Caesars Indiana Live Updates

Hoyt Lance moves all-in preflop and Chad Batista quickly calls. He shows Q♣ 4♣ to Lance's K♣ 9♦ and claims to be entering the hand as the underdog for the first time all tournament. The flop comes 2♥ A♦ 3♥ giving Batista a draw at the wheel straight, and after the turn comes 3♠ a five is his key to victory. Like a Hollywood movie scripted by Soren Turkewitsch, the river is the 5♥ and Chad Batista is the 2006 Caesars Indiana Main Event champion!

Chad takes home $262,002 and a WSOPC ring, while Hoyt Lance gets a $137,471 consolation prize. Congratulations to both players!

Chad Batista has taken back this event! This hand started out with both players checking and seeing the flop which came 4♦ T♥ 7♣. Hoyt lead out with a bet of $50,000 and Chad immediately bumped it up to $150,000. Hoyt took about two seconds to move all-in and was called immediately. Batista showed T♣ Q♦ and Lance showed J♥ 4♠ for bottom pair. The board didn't reverse The Grill's advantage, finishing out A♠ K♥ and doubling Batista from $787,000 to over $1.5 million in the blink of an eye. Hoyt Lance is crippled and will need some serious doubling-up to remain in contention.

Chad Batista gets all his chips into the middle (around $300,000) and gets a call from Hoyt Lance, who shows A♠ 3♠ to Batista's 6♠ 6♣. The flop comes 3♣ 8♥ 2♣ and the turn is the 4♣, leaving Lance drawing to two aces and two threes to end this thing. The river doesn't oblige, coming 9♣, and Batista has doubled up again. He now has about $750,000 to Lance's $950,000.

On the first hand of heads-up, Chad Batista moves all-in with A♥ K♥ and gets a call from Hoyt Lance with Q♠ 9♠. The flop comes 7-3-2 rainbow and the board finishes J♣ 7♣, doubling Batista up and giving him a little more breathing room.

Hoyt Lance limps in from the small blind and Ed Corrado checks his option in the big blind. The flop comes 4♣ 6♥ J♣ and Lance checks to Corrado, who bets out $30,000. Lance comes over the top with an all-in raise. Corrado makes the call and shows T♠ T♥ to Lance's J♠ 7♣. The turn brings the 7♦ and the river is the 2♥, and Ed Corrado has been eliminated in third place, for which he will recieve $80,865.

Chad Batista and Hoyt Lance are now heads-up, with Lance holding a prohibitive chip lead.

Hoyt Lance is the chip leader at the final table and is using that big stack to his advantage. There's not a hand that goes by without Lance raising the pot, and Ed Corrado and Chad Batista are left waiting for cards to push back with. Lance has just broken the $1 million chip mark while both of his opponents see their stacks rapidly dwindling.

The players are back and we're now playing with blinds of $10,000/$20,000 and an ante of $3,000. Three players remain and what was once a friendly table has become a feeding frenzy. None of the players seem to have much love for their competitors so we may be in for a blood-bath.

The remaining three players have broken for a comped dinner at the Legends Restaurant upstairs at Caesars Indiana. Action wil resume at 7 pm EST so grab a bean burrito or two and hurry back for the thrilling conclusion! Here's each players bank as they dine compliments of the house:

Hoyt Lance	$879,000
Ed "Uncle Jun" Corrado	$435,000
Chad "The Grill" Batista	$377,000

Hoyt Lance opened this pot to make it $80,000 to go and after a few minutes Hilbert Shirey came over the top and pushed all-in. Even before Ed Corrado, who was still in the hand, could make a decision, Hoyt emphatically called and threw his pocket queens down on the table. He was in a dominating position over Shirey's A-J. Hoyt had Hilbert covered and so Shirey's tournament life was on the line going to the flop. A monstrous board hit, 7♦ Q♥ 7♠, giving Hoyt a full house! Shirey was drawing to running aces to win the hand but a deuce on the turn gave Hoyt the check mark and the win. Shirey is out in fourth and will receive $64,692.

