Event 15 - $5,000 No-Limit Hold'em - Live Updates

Well, after hours of intense heads-up play, that had been largely dominated by the German Fabian Quoss, the result was highly unexpected!

Here's how the dramatic last few hands played out.

Quoss Flips Bad - Again

Quoss had Lemke all-in on a flip earlier, and the two clashed again pre-flop with all of Lemke's chips in the middle with K♥ T♣.

He was behind to Quoss' A♦ 3♠ but the American has run good in these spots and once again, that proved the case as a board of 8♣ 4♣ Q♣ 2♣ 3♣ rolled off, and in the blink of an eye, Lemke had the chip lead!

Lemke Wins The Bracelet!

Lemke had started to pressurise the German with his chip lead and they were to bang heads pretty soon afterward, as Lemke called Quoss' shove with A♦ 8♣, only to find himself behind to Quoss' A♥ Q♠.

An interesting board of J♠ T♥ 9♥ peeled off, both players picking up a straight draw.

But suddenly, the turn came the Q♠ and Lemke had a straight! 

His supporters cheered noisily on the rail and when the river was a blank jack, he had won the bracelet!

He collects $692,658 for the win as well as the bracelet, whilst Quoss wins $427,912 for second place.

We'll be back shortly with winner shots and a re-cap of the final table with quotes from our newest bracelet winner, Brian Lemke, but for now congratulations to Brian for a result which looked so unlikely for a long time.

The players have been on a break for the last twenty minutes of the hour, but prior to that Quoss was slowly grinding down Lemke, who is looking visibly frustrated at being unable to gain parity with the German.

The German remains the calmer, more stoic of the two, rarely showing emotion, despite this being by far the biggest poker situation he has ever found himself in.

Contrastingly, Brian Lemke looks a little nervous and more apt to wear his emotions on his sleeve, his hands shaking from time to time as he counts out raises.

One hand in particular seemed to rock the American's composure.

Ace High vs Ace High

Following a raise from Lemke, Quoss made the call and they went heads-up to a flop of Q♣ 6♠ 4♦.

Lemke continuation bet the flop and Quoss made the call.

The two players checked down the Q♥ and K♣ turn and river and when Quoss turned up ace-nine for ace high, Lemke showed a slightly inferior ace-eight.

He looked annoyed at perhaps a missed opportunity, realising that had he put more pressure on the German, he may well have been able to pick up the pot.

Instead the million chip pot went to Quoss, who consolidated his strong chip lead.

Chipping Away 

The standings as we play through level 29 are as follows:

Quoss has yet to convert his chip lead into a winning position as the two players win pots off each other, leaving them at almost the same position they were when they started playing heads-up.

There hasn't been a shortage of action however.

Lemke looked like he was beginning to make inroads into the German's monster stack and for some time it appeared he might just turn the tables.

Then this hand happened.

Lemke Trips Up

Lemke had started the heads-up in super aggressive fashion, three-bet shoving regularly and check-raising on flop and turn twice, enabling him to boost his stack to 3.5 million.

Then he raised it up pre-flop, and Quoss made the call.

The flop fell K♠ K♣ 4♣, checked to Lemke, who led for 350k, which was called by Quoss.

The turn was the 9♣ and both players checked.

On the river, the thoughtful deliberate Quoss pushed out 500k, which Lemke insta-called, only to be shown king-queen for trips.

It was good and Lemke looked upset as the pot was shipped the German's way.

Since then, Quoss continued to apply the pressure, pushing over the top of a Lemke raise and then just shoving pre-flop next hand to take a big chip lead.

Lemke was looking increasingly desperate with a sub-2 million stack and it wasn't long before he made his move.

Sigh, I run bad at flipz!

Aces High!

Lemke looked down at A♠ 6♦ and with his stack it must have looked like a monster as he went to war pre-flop with Quoss, who held Q♥ T♥.

Lemke's advantage was slim in what was pretty much a 50-50 but that advantage held to the river as the board was dealt out K♥ 8♦ 8♠ 9♦ 8♣.

So Quoss is unable to finish off Lemke, but the unflappable German barely registered any emotion as a chunk was taken out of his stack.

Chip Counts? We Have Them!

The hour following dinner has been eventful to say the least!

There have been three more bustouts and a host of interesting pots played out.

Here's the lowdown from the felt.

They Think it's all Gerasimova - It is Now! (5th)

Lika Gerasimova clashed with Mike Sowers in a classic coin-flip confrontation, running her ace-queen against Sowers' pocket eights.

Sowers flopped an eight to seemingly end the conflict decisively, but Gerasimova picked up a flush draw on the turn to send a few shivers run down Sowers' spine.

No worries though, the river blanked and he doubled through, leaving Gerasimova short with just 180k.

It was now folded to her in the small blind and she shipped her last few chips in with queen-four, only to find Fabian Quoss lurking like a black widow in the big blind with pocket tens.

