Harrah's Atlantic City - Live Updates

The final hand of the night began with Alex Gomez raising to $120,000 before the flop and getting a call from Rick Rossetti. The flop came out K-9-3 and Rick led out with a bet of $150,000. Alex quickly moved all-in for close to $600,000 more and after a few moments Rick made the call. Turning over pocket tens Alex was sick to see Rossetti flip over K-7 for top pair. The turn and river changed nothing and we have a champion!

Alex Gomez is our runner-up and will officially receive $202,453 while Rick Rossetti, the winner, will take home $368,096, the title ring and a seat in the 2007 WSOP Main Event.

After a raise to $120,000 from Alex Gomez, Rick Rossetti announces he is all-in. In the tank and clearly torn between making the call and folding, Alex contemplates the situation. Even Rick's fan club in the audience seems to be pulling for Alex as they call, "come on, bust him", from their seats. Eventually Gomez mucks his hand and Rick rakes in the pot, showing one card as he does - a deuce.

After a pre-flop raise from Rick, Alex came over the top for another $300,000 and got a slow call from Rossetti. The flop came Q-9-7 with two diamonds and the action was on Alex Gomez. He wasted no time in announcing he was all-in, putting the decision back on Rick. "Good hand", said Rossetti as he mucked his cards, conceding the massive pot to Gomez. With that hand Alex takes the lead with $1.45 million to Rick's $920,000.

In the first hand that's made it past the river in what seems like an eternity, Alex fired out a substantial bet on a board of Q-7-2-8-Q and got a call from Rick. Rick showed Q-2 for a full house, queens full of deuces, but Alex had him beat with a better boat, Q-8 for queens full of eights. It's hard to believe that Rick didn't pop it after filling up on the river, he must be using some sort of psychic power to know his full house was beat! The chip stacks are back to almost even.

The players are back and the $1,000 chips have been colored up. The new blinds are $20,000/$40,000 with a $5,000 ante. The chip counts are as follows.

1	Rick Rossetti:	$1.68 million
2	Alex Gomez:	$685,000

The action has all but grinded to a halt here during heads-up play while the two players trade small pots back and forth. We'll be back in fifteen minutes to play a bit higher.

There hasn't been much action to speak of but Alex Gomez has managed to pull back to even with one questionable call from Rick Rossetti. After a preflop raise to $90k from Rick and a call from Alex, the flop came down 4-3-J and Rick fired out $100,000. Alex quickly moved all-in and surprisingly Rossetti made the call with A-3. Rick's ace high and inside wheel draw were way behind Alex's pocket tens. The turn and river changed nothing and Gomez takes down a nice pot.

Alex Gomez is fighting his way back into this event. After falling dangerously low in the last few hands, he took down a nice pot to get back to $720,000. Rick Rossetti still has command of the match though with $1.64 million.

Rick Rossetti continues to wear down Alex Gomez, adding to his chip lead with a number of small pots.

The money is on the table and the two players have moved to either end of the table for the heads-up match. After knocking out John Racener and picking up a few pots, Rick Rossetti has taken the lead with $1.7 million to Alex's $650,000.

In the first hand of three-way action John Racener and Rick Rossetti found themselves in a pot and after the flop of 7♠ 7♥ 9♠, John threw out a bet of $150,000. Rick immediately pushed all-in and got a call from Racener. Surprisingly John was actually ahead with J♠ Q♠ for queen high and a spade flush draw. Rick was holding 5♣ 8♣, just an inside straight draw! A king on the turn was no help but the 6♣ on the river made the straight and knocked Racener out of the tournament. Racener is out in third and will officially take home $103,527.

A deal was struck over dinner between the final three players in this event. Rick and John will both take home $190,000 while chip leader Alex Gomez will net a respectable $270,000. They will play for the title, the ring and the seat in next year's WSOP Main Event.

After a wonderful dinner at Polostina's, a great italian restaurant downstairs, which we were treated to by the tournament staff, we were on the casino floor and chip leader Alex Gomez was approached by a member of security and asked for an ID! Granted, Alex does look younger than his 33 years, but it's still funny to see the chip leader in a million dollar poker tournament having to produce ID to stay in the casino! Thankfully he was able to make it back to the tournament area to finish the match.

The players have been released to go on a dinner break of 90 minutes. When we come back we'll be playing a little higher.

This was a heads-up pot between John Racener, shortstack, and Alex Gomez, chip leader, that began with a pre-flop raise to $60,000 from Gomez. A call from Racener in the big blind brought a flop of Q-J-T and another check from both players. The turn was a five and Racener checked the action over to Gomez. Alex threw out a stack of $5,000 chips equalling $100,000 and Racener made the call. Another queen hit the river and after a slow check from John, Gomez fired again, this time $150,000. Racener went into the tank to try to figure out the situation but in the end would opt to muck his hand, sending a nice pot across the table to the chip leader.

Players are back and the cards are in the air. Three players remain, vying for the first prize of $368,096.

The players have gone on a short break and will return in five minutes. The current chip counts are as follows.

1	Alex Gomez:	$1.19 million
2	Rick Rossetti:	$607,000
3	John Racener:	$572,000

Feming Chan made a loose play in this hand when he called Alex Gomez's pre-flop all-in with A-3. He saw he was in bad shape when Gomez turned over A-T. Alex hit a ten on the flop and quickly had Chan drawing thin. No help from the turn and river and Feming Chan is out in fourth place. He'll take home $80,521.

John Racener moved all-in from the small blind and got a call from Alex Gomez. Racener was out in front with A-T against Alex's K♣ J♣ and Gomez was looking to improve. The flop was not what Alex was hoping for as Racener paired both his ace and ten. His aces-up would hold up past the river as he doubles-up to more than $300,000.

Rick Rossetti's not afraid to mix it up with the chip leader, Alex Gomez, as he showed us in this hand. After a raise to $75,000 from Rick and a call from Alex, the flop came out 8-7-7. Gomez checked to Rossetti who took his time making a move. Eventually reaching for chips, he pulled the trigger and fired out $90,000 which was enough to push Gomez out of the hand.

We're down to four player and the blinds have gone up. Here are the current chip counts for the survivors.

1	Alex Gomez:	$1.32 million
2	Rick Rossetti:	$482,000
3	Feming Chan:	$322,000
4	John Racener:	$244,000

Two big hands between Ken Goldin and Feming Chan have sent Ken to the rail and left Feming with considerably more chips. In the first it was Feming who pushed all-in from the button and got an insta-call from Goldin in the big blind. Ken was ahead before the flop with his A-J leading Feming's K-Q. A queen on the flop changed that however and Goldin was unable to recover. Two hands later, on the button, Ken pushed the rest of his stack in with K-9 and ran into Chan again who called with A-9 from the small blind. Unable to crack the hand, Ken is gone in fifth place and will receive $69,018.

With MJ Bernstein in the small blind and the chip leader, Alex Gomez, in the big, Bernstein pushed all-in after the action was folded around to him. Alex makes the call and turns over pocket nines which are in a race against MJ's K-J. Bernstein was unable to improve with the board though and is eliminated, his stack becoming part of the juggernaut that is Alex Gomez. MJ's out in 6th place, receiving $57,515.

Feming Chan moved all-in from the small blind and got a call from Rick Rossetti who was under the gun. Chan's J-9 will have to improve to overcome Rick's A-2. The flop hit Feming big when it came J-J-7, giving him the set and the lead. Rick was unable to recover and will double Feming up.

Hot on the heels of Drew Giliem's recent elimination, Ray Lin moved all-in after a pre-flop raise from Rick Rossetti. Rick thought it over for a few moments before making the call and turning over big slick. He had Ray's A♣ J♣ dominated and was looking to dodge a jack from the board. Rick's hand held up and he has sent Lin to the rail in 7th place, taking home $46,012.

Drew Giliem moved all-in from under-the-gun for $70,000 on top of the blinds. MJ Bernstein, next to act, also pushed all-in and succeeded in isolating Giliem. MJ was way ahead with pocket kings against Drew's pocket sixes. The board changed nothing and Drew Giliem is busted in 8th place, receiving $35,409.

Tom Ly is the first to fall from this final table. After a button raise from Rick Rossetti, Ly pushed in for a total of $135,000. WIth the decision back on Rick he took a few minutes to make his decision and eventually made a gutsy call. Turning over A-9 he was ecstatic to see he was in a dominating position against Tom's A-7. The flop came J♥ 3♥ 5♠, not much help to either player. Ly was looking for a seven but a six on the turn gives Tom an inside straight to add to his list of outs. The river is an ace though and Tom Ly is busted in ninth place, receiving $23,006.

The last twenty minutes of the level we ended during last night has expired and the blinds have gone up accordingly. $8,000/$16,000 with an ante of $2,000 is what we're playing at now and some of the small stacks had better start trying to make something happen before being blinded out.

Ken Goldin moved all-in for $77,000 after Tom Ly had made it $30,000 to go. It was folded around to Ly who made the call and flipped over Q♥ T♥. Goldin shows A♦ K♥ and, despite being ahead, is calling for an ace or a king on the flop. The board comes 7♦ 9♦ 4♠, no help to either player. The turn brings the T♦ and puts Ly in the lead but gives Ken a diamond flush draw to go with his two overcards. The Q♦ hits the river and makes the flush for Goldin, doubling him up and keeping him in this event.

The cards are in the air and the first two pots have gone to chip leader Alex Gomez. With such a massive stack, somebody will have to take a stand against him before it's too late.

Well, not quite yet. Tournament director Jack Effel is currently introducing the nine players at the table. Here's the seating arrangement and chip counts at the onset of today's action.

Seat 1	Tom Ly:	$219,000
Seat 2	Ken Goldin:	$105,000
Seat 3	Drew Giliem:	$112,000
Seat 4	Ray Lin:	$202,000
Seat 5	MJ Bernstein:	$134,000
Seat 6	Alex Gomez:	$183,000
Seat 7	Feming Chan	$183,000
Seat 8	Rick Rossetti	$181,000
Seat 9	John Racener:	$235,000

The players are de-bagging their chips and getting ready to start the day. We still have about 25 minutes left in the blind level on which we ended last night so we'll still be playing at $6,000/$12,000 with an ante of $2,000.