July 2007 Archives

Twenty thousand people.

Twenty thousand people in one tournament. This weekend's PokerStars Sunday Hundred Grand hosted the biggest cash tournament field in history. It's just another indication of what a big day Sunday is at PokerStars. The world's top online site hosts four huge Sunday events every week. Here are the results for July 29, 2007.


PokerStars Sunday Warm-up

1. azn_baller3 (Thailand) $93,909.24
2. Machiavellii (Sweden) $47,579.40
3. Scansion (United States) $31,671.54
4. ENGLISHJUDGE (United Kingdom) $25,471.80
5. pokerbig77 (Netherlands) $20,185.20
6. mikeyt51 (New Zealand) $15,331.14
7. paul0s (United Kingdom) $11,005.74
8. Poker Invest (Spain) $6,920.64
9. potbooster (United States) $4,037.04

PokerStars Sunday Hundred Grand

1. Lynna1 (United States) $20,000.00
2. henrybourbon (Austria) $10,000.00
3. steeldawgs (United States) $6,500.00
4. laststand77 (United States) $5,000.00
5. Heien (Norway) $3,000.00
6. medloh man (United States) $2,000.00
7. NikRoon11 (Canada) $1,600.00
8. Roy_nmgn (Netherlands) $1,260.00
9. LumpyTators (United States) $1,000.00


PokerStars High Stakes Showdown

1. Lrslzk (Finland) $72,000.00
2. ActionJeff (United States) $40,000.00
3. adsanman12 (United States) $24,000.00
4. Rekrul (United States) $24,000.00


PokerStars Sunday Million
Results based on finishing order and four-way deal that left $30,000 for first place

1. Zutzman (Canada) $152,537.87
2. Pehtoori (Finland) $134,484.16
3. lb6121 (United Kingdom) $157,963.52
4. GARBANZITO (Mexico) $122,811.40
5. plasticard (Sweden) $59,211.60
6. Xaston (United States) $43,804.50
7. asdf2000 (United States) $31,720.50
8. fundmyaudi (United States) $19,938.60
9. nazeehah66 (United States) $11,781.90

This was a big weekend for the World Cup of Poker IV. On Sunday, the final round of national qualifying tournaments took place and determined who would have the honor of playing on their country's team.

More than 75,000 players participated in Round 1 action of this year's World Cup. All of the national, U.S. state and Canadian and German province teams are now set. Now, they will all do battle to determine who makes the trip to Barcelona to play in the live finals.



Sixteen German province teams played in four groups of four teams with the winning team of each group progressing to the Division play-offs. Group 1 was a tie between Niedersachsen and Bremen, and the captains nominated a player from their team to play a heads-up deciding match. "Tytem79" won for Niedersachsen (Group 1), who join the other group winners - Sachsen-Anhalt(Group 2), Bayern (Group 3), Hessen (Group 4)in the Divisional Play-Offs on Sunday.

Fifty-one US state teams played in 3 groups of 17. The three winning teams have now progressed to the Divisional play-offs on Sunday. These teams are Maryland(Group 1) Louisiana (Group 2) and South Dakota (Group 3).

Eleven Canadian province teams played down to 3 teams, the winning teams were: Newfoundland (Group 1), Nova Scotia (Group 2) and British Columbia (Group
3). They will play against 2 national teams on Sunday and the winning team will
progress to the live finals in Barcelona.

If you are one of the players who's made the cut, get ready for a big weekend. You will receive an email this week with details on the the Division Finals on Sunday, August 5th.

Regardless of whether you are on your country's World Cup team, be sure to stop by to support your team. You can see all the action throughout the day this Sunday by clicking on the Events > World Cup > Division Finals tabs in the PokerStars lobby.

For a complete schedule of Division Finals action, be sure to see the World Cup of Poker IV Division Finals schedule.

It's about national pride. It's about competition. It's about money. It's the 2007 World Cup. Catch all the action this weekend on PokerStars!

The action is already hot in the PokerStars' World Cup of Poker.

The final Round 1 Qualifiers for the remaining countries are now taking place. Nine players from each tournament will qualify for their country's final match, from which the top 2 players will join the top 2 TLB players to form their countries WCP team.

In other news, PokerStars says it has heard from from about 2/3rds of the TLB players they have contacted so far. The people behind the World Cup of Poker suggest you check your e-mail. They need to speak with you ASAP to see if you want to play on your country's team.

Congratulations to the players who have already qualified for their teams and the division finals on Sunday August 5th! For more information, visit PokerStars' World Cup of Poker page. Or follow the action by click on Events and WCP in thhe PokerStars lobby.