There were no surprises as the board ran out nine high, meaning our last female participant has been ousted, picking up an impressive $142,688 for her performance, boosting her growing reputation with that deep run.

Sowers Creamed (4th)

Mike Sowers lost a few chips to Quoss before deciding to push from the button and once again it was big stack bully Quoss who called him, showing down pocket eights.

It could have been worse for Sowers as he showed down queen-ten but it was a crucial flip for his tournament life.

"Queen ball!" someone from the boisterous crowd yelled out, but it was the eight ball that popped out on the 8♠ 6♠ 2♥ board, leaving Sowers drawing super thin.

No runner runner miracle and Mike Sowers found himself on the rail with $194,931 in his pocket as consolation for his performance.

Lemke: Can he turn the tables on Quoss?

Keller Cooler (3rd)

Thomas Keller was just eliminated in a sick spot.

Queens is a huge hand three handed, so when he went to war with the aggressive Quoss, he must have fancied his chances.

Unfortunately for him, Quoss had the nuts, the bullets, pocket aces, American Airlines, call them what you will, he had Keller tied up and drawing to two outs.

No queen appeared, Keller's time had come and gone, and he collects $280,852 for 3rd.

But that hand leaves the play heads-up with the huge-stack Quoss battling Brian Lemke for the bracelet.

Will Quoss' domination continue or can Lemke buck the trend of the last few levels?

Here are the counts as the players fight for that shiny WSOP bracelet!

The five remaining players have chowed down to their satisfaction and have now planted their behinds firmly back in their seats, ready to do battle once more at the felt for that much-coveted bracelet.

We've only played one hand since coming back, but it was significant.

Gerasi-mova Gerasi-shaker

Lika Gerasimova took little time to take the opportunity to increase her shortstack, pushing pre-flop over the top of a Thomas Keller raise.

Keller now sank deep into the tank, counting his chips, counting the pot and contemplating his decision for time immemorial.

Eventually he re-surfaced and made the call and the two players flipped them.

Keller: K♠ J♣

Gerasimova: A♠ T♥

"Ace, ace, ace!" urged Gerasimova, going for a double-up through sheer will.

There was to be no ace on the board but it ran out a badbeat-less 6♦ 5♥ 3♠ 6♥ Q♥, enabling Gerasimova to double through to roughly 1.3 million chips.

Her double-up was well received, she threw her hands in the air victoriously and went over for another hug with her boyfriend Demidov.

The Leaderboard

Here are the current chip counts. Enjoy!

We've seen two players, including one of the favorites eliminated in the last hour as the final table has been cut to five. The players look tense and thoughtful, which is no great surprise given the big prizes and bracelet on offer.

Following this exciting action, the players are taking a one-hour dinner break but here's what's been going down at the felt.

Baron Kneels Before the Queen

Isaac Baron raised it up pre, only for Brian Lemke to make the call in position and they went heads-up to a flop of A♥ 8♣ 2♦.

Baron now led for 140k and Lemke jacked it up to 400k. A thoughtful period of chin-scratching from Baron and he moved all-in for 1.4 million, only for Lemke to insta-call with A♦ Q♣.

Baron looked distraught as his A♠ J♣ was in bad shape and needing divine intervention to save him in the pot, he watched a mundane 7♠ and 5♦ roll off on turn and river to crush any ambitions of a last minute reversal.

The 3 million chip pot was duly shipped to Lemke with his queen-to-jack kicker advantage and he moved up close to the chip lead, whilst Baron was left with just over 200k and in dire straights.

Menlo Parked! (7th)

Baron needed to make a move sooner rather than later and it was sooner as he pushed the next hand, looking resigned to his fate, his chin resting glumly on his hand.

He can't have been too enthused by the three calls he received, though at least now he was playing for a 900k pot that would raise his hopes again should he win.

The three active players in the hand, Brian Lemke, Mike Sowers and Fabian Quoss seemed keen to bust Baron, perhaps recognising him as a dangerman, and all checked down the flop, turn and river of the Q♠ J♠ 6♥ 3♠ 5♣ board.

By showdown, Quoss flipped up Q♥ T♠ for top pair and Baron threw his hand in the muck, a beaten man, shook the players' hands and went to the cashier desk to collect his $88,784.

Thomas Keller is thinner these days, but his wallet's getting fatter!

Do The Thomas Keller and Talk with Your Chips! (Illingworth - 6th)

Danny Illingworth was relatively short with 685k and decided to make a move, shoving pre-flop with A♣ 8♥, only for Keller to make the call with the way-ahead, dominant, virtual pre-flop nuts A♠ K♣.

Illingworth was in trouble, though the flop of T♣ 7♥ 6♦ brought him some succor in the form of a gutshot. Once the turn and river ran out an unhelpful 3♦ and T♠ however, that was all she wrote for the young player.

He collects $109,871 for 6th and we continue five-handed.

Roll Up The Hooty Stacks!

