Caesars Palace Las Vegas - Live Updates

Allen Cunningham has just won the 2008 World Series of Poker Circuit event at Caesars Palace Las Vegas! Cunningham defeated Ben Fineman in heads-up play to claim the WSOPC ring and $499,162 in prize money.

In the climactic hand, Ben Fineman raised to $80,000 and Allen Cunningham made the call in the big blind. The flop came K♣ Q♣ Q♦ and both players checked. The turn was the T♣ and Cunningham bet out $100,000. Fineman raised to $400,000 and Cunningham moved all-in over the top, putting Fineman to a decision for his tournament life.

Fineman thought over his options for just a moment before finally (and unhappily) announcing a call and turning up A♠ J♦ for the Broadway Straight. Finemans's premonitions proved correct, as Cunningham turned up 5♣ 4♣ for the flush, and after the river card was the 4♠ Allen Cunningham had clinched the title.

In addition to the prize money, Cunningham earns a seat into the $10,000 WSOP Main Event to be played out this July/November at the Rio in Las Vegas and another exclusive PokerListings.com interview . Meanwhile, Ben Fineman earns $257,637 and barely misses out on his second WSOPC ring in two weeks. Congratulations to both finalists and to the staff at Caesars for a wonderful tournament!

Ben Fineman raises to $80,000 on the button and Allen Cunningham makes the call. The flop comes Q♦ 5♠ 3♠ and Cunningham checks to Fineman, who bets out $100,000. Cunningham moves all-in over the top for $751,000 in total. Fineman gives the matter some thought before making the call and turning up a pair of sevens to Cunningham's Q♦ 9♥. The board finishes out K♦ 3♥ and Cunningham has doubled up through Ben Fineman to bring the chip stacks back to about even.

Heads-up play between Allen Cunningham and Ben Fineman has begun from Caesars Palace. Stay tuned for the thrilling conclusion!

We're on a quick break as the actors dressed as Roman figures prepare to kick off heads-up play. Action will resume in about twenty minutes, we believe.

Chip counts as we prepare for heads-up play are as follows:

Ben Fineman	$2.63 million
Allen Cunningham	$710,000

 

Kelly Samson and Ben Fineman see a flop come 9♦ 7♥ 4♥ and Samson checks to Fineman, who bets out $200,000. Samson makes the call and the turn is the 9♥. Samson leads out for $200,000 and Fineman moves all-in, having Samson barely covered, and Samson makes the call for his last $1,102,000, turning up 9♣ 8♠ to Fineman's J♥ T♥. Samson needs to pair the board to survive, but the river card is the 2♥ and Samson is eliminated in third place. He drags himself muttering and screaming to his $128,816 consolation prize.

Motoyuki Mabuchi raises to $50,000 on the button and Ben Fineman re-raises to $130,000 in the big blind. Mabuchi makes the call and the flop comes K♣ J♦ 5♣. F moves all-in and Mabuchi makes the call for his tournament life, showing K♥ 2♥ to Fineman's K♠ Q♣. Mabuchi has kicker trouble, and after the board finishes out 8♠ 4♣ Mabuchi has no-chips trouble. He's done in fourth place and takes $112,714 back to Osaka.

A short-stacked Justin Bonomo moves all-in for his last $100,000 and Allen Cunningham moves all-in over the top to isolate. Action folds around and Cunningham shows A♥ Q♦ to to ZeeJustin's K♣ 3♣. The board comes 9♠ 5♦ 2♦ 4♥ 2♥ and ace-high takes it, sending Bonomo to the rail in fifth place. He earns $96,612 for his efforts.

Kelly Samson opens for $90,000 from the cut-off and after some thought, Justin Bonomo moves all-in from the big blind. Samson insta-calls for his last $667,000 and turns up a pocket pair of queens while Bonomo is behind with pocket tens. The flop comes 5♣ 4♦ 4♥ and Samson maintains the lead. The turn is Q♦, filling up Samson and ending the drama, and the river card is the Q♠ to give dude quads for good measure. Samson doubles up to $1.3 million while ZeeJustin is down to $130,000.

Justin Bonomo raises to $53,000 for under the gun and Ben Fineman makes it $150,000 to go from the big blind. Bonomo moves all-in and Fineman snap-folds. Bonomo takes the pot.

Ben Fineman opens for $60,000 from the small blind and Blair Hinkle moves all-in over the top for $518,000 more from the big blind. Fineman tanks for a few minutes but eventually makes the call, showing A♠ Q♣ to Hinkle's Q♠ 9♦. The flop comes T♦ 8♦ 6♠ and Fineman maintains his lead. The turn is the Q♦ and Hinkle picks up more outs. He can hit a nine, a seven or a diamond for the win and a jack to chop, but the river is the 8♠ and Hinkle is gonzo. He's out in sixth place and earns $80,510.

Blair Hinkle raises to $51,000 from under the gun and Motoyuki Mabuchi moves all-in over the top for another $121,000. Action folds back to Hinkle, who makes the call with pocket eights against Mabuchi's A♥ T♦. The board comes K♦ T♠ 7♠ Q♥ 9♥ and Mabuchi doubles up.