Hoyt Lance limps in from the small blind and Doug Carli checks his option. The flop comes 2♠ 7♠ 2♥ and Lance checks to Carli, who moves all-in for his last $170,000. Lance makes the call and shows A♥ J♦ to Carli's 9♥ 7♣. Carli wanders off, muttering about how Lance wants to let Carli back into the game, but the turn reverses his fortunes with the J♠ and the river slams the door on them with the A♦, sending "Rico" to the rail with a consolation prize of $48,519.

Ed Corrado makes it $45,000 to go from the button and Chad Batista re-raises to $105,000 from the small blind. Corrado goes into the tank for a few minutes before moving all-in for another $135,000. Batista makes the call and shows 5♥ 7♥ while Corrado shows A♦ J♥. The flop comes A♣ 3♥ 4♠ and the turn is the 8♦. The river comes 8♣ and Ed Corrado has doubled up through Chad Batista again. Batista is shocked when he finds out how much he owes, complaining that he didn't realize it was that expensive.

Doug Carli pushed all-in pre-flop for his last $50,000 and was quickly called by Hilbert Shirey. Carli flipped up A-4 and needed some help from the board to crack Shirey's pocket kings. The flop came 5♠ 9♦ 4♥, giving Doug a few more outs. He was hoping for a four or an ace and the turn delivered, the A♣ gave him aces up and Shirey was drawing to the two remaining kings. An eight on the river gave Doug the winning hand and he doubles-up to around $100,000.

Doug "Rico" Carli makes it $50,000 to go from early position. Hilbert Shirey re-raises all-in for another $114,000 and Carli says he's "gotta call." He turns over A♥ K♦ to Shirey's 5♦ 5♥ and the race is on. The flop comes J♠ Q♥ 7♠ giving Carli a straight draw to add to his list of outs, but the board finishes 8♥ 5♠ and Hilbert Shirey has doubled through Doug Carli, who is left with a little under $50,000 to his name.

Ed Corrado raises to $35,000 from the small blind and Chad Batista moves all-in in defence of his big blind. Corrado calls and goes all-in for another $142,000, but he shows Q♠ Q♥ to Batista's K♣ 9♦ and is in good shape going to the flop. Batista asks the dealer to help him out one time and Corrado has heard enough. He puts the muzzle on Batista, literally - grabbing the smaller man by the shoulders and putting a meaty paw over his opponent's diamond-studded mouth. Batista struggles but cannot escape, just as he can't escape doubling up Corrado when the board comes A♣ 8♣ 5♦ 7♣ T♦.

Joel Casper opened this pot to make it $50,000 to go and it was folded around to Doug Carli who pushed all-in. Carli had Joel covered and Casper, considering his remaining chips, decided this was the time to make a stand. He pushed his stack in and flipped over A-4 which needed to improve against Carli's pocket nines. The flop came K♣ 3♥ 2♣, no help for Joel. The 7♣ on the river was a bad card for Casper since one of Doug's nines was a club. Joel needed an ace that wasn't a club on the river but it came the K♠ and Casper is eliminated. He will receive $40,433.

Break time is over in the place to be and the action is back underway.

The players have gone on a fifteen minute break and will return to play a bit higher. Here are the chip counts for our six surviving players.

1	Chad Batista:	$492,000
2	Hoyt Lance:	$489,000
3	Hilbert Shirey:	$228,000
4	Doug Carli:	$190,000
5	Ed Corrano:	$187,000
6	Joel Casper:	$110,000

Hoyt Lance makes it $35,000 to go from first position and the action folds to Ed Corrado in the small blind. Corrado debates the call with himself, asking whether a first position raise means a monster hand. Eventually he asks someone to call the clock on him, and getting no volunteers, calls the clock on himself. The tournament director obliges and with 30 seconds left in his countdown, Corrado folds, explaining that he's not only afraid of Lance, but also Chad Batista in the big blind.

Batista folds, and Lance tells Corrado nice laydown without showing his cards, which raises the ire of Corrado and some petty bickering ensues, which has continued into the break even though Lance swears he had pocket kings. Break time is fifteen minutes; hopefully both players will cool down a little by the time play resumes.

