Event 4 - $1,000 No-Limit Hold'em - Live Updates

For those of you out there waiting for a long heads-up battle of wits, sorry. It took a just little longer than half hour from the commencement of heads-up play to the crowning of the champion.

In the climactic hand, Steve Sung kicked off the festivities by making it 500,000. Panayote Vilandos made it 1.7 million and Sung shipped it.

Vilandos called and turned over pocket eights but was in a bit of trouble against Sung's pocket kings. The dealer slowly put out the eightless flop. The turn and river were bricks as well and Sung was donkulus champion!. 

Vilandos earned $473,283 for his second place finish. Not too bad for four days of work. 

Steve Sung will take home the lion's share of the prize pool. A check for $771,106 will be given to him shortly but he will have to wait until tomorrow's bracelet ceremony to collect his gold.

This $1k has been a wild ride and now it's over. Thousands of donks slayed, dreams crushed, hopes dashed, but for Steve Sung it's a dream come true. 

James Matz was eliminated shortly after the dinner break so the tournament is finally in heads up mode. It's been a long time coming. After four grueling days of poker our winner will be either Steve Sung or Peter Vilandos.

Steve Sung has a big cheering gallery in the stands. Daniel Alaei, Erick Lindgren, the Mizrachi's, Amnon Filippi, and several others scream any time Sung so much as looks at his chips.

Matz Waxed

James Matz went out with a bang. He limped in from the small and Sung made it 400,000 more. Matz called. The flop came Q♥ 5♦ T♠. Matz fired 475,000 and Sung made it 1.1 million to go. Matz insta-shoved and Sung called.

Matz turned over 5♣ 4♣ for bottom pair, four kicker. Sung turned over K♥ J♠ of an open ended straight draw and over cards. The turn was an innocuous 8♠.

Sung's crowd shouted for an ace. The dealer obliged and put down the A♣ for the river. Sung's crowd went wild while Matz could do nothing but walk away from the table with his head down low.

All The Tea

Steve Sung and Peter Vilandos went into heads up with Sung enjoying a 2-1 chip lead. Someone in the crowd said that they should play winner take all and Sung ran with it. He tried to needle Vilandos into playing for the entire $1.2 million.

Vilandos didn't seem to keen on the idea but kudos to Steve Sung for trying.

It's a Race

Things didn't take long before Vilandos gained some ground on Sung. Sung min-raised preflop and Vilandos called. The flop was J♦ T♠ 3♠. Both players checked and the 6♠ came out.

Vilandos checked but Sung bet 550,000. Vilandos made the call and both players checked the K♥ river. Vilandos turned up pocket eights and Sung mucked.

The $1k final table continues at a breakneck pace. Two players were eliminated in the last hour and Steve Sung has more than twice as many chips as his two opponents combined.

Sung is the best player left and it's clearly his tournament to lose. The bracelet is so close he can taste it.

The tournament was recently halted for an hour long dinner break and will resume at 9:10 p.m..

Nathan Mulled

Nathan Mullen went out in fifth place when he shipped his 1.6 million and was called from the button. Mullen turned over J♣ T♣ while sung tabled A♥ 7♠ - a coinflip.

The flop was the K♠ Q♥ J♦. Mullen had taken the lead! Sung's ace outs were dead and Mullen was now nearly a 90% favorite.

The turn was a 6♣ which changed nothing except that Mullen was now 93% to win. The dealer got the go ahead to deliver the river card.

A soul crushing T♠!

Sung had hit a miracle card on the river ending Mullen's bracelet chances, he'll have to be content with $175,851.

Sidebotham Spanked

It wasn't long after Mullen's exit that he was joined on the rail by Larry Sidebotham. Sidebotham had gotten pretty low on chips and moved all in from the button for a shade over 900,000.

James Matz made the call out of the big blind. Sidebotham showed Q♣ J♣ while Matz turned over A♠ 7♣.

It seems like Ace-Seven is the hand to have at this final table because a board of bricks shipped Matz the pot and banished Sidebotham to the rail.

An incredible turn of events has seen the erstwhile chip leader Dan Heimiller busted out in 6th spot from what looked like an almost impregnable position.

Here's how that dramatic twist came to pass.