It was late one night at the World Series of Poker. A friend walked up and said, "Do you think you could get an autographed picture of Chris Moneymaker?"

I shrugged. Shouldn't be too hard, I thought.

The friend said, "Not for me. There's this guy in the hospital."

I quickly told my friend who he should talk to, knowing Moneymaker would have no problem signing a picture. I made the introduction and didn't think about it again until this morning.

***

Six months ago, Chris Moneymaker was just back from the PokerStars Caribbean Adventure. He'd hosted the Moneymaker Millionaire there and was settling back into regular life in Tennessee. It was starting off to be a busy year, one in which his name was again growing beyond his humble roots. He was already the man credited with kicking off the poker revolution. Now, he had his name attached to a million dollar freeroll. He might have heard that there were people who considered him their hero, but he didn't let it get to his head. He had a life and family to think about.

Six months ago, Moneymaker had never heard of a guy named Donald Hobbs.

Hobbs loved poker. A native of Pineville, Kentucky, Hobbs had been playing poker with his friends for a while and he styled his game after the one-time Tennessee accountant who had shocked the world by winning the 2003 World Series of Poker. Who knows what would've happened to Hobbs in the months since. He might have gone on a major rush and ended up next to Moneymaker at the 2007 World Series. There's no way of telling.

In February of this year, Hobbs was riding in a car as it careened over a Kentucky bluff, plummeted to the bottom, and exploded.

***

If you're the type who believes in miracles, you should look to Donald Hobbs. No one should've lived through the crash. It was a fiery, bone-crushing mess of death and there was no excuse for Hobbs to have been pulled alive from it. Yet, he was.

Though he was broken in more places than he could count and burned in a way that would make some people pray for death, Hobbs was alive. Whether he would stay alive, however, was another matter. He was a hemophiliac and that severely cut into his chances of surviving his injuries.

So began Hobbs tour of Kentucky hospitals, hospital rooms, doctors, and therapists. His last stop was Cardinal Hill Specialty Hospital. He was still in bad shape. During his recovery, he could barely move and his body showed the effects of a forced sedentary life. What's worse, he was still in the kind of pain that makes grown men cry. He was burned, broken, and having a hard time making any sort of meaningful recovery.

Enter Michelle Rose.

Rose is an occupational therapist. Her job is to take people like Hobbs and fix them well enough that they can function in the real world and live a life of adult independence. It's a goal-oriented process that can be painfully slow.

For instance, when Rose started working with Hobbs, the first goal was to sit up. Get that? The goal wasn't to make it outside for a game of touch football or walk down the hall to the Coke machine. The goal was to sit up. For you, that might be the first goal of the morning. For Hobbs, it was a long-term goal that took some serious work.

Rose didn't want to just sit there and give Hobbs pep talks. She wanted to give him a reason to sit up. So, she pulled out a deck of cards. The idea was to give Hobbs something to while sitting up (and secretly, to increase some muscle strength he'd lost during his recovery).

It wasn't easy at first. Of course, nothing in the past several months had been easy. However, over time, the games Hobbs played with his therapists became like any nightly home game. The competition spawned laughter, jokes, and story after story. Perhaps without even fully realizing it, Hobbs began sitting up for longer periods of times.

One day, during a game, Hobbs revealed he was a poker player and loved to watch it on TV. What's more, he said, Chris Moneymaker was his favorite player. Rose would later tell her colleagues that Hobbs' face lit up every time he talked about Moneymaker, about how the champion didn't forget his friends after he won the big one, and about how he liked to emulate Moneymaker's style when playing home games. Before long, Hobbs was sitting on the edge of his bed for 20 minutes at a time--no small feat for a guy who should've died months earlier.

What Hobbs didn't know at the time was that he was talking to a friend of someone who worked on the World Series circuit. What Hobbs didn't know what that he was about to get one heckuva surprise.

***

I wasn't there when Moneymaker heard about Hobbs, but I've been made to understand that his reaction sounded a lot like, "Autographed picture? Forget that. Where is he? I'm going to go see him."

And that's exactly what happened. Moneymaker showed up at Cardinal Hill and challenged Hobbs to a heads-up match with hospital straws as chips.

Photo courtesy Cincinnati Enquirer

Before the game was over, Moneymaker made a deal with Hobbs: get better and join him in Las Vegas for the 2008 World Series.

In a world where goals begin with sitting up in bed, making it to the World Series may seem like an unreachable achievement. However, Hobbs has proven he's no ordinary guy and if the goal involves the World Series and Chris Moneymaker, I'd bet he can make it.

