Star-studded final table for SNPC main event

Scotty Nguyen made the final table of his own tournament.

The final table for the Scotty Nguyen Poker Challenge IV Main Event is set, with action commencing today at noon.

Monday saw 32 players come back for the chance to take part in the festivities that would only pay nine of them. At the top of the heap was professional Bill Edler, who has already had an enviable year of poker.

After winning a bracelet this year at the World Series and adding in a World Poker Tour title, Edler has continued to play excellent poker and would make the final table at the end of the day.

Other poker pros, however, fared less well. WSOP Circuit champion Gregg Merkow was eliminated by T.J. Cloutier and a host of other pros weren't able to make the final table.

Jordan Morgan, L.A. poker veteran Mickey "Mouse" Mills and Todd Brunson were players who left the felt with two tables to go.

At the end, it was the second-place player at the end of Day 1, Wayne Philpot, who was the unfortunate bubble boy.

The final table is full of star power and should be very entertaining for the audience.

The lineup for today's action looks like this:

1. Ray Henson, 409,500
2. Gavin Smith, 284,500
3. Bill Edler, 283,000
4. T.J. Cloutier, 255,000
5. Daniel Robertson, 203,500
6. Noah Nodeen, 151,000
7. Brant Hale, 128,500
8. Scotty Nguyen, 119,000
9. Gil George, 31,500

The players will carve up a prize pool of slightly more than $600,000, with the champion of the event taking away a prize of $240,560 for his efforts. All the players remaining at the table are guaranteed at least $12,028 - the amount of the ninth-place finish -, but you can be sure the sharks at the table want much more than that.

The past two Challenge champions have been professional players Nam Le and Thang "Kido" Pham. It wouldn't be out of the question to see another professional take the title this year and, by late tonight, we should have a Scotty Nguyen Poker Challenge IV champion on our hands.

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• Four More Champions Crowned in Oklahoma
• SNPC IV Enters Second Week of Action
• Calton, Short Earn Titles at SNPC IV
• SNPC IV Begins in Oklahoma
• Scotty Nguyen Poker Challenge IV Begins Nov. 1