Steve-il flop for Heimiller (6th)

Steve Sung has begun to dominate since ascending to the chip lead, raising regularly and picking up chips with gay abandon.

Dan Heimiller has tried to stem Sung's domination several times, but he has come off far worse in their exchanges and moments ago Sung hammered the final nail into Heimiller's coffin.

It was a sick hand, Heimiller finally finding a great hand to play back at Sung with, ace-king and when Sung called his shove all-in with ace-queen, Heimiller looked set to double through.

"That's so sick!" was the shout as the flop was dealt however as it peeled off Q♣ 6♦ 3♥ to reverse the dominating positions.

When no king appeared on turn or river, the bad beat was finalised, Steve Sung had added to his already enormous stack, and Dan Heimiller was on the rail with $145,009 in his pocket as some consolation for his performance.

The players continue five-handed but right now it looks as though Sung is unstoppable. It will be an amazing story if Sung can add a bracelet to his already bejewelled C.V. He is just winning hand after hand after hand.

Count Chip-ula

Here are the counts, reflecting Sung's domination right now. Who can stop him?

There's a phrase to describe players like Sung and that phrase is variance junkey.

His stack has experienced more fluctuations than John-Robert Bellande's bankroll in the last few levels as he has fallen from close to the chip lead to near the bottom of the pack and now back up to a dominating chip advantage!

Much of the last hour has involved the players taking a break but here's how the action we witnessed occurred.

Heimiller Pwned!

Sung and Heimiller have had some battles today and the latest coup went the way of Sung - and it was a whopper!

Heimiller had raised pre-flop to 210k and Sung called from the small blind.

The flop fell A♦ T♠ 8♦. Sung led for 300k and Heimiller called.

The turn was the J♣ and now Sung led out for 650k.

Heimiller sprung into action, thinking about how many tins of tuna he could buy with that first prize and raised to 1.5 million.

Sung thought about it...and shoved!

Heimiller slumped back in his seat, but laid his hand down, enabling Sung to take over pole position with nearly 6 million in chips!

Here are the standings as we head into level 29.

The $1k Stimulus event continues, and the atmosphere is very subdued at the moment. It's understandable given the big prizes on offer. All the players are very focused on being all they can be at this final table.

There are only six left now, with another elimination occurring during the last level.

Here's the skinny.

Stung by Sung (Oakes - 7th)

Steve Sung's fall from grace has been astounding but perhaps he just received the fillup he needed to make a comeback.

The short-stacked Jeff Oakes was under pressure to make a move and when Steve Sung raised it up to 220k, he looked down at a pair of fives and felt the time was right.

He shipped it in and Sung made the call with A♠ Q♥. A nice flip to win, Sung came out smelling of roses as an ace flopped and an ace rivered to give him the pot.

That was it for Oakes, he was down and out with $126,613.

Could this be the kickstart Sung needed to slip into gear?

Beefing Up The Rio

Just as an aside to the poker, the sponsorship of the WSOP by Jack Link's Beef Jerky has elicited a variety of differing reactions from press and players alike.

Some have found it comical that a jerky company are sponsoring the series whilst hardened jerky fans are delighted the object of their affection is finally getting the recognition it deserves.

As part of their sponsorship Jack Links have provided ample quantities of beef jerky around the tournament area and media room and this has had a somewhat unpleasant side effect.

Wandering through the Amazon room when it is packed out is typically an assault on your senses with gaudily-dressed tourists mingling with scantily-clad women mixed with those whose body odour is suffering under the scorching Nevada sun.

A new element has been thrown into the mix however, as the free stockpiles of jerky have left their mark with a strong scent of beef pervading the area.

Remember to bring your nose plugs!

You can look now Steve. He folded!

Sung Stops the Rot

It seems as though Steve Sung has been rejuvenated by eliminating Jeff Oakes. He picked up two pots in quick sucession to move past the two million chip mark for the first time in a while.

The first hand saw him re-pop Panayote Vilandos' opening 200k raise to 600k. Vilandos passed showing an ace, whilst Sung tabled ace-king as he took down the pot.

Next up he raised Dan Heimiller's big blind to 220k and Heimiller made the call from the big blind.

The flop fell J♦ J♠ 6♥ and both players checked it down.