Chad Batista makes it $35,000 to go from the button, claiming he's raising with the best hand. Robert Arthur doesn't heed his warning and moves all-in over top for around $130,000 total. Batista quickly calls with 9♦ 9♠ and Arthur shows A♥ 3♥. The board comes T♣ 4♣ 3♦ 8♠ 7♦, and Robert Arthur has been eliminated in 7th place. He takes home $32,346 as a consolation prize.

Ed Corrado moved all-in from under the gun for $70,000 and was called by Robert Arthur in middle position. Corrado's A♥ 6♥ needed to improve against Arthur's big slick off-suit. Ed's tournament life was on the line as the flop came down T♥ J♣ 3♥. Picking up a flush draw to add to his list of outs, Ed was looking for a heart or a six and the 7♥ on the turn gave him the nut flush and had Robert drawing dead. Corrado doubles-up and survives to fight another day.

Chad Batista	$417,000
Hoyt Lance	$375,000
Hilbert Shirey	$220,000
Robert Arthur	$188,000
Joel Casper	$180,000
Doug Carli	$157,000
Ed Corrado	$85,000

Robert Arthur makes it $45,000 to go from first position and the action folds to Hoyt Lance in the big blind. Lance announces a re-raise and makes it $90,000. Arthur thinks for a moment before counting out an additional $45,000 and makes the call. The flop comes A♥ A♦ 4♠ and Lance immediately moves all-in for another $190,000. Arthur again gives the question some thought before folding, and Lance mucks K♠ J♠ face up, drawing the applause of the crowd and prompting Chad Batista to have minor conniption. He's been folding to Lance's raises all day while in the big bilnd, claiming "respect", but after this, he says, there will be no more respect.

Chad Batista raise makes it $34,000 to go from middle position and Danny Brown comes over the top all-in for an additional $22,000 to put himself all-in. Batista makes the call with J♦ J♥ and Brown shows A♣ T♣. The flop comes T♠ 3♣ J♦, giving Batista a set and Brown a pair of tens, and the turn is the A♥. Brown needs an ace or a ten to stay alive but instead sees the river come 3♥, and he heads to the rail in eighth place with a payout of $24,260.

Ed Corrado moves all-in from the button and gets a call from Danny Brown in the big blind. Danny shows K♣ 8♠ and Ed shows J♦ 9♥, and the two weathered war-horses prepare to do battle. The flop gives each player a pair, coming J♥ 7♣ 8♥, and Corrado doesn't relinquish his lead as the board finishes out 2♦ 6♣. Corrado has doubled up again and refuses to go away. A half-hour ago he had under $10,000, but now he has over $100,000 and is "back in the ball game."

Thomas Fuller re-raises Hilbert Shirey's opening raise all-in for a total of $84,000 and Ed Corrado makes the call from the big blind, putting him all-in as well. Hilbert Shirey also calls, and turns over A♠ Q♠ to Fuller's A♥ J♦ and Corrado's Q♣ 7♥. The flop comes 7♣ 5♥ 8♦, giving Uncle Jun a pair of sevens, and the board finishes out 3♦ Q♥, doubling Corrado up and bouncing Fuller from contention. He recieves $16,173 for his ninth place finish.

Doug Carli moves all-in for his last $50,000 and gets a call from Ed Corrado with just a little more in his stack. Corrado shows K♣ Q♣ and Carli shows J♥ J♦. The board comes A♠ 6♥ A♥ 6♣ 3♠ and Doug Carli has doubled through Ed "Uncle Jun" Corrado, who is left crippled.

1	Chad Batista:	$388,000
2	Robert Arthur:	$286,000
3	Joel Casper:	$217,000
4	Ed Corrado:	$206,000
5	Hilbert Shirey:	$166,000
6	Danny Brown:	$149,000
7	Hoyt Lance:	$112,000
8	Thomas Fuller:	$89,000
9	Doug Carli:	$79,000

It's Final Table time from the M/V Glory of Rome at Caesar's Indiana in sunny Elizabeth, Indiana. Nine players will compete for a $262,002 first prize, including Hilbert Shirey, Thomas Fuller, Robert Arthur, Joel Casper, Doug Carli, Chad Batista, Ed Corrado and Danny Brown and Hoyt Lance. Stay tuned for live updates as the action unfolds!