Another WSOPE bracelet awarded to a European!

Dario Alioto was the best player at today's final table and he's earned the glory of winning Europe's biggest Pot-Limit Omaha tournament. He busted most of the players at the final table and even got the best of one of poker's elite - Tony G.

In the last hand of the night a very short-stacked Istvan Novak pushed all-in pre-flop and Alioto made the call. The cards?

Alioto: A K 7 5

Novak: A Q 3 9

The flop came 10 7 6 and Alioto had himself a pair. The turn came 5 and Alioto upgraded to two pair. Novak was drawing dead and Alioto had finally sealed the deal.

Novak will still earn £137,280 for his efforts while Alioto will receive the best prize of them all - £234,390 and a shiny new gold bracelet.

Congratulations to the 2007 WSOPE Event 2 winner Dario Alioto!

We are finally, emphasis on "finally," down to heads-up play. Alioto raised $120,00 from the small blind and Tony G made the call. The flop came Q 7 4 and Alionto raised to $230,000 but Tony G re-raised all-in. Alioto made the call and the players showed their cards.

Tony G: Q 9 8 3

Alioto: K 7 6 5

Tony G was ahead but Alioto had an enormous amount of outs. Could Tony G dodge them all? Nope. The turn came 9 and the river was 8. Surprisingly Tony G is out in third!

This final table has taken a dramatic turn as Istvan Novak's passion for folding may have paid off. Tony G was just crippled after all three players saw a flop come K 3 2. The G bet out, Novak folded, and Dario Alioto raised $400,000. Guoga made the call and the turn was the 8, prompting an open-shove from the G and a call from Alioto. G shows K Q T 2 while the young Italian has A K 4 2. The river is the 6 and Alioto makes his flush to double through Tony G, knocking the Mouth from Down Under down to his last $250,000.

Guoga has since doubled-up, getting all-in on a flop of T 6 4 with Alioto and showing down T 9 8 6 to Alioto's A T 5 2. The board finishes out 7 8 and Guoga hits his "miracle seven" to double through Alioto and stay alive.

Updated chip counts see Alioto with about $2 million, Novak with $700,000, and Guoga with $500,000.

Istvan Novak is on fire. He just tripled against Tony G and Dario Alioto and then doubled through Tony G.

In the first hand Tony G raised from the button and Novak, along with Alioto, called. Alioto and Tony G checked all the way down and the board looked like this:

9 10 3 A 10

Novak had aces in the pocket and filled up taking down the pot.

In the second hand Novak got all-in against Tony G pre-flop and flipped over Q 10 9 6. Tony G showed A K 6 2.

The flop went K J 4 which meant Novak had made a straight. The dealer turned 9 which didn't help Tony and finally the river was a diamond which didn't complete Tony's flush draw.

Novak is chipping up!

We're now on a quick break. Chip counts have Tony G at $1.5 million, Dario Alioto at $1.3 million and Istvan Novak at $400,000. Obviously chipping up is a relative term.

We're on hand 115 of this final table and Tony G is absolutely dominating. The street person is showing down his hands every time he wins a pot, whether he's holding the nuts or the naughts. Meanwhile, with the G holding a commanding $1.3 million in chips, David Callaghan is forced to make a move, shipping the last of his $300,000 into the middle pre-flop in a hand with Dario Alioto.

The young Italian shows A J 6 5 while the young Irishman shows K K 8 5. The board comes A T T 3 Q and David Callaghan has been eliminated in fourth place. He'll take home £65,520 for his time.

The players are now on a 15-minute break, with Tony G holding a slight chip lead over Dario Alioto, $1.42 million to $1.36 million. Istvan Novak is a distant third with $250,000 to his name.

Istvan Novak opens for $70,000 and sees Dario Alioto make the call. The flop comes Q 9 9 and Novak open-shoves for $100,000. Alioto calls the all-in and shows K T T 9 to Novak's A K J 4, leaving Novak needing to improve to stay alive. The turn is the 4, giving Novak more outs, and the river card is the 2 as Novak hits runner-runner to make his flush and double through Alioto, perhaps giving Novak a little payback for Tony G's recent runner-runner double-up.

Tony G is running well and he just doubled up through Istvan Novak. Tony G managed to get all his chips in pre-flop versus Novak. Perhaps regretting the push Tony G flipped over A 6 K 6 to Novak's A A Q 3.

The flop came K 9 5 and Novak was still in the lead with aces. The turn brought the Q and Novak now had two pair and it looked like Tony G was heading back to the streets. Sure enough the river brought the 4 completing Tony G's flush.

Istvan is shaking his head and even the brash Tony G had to apologize for the bad beat.

Antoine Arnault re-raises all-in after Dario Alioto raises pre-flop and the young Italian makes the call, turning up A T 9 3 to Arnault's A K J 2. The board comes 8 6 2 T 5 and Alioto pairs his ten, which is good enough to send the son of France's richest man to the rail in fifth place, the beneficiary of a £49,930 payout that no doubt seems insubstantial to the man who spends his days as director of communication for the umbrella company for Louis Vuitton, Armani, Moët et Chandon and every other luxury brand under the sun. Don't spend it all in one place, Antoine!

Hey guys and gals. Here's a look at how the players are doing chips-wise courtesy of www.worldseriesofpoker.com:

Dario Alioto	$1,540,000
David Callaghan	$640,000
Tony G	$435,000
Istvan Novak	$380,000
Antoine Arnault	$165,000

 

Sherkhan Farnood came into the final table as chip leader but was only able to translate that advantage into a sixth-place finish. Farnood relinquished the chip lead to Dario Alioto during the last level and then relinquished his claim to a seat at the table shortly thereafter.

On his final hand, Farnood called Alioto's $32,000 raise out of the big blind and saw the flop come J 6 2. He led out for $50,000 and saw Alioto flat-call to see the turn card, which was the 3. Again Farnood fired, betting out $188,000. Alioto tanked for a couple of minutes but eventually made the call, and the river was the 7. Now Farnood moved all-in and after a bit of thought Alioto made the call, showing a pair of aces while Farnood could only muster a second jack for a worse pair, sending the Man from Afghanistan home with naught but the £38,220 consolation prize.