Both Gus Hansen and Jim Collopy, who have one match remaining in the 10k NL HU final, still have chips in the Main Event. There has been no word on when the deciding match will take place.

Elsewhere …

PokerStars LAPT – Rosario, Argentina :: 24 players remain in their main event, playing down to their final table on Saturday. PokerStars Blog and PokerNews

TJ Cloutier Choctaw Poker Classic – Durant, Oklahoma :: $1,600 Main Event starts Saturday, Cloutier, Scotty Nguyen, Tom McEvoy scheduled to appear. Rounders’ Radio appears to be handling live streaming of the tournament this weekend.

PokerStars EPT London :: The final major poker series to hit London starts Sept. 28th – EPT London details

Finally, Dan Michalski appeared on episode #2 of Gary Wise vs the World at PokerStatic.com with Shaun Deeb, Daniel “Jungleman12″ Cates, and Tim West.

Ashby chuffed to win Stud bracelet

Richard “Chufty” Ashby wins the third WSOP bracelet for the UK this year, taking down the $1,500 Seven Card title, denying Christine Pietsch in heads-up play. Ashby earns $140,467 for the win, with Pietsch pocketing $86,756. Full results and the Nolan Dalla tournament report are online at wsop.com.

Barch tops in Pot-Limit Omaha

John “Tex” Barch makes his third final table the charm, winning his first WSOP bracelet in the $1,500 Pot-Limit Omaha event, defeating Klinghammer Thibaut heads-up. Barch adds $256,919 to his tournament winnings, with Thibault earning $158,698. Results and Dalla’s tournament report is online over at wsop.com.

Ladies Championship Final Table

The final table of the $1,000 No-Limit Holdem Ladies’ Championship gets underway at 3pm with this lineup, featuring Team Pokerati’s newest member, La Sengphet:

Seat 1: Vanessa Hellebuyck – 277,000
Seat 2: Holly Hodge – 279,000
Seat 3: Allison Whalen – 344,000
Seat 4: Kami Chisholm – 529,000
Seat 5: Sidsel Boesen – 789,000
Seat 6: Bonnie Overfield – 226,000
Seat 7: Loren Watterworth – 75,000
Seat 8: Timmi Derosa – 437,000
Seat 9: La Sengphet – 206,000

“Sugar Bear” looking sweet for day 3 of Limit Holdem

Also starting at 3pm is the final day of the $2,500 Limit Holdem 6-max event, with Al “Sugar Bear” Barbieri holding the chip lead with 12 remaining. Here’s the full list of players and their chip counts:

Al Barbieri – 415,000
Albert Minnullin – 367,000
Christopher Vitch – 352,000
Russ “Dutch” Boyd – 349,000
Brian Meinders – 300,000
Anh Le - 289,000
Julian Parmann – 202,000
JJ Liu – 182,000
Dana Kellstrom – 151,000
Domenico Denotaristefani – 110,000
Jeff Norman – 102,000
Eduardo Miranda – 63,000

Tolbert leads Day 1a 1k NL field

The third $1,000 No-Limit Holdem event concluded about halfway through level 9 with 290 players remaining who return Monday afternoon. John Tolbert leads the day 1a field with 73,900 in chips. The full list of chip counts is now available over at PokerNews.

Katchalov catches cards to lead 10k Omaha 8

Day 2 of the $10,000 Omaha Hi/Lo 8 or Better World Championship gets underway at 3pm with Eugene Katchalov leading the remaining 144 players with 123,200 in chips. Other notables also coming back this afternoon: David Benyamine (102,500), Sammy Farha (98,500), Vladimir Shchemelev (88,300), Phil Hellmuth (84,300), Barry Shulman (76,200), Barry Greenstein (49,800), and Team Pokerati’s Tom Schneider (11,700).

Sunday’s Tournament

Only one tournament this afternoon, day 1b of the $1,000 No-Limit Holdem starting at 12pm. Don’t be surprised of today’s field is a great deal smaller than Saturday’s, as it has been in the first two $1,000 events. Follow all the action over at PokerNews and www.wsop.com.

$1,000 NL Final Table

Four remain at the $1,000 No-limit Holdem final table, with Gabe Costner (4,300,000) holding the chip lead over Deepak Bhatti (3,400,000), Aadam Daya (2,200,000) and Bart Davis (1,800,000) . Nicholas Mitchell ($154,425), Cory Brown ($116,141), Isaac Settle ($88,025), Dash Dudley ($67,221) and Richard Rice ($51,375) were the first five to exit the final table to collect their winnings.

$1,500 NL Final Table

Eight players are currently seated at the final table of the first $1,500 No-limit Holdem of the WSOP, playing down to a winner tonight. David Tuthill will be the chip leader (2,000,000) when the remaining eight players return from dinner break. Tomer Verda is close behind with 1,822,000 while David Sands (636,000) and Praz Bansi (600,000) towards the back of the pack. Dwyte Pilgrim picked up his first career WSOP cash, finishing 21st for $15,222. Others who fell short of the final table include Yuval Bronshtein (12th for $29,795) and John Myung (17th for $18,809).

Sextet of Six-Seated Shootout Stars Settling

The $5,000 No-Limit Holdem Shootout so far has seen Brent Hanks and Neil Channing the first two winners moving on to Thursday’s final table. Blair Hinkle, John Duthie, Chino Rheem, and Heather Sue Mercer are among the remaining 14 players trying to earn one of the final four seats.

Lowball Leaves Field in Lurch

The $2,500 2-7 Triple Draw Lowball field is down to 37, with just 30 making the money this evening. The current chip leader (151,000) is Jordan Siegel, recognizable by most people as the MC for the NBC Heads-Up event at Caesars’ Palace in Las Vegas. Other notables looking to cash: Ted Forrest, Allen Kessler, Greg Mueller, Tony G and Rob Hollink. For Team Pokerati watchers, Pat Poels is hanging in there with 63,000, while Tom Schneider was knocked out in early action.

Another $1,500 Gets Underway

The second $1,500 No-Limit Holdem event drew a field of 2,341 entrants, with less than 800 returning after their 90-minute dinner break to play the final four levels of day 1 tonight. The 243 finishers get paid, and some of the names to watch for when play resumes: Mark Seif, Jean-Robert Bellande, Shaun Deeb, Barry Shulman and Lee Watkinson.

Joe Cada – 2009 WSOP ME winner
Barry Shulman – 2009 WSOPE ME winner
Mike Sexton – 2006 WSOP TOC winner
Mike Matusow – 2005 WSOP TOC Winner
Annie Duke – 2004 WSOP TOC Winner
Two sponsor exemptions (the WSOP will announce details on how these seats will be awarded shortly)

The TOC will begin on June 27th at noon, and play down to the final table. Play will then resume July 4th (the day before the WSOP Main Event begins) and play down to a winner. ESPN will film the action to air as a two-hour show on August 3rd. The entire press release is on page 2:

LAS VEGAS (Mar. 15, 2010) – Poker deserves its annual All-Star Event, and the World Series of Poker intends to deliver it.