Here are the current chip counts. Thank you to worldseriesofpoker for these. We'll be back in an hour for the resumption.

We got down to seven in the $5k when Billy Kopp and his short stack finally left the building.

His chips were added to Fabian Quoss' stack after he failed to get there with queen high against Quoss' jacks.

The $75,115 he cashed for eighth should ease his pain.

Quoss didn't hold on to those chips for too long, however, handing them to Thomas Keller when he doubled him up making a rather loose call with K♥ 3♦ against Keller's K♦ 10♥.

Things tightened up a bit soon after that until Liya Gerasimova woke up with kings and found a way to double through Isaac Baron holding two face cards.

She hurried to the stands to give boyfriend Ivan Demidov a hug right after, but Baron's really the one who should get the love.

A few minutes later Keller pushed in facing a Baron open raise and he doubled with A♥ K♣ against Q♣ 9♣. Though there was still no hug for Baron.

As a result of their double-ups, it's a relatively tight race at the top of the leader board below Quoss now.

Yet another break is upon us in the $5k.

In fact, they may have spent more time on break today than actually playing.

It remains eight-handed now, although Billy Kopp is dangerously low on chips.

Facing a Brian Lemke raise, Kopp chose to ship it in with ace-queen.

Lemke had queens, called instantly and avoided an ace to double up. This left Kopp with just a chip and a chair, but he's not dead yet.

He threw in the last of it with rags after Thomas "Thunder" Keller shoved with K♠ J♠.

Luck shined on Kopp this time as he made a pair to double.

The slow action continued until a massive double elimination hand played out and once again the players went on break.

David Pham shipped it, Isaac Baron moved all in behind him and Christian Iacobellis re-shipped from the small blind.

Pham had K♣ Q♦, Iacobellis had A♠ K♥ and Baron had tens.

Miraculously the tens held, Pham took tenth for $47,501, Iacobellis ninth for $66,403 and Baron inched ever closer to the chip leading Fabian Quoss.

The bracelet is in sight eight-handed now and we expect things to get rather exciting when the players return.

The good news is they've moved in front of the cameras for the televised portion of the $5k final table.

The bad news is there are still ten players remaining.

The action has slowed considerably, but the WSOP staff aren't helping with the pace either, as the move to the ESPN stage forced another lengthy pause.

Soon there will be poker and, oh yes, we here at PL.com will report on it - we promise.

Play has tightened here in the final ten.

Combined that with the fact the pst hour included about 30 minutes worht of breaks and there are still ten in contention for the $5k crown.

Thomas Keller was short stacked, but his double-up back to get back in this thing hioghlighted the last level.

He shipped from the small blind and after a few minutes in the tank Liya Gerasimova made the call from the big blind.

Keller's fours were racing against Liya's king-queen and when he flopped a set he was golden.

Perhaps all this betting on David Pham wasn't a good idea, although he has made the final ten.

The Dragon doubled up Fabian Quoss when his jacks fell to Quoss' big slick and he just doesn't seem to be running that well.

He's still running better than David Benefield, however.

In fact, Raptor isn't running at all anymore, having doubled through David Inselberg only to give the chips right back throwing ace-jack at ace-queen.

He then rode the 4♣ 5♣ to his demise, failing to get past Thomas Keller's sixes.

Matthias Neu joined Benefield on the sidelines a few minutes later when his own sixes were beat by Billy Kopp's A♥ 7♥.

Inselberg and Olivier Bousquet were bounced soon after and the final table of ten was set.

Here's how it looks:

Just hours from the 3 a.m. finish for Day 2, the players in the $5k are back.

Some players were complaining about the quick turnaround and knowing a champion will be crowned tonight no matter how late it goes, the players have a long day ahead.

The final two tables have drawn a large spectator audience and it's going to be exciting.

The restart of the $5k began around noon with 17 players in the hopes we would find a champion among them today.

Isaac Baron continues to lead the charge, but nothing is set in stone just yet for the PokerListings' Best Bet .

Early on today he knocked out Tom Braband in 17th place a few hands after Braband gave most of his chips to Danny Illingworth with a draw that never materialized.

Perilously close to Menlo sits David "The Dragon" Pham, who began breathing a little fire early picking a couple of small pots.

There really isn't a person in the Amazon Room betting against Pham making at least the final 9.

In the meantime, with a small to mid-sized stack, Thomas Keller looks like he's itching to move up.

He scratched a few minutes ago shoving in facing a raise and picked up some dead money.

The happy couple.

Stuck in the middle of the pack is Liya Gerasimova, who continues to have a conversation in Russian with Ivan Demidov on the rail between hands.

And then there are Nicholas Grippo and Lars Bonding, who have already made their way towards the cage to pick up $27,029 and $35,341 respectively.

Bonding ran ace-ten into Brian Lemke's queens and Grippo, who was short after finding David Inselberg with aces, shoved with garbage and said goodbye.

Stick with PL.com all day for updates on this event until the $692,658 in first-place cash is handed out.