Event 34 - $1,500 No-Limit Hold'em - Live Updates

Eric Baldwin has won the latest $1,500 No Limit Hold'em at the 2009 World Series of Poker.

Baldwin defeated Dane Jonas Klausen heads-up to take down the title and $521,932 in prize money.

He also earns his first WSOP bracelet.

For second place, Klausen earns $322,371.

The heads-up match between the two young pros began with Baldwin holding a slight lead, but Klausen quickly retook the advantage before the following hand put the ball squarely back in Baldwin's court:

"Basebaldy" (that's Baldwin) raised on the button and Klausen made the call. The flop came Q♥ T♠ 4♠ and Klausen checked to Baldwin, who bet 255k.

Klausen raised to 805k and Baldwin moved all-in over the top, getting a snap-call from his opponent, who turned up Q♠ T♥ for top pair.

Baldwin, however, had pocket fours for bottom set and needed to fade queens and tens to double up.

The board finished out 2♣ 3♥ and Baldwin doubled up to more than 8 million, while Klausen saw his stack drop to 1.5 million.

With such a massive chip disparity it didn't take long for Klausen to ship the last of it and ship he did, holding A♥ Q♥ to Baldwin's pocket tens in a preflop all-in.

The flop came K♠ J♠ 6♦ and suddenly a set looked like the worst thing in the world for Baldwin.

The turn was the 6♥ and Klausen was drawing to aces or queens to stay alive, but the river card was the 5♠ and Klausen bricked out, shipping the match and the title to Baldwin.

Congratulations to both finalists!

We're heads-up at the final table of the WSOP's latest $1,500 donkament and Jonas Klausen's fans are going crazy on the rail.

Klausen held the chip lead going into three-handed play but relinquished that advantage to Eric Baldwin, who turned up the aggression with three players remaining.

Baldwin built his stack up to over five million before Klausen clawed back into the lead with a fortuitious river card in the following hand:

Heads-up with the board showing T♣ 5♣ 3♦, Baldwin bet 185k out of the small blind and Klausen made the call.

The turn card was the 9♣ and Baldwin bet out over a half a million. Klausen tanked before raising all-in and Baldwin made the call with 7♣ 3♣ for the made spade flush.

Klausen had K♠ K♣ for the overpair and would need a club on the river to stay alive.

The river card was indeed a club, bringing the J♣ to double the Dane up to five million while Baldwin was left with 2 million to his name.

Club abayabay!

Fire and Rain!

James Taylor ensured that the Baldwin/Klausen battle will continue mano a mano with his third-place finish clearing the decks for the two combatants.

In his climactic hand, Taylor raised to 180k from the small blind and Baldwin made the call in the big blind.

The flop came 7♣ 5♦ 3♠ and Taylor fired 175k into the pot.

Baldwin thought for a minute or so before announcing all-in and it took Taylor about double that before he decided to make the call.

Baldwin turned up 9♦ 7♦ for the overpair while Taylor was drawing to overcards with K♥ Q♠.

The turn brought the T♥ and the river the 3♥ and Taylor couldn't get there.

He's got a friend in the $213,046 he'll take for third place, while Baldwin and Klausen will now do battle for the $521,932 first prize.

Baldwin enters play with 5.1 million to Klausen's 4.5 million.

There must have been something in the tuna at the Carnival Court buffet here at the Rio as the return from dinner break has seen three four players eliminated in rapid succession in the $1,500 donkament's final table.

Here's a rundown of the last hour's action:

Bradbury 451'd (7th)

On the first hand back from the break, James Taylor raised to 125k and Steven Bradbury moved all-in for about 115k more. 

Taylor made the call, turning up 9♥ 6♥ and finding himself dominated by the Bradbury bunny's A♠ 6♣.

But the flop came 9♦ 7♦ 2♦ and the turn the K♥, and after the river was the 7♥ Bradbury was out, busting in seventh place and earning $74,352 for his efforts.

Youngblood Badrocked (6th)

Jonas Klausen limped-in from the small blind and Dean Andrew Youngblood checked in the big.

The flop came 9♥ 8♦ 6♥ and Klausen bet 75k. Youngblood made it 420,000 to go and Klausen moved all-in over the top.

Youngblood snap-called, turning up 6♦ 6♣ for bottom set while Klausen had 7♠ 5♠ for the nut straight.

The turn was the A♠ and the river the 5♥ and Youngblood couldn't fill up. He's headed for the penalty box with $89,222 with which to tape his stick.

Rue Brittania!

De Wolfe De Fanged (5th)

Roland De Wolfe has already won one bracelet at the 2009 World Series of Poker but he'll have to wait to add a second to his resume.

The flamboyant Brit (aren't they all) open-shoved for 600k from the small blind into Jonas Klausen's big blind.

Klausen squeezed and then made a quick call with A♦ 6♦ while De Wolfe was in dire straights with 7♥ 6♥.

The board came A♣ K♣ 5♥ 7♠ 8♣ and the Full Tilt pro couldn't get there.

He's out in fifth place and takes $112,957 for his troubles.

Scholl Uncharted (4th)

Benjamin Scholl open-shoved for 235k from the button and James Taylor made the call in the big blind, turning up A♥ 8♣ to hold the lead over Scholl's K♠ J♥.

The flop came K♣ 3♠ 2♠ and Scholl took the advantage, but after the turn was the 6♠, Taylor hit his two-outer with the A♣ on the river, busting Scholl in fourth for a $150,133 score.

We're now three-handed at the final table and Jonas Klausen holds the lead with 4.2 million to his name.

The field has just returned from a dinner break and play is back underway at the final table here in the latest $1,500 donkament.

Stay tuned as we play down to the bracelet!

Play at the final table of Event 34 has been mercifully fast as the day begins to wear on at the Rio. We’ve now reached 7 p.m. and there are seven remaining players that still have a shot at the WSOP bracelet and $400,000 that comes with it.

Here’s a look at the latest action:

Disaster for DeFontes

As one of the short-stacks Eric DeFontes entered the final table of Event 34 as one of the underdogs and despite some valiant efforts was never able to get anything going.

In his final hand DeFontes shoved all-in with 4♠ 4♥ and Jonas Klausen called with A♥ T♥. The board came A♣ 7♦ 6♥ 9♠ K♠ to give DeFontes his walking papers.

DeFontes picks up $60,335 for his ninth place bustout.

Jacobson Clocked!

The shiny hat wearing Martin Jacobson has been eliminated. Jacobson shoved from early position and Eric Baldwin put it a big raise to scare off the other players. Everyone else got out of the way and Jacobson revealed A♦ 9♠ while Baldwin showed Q♠ Q♦.

#img: word_31797.jpg:left: Klausen is crushing.#

The board came T♣ 6♠ 3♦ 7♠ J♥ and Baldwin’s queens held up. On the bright side Jacobson will be able to buy a lot of hats with the $65,487 that is attached to eighth place.

Can anybody stop Klausen?

Jonas Klausen is crushing this final table and his chip stack is starting to approach critical mass. Klausen currently has over three million chips and if he gets many more he’ll have over 50% of the chips in play. Here’s a look at the latest chip counts courtesy of www.worldseriesofpoker.com:

After a 30 minutes break to set up the feature final table we’re back in action in Event 34. Although 10 players entered the final table only one will walk away with the $521,932 for first place.

Here’s a look at what’s been going on in the last hour of play:

Taylor Stays Alive

Short-stack James Taylor just won a pivotal race to double-up. In the hand Taylor pushed all-in from the small blind for 330,000 chips and Martin Jacobson decided to look him up. Taylor flipped over A♠ K♦ while Jacobson shows 8♥ 8♣ for the classic over-cards vs. a pair matchup.

The flop came 9♠ 9♦ 4♦, which changed nothing for either player besides giving Taylor a back-door straight draw. The turn came J♦ and suddenly Taylor had a legitimate flush draw as well as his overcard outs. The river was the 2♦!

Taylor doubled up to 700,000 chips with his king-high flush and now stands to make some noise in this event.

Rioting Rail

Despite the lack of big name players, besides de Wolfe of course, there is a thick crowd that has formed to watch the final table of Event 34. Almost every player at the table has huge cheering section while Jonas Klausen has one very special railbird in 2008 World Champion Peter Eastgate. Klausen is in spectacular shape to add Norway’s first WSOP bracelet of the summer.

#img: word_31804.jpg:left: Phan-slayer!#

Phan Flammed

Young Phan (Not to be confused with David “The Dragon” Pham or John “The Razor” Phan, has been eliminated from the final table of Event 34.

In his final hand Phan open-shoved for 250,000 from UTG and action folded around to Benjamin Scholl who made the call. Both players flipped over their cards:

Phan: Q♦ 8♦

Scholl: J♥ J♦

The board came 7♥ 6♥ 5♥, which gave Phan an open-ended straight draw, but the turn came A♦ and the river finished with the J♣ to emphatically eliminate the reflective sunglasses’ wearing Phan.

Phan received $42,895 for being the 10th place finisher.