The WSOP will be putting up one million dollars to award during the 2010 World Series of Poker Tournament of Champions, taking place during the 41st Annual WSOP at the Rio All-Suite Hotel & Casino in Las Vegas, Nevada.

ESPN will cover this No Limit Hold’em event for airing in a special two-hour telecast on Tuesday, August 3, 2010.

“The Tournament of Champions brand has heritage in delivering the big moments,” said HIE Vice President Ty Stewart. “We’re thrilled to reinvent it around a model that should elevate the game by engaging millions of poker fans. We have received a lot of input from players and their affinity for the TOC, and we are excited for them and the fans and hope its here to stay.”

A total of 27 players will participate in the freeroll poker invitational, with 20 players selected by voting from the public. The vote begins March 15, 2010 at 12 noon ET on WSOP.com and remains open until June 15, 2010 at midnight ET. The top 20 vote-getters will be awarded entry. In the event anyone in the public’s Top 20 is unable to participate, the next highest eligible and available vote-getter will be awarded the entry. To qualify as one of the 20 eligible fan-voted participants, players must be a WSOP bracelet-holder. All living WSOP bracelet holders are able to receive votes, and currently there are 521 eligible players.

Five entries into the tournament are automatic. The three previous WSOP TOC winners gain automatic entry, plus the reigning WSOP champion and the reigning WSOP Europe champion get seats at the table. Therefore b>Annie Duke, Mike Matusow, Mike Sexton, Joe Cada and Barry Shulman will make up 5 of the 27 players for this event.

“Tournaments like the Tournament of Champions help elevate poker to the level it deserves and I am honored to participate,” said inaugural TOC victor Annie Duke. “Winning the TOC marks one of the most memorable events in my poker career and I’m ecstatic that the WSOP is hosting this prestigious event.”

Two sponsor exemptions will be awarded by the WSOP, with details forthcoming on how those seats can be won.

Play will convene at the Rio on Sunday, June 27, 2010 to begin the tournament. Play will halt once the final nine players are reached, and those nine return on Sunday, July 4, 2010 to play for their share of 1,000,000 dollars and the title of 2010 WSOP TOC Champion. The tournament has been scheduled to avoid conflict with other WSOP events, as no new tournaments begin on either June 27 or July 4.

The WSOP Tournament of Champions was started by the WSOP in 2004, after Harrah’s took ownership of the World Series of Poker brand. In the inaugural event, ten top names were invited to participate in the freeroll event structured as a winner-take-all. Duke won the event at the Rio.

In 2005, the TOC was won by Matusow at Caesars Palace, with an expanded field of 114 entrants competing in the freeroll, with the top nine places cashing.

The TOC event last took place in 2006 at the Rio, when 27 of the games greatest took to the felt in the freeroll, with the final table all walking away with prize money and 2009 Poker Hall of Fame inductee Sexton walking away with the top prize.

This year’s TOC will be a No Limit Texas Hold’em tournament with the top nine places being paid. First place will win $500,000, the runner-up gets $250,000, third place earns $100,000 and the fourth through ninth place pockets $25,000 each.

Details on how to cast your vote and rules can all be found at WSOP.com. The public will be able to track the voting, with the top 50 vote-getters listed and updated automatically after each ballot is completed. In an effort to avoid ballot-stuffing, the tally of individual votes won’t be divulged during the open voting period, and balloters will be required to complete an authentication process to ensure one vote per email address.

The WSOP, an annual poker games extravaganza, which dates back to 1970, is televised exclusively on ESPN from the Rio All-Suite Hotel & Casino in Las Vegas and consists of a comprehensive slate of the game’s most popular variations running from May 27-July 17, 2010.

A total of 57 coveted gold bracelets will be up for grabs in 2010 – equal to last year’s total.

ABOUT THE WSOP

The World Series of Poker (WSOP) is the largest, richest and most prestigious gaming event in the world, having awarded more than a billion dollars in prize money and the prestigious gold bracelet, globally recognized as the sport’s top prize. Featuring a comprehensive slate of tournaments in every major poker variation, the WSOP is poker’s longest running tournament in the world, dating back to 1970. In 2009, the event attracted 60,875 entrants from 115 different countries to the Rio All-Suite Hotel and Casino in Las Vegas and awarded over $174 million in prize money. The WSOP in December, 2008 was named the 7th most admired sports brand in North America by the Turnkey Sports Survey, trailing only the older and more established NFL, MLB, NBA, NHL, NASCAR and PGA Tour among sports properties. In addition, the WSOP has experienced groundbreaking alliances in broadcasting, digital media and corporate sponsorships, while successfully expanding the brand internationally with the advent in 2007 of the World Series of Poker Europe. For more information on the World Series of Poker, please visit our website at WSOP.com.

But Harrison Gimbel, 19, now a freshman at the University of Alabama, became the youngest PCA champion ever, winning $2.2 million by besting a record field of 1,529 in the $10k main event.

Gimbel-Gamble: I went to the Bahamas and all I got was this lousy PokerStars-dot-net T-shirt.

But Gimbel — now arguably the Doyle Brunson of Generation Z — didn’t come out of nowhere. He began playing poker at age 13 … and hit the Florida poker rooms at 18 (the legal age there) while still a student at a tony Palm Beach prep school. In June of last year, during the 21-and-up World Series, he won the Florida State Championship — a $900 main event that paid $65k. He followed that up during the November Nine, final tabling a PokerStars Sunday Million for $47k, and then the next week taking down a $125 tourney on Stars for $25k.

He won his way into the PCA via a $1,000 live satellite. On Day 1, he got it all-in pre-flop with 4-6 offsuit to crack Barry Greenstein’s Aces.

* He plays online as Gibler321.
* He’s been a member of Daniel Negreanu’s Full Contact Poker community since 2006.
* The NAPT-PCA champ will be too young to compete in the NAPT-Venetian event.

Barry Shulman, the only actual grandpa at the final table, btw, finished 3rd, booking his second million-dollar tournament win in the past four months.

CORRECTION: Turns out Gimbel dropped out of Alabama three weeks into school. Way to go, kiddo! You have chosen the right career path, as nowhere but in poker is dropping out of school more celebrated.

Final Table Details

1 – Darvin Moon 58,930,000
2 – James Akenhead 6,800,000
3 – Phil Ivey 9,765,000
4 – Kevin Schaffel 12,390,000
5 – Steven Begleiter 29,885,000
6 – Eric Buchman 34,800,000
7 – Joseph Cada 13,215,000
8 – Antoine Saout 9,500,000
9 – Jeff Shulman 19,580,000

7:16 remains in level 33 (120/240/30k blinds), level 34 will have blinds of 150/300/40k. When play resumes, Moon starts with the button. Blind levels remain 2 hours long, with breaks at the end of each level, lasting 20 minutes (except at the end of level 33). Future blind levels:

Level 35 – 200/400/50k
Level 36 – 250/500/50k
Level 37 – 300/600/75k
Level 38 – 400/800/100k
Level 39 – 500/1m/150k
Level 40 – 600/1.2m/200k

For those who want to see a breakdown of the final table by M and BB’s, thanks to CPOner (from a 2+2 thread) for this graphic:

Also planned for Saturday: Bracelet ceremony for Barry Shulman winning the WSOP Europe Main Event and the ceremony for Mike Sexton being inducted into the Poker Hall of Fame.

Updated Payouts:

1st $8,547,042
2nd $5,182,928
3rd $3,479,670
4th $2,502,890
5th $1,953,452
6th $1,587,160
7th $1,404,014
8th $1,300,231
9th $1,263,602

The final table is scheduled to start at 12 noon Pacific time on Saturday, November 7 and will play down to heads-up. Heads-up play will resume at 10pm PT on Monday, November 9. ESPN coverage will begin at 9pm ET on Tuesday, November 10 and plans to go past 11pm to give heads-up play more coverage than last year.

We never thought we’d say this, but Barry [Shulman], we salute you! Now, if you’ll excuse us, we have to go and throw up.

Here’s a storyline that ESPN somehow missed/didn’t feed us on the media-prep conference call … It’s a very Jewish WSOP main event final table.

The Jewish Daily Forward points out what may or may not be a statistical anomaly: Four of the November Nine — Jeff Shulman, Steve Begleiter, Eric Buchman, and Kevin Schaffel — happen to speak Hebrew, at least during family holidays.

From a stack perspective, these Jewish players control 49.6 percent of all the chips in play. How stereotypical …

The J-article also offers a rich history of Jews in the game … from Jack Strauss to Jamie Gold … and most recently Barry Shulman’s Yom Kippur victory at WSOP-E. Back in the day, of course, the World Series was all about Jews vs. Texans, but Texans have been sucking it up in recent years now the game has a more widespread international appeal that has prevented any one region from owning pwning it.

Full Disclosure: I used to make an annual pilgrimage to a Dallas synagogue in an effort to bring people with money to the Lodge convert non-gentiles to the poker way. So yeah …

ALT HED: נובמבר תשע עצה: בית על היהודים

Barry Shulman
WSOPE Main Event
London, England

With more than $1.3 million in first-place money and a WSOP bracelet on the line, the match had Academy Award potential as Shulman, father of November Niner and up-and-coming poker bad boy Jeff “Happy” Shulman, bettered perennial fan favorite and all-time tournament money winner Daniel Negreanu.

For full play-by-play of the epic 17-hour, big-name final table, click here

Aaron Gustavson
EPT London Main Event
London, England

Across town at the Grosvenor Casino, it took just seven hands of heads-up play for 23-year-old online pro Aaron Gustavson to knock off defending WSOP main event champ Peter Eastgate and claim the £850,000 first-place prize at the EPT London Main Event.

More details at EuropeanPokerTour.com

Brandon Hall
Aruba Poker Classic
Aruba

A little rain couldn’t dampen Hall’s spirits as the 20-year-old online qualifier from Littlestown, Pa., beat out 474 other players to claim more than $753,000 and the title of Aruba Poker Classic Champion after defeating Robert Mizrachi in heads-up play. He plays online as “AreTheseUtz”.

Read more about him at the UltimateBet Blog

William Givens
HPT Mile High Poker Open
Black Hawk, CO

24-year old William Givens won nearly $145,000 and his mother’s respect after taking down the Heartland Poker Tour’s Mile High Poker Open at the Golden Gates Casino earlier this month. Givens, who has been playing professionally for just over a year, won his way into the $1,650 main event through a $360 satellite. Using cash game winnings from the weekend, he actually won two satellites and sold the other seat for additional profit.

Read more about his biggest win to date on the Heartland Poker Tour here

And making his second consecutive go at the WSOP-E main-event title, runner-up Daniel Negreanu would come up two outs short of being “happy” that he just became the biggest winner in the history of tournament poker.

photo: The Tower / A World of Poker

Negreanu knocked out six of the other final table-ists to get heads-up. And yet in the end Barry Shulman — CardPlayer’s overlord emeritus — held strong in a war of presumably tight aggression to win £801,603 (= $1,283,687 USD). That, of course, is almost exactly the amount his son Jeff has been guaranteed for making the November Nine. No added pressure/father’s shadow issues for sure.

Negreanu’s second-place finish and £496k payday propelled him to the top of the all-time tourney-money leaderboard, passing Jamie Gold and Phil Ivey — who now needs to finish 6th-or-better this November to re-pass Negreanu as the winningest tournament player ever.

(Thanks, Lance, for the deets!)

Here’s video of the final two hands from The Casino at the Empire, Leicester Square:

(If for some reason the above vid disappears, you can find the original page here.)

For those of us debating how ESPN and PokerPROductions (a different film crew than the gang producing WSOP-LV episodes) should do their broadcasting jobs … it seems this 6-day event will be shown in 2 hours, not 20 … and that includes squeezing in the Caesar’s Cup! While that may not seem to do poker-junkie justice to a tournament that kept a bunch of us jaded, immune-to-tourney-hype types checking in on the action for more than 16 hours of final table play, I suppose movie-length could work, too.

UPDATE: Clarification of ESPN’s programming intent in the comments below (from ESPN sources who would know). They plan to give it way too much more coverage than implied above.

Click below for Nolan’s official write-up/script:

Official Final Report
WSOPE Event 4
2009 WSOP Gold Bracelet Event: 61
No-Limit Hold’em
Buy-In: £10,000 (= $16,020 USD)
Number of Entries: 334
Total Net Prize Pool: £3,340,000 (= $5,348,677 USD)
Number of Places Paid: 36
First Place Prize: £801,603 (= $1,283,687 USD)
26 September to 1 October 2009

Tournament Report

Event Headlines –

1. Card Player CEO Barry Shulman Wins 2009 World Series of Poker Europe Championship

2. Card Player Ace Barry Shulman Wins Second WSOP Gold Bracelet

3. Thrilling 5:00 AM Poker Hand Decides Fate in Fantastic Finish

4. Poker Titans Shulman and Negreanu Battle Heads-Up for Three Hours in WSOP Europe Finale – Card Player CEO Victorious

5. Negreanu Now the All-Time Leading Money Winner (Overall) in Poker Tournament History — $12 Million in Earnings, and Growing

6. World Series of Poker Continues to Impress: Overall Tournament Attendance for All WSOP Europe Events Increases 19.7 Percent over Last Year

7. Sixty Gold Bracelets Won – With One to Go: WSOP Main Event Final Table Championship Begins on November 7th

The Champion (Barry Shulman) –

· The 2009 World Series of Poker Europe £10,000 buy-in No-Limit Hold’em Main Event champion is Barry Shulman, from Las Vegas, NV.

· Shulman is the 63-year-old CEO of Card Player Magazine and Shulman Media.

· Shulman was born in Seattle, WA. He became a millionaire through real estate investments. After retiring from real estate during the mid-1990s, Shulman moved to Las Vegas to play poker professionally and bought the poker industry’s leading publication, Card Player magazine, in 1999. He initially served as its President and Publisher. His son Jeff, assumed the role of Editor at Card Player in 2001.

· Barry’s son, Jeff Shulman, is one of the famed “November Nine,” who will compete for the 2009 world poker championship next month.

· Shulman’s wife Allyn Jaffrey-Shulman is also a dedicated poker player. She plays regularly on the tournament circuit and competes in many WSOP events. Allyn Jaffrey-Shulman supported her husband from the audience during the entire 16.5-hour finale.

· Shulman became a grandfather recently.

· Shulman collected £801,603 for first place. The cash prize is equal to about $1,283,687 in U.S. dollars.

· According to official records, Shulman now has 2 wins, 8 final table appearances, and 14 in-the-money finishes at the WSOP.

· Shulman currently has $1,574,955 in career WSOP winnings.

· This was the second victory at WSOP Europe ever by a player from the United States. Nations which have placed players in the winners’ circle at London include: Denmark (2), Finland, Afghanistan (1), Germany (1), England (1), Canada (1), Italy (1), Norway (1), and the United States (2).

Winner Quotes (Barry Shulman) –

Note: WSOP Europe Main Event champion Barry Shulman was interviewed moments after his victory.

· On where this victory ranks among his many accomplishments in both business and poker: “It’s a lot of fun for me to be here right now. It’s been great. When I moved to Vegas, I took up poker. I tried to prove that I could beat the best in the world. I got pretty good for a while, but then I started to focus more on my business at Card Player (magazine). Since then, I have not been playing as hard. Now, I’m back on the winning trail and feeling very good about it.”

· On there this final table ranks in terms of toughness: “When I broke into poker, the big tournaments had like 100 people…. and when I would sit down at the table I would know 6 or 7 of the players at my table. But since the days of Chris Moneymaker and Internet poker, now I only know maybe one-third of the people. This tournament – because it was a relatively small field (compared to regular WSOP events in Las Vegas) – attracted the best players in Europe and brought over the best player in the United States. So, there just were no weak spots, to use a poker expression – at least at my tables.”

· On his thoughts as “the hand” played out: “The truth is, because it was on television and we were heads up, I knew I got in with the best hand (holding pocket aces). When the jack came on the turn (giving Negreanu three-of-a-kind and making him the huge favorite), I had pretty much given up. I said to myself, ‘well, at least I am not going to be embarrassed here. What are you going to do? That’s poker.’ When the ace came (on the river), I just about passed out.”

· On what still motivates him to play and compete in many of the world’s toughest poker tournaments: “I love winning. I also have a wife who has expensive tastes.”

· On what he will tell his son, Jeff Shulman, who is one of the November Nine finalists: “I did my part. Now, you do your part. It’s your turn to win.”

· On his pick to win the 2009 WSOP Main Event: “Take a guess.”

The Final Table –

· The final table included six former WSOP gold bracelet winners – Daniel Negreanu (6 wins). Chris Bjorin (2 wins), Jason Mercier (1 win), Praz Bansi (1 win), Matt Hawrilenko (1 win), and Barry Shulman (1 win).

· The final table was played nine-handed.

· The final table included two members of the famed “November Nine,” which will play for the world poker championship, to be held next month in Las Vegas. James Akenhead arrived at this final table ranked second in chips (he is ninth in chips going into the N9 championship). Antoine Saout arrived at this final table ranked sixth in chips (he is eighth going into the N9 championship). Russian poker pro Ivan Demidov was the only other player to make it to both final tables at the WSOP Main Event and WSOP Europe, which was accomplished last year.

· The final table was played on the main stage of the Empire Casino. The cozy confines of the Empire made for a cavernous atmosphere. All seats were filled to capacity. Spectators lined the surrounding rails and staircases in order catch a glimpse of the action. As players were eliminated and day turned to night, the crowd size actually grew as there were far more spectators than space available. A nearby bar, located adjacent to the feature table supplied a steady stream of (ahem) refreshments.

· It took more than five hours to eliminate the first player from the finale. That moment finally came when James Akenhead was knocked out late in the afternoon. This fell short of the WSOP record for longest span at a final table without an elimination, which is about six hours. Once Akenhead went out first, four more eliminations quickly took place within a 90-minute span.

· Despite so many accomplished tournament players at the final, local poker pros Praz Bansi and James Akenhead enjoyed the most rousing cheering sections. The home field advantage seemed to particularly favor Bansi, who constantly turned and looked to the crowd for their support and enthusiasm.

· The ultimate winner Barry Shulman arrived at the final table ranked fourth in chips out of nine players. He took the lead about two-thirds of the way through the finale, then see-sawed back and forth with Daniel Negreanu before finally prevailing.

· When heads-up play began, Negreanu enjoyed slightly better than a 3 to 2 lead over Shulman. The exact chip counts were: Negreanu with 6,180,000 vesus Shulman with 3,855,000.

· During a short break while the two finalists were being re-positioned, Negreanu was interviewed at tableside and remarked: “Playing against Barry (Shulman) is dangerous. There is no pressure on him. That makes him very difficult to play against, because I can’t be sure where I am at. I’ve played a lot of hours with Barry and think I have him somewhat figured out. But he’s got at least one advantage against me, which is having no pressure.”

· During the same break in the action, Barry Shulman was interviewed briefly. He commented: “This is exactly what I was hoping for. To be playing heads up for the gold bracelet, especially with Daniel. It’s perfect. I’m on a complete freeroll. I’m having a lot of fun.”

· After about an hour of heads-up play, a critical hand took place. Shulman was down about 5-3 in chips and after the flop, he moved all-in on a flush draw. He held the A-5 of hearts and was down to a heart draw when the board showed Kd-8h-6h. Negreanu called the all-in semi-bluff instantly and tabled two black aces. Negreanu was two cards away from the championship. But a heart on the turn saved Shulman from extinction, and deflated Negreanu’s momentum. That critical hand gave Shulman about a 3 to 1 advantage.

· Negreanu never gave up. It took another two hours, but Negreanu finally regained the chip lead. There were no all-in moments, nor memorable hands along the way. Rather, Negreanu simply managed to chop away slowly at Shulman. About three hours into heads-up play, the two well-known poker personalities were about dead-even in chips.

· Poker fans everywhere will certainly be talking about what is destined to become known as “the hand.” The dramatic climax of this event rivaled the legendary Mansour Matloubi vs. Hans “Tuna” Lund’s late confrontation during the 1990 WSOP Main Event (often described as the most exciting hand in WSOP history). WSOP Europe’s decisive hand came when Negreanu was dealt Q-J. Shulman was dealt A-A. After the flop came J-x-x, Negreanu (holding top pair — jacks) bet out and Shulman raised all in (with an overpair — aces). Negreanu thought for a few minutes, and then finally announced, “Call.” Negreanu didn’t know it, but he was way behind. As the crowd rose to its feet, screaming for various cards, the turn nearly blew the roof off the Empire Casino. It was a jack, giving Negreanu a near-miracle catch and putting him a single card away from winning what would have been a fifth WSOP gold bracelet. Negreanu, blushing from the good fortune, stood in marked contrast to the ever-somber Shulman, who was desperately drawing to two outs. With his tournament life on the line, down to two remaining aces, the bullet hit. It was an ace — striking Negreanu between the eyes and lifting Shulman to the doorstep of his second WSOP career title. Following screams of horror from everyone except those sitting in the Shulman camp, the room went nearly silent as the full effects of the hand began to set in. It was the most exciting hand of the 2009 WSOP and, once broadcast to a global poker audience, is destined to be remembered for years to come.

· It’s hard to imagine an anti-climatic final hand. But Negreanu’s pocket fours were ultimately crushed by Shulman’s pocket tens. A ten flopped – good for a set – which amounted to running up the score after the game was over. The carnage was complete at 5:17 am in front of a packed casino, who had all witnessed one of tournament poker’s most thrilling finishes.

· Echoing the rivalry ignited by the inaugural Caesars Cup held the previous week won by Team Europe, which saw Team Americas humiliated by Team Europe – this final table was comprised of a mix of (5) Europeans and (4) Americans.

· The runner up was Daniel Negreanu, from Las Vegas, NV. Negreanu is one of the world’s most famous poker personalities. He holds four WSOP gold bracelets. With his second-place finish in this tournament, which amounted to £495,589 in prize money, Negreanu became the all-time leading money winner for career lifetime earnings. He now has more than $12 million in tournament winnings, which puts him slightly ahead of Phil Ivey. Note that Ivey can re-take the lead should he finish higher than seventh in this year’s Main Event. The race is on.

· Negreanu has now made back-to-back final table at WSOP Europe Main Events. He finished fifth in last year’s championship.

· The third-place finisher was Praz Bansi, from London, UK. The former WSOP gold bracelet winner ($1,000 buy-in No-Limit Hold’em in 2006) seized the chip leader late in the finale. But he was not able to sustain his momentum. Bansi lost two big hands late, resulting in a third-place showing. His share of the prize pool amounted to £360,887.

· The fourth-place finisher was Jason Mercier, from Ft. Lauderdale, FL. The end result was a bitter disappointment for the former gold bracelet winner, who has been one of tournament poker’s most successful players over the past year. Mercier, who won the $1,500 buy-in Pot-Limit Omaha event earlier this year, also won the EPT championship at San Remo (Italy) as well as the £1 Million Showdown, in London. Mercier had higher ambitions in this finale, given his lofty chip advantage from the start. But Mercier ultimately lost his lead, his edge, and the remainder of his chips and ended up as the fourth-place finisher – worth £267,267 in prize money.

· The fifth-place finisher was Markus Ristola, from Helsinki. He hoped to become only the third Finnish citizen ever to win a WSOP gold bracelet – following in the footsteps of fellow countrymen Jani Vilmunen and Ville Wahlbeck who both won titles earlier this year. But Ristola came up short when he was eliminated on a big hand against Daniel Negreanu. Ristola ended up with £200,367 in prize money.

· The sixth-place finisher was two-time WSOP gold bracelet winner, Chris Bjorin, from London, UK. Bjorin was short-stacked midway through the final table and lost holding A-J against A-Q on his final hand. This was Bjorin’s third cash at this year’s WSOP Europe – the most of any player. He finished 6th in Event #2, 11th in Event #3, and 6th again in the Main Event. Bjorin has now finished in-the-money 50 times in WSOP events, which ranks eighth on the all-time list. Sixth place paid £150,267.

· The seventh-place finisher was Antoine Saout, from St. Martin des Champs, France. Saout lost a race to Daniel Negreanu when his pocket fives were cracked by A-Q suited (Negreanu made a flush). That bounced the Frenchman from the finale, which was good for £114,228 in prize money. Saout returns to the poker limelight again next month, as one of the November Nine.

· The eighth-place finisher was Matt Hawrilenko, from Boston, MA. The former WSOP gold bracelet winner collected more than $1 million for his victory in the $5,000 buy-in Six-Handed No-Limit Hold’em championship (Event #56) held earlier this year in Las Vegas. Hawrilenko specializes primarily in cash games, particularly short-handed Limit Hold’em. Poker master Lee Jones called Hawrilenko “one of the top two or three heads-up Limit Hold’em players in the world. The cash game crowd considers him a major deity.” Hawrilenko’s tournament game isn’t bad either, evidenced by four final table appearances this year in WSOP events. Eighth place paid £87,074.

· The ninth-place finisher was James Akenhead, from London, UK. He is one of this year’s “November Nine,” who will play for the WSOP Main Event championship in Las Vegas next month. On his final hand, Akenhead moved all-in pre-flop with A-K and was called by Daniel Negreanu, holding two kings. The big pair held up, eliminating Akenhead. He’ll have another shot at his first gold bracelet on November 7th. Ninth place paid £66,533.

· The final table started at 12:45 pm on Thursday, 1 October. Play ended at 5:17 am. The duration of the finale was 16 hours and 32 minutes, counting breaks.

In-the-Money Finishers –

· The top 36 finishers collected prize money.

· Twelve of the 36 players who cashed (one-third) were former WSOP gold bracelet winners.

· Tony Cousineau, from Daytona Beach, FL finished in 13th place. Cousineau holds a somewhat dubious record (that most any poker player would long for). He has finished in the money 42 times, which is the most of any player who has not yet won a gold bracelet. Cousineau was visibly disgusted when he had plenty of chips late on Day Four, but lost with A-K to a runner-runner flush. “I’m the king of the snake-bitten,” Cousineau shrieked – fittingly ending up as the thirteenth-place in this tournament.

· The 14th-place finisher was English football (soccer) superstar Teddy Sheringham. The 43-year-old semi-retired athlete previously played for the club Manchester United, as well as England’s World Cup team. He has also been awarded an MBE, which is the Member of the Order of the British Empire. Sheringham has become a devoted poker player in recent years. This was his most impressive tournament performance, to date.

· Former WSOP gold bracelet winner Ram Vaswani, from Hendon, UK finished in 15th place. He won the Limit Hold’em Shootout championship in 2007. Vaswani is the youngest member of the famous “Hendon Mob,” a group of five star poker pros based near London. Vaswani is also the only player to date who has made it to four European Poker Tour final tables.

· Doyle’s Brunson’s deep run in this event fueled intense interest worldwide, particularly on Day Four. At one point, Brunson climbed into the top six in chips. But he lost a series of late pots and ended up going out in 17th place. Brunson now has 34 career cashes and nearly $3 million in WSOP lifetime winnings. Brunson was the 1976 and 1977 world poker champion.

· Poker pro Liz Lieu, from Las Vegas, NV was the highest female finisher in this year’s championship tournament. She ended up in 22nd place, and has yet to win her elusive first WSOP title.

· Arnaud Mattern, from Paris, France received a mixed blessing on what was his 30th birthday. He was eliminated on 30 September (his birthday) finishing in 23rd place, which was a disappointment. However, Mattern collected a posh birthday gift totaling £25,918.

· Six-time gold bracelet winner Men “the Master” Nguyen’s 26th-place finish in this tournament gives him 67 career cashes in WSOP events. This currently ranks second on the all-time WSOP cashes list, behind Phil Hellmuth, who has 75.

· John Kabbaj, from London, UK finished in 28th place. He won his first WSOP gold bracelet earlier this year in the $10,000 buy-in Pot-Limit Omaha World Championship. Kabbaj’s victory was made even more memorable for the official gold bracelet ceremony held the following day. A rogue version of “God Save the Queen” by the British punk band, the Sex Pistols, was played to honor Kabbaj, instead of the more traditional version of the national anthem.

· Steve Zolotow finished in 32nd place. Zolotow has been playing tournament poker for more than 20 years. Zolotow, also known as “Z” and “The Bald Eagle,” started out playing poker at the legendary Mayfair Club in New York City. He has since won two WSOP gold bracelets.

· David “Devilfish” Ulliott was less than thrilled with his 35th-place finish. The brassy former WSOP gold bracelet winner, who is one of the UK’s most famous poker stars, was displeased at being placed at the feature table multiple times during the tournament. “These kids, they get on television, and they start to play differently,” Ulliott grumbled. “They don’t want to make fools out of themselves, so they play better. Me? I don’t need to be on television. I’ve been on TV hundreds of time. Everyone knows who I am.”

· David Docherty, from Coatbridge, Scotland finished in 36th place. This marked his second in-the-money finish this year at WSOP Europe.

· Players reached the money at the conclusion of Day Three. This amounted to the completion of 17 Levels, or about 26 hours of tournament play.

· Among the 36 in-the-money finishers, the following nine nations were represented: United States (15), England (10), France (3), Brazil (2), Germany (2), Hungary (1), Israel (1), Finland (1), and Scotland (1).

Odds and Ends –

· World Series of Poker Europe (WSOPE) includes the final four gold bracelet events of the 2009 calendar year. WSOP events 1-57 were played in Las Vegas from 26 May through 15 July. WSOP Events 58-61 (a.k.a. “WSOPE”) were played in London, England from 18 September through 1 October.

· The championship final is classified as “WSOPE Event 4″ as well as “WSOPE Event 61” as it is the 61st WSOP gold bracelet event of the 2009 calendar year.

· This marks the third consecutive year of WSOPE, presented by Betfair. In 2007, three gold bracelet events were played. In 2008, four gold bracelet events were played.

· All WSOPE results are included in official WSOP records — including all-time wins, cashes, final table appearances, and so forth.

· This was Tournament Director Jack Effel’s third consecutive year to oversee all the events played at WSOP Europe. Effel has been the WSOP Tournament Director since 2006. In that span he has already run more WSOP events than any other official in history, other than Jack McClelland and Eric Drache.

· Interestingly, former Binion’s Horseshoe legend Drache was also highly visible at WSOP Europe from start to finish. He’s a consultant to Poker Productions, which is owned by television producer Mori Eskandani. Poker Productions was on hand to film WSOP Europe for broadcast on ESPN.

· All four tournaments took place at Casino at the Empire, located in Leicester Square, in Central London. Leicester Square is best known as the theatre district of the city. Casino at the Empire is part of London Clubs International, which is owned by Harrah’s Entertainment.

· Casino at the Empire holds 35 poker tables. Regular gaming tables were removed during the 16-day duration of WSOPE in order to make necessary room for the large turnout of poker players and spectators.

· WSOP Europe is sponsored by Betfair, which is known as the world’s largest betting exchange. According to Betfair: “The exchange allows customers to choose their own odds and bet against each other.” Betfair is a registered, legal bookmaker in the U.K. and is also licensed in Australia, Austria, and Malta. For more information, visit: www.betfairpoker.com.

· During the play of this final table, Betfair offered a live betting exchange on the outcome.

· Richard Bloch, International PR Manager for Betfair Poker said: “We are thrilled that Barry Shulman has won the third WSOPE main event title presented by Betfair. He faced tough opposition but showed his class and is a very deserving winner.”

· Shulman was presented with his second gold bracelet by WSOP President and Commissioner Jeffrey Pollack, who spoke to the capacity crowd afterward and to television cameras: “This has been quite a year for the entire Shulman Family….Barry has been an industry leader and an important voice in poker for more than a decade. I am honored to present him with the gold bracelet he so richly deserves.”

· The tournament will be broadcast later on ESPN. The two-hour program will air initially within the U.S. on 7 February 2010. Coverage will also include the inaugural Caesars Cup, a poker team match between Team Europe and Team Americas, which concluded on 25 September. Air dates in Europe and elsewhere will be announced soon and are expected to be sometime early in 2010.

The Tournament –

· This was a six-day tournament.

· The tournament attracted 334 entries. This was slight decline from the championship event played at the same time last year, which attracted 362 entries.

· Tables were played nine-handed during most of the tournament.

· Players started this tournament with 30,000 in tournament chips.

· The buy-in amount for Event #4 was £10,000 (GBP), which is equivalent to about $16,020 (USD) at the current exchange rate.

· Seven of the ten former WSOPE gold bracelet winners competed in this tournament. They were Sharkahn Farnood, Theo Jorgensen, Annette Obrestad, Dario Alioto, Erik Cajelais, Jani Vilmunen, and John Juanda. None cashed.

· Five former poker world champions played in this event, including Doyle Brunson, Phil Hellmuth, Chris “Jesus” Ferguson, Huck Seed, and Peter Eastgate. Brunson was the only player to cash.

· Day One lasted six levels, which went about 12 hours. The end of Day One chip leader was American poker player Brian Powell. He did not cash. Powell’s no-cash broke a chain of three consecutive Day One leader/winners. In the first three events at WSOP Europe, the End of Day One chip leader won each event. J.P. Kelly led throughout the tournament in event #1. Erik Cajelais led most of the way in Event #2. And in event #3, Jani Vilmunen enjoyed a decisive advantage following play on Day One and went on to win.

· The first day was filled with several highlights. The day officially began with Doyle Brunson performing the traditional “Shuffle Up and Deal” honors. WSOP President and Commissioner Jeffrey Pollack introduced Brunson by saying, “Doyle was there in Las Vegas at the very start of the WSOP forty years ago. Doyle was also with us when we started WSOP Europe three years ago in London. And, we are proud to have him with us today.” Predictably, Brunson’s grand introduction received a standing ovation from players and spectators.

· During an early break in the action, Pollack presented poker pro Jeffrey Lisandro with his prize for winning 2009 World Series of Poker “Player of the Year” honors. Lisandro, who won a record-tying three gold bracelets in events earlier this year in Las Vegas, received three buy-ins into future WSOP Main Events. He will freeroll the 2010, 2011, and 2012 world poker championships, courtesy of Harrah’s Entertainment. Lisandro’s award is valued at more than $30,000.

· Eleven-time WSOP gold bracelet winner Phil Hellmuth entered the Empire Casino with his usual flair. He repeated his grand in-your-face entrance into this year’s WSOP Main Event. The poker bombast was clad in full regalia dressed as a Roman gladiator and rode through Leicester Square in Central London on a chariot drawn by a white horse. As if that was not enough pomp and circumstance, Hellmuth was encircled by several muscled centurions and concubines wearing white dresses (11 in all, once for each WSOP gold bracelet won by Hellmuth). “It’s great to be me,” the poker legend mused. Hellmuth’s grand arrival brought a mix of gasps, laughter, and puzzled stares from the thousands of people gathered around London’s theatre district witnessing the spectacle.

· Day Two lasted four levels, which went about 7 hours. The end of Day Two chip leader was Ian Munns, from the UK. However, he did not finish in the money.

· Day Two began later than usual, in observance of the Jewish holiday Yom Kippur. Instead of a noon restart time, play on Day Two resumed at 5:30 pm in order to accommodate players who observe the solemn holiday.

· Day Three lasted nearly six levels, which went about 13 hours. The end of Day Three chip leader was Matt Hawrilenko, from Boston, MA. He ended up finishing in eighth place.

· The defending champion was John Juanda, who won his fourth WSOP gold bracelet in an epic battle in last year’s WSOP Europe Main Event championship. Juanda was the victor at what turned out to be the longest final table in WSOP history. This year, Juanda survived until Day Three. He was interviewed shortly after being eliminated and made the following statement:

Of course, I am disappointed not to win. But everyone is an underdog here. It’s not like tennis where Roger Federer wins a series of heads-up matches and repeats five years in a row. Poker is not like that. I have to expect this. I always want to win, but I have to prepare myself for the reality that it does not happen very often.

· Day Four lasted five levels, which went about 11 hours. The end of Day Four chip leader was Jason Mercier. He ended up busting out in fourth place.

WSOP / WSOPE Statistics –

· There have been three WSOP Europe Main Event champions:

2007 – Annette Obrestad
2008 – John Juanda
2009 – Barry Shulman

· The four events at WSOP Europe produced 1,254 total entries. Last year’s four events attracted 1,047 total entries. This represents an increase of 19.7 percent over last year. WSOPE has grown 134 percent since its inception just two years ago. Here’s the breakdown, by year:

2007 (3 events) – 532 total players
2008 (4 events) – 1,047 total players
2009 (4 events) – 1,243 total players

· The total amount of prize money awarded at WSOP Europe since its inception in 2007 (through 11 total events) equals a combined £15,206,996, equal to about $24,305,341. This figure exceeds the total amount of money paid out during the first 12 years of the WSOP (1970-1981). Here’s the annual breakdown:

2007 (3 events) – $7,606,303
2008 (4 events) – $8,526,930
2009 (4 events) – $8,172,108

· Continuing with this year’s gold bracelet winners, by nationality:

WINNERS – BY NATION: Through Event #61 (excluding #57, the Main Event) – the home nations of the WSOP gold bracelet winners read as follows:

United States – 37
United Kingdom – 4
Canada – 4
Australia – 2
Germany – 2
Finland – 2
Russian Federation – 1
Sweden – 1
Mexico – 1
Italy – 1
Holland – 1
Hungary – 1
Iran – 1

· Continuing with this year’s gold bracelet winners, by city:

WINNERS – BY CITY: Through Event #61 (excluding #57, the Main Event) – the following cities have produced multiple WSOP gold bracelet winners (Note: Metropolitan area suburbs are included in major city counts):

Las Vegas, Nevada – 11
Vancouver, British Columbia (Canada) – 4
London, UK – 3
Salerno, Italy – 3
Los Angeles, California – 3
Washington, DC (Maryland and Virginia Suburbs) – 3
New York, NY – 2
Helsinki, Finland – 2

· Continuing with this year’s gold bracelet winners, by profession (pro versus amateurs):

Event #61 winner Barry Shulman is to be classified as a semi-professional player. Accordingly, the “Pro-Am” gold bracelet scoreboard currently reads (not counting Casino Employees Event and the Main Event, which is pending):

Professionals — 42 wins
(Thang Luu, Steven Sung, Jason Mercier, Phil Ivey-1, Rami Boukai, Anthony Harb, Ville Wahlbeck, Keven Stammen, Brock Parker-1, Jeffrey Lisandro- 1, Daniel Alaei, Brock Parker-2, John-Paul Kelly, Jeff Carris, Nick Schulman, Phil Ivey-2, Pete Vilandos, Tomas Alenius, Roland de Wolfe, J.C. Tran, James Van Alstyne, Angel, Guillen, Greg Mueller-1, Eric Baldwin, Jordan Smith, Jeffrey Lisandro-2, Richard Austin, Marc Naalden, Matt Graham, Peter Traply, Jerrod Ankenman, Jeffrey Lisandro-3, John Kabbaj, Jeff Ahmadi, Brandon Cantu, Greg Mueller-2, Carston Joh, David Bach, Matt Hawrilenko, J.P. Kelly – 2, Erik Cajelais, Jani Vilmunen)

Amateurs — 9 wins
(Freddie Ellis, Ken Aldridge, Travis Johnson, Zac Fellows, Michael Eise, Michael T. Davis, Jorg Peisert, David J. Halpert, Tony Veckey)

Semi-Pros — 8 wins
(Vitaly Lunkin, Brian Lemke, Lisa Hamilton, Leo Wolpert, Ray Foley, Derek Raymond, Jeff Ahmadi, Barry Shulman)

· Sixteen of the 60 winners so far this year (27 percent) were previous gold bracelet winners. There were four double winners in 2009 – J.P. Kelly, Brock Parker, Phil Ivey (Main Even pending), and Greg “FBT” Mueller. There was one triple winner in 2009 — Jeffrey Lisandro.

· This year’s WSOP and WSOP Europe awarded $182,594,608 in total prize money.

· This year’s World Series of Poker was the largest in history. A grand total of 62,129 players entered the 61 combined gold bracelet events held in Las Vegas and London.

· The final WSOP tournament of the year is the Main Event championship finale, a.k.a. the “November Nine.” Play begins with the nine finalists on 7 November. The final two survivors play heads-up for the championship on 9 November.

Reporting from London, ladies and gents, thank you and good night!

Shulman wins, Negreanu Lederers It

They’re heads-up at the WSOP-E main event … Barry Shulman vs. Daniel Negreanu.

Dare I say I’m rooting for Shulman? Not sure I really believe that. But I do like the father-son storyline possibilities for the November Nine.

(Barry apparently just became a grandfather a few days ago, btw. Not sure if it was his first or 17th, but word is that son Happy just spawned new Shulman progeny.)

Follow the action here.

From MySpace.com/Pokerati:

UPDATE: LOL, as per the PokerNews ShoutBox, I guess it’s official, I’m rooting for Barry. Not sure how that happened!

Seriously, can’t wait to see it on TV. You’ve got bracelets out the yin-yang. Two November Niners. The father of the November Nine’s bad-guy. An epicurean old-timer Brit. Daniel Negreanu. International flavor. Accomplished young guns. Scandis. All in the pretty cool setting that is The Casino at the Empire.

It was a sexy, if not tough field to get through, too. The in-the-money fight from four tables down to one saw Doyle Brunson, Liz Lieu, EPL soccer legend Teddy Sheringham, Devilfish, Men the Master, Hendon Mobber Ram Vaswani, Steven Z for good measure, and plenty of valid others.

(Wouldn’t it be dandy if ESPN could show maybe an hour of lead-up, with two hours of final table? Just an NFL football game, ya know?)

@JeffreyPollack‘s been giving his eloquently bare-bones play-by-play.

And you can also follow via our pals at Betfair.

Click below to see a more detailed breakdown of the players of what may well be one of the most storied final tables of the year:

via Nolan:

SEAT 1: BARRY SHULMAN
HOMETOWN: LAS VEGAS, NV
CHIP COUNT: 1,090,000

Barry Shulman is a former WSOP gold bracelet winner. He won the Seven-Card Stud Eight-or-Better championship in 2001. Shulman is CEO of Card Player magazine and has been one of the poker industry’s most-respected voices for more than a decade. Shulman’s appearance at this final table means the Shulman family has hit the daily double in WSOP events, this year. His son Jeff Shulman is one of the famed “November Nine” in the 2009 WSOP Main Event, which concludes next month. Shulman’s wife Allyn is a respected player as well, who competed in the championship and is sitting in the crowd today to cheer for Barry. Yes indeed, the entire Shulman Family can sure play poker!

SEAT 2: JASON MERCIER
HOMETOWN: FORT LAUDERDALE, FL
CHIP COUNT: 3,198,000

Jason Mercier is a former WSOP gold bracelet winner. He won the $1,500 buy-in Pot-Limit Omaha championship earlier this year in Las Vegas. Mercier has performed very well in Europe, winning the 2008 European Poker Tour’s championship in San Remo, Italy. He also won the ONE MILLION POUND showdown here in London, last year. Despite all his winnings, it’s reported that Mercier would not shell out the money for a hotel room while staying in London, preferring instead to crash on the sofa at a friend’s house. Mercier has dominated play in this tournament so far, and arrives at the final table as the player to beat, as the current chip leader.

SEAT 3: PRAZ BANSI
HOMETOWN: LONDON, ENGLAND
CHIP COUNT: 1,160,000

Praz Bansi is one of six former WSOP gold bracelet winners at today’s final table. He won the $1,000 buy-in Limit Hold’em championship in 2006. To say Bansi is “hot” would be an understatement. He’s final-tabled six major poker tournaments this year alone, with his best showing being a win at the Five-Star World Poker Classic, held last Spring. Bansi starts the day with an average-sized stack and a great deal of experience and confidence. He’ll be a tough player, for sure.

SEAT 4: MARKUS RISTOLA
HOMETOWN: HELSINKI, FINLAND
CHIP COUNT: 784,000

Ristola hopes to become only the third Finnish poker player in history to win a WSOP gold bracelet. His fellow countryman Jani Vilmunus won the PLO championship here last week. Ristola is a 22-year-old student and part-time poker pro. He started playing poker only a few years ago, and has already cashed in several major events, winning the most recent Helsinki Poker Freezeout. Ristola is already guaranteed the biggest tournament payout of his young career, to date. Regardless of what happens today, the future looks very bright indeed, for Markus Ristola.

SEAT 5: CHRIS BJORIN
HOMETOWN: LONDON, ENGLAND
CHIP COUNT: 518,000

Chris Bjorin is a two-time former WSOP gold bracelet winner. He won WSOP events in 2000 and 2001. Bjorin was actually born in Sweden. He immigrated to London where he now lives in order to concentrate full-time on poker and sports betting. He also loves drinking fine wines and dining at expensive restaurants. Bjorin has more than $4 million (USD) in career tournament winnings, to date. This marks his 51st time to cash in WSOP events, which puts him in eighth-place on the all-time list. In addition to becoming a poker legend for his accomplishments, Chris is also one of the game’s true gentlemen.

SEAT 6: JAMES AKENHEAD
HOMETOWN: LONDON, ENGLAND
CHIP COUNT: 1,398,000

This has already been an incredible year for 26-year-old poker pro James Akenhead. He’s one of the “November Nine,” which will compete for the 2009 world poker championship next month. And now, here he is currently ranked second in chips coming into today’s final table. Not to tell a bad beat story, but Akenhead probably should have at least one WSOP gold bracelet to his name already. He was on the verge of winning an event in 2008, when his opponent was all in and drawing slim with 10-4 against Akenhead’s A-K. The opponent spiked quad tens, and Akenhead had to settle for second place. Now, it’s redemption time/ Akenhead gets his shot today in London, and again in Las Vegas, next month.

SEAT 7: DANIEL NEGREANU
HOMETOWN: LAS VEGAS, NV
CHIP COUNT: 438,000

Daniel Negreanu is a four-time WSOP gold bracelet winner. He won his first WSOP title in 1998, then the youngest player in WSOP history ever to win a gold bracelet. He won subsequent titles in 2002, 2003, and 2008. Negreanu is unquestionably one of poker’s biggest superstars and most popular players, appearing regularly on high-stakes poker shows and television commercials. He is about to star in a new TV series in the US, which begins filming when he returns after this event. Negreanu was WSOP “Player of the Year” in 2004. He is also third on the career all-time money list for overall worldwide tournaments, with over $11 million in wins, to date. He hopes to make that $12 million plus, today – but has a big challenge ahead as the shortest stack.

SEAT 8: ANTOINE SAOUT
HOMETOWN: SAINT MARTIN DES CHAMPS, FRANCE
CHIP COUNT: 701,000

Antoine Saout is one of two players at this final table who is a member of this year’s “November Nine.” He is a 25-year-old aspiring poker pro, who won his way into the WSOP Main Event by playing in an online satellite, which cost him just $50. Saout’s specialty is playing in multiple poker games online. In some ways, Saout is the most secretive player in today’s finale, and he seems to like it that way. He has relatively few tournament cashes or recorded results, yet he has certainly shown he can play poker with the world’s best players. It’s an amazing accomplishment to make it to final tables here at WSOP Europe, and the WSOP Main Event.

SEAT 9: MATT HAWRILENKO
HOMETOWN: BOSTON, MA
CHIP COUNT: 674,000

Matt is a former WSOP gold bracelet winner. He won more than $1 million in Event #56 at this year’s WSOP, taking the top prize in the $5,000 buy-in Six-Handed No-Limit Hold’em championship. Hawrilenko is a graduate of Princeton University. Now 27, he worked for a top investment firm before concentrating on poker full-time. If Hawrilenko gets heads-up, look out. He is widely acknowledged as one of the game’s top heads-up specialists. Hawrilenko mostly concentrates on high-stakes cash games, yet has now made four final tables at this year’s WSOP.

Final table play starts at noon on Thursday. Play resumes with 10,000-20,000 blinds and a 3,000 ante. 55:06 remains in Level 22.

Seat 1: Barry Shulman (1,090,000)
Seat 2: Jason Mercier (3,198,000)
Seat 3: Praz Bansi (1,160,000)
Seat 4: Markus Ristola (784,000)
Seat 5: Chris Bjorin (518,000)
Seat 6: James Akenhead (1,398,000)
Seat 7: Daniel Negreanu (438,000)
Seat 8: Antoine Saout (701,000)
Seat 9: Matt Hawrilenko (674,000)

The group consists of six previous WSOP bracelet winners (Shulman, Mercier, Bansi, Bjorin, Negreanu, & Hawrilenko), two members of the November Nine (Akenhead & Saout), and a father of a November Niner (Shulman).

More than four hours into the final table “action,” Negreanu worked his way into second place. And that’s about it. Play continues with the likelihood that someone will eventually be eliminated. Live coverage can be found on the World Series of Poker website.