The break is over and the cards are back in the air from Caesars Palace. Six players remain in the hunt for a half-million dollars!

We'll take a fifteen-minute break and then return to action.

Kelly Samson raises to $50,000 and Thomas Hover moves all-in for $63,000 more. Action folds back to Samson, who makes the call and turns up pocket sevens to Hover's Q♥ 2♥. The flop comes T♥ 8♦ 2♦ and Hover pairs his deuce, and after the turn is the 8♥ he picks up the flush draw as well. Hover gets there on the river with a fifth heart, but nobody in the room notices it's the 7♥, which gives Samson the boat, and it's only after a few awkward moments that Hover realizes he has lost and is eliminated in seventh place. He takes home $64,408 for his time.

Thomas Hover raises to $42,000 and Blair Hinkle moves all-in over the top for $263,000 total. Hover makes the call and turns up Q♥ Q♦ to Hinkle's 5♦ 5♥ and it looks like curtains for blur5f6. Then the flop comes T♥ 5♠ 2♣ and Hinkle flops a set. The board finishes 4♥ 4♦ and Hinkle fills up, doubling up to more than $520,000 with the hand.

Allen Cunningham raises to $42,000 and Kelly Samson moves all-in over the top for $133,000 more. Action folds back to Cunningham, who tanks for a few minutes before announcing a call with K♣ Q♣ to Samson's pocket nines. The board comes J♥ 8♥ 4♥ J♠ 5♦ and the nines hold, doubling Samson through Cunningham.

Allen Cunningham raises to $42,000 and is called by both Tom Hover and Blair Hinkle in the blinds. The flop come K♥ 6♥ 2♣ and Hover checks to Hinkle, who bets out $85,000. Cunningham calls and Hover folds. The turn is the 4♣ and both players check. The river is the 4♦ and Hinkle checks to Cunningham, who bets out $140,000. Hinkle folds and Cunningham takes the pot.

Justin Bonomo opens the pot with a raise and sees Allen Cunningham come over the top all-in on his left. Action folds around to Ralph Perry, who calls all-in and ZeeJustin gets out of the way, leaving Cunningham to turn up a pocket pair of queens and Perry a pocket pair of jacks. The board comes 8♣ 5♣ 3♦ 2♦ 2♣ and the queens hold, sending Perry to the rail in 8th place, where he'll pick up $48,306 in prize money.

Doug "Superbomber" Lee open-shoves for his last $70,000 and the action folds around to Ben Fineman, who makes the call in the big blind, showing Q♠ 9♠ to Lee's A♥ J♣. The flop comes K♦ J♥ 9♦ and both players make a pair, with Fineman also picking up the gutshot straight draw. The turn is the 9♠ and Fineman makes trips, and after the T♠ gives him the unnecessary straight Doug Lee is out in 9th place. The Calgarian will take home $32,204 for his time.

Motoyuki Mabuchi opens for $72,000 from under the gun and the action folds around to Doug Lee, who makes the call in the big blind. The flop comes Q♥ T♣ 9♦ and Lee checks to Mabuchi, who moves all-in for his last $112,000. Lee insta-calls, turning up K♣ Q♠ to Mabuchi's A♣ J♥, with the Canadian holding the lead with top pair. The turn, however, is the A♠ and Mabuchi makes a better pair. The river is the 2♦ and Mabuchi doubles up.

Ben Fineman raises to $42,000 and Blair Hinkle makes the call in the small blind before Justin Bonomo moves all-in from the big blind. Fineman releases the hand and Hinkle goes into the tank for about a day and a half before finally making the call, turning up A♠ T♠. Bonomo is in good shape to double with A♥ K♣, but after the flop comes 5♣ 4♠ 3♠, the turn is the 5♥ and the river the 2♦ and the players chop the pot, with Bonomo probably just happy to fade the spade draw.

With little action to speak of in the first ten minutes of play, the level is over and the blinds have moved up accordingly. We'll play 90-minute levels at this final table.

The cards are in the air from the final table at Caesars Palace. We've got ten minutes left in the current level and we'll play another full 75-minutes before the first break. Doug Lee has the button and the game is on!

It's final table time from the World Series of Poker Circuit Caesars Las Vegas $5,000 festival of degeneracy and our nine lucky finalists have returned to the poker tournament room at Caesars Palace where, under the watchful eyes of past WSOP champions whose portraits hang on the walls around them, they will fight it out for a nearly $500,000 first prize.

The tournament announcer is introducing the players and we'll get underway shortly. Stay tuned for live updates coming at you directly from PokerListings.com to your medulla oblongata, and in the words of the announcer, "Let's get ready to shuffle!"

Here are the seating positions and chip counts for the final table:

Seat 1	Motoyuki Mabuchi	$142,000
Seat 2	Kelly Samson	$385,000
Seat 3	Ben Fineman	$828,000
Seat 4	Ralph Perry	$319,000
Seat 5	Thomas Hover	$407,000
Seat 6	Blair Hinkle	$382,000
Seat 7	Justin Bonomo	$272,000
Seat 8	Allen Cunninghams	$296,000
Seat 9	Doug Lee	$324,000