from Winograd.

That hand moved Winograd down to $4,000 or so, pushing him pre-flop next hand holding 8 2 to Vaswani's K 3. The Q T 5 T 7 board was no help for Winograd, who left in 16th place with $6,634. Vaswani moved up to the final table. 

No Mercier

Isabelle Mercier is out in 24th place, earning $6,634 for her efforts. She started playing heads-up with around $40,000 versus David Mosca's $230,000. Her biggest hit came when she raised on a T 9 2 2 turn.

Mosca re-raised; and Mercier called to see the 4 river. Mosca bet, then showed K-T to take down the pot when Mercier called. His two pair sent her down to the $4,000 mark.

She doubled that when she flopped a pair the next hand; but her rush was short-lived. She was soon all-in holding 7 6 d to be out-kicked by Mosca's K 6 on the 8 6 4 3 2 board. That hand eliminated Mercier; and made Mosca the first member of the final table.

It's Final

The WSOP has declared the final table for this event will indeed play today; and that it will start at eight. They know you have nothing planned for your fourth of July evening, so they've thoughtfully provided all-night poker action.

One to Watch

Ram Vaswani has moved into heads-up play with Bret Winograd. The two are close in chips, with Vaswani at $150,000 and Winograd at $110,000, so there is still room for plenty of play. Stay tuned for updates.

Isabelle's World

Isabelle Mercier is always fun to watch; and she's good at poker, too. She got a little frustrated when she bet down the J 7 2 5 3 board to find two callers. On the river she bet, then called one raiser who showed A 2 for a flopped pair of ducks.

She quickly shook off her irritation; and on a board of Q T 8 K, Mercier bet from the button; then called a raise from the big blind. The 5 river brought a check-call from Mercier.

The big blind showed a pair of ladies for the flopped set; but the flop had hit Isabelle's J 9 even harder. Her straight took the pot and sent her up past the $72,000 mark.

Terrence Tanked

Isabelle Mercier will have to carry a little more of the Canadian content now that Terrence Chan has busted out. Chan was all-in holding J-9 to an opponent's Q-8, only to find a board of A-8-7-5-Q make his caller two pair. Chan earns $6,634 for 41st place.

The cards are in the air; and the 47 remaining players are scheduled to round down to a bracelet today. We know that doesn't always happen. We also know that whatever happens this will be a day to remember. The fourth of July -- we think it could catch on.

Think about marking today on future calendars while checking the chip count as officiated by www.worldseriesofpoker.com