After that devastating river, Steve Merrifield scraps and fights his way up to $150,000 before making a preflop raise to $40,000 from the button. After a few moments' thought, Wilbur Futhey moves all-in over the top and Merrifield snap-calls, then looks devastated when Futhey turns up A K.

The reason for Merrifield's distress is soon obvious as he turns up A T and will need to suck out to stay alive. The flop comes Q Q 6 and that changes nothing, but the T on the turn gives him the lead. Futhey needs to catch an ace, king or jack to win the tournament and the river card is the dagger J, giving Futhey the Broadway Straight and the title!

For the win, Wilbur Futhey earns $180,290, a WSOPC ring and a $10,000 entry into the 2008 WSOP Main Event. He also earns an exclusive PokerListings interview. Merrifield, on the other hand, earns $94,597 and, one suspects, a few months of sleepless nights and an irrational fear of the 7.

That about does it from Indiana. Stay tuned for a full recap of the tournament's action as well as the aforementioned interview with the champion. Other than that, we're ghost, son.

Wilbur Futhey gets all-in preflop and Steven Merrifield is willing to tango, turning up 9 9 to the Baconator's A Q and we're racing with the title on the line. The flop comes T 5 3 and that changes nothing. The turn is the 8, giving Futhey the heart-flush draw, and the 7 on the river gets him there, earning him the pot and $554,000 from Merrifield's stack.

The West Virginian is left with only $40,000 to work with and is devastated. Futhey fairly spits at him, "What happened? Well that's sort of like that four you got up there a minute ago, isn't it?"

The players are back and the game is on. Here's the chip situation:

Steven Merrifield	$645,000
Wilbur Futhey	$520,000

 

After about ten minutes of inconsequential heads-up play we're on a quick break from Indiana. Play will resume when the players return, whenever that is.

We're heads-up on the Glory of Rome for the final WSOP Circuit event ever to be played at Caesars Palace Indiana (they're changing the venue's brand to a Horseshoe property more or less as we speak), with Wilbur Futhey and Steve Merrifield battling it out for the aforementioned glorious glory.

Here are the chip counts of our two combatants:

Steven "The Merry Ploughman" Merrifield	$585,000
Wilburforce "The Baconator" Futhey	$580,000

Fight!

Dale Poynter open-shoves from the small blind for his last $231,000 and Steven Merrifield makes the call in the big blind, showing A 9 to Poynter's K J. The flop comes A 8 7 and Merrifield flops top pair. The turn is the 9 and Merrifield makes two pair while Poynter picks up the gutterball. The river card is the Q, however, and Poynter misses his outs. He's done in third place and will take home $55,645 for his efforts.

Steven Merrifield raises to $36,000 on the button and Wilbur Futhey moves all-in over the top from the small blind. Dale Poynter gets out of the way and Merrifield makes the call for his last $155,000, finding himself utterly dominated with A 4 against Futhey's A K.

Merrifield's homeboys crowd the table, calling out for a four, "One time for the kid!" The flop comes T 7 2 and that changes nothing besides giving dude a backdoor flush draw. The turn erases those chances with the Q, but just as an entourage member cries out "One time" one more time, the river card is revealed to be the 4 and Merrifield doubles through Futhey with a sick river to stay alive in this event. We remain three-handed. 

On a flop of T 7 3, Wilbur Futhey bets out $25,000 and Dale Poynter moves all-in. Futhey snap-calls and Poynter observes, "That's not good," as he turns up T 4. Futhey has T 6 but, barring any onslaught of low cards, we're likely headed for a chop. The board finishes with faces, coming J Q and resulting in a chopped pot. Poynter stays alive.

Here are the chip counts for the three remaining players:

Wilbur Futhey	$544,000
Dale Poynter	$341,000
Steve Merrifield	$300,000

 

The buffet has been pillaged and the buffet grounds razed by our three hungry rounders. Now that everyone's been fed, the game is back on from the bilge of the Glory of Rome. Stay tuned for the thrilling conclusion to this epic event!