Harrah's New Orleans - Live Updates

It took more than 80 hands of heads-up play to do it but Nick Ceci has won the WSOPC Harrah's New Orleans.

In the final hand Tim "TK" Miles shoved with Q-4 and Ceci looked him up with J-7. The flop was especially kind to Ceci as it came J-9-7 giving him two-pair. The turn was an ace and that sealed Mile's fate as the second place finisher to this event.

Miles' victory ends an exciting season at the WSOPC that saw Chris "Jesus" Ferguson, Allen Cunningham and many more win coveted circuit rings.

We here at PokerListings.com would like to congratulate all winners of this season and send a special thank you to the tournament organizers, dealers and Media Directors Nolan Dalla and Max Shapiro who were with us every step of the way.

We'll see you again in the fall!

TK Miles bets $60,000 preflop and Ceci makes the call. The flop came Q-4-4 and Miles bet $80,000. Ceci raised $160,000 more and after a couple minutes Miles announced he was all-in. Ceci called in short order and the players flipped over their cards:

Miles: A-Q

Ceci: 4♦ 3♦

Miles top-pair top-kicker is no good against Ceci's flopped trip fours. Miles was looking for a lot of help from the board and didn't get it as the turn came J♣ and then T♥.

Miles is crippled down to just $170,000 chips after the hand and Ceci can probably feel the championship ring on his finger. 

Nick Ceci and TK Miles seem unwilling to play any big pots against each other. Besides Mile's big double up early on both players have been content to trade minor pots back and forth. Suddenly the tournament has become a contest of who can remain focused longer.

We've now played more hands heads-up then all the hands it took to get to heads-up combined.

If the most recent hand is any indication, neither TK Miles or Nick Ceci have any plans of slowing their respective games down.

Nick Ceci raised $42,000 from the button and Miles called. The flop came J♠ 6♦ 2♦ and Ceci bet $120,000. Miles decided to bet $300,000 and Ceci moved all-in. Miles called and the players flipped over their cards:

Miles: A♦ 9♦

Ceci: K♥ K♣

Ceci is ahead with his cowboys but Miles has the nut-flush draw. The dealer turns the K♦ and Miles gets there. Ceci is praying for the board to pair or the case king to hit on the river but instead it's 9♥.

Miles doubles in a big way and takes over the chip lead with approximately $1.4 million.

It's down to Nick Ceci and TK Miles and only one of them will walk away as the 2007-08 WSOPC Harrah's New Orlean's champ!

Here's a look at the chip stacks as we go into heads-up play:

You've got to hand it to Floyd Vanderford for sticking around as long as he did. Vanderford came to the final table with a meager $65,000 and somehow managed to parlay those chips into a third place finish.

In his final hand Vanderford shoved all-in from the button for approximately $130,000. TK Miles called form the small blind and Nick Ceci got out of the way.  The players flipped over their cards:

Vanderford: Q♣ 8♣

Miles: K-J

The board came A-9-2-K-5 and that will do it for New Orleans local Vanderford. He will receive $107,699 for coming in third. 

We've already seen J-J and Q-Q versus A-A and then Q-Q versus A-A again and the dealers are continuing to show no mercy on the players (the media is ecstatic, however).

In the most recent episode of The Cooler, Gabe Costner bet $42,000 pre-flop and Nick Ceci made the call.

The flop came J-4-4 and Ceci checked. Costner popped it up to $70,000, however and Ceci thought about his next move for a moment or two. Eventually Ceci decided to bet $140,000 and Costner responded by shipping it all-in for $168,000 more. Ceci thought for several minutes but eventually called and tabled A♥ 4♥ which has Costner's 7♠ 4♦ beat.

The board finishes 6♥ and then 8♥ and Costner is eliminated.

Costner will receive $83,766 for finishing fourth at this year's WSOPC Harrah's New Orleans. 

In the last hand of this level we've had yet another elimination. This time it's Jeff Tims who is making his way to the payout booth.