The turned J♣ was quickly checked by Heimiller with a look of resignation. Sung also checked.

The river was the 2♣ and one more check from Heimiller caused Sung to lead for 300k. Heimiller wasn't interested and mucked pretty quickly.

Steve Sung is back!

You Want Chips with That?

Here are the counts as we play through level twenty-eight. Panayote Vilandos remains the man best-placed to take down the bracelet right now.

Just seven combatants remain in the hunt for a bracelet as the field thins yet further.

Dan Heimiller may have more hair than Yul Brynner but even his famed comb-over couldn't save him from haemorrhaging some chips in recent times and in doing so, he has lost his hold on the chip lead.

The players took a break during the last level, meaning sadly we didn't see as much poker as we would have liked but nonetheless there were several dramatic hands and a sick bust-out.

Here's how it went down pokerfans!

Heimiller Set Up

Dan Heimiller limped in from under-the-gun with fours and then called a raise to 205k from Vilandos.

Set mining with his little pair, the plan worked out well when the flop fell 8♣ 4♠ 3♠ and the two players checked their option.

The turn was the 5♠ and when Vilandos led out for 200k, Heimiller decided to stop slowplaying and quickly popped it up to 500k. Vilandos called.

The river was the 6♥ and when Vilandos checked, Heimiller bet out 600k which Vilandos shrugged and called.

Heimiller showed down his set, but Vilandos showed he had been making a "creative" play with K♠ 2♦ which had ended up rivering the straight!

"I'm putting you on my site - see the donkey links!" Heimiller might have said. But didn't.

All Out for the Huynh (8th)

Another bustout and this was a pretty sick hand.

Phong Huynh limp-called a raise with threes, the hand he used to bust aces and ace-king yesterday and it looked like he might be taking another scalp with them as the flop fell J♣ 4♠ 3♦.

Unfortunately for Huynh, James Matz III had pocket jacks and when the players inevitably fired all their chips into the middle with their sets, it was Huynh who found himself on the rail.

Phong Huynh picks up a chunky $117,414 to ease the pain a little.

Has the fat lady sung for Steve?

Sung Out to Dry

Steve Sung has had a disastrous level, his stack falling to just 1.4 million from its height of 4.4 million or so not long ago.

He's been making moves aplenty but they really aren't working out for him and he is looking a little frustrated as his fortunes wither.

One of the hands saw him three bet an eight-high flop versus the steadily accumulating Vilandos, who called, only to bet 700k on the turn and pass to Vilandos' check-shove.

Take the Count, Champ!

Here are the counts as we play through level 27, courtesy of worldseriesofpoker.com.

We're back in action for the final table of the $1k Stimulus. The low buy-in ensured a record-breaking field and nine men, brave and true, have blasted their way past the other six thousand to arrive at the final table with glory and riches tantalisingly within reach.

Dan Heimiller came into the final as the big stack and in the hunt for his second bracelet. Danger man Steve Sung is in close proximity however, lying poised to strike in second place.

Here's how the early action has panned out.

A Site For Sore Eyes

Heimiller is wearing a shirt advertising his website, which is packed with illuminating insights, such as "I've won $1,716,155 in Tournaments! Of course I've lost $1,716,135 in entries, but that still makes me a $20 lifetime Winner!! Much better than most!"

Sure, the web-site design heralds from a time when men would club women over the head and drag them back to their cave to cook them dinner while they completed their cave paintings of woolly mammoths, but we're still impressed with his sense of humour.

Have a browse!

Phong move buddy!

Danny Blows a Fuhs (9th)

Danny Fuhs has just busted out at the hands of Phong Huynh. The carnage started with Fuhs popping it up with A♦ J♥ to 125k, only for Huynh to make the call.

Fuhs must have liked the look of the A♣ J♣ T♠ board and led out for 180k, which Phong again called.

The turn was the 2♠ and Fuhs bet 440k now, only for Huynh to move all-in!

Fuhs called with his top two, only to find himself horribly coolered as Huynh showed up with pocket tens for the set.

He duly missed his four-out re-draw on the river, meaning we lose Danny Fuhs in ninth place, as he picks up $114,168 for his performance.

Feeling Chipper

Here are the standings following that opening level. Heimiller's still top of the tree.