Event 8 - 2-7 Draw Lowball (No-Limit) Live Updates

Ship the bracelet one time! (And the alleged $10 million prop bet). Phil Ivey has beaten John Monnette heads up to take the title, the first place prize money and the truck-load of cash he's rumored to have wagered on himself winning a bracelet this summer.

El Mano Ultimo (The Final Hand)

The pace of this match had sped up as both players began shoving over almost any opening raise. On the last hand Monnette opened from the button and Ivey shipped.

Monnette showed 9-7-5-2 which was a dog to Ivey's 7-6-4-2. Monnette drew first and turned over a seven, a terrible card! He was in fact drawing dead with that pair. Ivey tabled his irrelevant fifth card, a five, and stood up from the table to shake his opponent's hand.

Monnette takes $59,587 while Ivey officially takes $96,361 and bracelet number six.

In true Ivey fashion he barely sat still long enough for us to shoot a few winner photos. Interviews were clearly out of the question so you'll have to wait until tomorrow's bracelet presentation to hear what he has to say.

Big ups to John Monnette for battling Ivey with such gusto and even more big ups to Ivey for closing on such a ridiculous prop bet!

We had just finished writing our update, detailing Ivey's absolute dominance, when John Monnette scored two quick double-ups to seriously change the dynamic of this heads up match.

Ivey was crushing for the entire last level but, as the intro says, he's now in serious trouble.

Double-Up Numero Uno

Monnette opened from the button and now it was Ivey who shipped. Monnette called and showed a T-8. Ivey was drawing to a nine-low but paired up on his draw and shipped about 230,000 across the felt.

Double-Up Numero Dos

Ivey opened from the button and the then-shortstacked Monnette shipped all-in. Ivey called and announced he was going to draw one.

Monnette stood pat with a T-9-6. Ivey declined a draw as well but turned over a worse T-9. Monnette took a big lead with around 900,000 to Ivey's 200k.

More Bracelet Prop-Bet Background

Bear in mind, we don't have much in the way of corroboration on this story, but like my grand-daddy always said, "Never let the truth get in the way of a good story."

That said, the general consensus is that Ivey lost something in the way of $2 million last year in failed bracelet prop bets. Never one to let a loss go unchased, rumor has it Ivey has pressed his bets this year and had a whole lot more on the line.

Check out our daily recap from yesterday for a secret Layne Flack tidbit on Ivey's bracelet bets.

Phil Ivey is in control of this match and has turned the tide in a big way over the last hour. He's now in the lead with a more than two to one advantage.

Read on for current counts, a bit of background and a few choice hands from the last level.

What is This 2-7 You Speak Of?

Pros describe No-Limit 2-7 as one of the gambliest games in poker but so far this heads-up match has not highlighted that quality.

Ivey and Monnette are both playing snug, exercising a restraint that neither are known for. Small pots are being traded back and forth but the advantage, at least during the last hour, has sat squarely on Ivey's side of the table.

Bracelet Ho!

There's a lot more than the first-place cash riding on this event for Phil Ivey as he finds himself with spitting distance of a WSOP bracelet. For most players a bracelet means prestige, glory, but for Ivey it means piles and piles of cash.

The real numbers are unknown but rumors are flying about the millions of dollars on the line between Ivey, Doyle, Daniel Negreanu and Ted Forrest. Some of the most speculative put the number in the eight-digits.

The Come Up

Phil Ivey is a monster in any game and despite John Monnette's best efforts Ivey has been steadily increasing his stack.

Here's how they look at the moment:

Welcome to Value Town

We're not 2-7 experts, not by a long shot, but we know value-towning when we see it. Ivey is consistently making good hands and goading Monnette into calling down.

A moment ago Ivey took down a pot of close to 150,000 with a 9-8 low, betting big on the river and getting a call from Monnette who simply mucked.

They are heads up for the bracelet right now! The last hour saw the dam break and finally we have our heads-up match after playing three handed for 3 hours or so.

Here's how that went down.

Ivey Bluffs; Epic Fail!

Phil Ivey raised it up to 18k from the small blind and John Monnette re-popped him to 58k. Ivey called and drew one while Monnette stood pat.

Ivey now led for a whopping 100k, nearly half his stack but Monnette snap-called him with his nine low...which was good.

That bracelet seems to be slipping away from Ivey!

Yan's Not The Man

Yan Chen had got pretty short and the blinds were starting to bite. He then shipped in in on the button for 139k in a bid to double through.

Ivey called and Chen now stood on his jack low whilst Ivey peeled one. He needed a non counterfeiting ten or lower to take it down and it was...a five!

It made Ivey a superior low, meaning Chen bows out in 3rd, with $38,892 for his trouble.

The Mano-a-mano Count

It's been a bad last hour for Phil Ivey, who has seen his chip stack plummet - and the man hunting bracelet number six now sits at the bottom of the leaderboard.

He is not down and out though, as one big pot could see him take the lead. Here's how the last level played out.

Six Times!

Chen had a mini-period of domination where he won an astounding six pots in a row, his raises getting through again and again.

He finally failed to get a bet through, but padded his stack nicely in this period.

Slidey Ivey

Contrastingly, just as Phil Ivey looked set to simply raise his way to the title, he has suffered a number of setbacks in the last hour.

One hand saw Ivey facing a bet from Chen and reaching into his chip stack and shuffling chips for a full five minutes while he comtemplated his decision.

Eventually, he decided it wasn't going to happen for him and threw his hand in the muck, enabling Chen to continue his march on the bracelet.

I'm not scared of you Ivey!

Monnette Hasn't Won Yet...

...but he might! He is certainly the man in charge right now. Despite Chen's period of aggression, Monnette has picked up the larger pots and currently holds the chip lead. He has three-bet pre-draw and raised Ivey post-draw on a couple of occasions, winning some big key pots.

View from the Rail

Ironically, the "2-7 draw" may not be the biggest draw at the series, but Phil Ivey certainly is, and the rail is fairly busy with spectators keen to catch a glimpse of the superstar in action.

Out of curiosity, we asked one spectator if he were enjoying the game. "Yeh, thar's Phil Ivey! He done won a bucket of cash!"

In our view, you'd do well to fit Phil's winnings in a bucket, given they weigh in at $10,000,000 plus.

Try a canyon!

Feeling Chipper

Here are the counts as the players continue to battle 3-handed.

The players have been enjoying a break for much of the last hour, but there has still been some action.

Phil Ivey is starting to dominate and he has taken one more scalp in his bid to collect bracelet number six. This is how the action went down.

Oh, Nuts! (Kesselman - 4th)

When Ivey raised it up to 15k, only for Kesselman to shove for 80k, John Monnette now made the call.

He had to have a strong hand to do this and Ivey's a smart guy. He mucked pretty quickly.

Both Kesselman and Monnette stood pat but when Monnette turned over the nuts, yes 2,3,4,5,7, Kesselman was done, ousted in 4th spot for $26,757.

Good game!

That hand propelled Monnette into a slim lead over Phil Ivey.

Three-handed Count

Here are the standings as the player home in on the bracelet. 

We've just had the first hour of the 2.5k 2-7 draw tournament, and we've already seen one early bust out.

To those unfamiliar with the game, deuce-to-seven is a lowball poker variant, where players have to make the best low card combination out of their five cards.

Straights count high, as do aces, meaning the nuts is 2,3,4,5,7 hence the name.

It's a fairly niche game, whose popularity has waned somewhat over the years, but nonetheless the pros target this event as a good one to win a bracelet in, due to the average player's poor understanding of the rules and the manageable field sizes.

Right now, Phil Ivey is the marquee pro at this final table and he has had a very interesting time in the early levels!

Here's all the blistering action.

Ahmadian Can't Fade the Draw(7th)

Elia Ahmadian is the first player to bust so far, re-popping a 9k raise from Yan Chen to 28k.

Chen made the call and drew one card whilst Ahmadian was happy to stand with his pat hand.

Chen's next move was a shove and Ahmadian snap-called with his ten-low, only to find Chen had been dealt something helpful as he showed a marginally better nine-low.

Ahmadian was busted in 7th spot, picking up $11,627 for his troubles.

Number six, I'm coming for ya!

Climbing Ivey

Phil Ivey started the day badly, losing half his stack, but he is not the type to lie down and take it quietly and has rebuilt his stack so he is now the chip leader!

This is how it went down.

Zimmerman Zipped (6th)

Raphael Zimmerman and Ivey went to war pre-flop, Zimmerman finding himself all-in whilst Ivey stood pat.

ZImmerman drew one but when Ivey showed down an 8-7-5-4-3 low, he couldn't beat the five-time bracelet winner and mucked.

He collects $14,663 for 6th place whilst this hand made Ivey the chip leader.

Talebi-nned (5th)

Rodeen Talebi was just sent crashing out. A shortish stack, he went for the double, moving in, then standing pat with a jack-ten low, only for Yan Chen to show him a superior 9-8 low.

Good game Talebi, he picks up $19,346 for 5th.

Chipping Up

Here are the chip counts at this stage. Ivey hunting bracelet number six!