In the hand Jeff Tims bet $42,000 from the cutoff and Gabe Costner called from the button. The flop came Q-9-4 and Tims announced he was all-in. Costner thought for a couple minutes and then called flipping over 7♠ 7♣ while Tims showed K-J.

Nice call by Costner considering the two overcards on the board.

The board finished 8♦ and then 3♣ which is enough for Costner to take the pot. Tims will receive $71,799 for coming in fifth.

Players are now on a 15-minute break.

Nick Ceci bet $30,000 and Lou Esposito, crippled in a previous hand against Jeff Tims, pushed all-in for $20,000. TK Miles was in the small blind and opted to re-raise to $120,000. Ceci thought for a minute then pushed all-in for $568,000. Action was on Miles who tanked for a long time.

Eventually Miles called and the players flipped over their cards:

Ceci: A-A

Miles: Q-Q

Esposito: 9♦ 5♦

Suddenly Miles knew exactly how Marc Fratter and Ed Jatho must have felt running their big pocket pairs into aces.

There is over $1.3 million in the pot and whoever wins will be the new chip leader (except for Esposito).

The board came A-9-5-9-5 and despite Esposito making a full house he's beaten by Ceci's better boat.

Esposito is eliminated and will not repeat as champion of this event. He will, however, receive $59,833 for coming in sixth.

Nick Ceci bets $80,000 and Charles Kelley, who has been extremely quiet at the final, moves all-in for an extra $77,000.

Ceci makes the call and the players flip over their cards:

Kelley: A♦ 8♥

Ceci: 8♣ 7♦

The board comes K-7-6-Q-2 and the flopped seven is enough to take the pot. Former WPT Borgata runner-up Kelley will receive $47,866 for coming in seventh.

Despite some time away from poker Nick Ceci is showing that he still knows a thing or two about the game. In a recent hand Ceci got all-in with A-J on a flop of Q-8-6 and TK Miles made the call with A-10.

The board finished 7♥ and then 7♣ to give Ceci the checkmark. Ceci now has close to $500,000. 

Tim "TK" Miles and Costner just chopped a pot that Costner very well should have won. In the hand Miles raised his standard $30,000 but Costner shoved for close to the $166,000 he started the day with.

Miles called and flipped over K-6 but Costner had him surprisingly dominated with 6-6.

The board came Q-5-4-2-3 and both players rivered a straight which means they chop it up.

Floyd Vanderford is making the most of his final table experience. Despite the fact Vanderford was short-stacked with only $65,000 at the start of the day he's already doubled up twice.

The first time Vanderford doubled through Nick Ceci with A-6 versus 5-4 and the second time Vanderford found K-K versus Miles' J-J.

The New Orleans local, no doubt thrilled by the two bustouts on the first hand, could make it farther in this tournament than anybody thought possible. 

In what can only be described as one of the most incredible hands we've ever seen at PokerListings.com both Marc Fratter and Ed Jatho have been eliminated on the very first hand of play!

In the hand chip leader Tim "TK" Miles bet $20,000 from middle position and Ed Jatho re-raised to $45,000. Marc Fratter called from the button but Miles re-raised to $120,000.

Wasting no time, Jatho moved all-in and, amazingly, Fratter called and so did Miles. We had a three-way all-in on the very first hand of the final table. The players revealed their hands and it was indeed a bit of a cooler:

Jatho: J-J

Fratter: Q-Q

Miles: A-A

The board came 6♣ 6♥ 2♥ 5♣ 6♦ and the aces held up. Miles is suddenly our overwhelming chip leader with over $1.4 million while Jatho and Fratter look stunned as they head to the payout booth.

Greetings poker fans and welcome to our coverage of the 2007-08 WSOPC Harrah's New Orleans where Lou Esposito will attempt to go back-to-back!

He'll have to get by chip leader Tim "TK" Miles who is stacked with $687,000. Here's a look at the chip counts as the players prepare to go into battle: