Harvey's Tahoe - Live Updates

One hand of heads-up and we have a Harvey's Tahoe WSOPC champion. Dustin Fox made it $36k to go and Chris Ferguson bumped it to $90k pre-flop. Fox just called.

The flop came 2♠ 7♣ 10♠ and Ferguson checked it. Fox bet out $100k and the deliberate Ferguson spent some time considering the call. He made it and the flop came K♦.

Jesus checked again and this time Fox moved all-in. This had to be the quickest call Jesus made the entire tournament, felting pocket tens for the set. Fox had pocket aces and needed an ace on the river to prevent the rockets from being cracked. It was not to be though as the J♣ river ended the local boy's dream of a hometown Circuit event win.

One hand and we have a champion - who would have believed it? Fox cashes $119,333 for second and the 2007 Harvey's Tahoe WSOPC championship event winner Chris Ferguson takes home $203,751 and his third WSOPC title.

We're now heads-up after Mark Bonsack shipped his stack over to Chris Ferguson. Unfortunately for Bonsack, the money went in with the Seattle-area general contractor drawing dead.

The hand played out with a Jesus pre-flop raise from the button and a Bonsack call. Bonsack checked the 7♥ 6♥ J♣ flop and called a $40k Ferguson raise. The J♦ on the turn brought another check from Bonsack and this time Jesus made it $80k to go.

Bonsack wasted no time moving all-in. Ferguson, conversely, took his time but made the call, felting J♥ Q♥ for the money hand. Not only did he have trips, but the heart draw as well.

Bonsack stood around and watched the river with his A♠ 4♥ but as you can see it made no difference. It was the 7♣ for those keeping score at home.

Bonsack melted under the hot lights and streaming Web cameras but still cashes $82,042 for third.

Next up, heads-up with the legend Chris Ferguson against local hero Dustin Fox.

Sylvester "Vesty" Geoghegan found a hand he liked and went with it. After a Dustin Fox pre-flop raise from the small blind of $36,000, Vesty pushed the last of his chips in from the big blind. Fox made the call right away, tabling J♣ 9♦.

Geoghegan had Fox dominated with his Q♣ 9♥, but nothing is a sure thing until the flop, turn and river have played out. The flop was a bad one for Vesty as the K♦ J♦ A♣ gave Fox a pair, but Geoghegan had outs.

The 3♠ on the turn wasn't one of them and neither was the 2♦ on the river, sending Vesty to the rail in fourth. He'll pick up $56,955 for three days of sitting around and playing poker. Meanwhile, Fox's stack keeps growing.

Mark Bonsack just took down a nice pot courtesy of some well-timed pre-flop aggression. Dustin Fox got the action started with an opening raise to $36,000 from under the gun and after Sylvester Geoghegan folded his button, Bonsack announced raise from the small blind.

Taking his time counting out chips Mark eventually settled on a raise to $156,000 total. Chris Ferguson got out of the way in the big blind and Fox went into the tank for a few minutes before eventually folding. Bonsack showed A-9 off-suit as he raked the pot.

Mark Bonsack pulled the old squeeze play on Dustin Fox and Chris Ferguson a moment ago. Ferguson made it $32k to go from the button and Fox flat-called. Sylvester Geoghegan stepped out of the way and Bonsack stepped in - pushing all-in.

Ferguson quickly laid it down as did Fox and Bonsack raked a decent pot without seeing a flop, turn or river.

 

Chris Ferguson has taken down the first pot since returning from the dinner break. He made a standard raise from under the gun and the rest of the table got out of the way.

Sylvester Geoghegan has seen his stack whittled away to a critical level but managed to more than double-up a moment ago after winning a pre-flop all-in race. It began with Mark Bonsack opening to $36,000 from under the gun and Dustin Fox making the call from the small blind. Vesty began counting out his chips and, after a bit of thought, announced all-in.

It was $65,000 total to Bonsack and he quickly re-shipped all-in over the top. Fox let his hand go and we saw it was a race between Bonsack's pocket fours and Vesty's J♠ Q♦. The flop came Q♠ T♠ 9♥ and Vesty took the lead with his pair of queens. The J♣ 6♦ on the turn and river left Vesty with the check mark and he nearly triples to about $170,000.

Mark Bonsack ended up in a battle of the blinds with Chris Ferguson and pushed a big $60k bet in on the 7♣ 9♥ 8♦ flop. Jesus thought about it for a few minutes and moved all-in, sending Bonsack into the tank for what seemed like an eternity.

In the end he would lay the hand down and see Ferguson rake the pot.

Dustin Fox has been very active in the last level and just picked up another pot before the break with a bit of pre-flop aggression.

Mark Bonsack opened to $24,000 from the button and after Jesus folded his small blind, Fox re-raised another $50,000 from the big. After a bit of time in the tank Bonsack released his hand and watched the pot pushed to his opponent.

Sylvester "Vesty" Geoghegan has played a few hands, but hasn't won any pots of note here at the final table and his stack is moving in the wrong direction at warp speed.

In a battle of the blinds with Mark Bonsack, Vesty check-called a $10k bet on the 5♣ 6♦ Q♣ flop and again on the J♠ turn. It turned out he smartly laid down a $40k bet on the 5♠ river, however, after Bonsack showed a five.

Regardless, it looks like it won't be long before the Irishman will have to ship it or face the wrath of the increasing blinds and antes.

 

Sylvester "Vesty" Geoghegan, who came all the way from his native Ireland to play in this event, just picked up a few much-needed chips with an all-in re-raise before the flop. It began with Dustin Fox opening to $26,000 from under the gun and Vesty moving all-in from the button.

The other two players got out of the way and it was $69,000 more back to Fox. He mulled it over for a few moments, giving Vesty a few sidelong glances, but eventually opted to release his hand and concede the pot.

Local boy Dustin Fox has doubled-up and may be the new chip leader - chip counts are coming up.

Chris Ferguson limped from the big blind and Fox made it $60k to see the flop. Ferguson would have none of that, adding an another $160k to the pot - enough to cover Fox.

Fox took seemingly forever to make the call, putting his tournament on the line with 10♥ 10♣. The call looked like genius when Ferguson flipped his A♠ 9♥ for just the one over. It proved to be genius when the board of 2♥ 3♥ 2♠ 3♣ 6♠ kept the boxcars in the lead.

With the huge double there are now three big stacks at the table including Mark Bonsack, Ferguson and Fox. Irishman Sylvester Geoghegan could be in some trouble if he doesn't double-up soon.

 

Mark "Bonsai" Bonsack has protected his blinds all tournament long and the final table, now four-handed, has been no exception.

When Dustin Fox pops it to $26k from the button pre-flop, Bonsack says let's play for $71,000, re-raising $45k on top. Fox thinks long and hard about this one, eventually folding.

"I'm giving you a lot of respect," Fox says, mucking his cards.

Gabriel Testa came into this final table with just under $130,000 and after he spent the first level and a bit relatively inactive, his stack had slipped to just $70,000.

In what would be the last hand of his tournament it was folded around to him in the small blind and he shipped it in. It was a total of $70,000 to Dustin Fox in the big blind. After a bit of thought he made the call and tabled pocket sixes which had Testa's 2♥ 5♥ absolutely crushed. The board went J♦ 9♦ 8♥ 5♠ 9♣ and just like that we are down to four. Gabriel Testa will receive $43,055 for his finish.

After play folds around to Chris Ferguson on the button he decides to make a reasonable $18k raise and Gabriel Testa makes the call from the big blind. The flop of 3♠ 7♣ K♣ brings checks from both players, but Testa bets out $13k on the 4♥ turn.

Jesus studies for a moment but makes the call and the river brings the J♦. This time Testa checks and Ferguson takes his time laying out a $35k bet. Testa looks to be pondering a call, but lays the hand down, giving Jesus the decent-sized pot.

 

After a Sylvester Geoghegan $20k raise from early position, George Saca moved all-in from late position. It was then a classic race situation as Vesty felted A♣ K♥ and Saca held J♠ J♥.

The K♠ 7♠ 3♦ flop put Geoghegan's big slick in the lead and the 4♣ 5♥ turn and river combo kept it there.

George Saca goes out seventh and picks up a nice little $26,443 payday for his efforts here in Lake Tahoe.

After a massive hand that saw Frank Lee make a big move on the flop and run into quads from Mark Bonsack, we are left with just seven players. It began with the action folding to Mark Bonsack in middle position who made it $14,000 to go. The action was folded to Frank Lee in the big blind who announced re-raise, adding an additional $20,000.

Bonsack takes only a few seconds before adding another $50,000, making it a total of $84,000, and Lee makes the call. The flop comes out T♦ 6♠ 6♥ and Lee immediately moves all-in. Bonsack makes the call even more immediately and quickly tables pocket sixes for the immortal nuts. Lee shows K♣ Q♣ and begins shaking hands on his way to the rail. Frank Lee will take $19,663 for his efforts.

Mark Bonsack made a $13k raise from the cut-off only to see Chris Ferguson re-raise to $45k total from the small blind.

"Bonsai" Bonsack thought about it, but thought better of it and laid the hand down to Jesus and his massive mountain of chips.

In just the third hand of the day we have our first elimination. From late position, short stack Travis Erdman shoved all-in pre-flop and got the call from Gabriel Testa in the big blind. Erdman's 5♦ 6♦ was in tough against Testa's pocket jacks and while the 7-K-8 flop gave him lots of outs, the A♠ turn and 8♠ made Travis the first casualty of the Tahoe final table.

For ninth place Erdman will cash $14,239 and retain the honor of making the final table at the Tahoe WSOPC championship event two years in a row.

Travis Erdman is a 37-year-old investment manager. If Travis seems like a familiar face to those of you here at Harvey's that's because he made it all the way to the final table of this same championship event last year. In the 2006 Harvey's Lake Tahoe championship, Travis took fifth place.

However, Travis has the biggest test of any of the nine finalists here as he begins play lowest in chips. Travis Erdman will take his $36,500 in chips and try to stage what would be an incredible comeback victory.

George Saca is a salesman from Folsom, California. He wouldn't tell us his age but he's certainly going to feel a lot younger if he wins today's championship event. George took eighth place in the main event here at Harvey's Lake Tahoe two years ago. So this is his second championship final-table appearance. He's also cashed at other major poker tournaments including the WPT Shooting Stars.

George has a big challenge ahead of him today as he begins eighth in the chip count, with $75,500.

Mark Bonsack is a 47-year-old private contractor. His poker nickname is Bonsai, given to him for his fearless style of play. Bonsai has several tournament cashes on his poker resume including two in-the-money finishes at this year's WSOP in Las Vegas. He's also cashed previously here at Harvey's Lake Tahoe and at Bally's Las Vegas.

Bonsai arrives at this final table ranked second in chips. He hopes to win his first major tournament today and is well on his way to a major breakthrough victory. Mark "Bonsai" Bonsack begins with $252,000 in chips.

Coming to us all the way from the great nation of Ireland is Sylvester Geoghegan, aka Vesty. He is a 33-year-old casino owner. Vesty owns The Crane Club Casino, which is located on the outskirts of Dublin.

He has come all the way to Harvey's Lake Tahoe to play in this championship event here on the World Series of Poker Circuit. And why not? - he's done well in WSOP events in the past. Vesty took 122nd place in the WSOP main event earlier this year. He was also 13th in the Pot-Limit Omaha championship. Vesty was also 21st in a recent event on the European Poker Tour.

Today, we shall see how the luck of the Irish holds up. Vesty comes to the final table with $131,000 in chips.

Dustin Fox is a 25-year-old investment banker from right here in Lake Tahoe. In fact, he was born and raised here making him the only real "local" player of today's nine finalists. Dustin has won multiple poker tournaments in the past, ranging from $100 to $1,000 buy-ins. However, Dustin still says he prefers playing in cash games.

He also loves to play golf and played on the golf team while in college. At some point in the near future, Dustin plans to return to school and get his M.B.A. Today's top prize is over $200,000, which would help to pay the tuition. Dustin has a long way to go, as he begins with $95,000 in chips.

Gabriel Testa is a 38-year-old sales representative at Network Appliance. He says he is proud to be an Italian-American. He also loves soccer. Gabriel says he has a great family, including a wife and one daughter. Gabriel's best tournament finish up to this point was second place at a tournament recently held at the Bay 101 Casino, near his home in San Jose. He arrives at this final table ranked fifth in the chip count with $128,500.

Frank Lee is a 43-year-old business consultant from Los Gatos, California. He is married and has two children. Frank loves playing poker. But he also knows something firsthand about facing everyday challenges far more meaningful than what he sees in a card game. His loving wife was diagnosed with cancer and she is currently undergoing chemotherapy.

Frank has never appeared at a final table of a major tournament before, but he's certainly going to be getting a little extra inspiration from someone special today. Frank enters this final table with $120,500 in chips.

Michael Banducci is a 22-year-old professional from Traverse City, Mich., who already has an impressive record of tournament cashes. With eight money finishes at the WSOP in the last two years, including a final-table appearance in 2007, he has also made two final tables on the Heartland Poker Tour. At $158,800 in chips, Banducci is one of the biggest obstacles on Chris Ferguson's road to victory.

A player who needs no introduction, Chris "Jesus" Ferguson was the 2000 World Champion of Poker and has won four other WSOP bracelets. With 51 cashes at the World Series and two Circuit championships already under his belt, Jesus has accumulated a staggering $5.9 million in career earnings to date. A card-carrying member of Team FullTilt and one of the true legends of poker, Ferguson enters this final table as the dominant chip leader with $426,500.