Chip Counts

Here are the latest chip counts courtesy of www.worldseriesofpoker.com after Phan's elimination:

Bertrand "ElkY" Grospellier has been the story of this event on the final day but that story just came to an abrupt end. Grospellier was never able to recover from that huge hand against Steven Bradbury and Eric Baldwin has just sent the Frenchman packing.

We’re now down to 10 players and tournament organizers have decided to move them all to one final table for the rest of the action today.

Here’s a look at what happened in the last hour of play:

Grospellier Crushed

It was easy to pick Bertrand Grospellier as the favorite heading into the day and for awhile it looked very likely he would at least make the final table but that dream is now officially dead.

After being crippled by Steven Bradbury, Grospellier shoved from middle position with J♠ T♥ but Eric Baldwin called with A♠ 8♦.

The flop came 8♠ 8♣ 5♠ and Grospellier was in a world of hurt. There was no help for ElkY on the turn or the river and he’s out in 13th. Grospellier picks up $30,398 but will have to wait a bit longer to get that first WSOP bracelet.

Mason Jarred

Robert Mason will not be making it to the final table of 10 in this event. In the hand Jonas Klausen bet pre-flop, Mason raised and Klausen re-raised enough to put Mason all-in. Mason called and flipped over 9♠ 9♥ while Klausen showed Q♠ Q♣.

The board came 6♣ 5♠ 4♣ T♣ A♥ and Klausen earned the checkmark. Mason received about $40,000 for bubbling the final table.

Final Table Chip Counts

Here are the chip counts at the start of the final table courtesy of www.worldseriesofpoker.com:

We’re down to 13 players in Event 34 and the final table of nine is starting to look pretty enticing to the remaining players.

We’ve just had our chip leader explode in a sick cooler and several pros are now in danger of being eliminated.

Mig.com Shot Down

Young gun James Mackey has been eliminated from Event 34 after an impressive showing. You can’t blame the kid either as he got it in good.

In the hand Mackey shoved all-in with Q♥ Q♦ and was called by Eric Baldwin with J♦ J♣. The flop came A♣ K♥ T♥ and in a cruel twist of fate the turn came Q♣ to give Mackey a set but Baldwin the dominating straight.

The river finished with the 7♥ and Mackey could only shake his head as he walked over the payout booth.

Sick Hand for Grospellier

In what might be remembered as the most important hand of the tournament Bertrand “ElkY” Grospellier just got mega-coolered.

In the hand Roland de Wolfe opened for 50,000 chips from middle position and Grospellier re-raised to 130,000 from the button. Action folded to Steven Bradbury, who made a huge all-in shove for 750,000. de Wolfe got out of the way and ElkY thought for a second before making the call.

The Frenchman flipped over a powerhouse K♦ K♣ but Bradbury did him one better and showed A♠ A♣.

The board came Q♠ 7♦ 4♥ J♥ 9♠ and ElkY had to step away from the table for a minute over his bad luck. Tournament organizers counted down Elky’s stack and the former chip leader had only 275,000 chips remaining.

Bradbury is up to approximately 1.6 million.

Chip counts:

Here are the latest top 10 chip counts after the huge ElkY hand:

Welcome to PokerListings’ coverage of the final day of Event 34 $1.5k No-Limit Hold’em. Although these events are well-known for their huge fields and relatively unknown field there are a bunch of big-name players who apparently didn’t get the memo.

Bertrand “ElkY” Grospellier, Roland de Wolfe and Jonas Klausen are all still very much in the hunt for a bracelet in this event.

Here’s a look at the first hour of play in the Amazon Room:

All Your Base Belong to ElkY

Bertrand “ElkY” Grospellier has had a fairly quiet WSOP so far but he’s looking to do some damage in this event. Grospellier just played a giant pot against Joseph Cada. After some big-raised pre-flop Cada was finally coaxed into calling Grospellier’s all-in shove. Showdown was not great for Cada as the cards looked like this:

ElkY: A♥ J♦

Cada: K♠ J♠

The board came T♠ 4♥ 3♠ 8♣ 2♥ and Grospellier doubles up to an impressive 670,000 in chips.

Banzi Bounces

A very deep run by Praz Banzi in this event has finally come to an end. Banzi made an all-in move with 8♠ 7♣ and had the misfortune of being called down by James “mig.com” Mackey who held A♠ T♣.

The board came Q♥ 7♦ 2♦ A♥ J♥ to give Mackey the checkmark. Banzi will receive $15,242 for coming in ninth although he will most likely view this tournament as an opportunity lost.

Chip Counts

Here are the latest top 10 chip counts courtesy of www.worldseriesofpoker.com: