Nam Le, the memory of his second place finish from a couple of weeks ago still fresh in his mind, is making a run for his second 2006 WSOP final table. With 15 players remaining, Le, one of the top tournament pros of this year, sits second in chips and shows no sign he's going to give up his stack before sitting at that final table.

Nam Le

In other news from the same event, a man partially responisble for 2005 WSOP history sits in the top ten in chips. For that, we'll pass this post over to our Australian watchdog.

by Alison Lightman

The Australian PokerStars contingent is again going strong at the 2006 World Series of Poker in Las Vegas.

Twenty-four year old Melbourne man, Emad "Boondy" Tahtouh, is down to the final two tables on day two of the $5 000 Pot Limit Hold'Em event with above average chips after doubling up twice in the past hour.


Emad Tahtough

Just an hour ago he was looking nervous with $40k, less than half the average, and surrounded by monster stacks with an hour to survive until the dinner break.

With the blinds at $3k - $6k Emad made a move to steal in the cut-off with 68o, and was re-raised all in by the big blind, who showed ATo. Emad thought it was over but spiked an 8 and was sitting on 70k and breathing easier.

Just moments later, Emad looks down from the button to find AJ, pushes again, and is called instantly by the big blind with a rag Ace. Neither hit a thing on the board and Emad doubled through again, now he's sitting on 120k and looking good.

Emad is the guy Joe Hachem thanks for persuading him to even enter last year's WSOP main event, so be sure he's heard plenty from his mate the Champ about strategies for this phase of competition.

Today's reading:

Event #34: $1,000 NL Hold'em rebuy: Swimming with the sharks