More: Cincinnati Enquirer

More than 250 people signed up on Sunday to compete for a one of a kind PokerStars felt signed by the cast and producer of the blockbuster film "Ocean's Thirteen." The rebuy tournament offered the winner-take-all prize. It took five hours, but when it was over, PokerStars BlueLabel11 walked away with the prize.



The Ocean's Thirteen Darfur Charity Tournament was the third is a series of events to aid the efforts of Not On Our Watch, a charity aimed at reducing the suffering in Darufur, Sudan.

Since the the tournaments kicked off, the tournaments have sent PokerStars winners to the premieres of "Ocean's Thirteen" in Cannes and Los Angeles. What's more, PokerStars and its players have donated more than $1 million to the Darfur cause. Now, BlueLabel11 has a one-of-a-kind prize.

Congratulations to all the winners of the Ocean's Thirteen Charity tournaments for their wins, and thanks to all of the people who played in the events for your giving spirit.

PokerStars now has so many big tournaments on Sundays, there is no need to go anywhere else. The winners of three of the biggest tournaments won more than $300,000 combined on Sunday. Here are the results from PokerStars Sunday events.

PokerSars Sunday Warm-up Results

1. Egar1m (United States) $84,601.44
2. manitu895 (Canada) $42,688.80
3. Round42 (United States) $30,356.48
4. DeniH (Slovak Republic) $24,578.40
5. Cobra234 (Denmark) $19,274.64
6. Anomander (Finland) $14,531.44
7. XxWULFFxX (Denmark) $10,219.44
8. fjaluz (Sweden) $6,338.64
9. Brezi26 (Czech Republic) $3,794.56


PokerStars Sunday Million Results

1. 5902838181 (Denmark) $196,243.80
2. chipsncheese (United Kingdom) $98,817.80
3. Tecknowledgy (United States) $69,590.00
4. princess13 (United States) $55,672.00
5. EC10 (United States) $41,754.00
6. Infitilt (United States) $30,619.60
7. Professor122 (United States) $21,572.90
8. lostremote (United States) $12,526.20
9. Ann Karen (United Kingdom) $8,211.62


High Stakes Showdown

1. BigSanta (Sweden) $72,000
2. ADZ124 (Canada) $40,000
3. supernova9 (United States) $24,000
4. buck21 (Canada) $24,000

This is the weekend you can win a one-of-a-kind prize straight from PokerStars and the cast of Ocean's Thirteen. PokerStars is giving away a signed poker baize (known in some circles as a felt) in a tournament aimed at helping the efforts of Not On Our Watch, a charity that aids the suffering in Darfur, Sudan.

Ocean's Thirteen Charity Event

Date: July 22nd 2007, 15:30 ET
Buy-in: $10 plus rebuys.
Prizes: The winner will receive a professional poker baize signed by the producer and cast of “Ocean’s Thirteen”.



Here's a little background on how PokerStars ended up with this prize:

Back during the worldwide premiere of the movie at the Hotel Du Cap in Cannes, France, the cast of "Ocean's Thirteen" reunited and took the time to sign the baize for PokerStars' third 'Ocean's Thirteen Charity Tournament'. It was an act of both charity and appreciation for PokerStars' involvement in the charity Not On Our Watch (see below).

This was the first time the cast had all gathered together for a photo call since shooting the movie poster. Also in attendance was Team PokerStars' 2005 World Champion Joe Hachem, who gladly offered up playing tips to the stars, in particular Don Cheadle and Matt Damon who turned up early to meet the champ. Visit the PokerStars Gallery page to see more photos.

Producer Jerry Weintraub, together with George Clooney, Brad Pitt, Matt Damon and Don Cheadle, launched the charity Not On Our Watch to help raise awareness of the suffering in Darfur, the western region of Sudan, Africa.

The plight there is very real -- hundreds of thousands of people there have lost their lives due to the ongoing instability in the region, and millions more have been displaced and are entirely reliant on international aid for their survival.

It's a situation that requires help -- and fast. And that's exactly what PokerStars and its players have provided. First, PokerStars donated $1 million to the charity. Then it ran two charity re-buy tournaments. Not only did it donate the entire prize pool created by its players to NOOW, but it also matched it!

PokerStars players' efforts have been fantastic so far. And, for their charitable efforts, eight of the players -- with guests -- have attended the 'Ocean's Thirteen' premieres in both Cannes and Los Angeles. Other winners will receive copies of the DVD when it goes on general release.

The prize for the third 'Ocean's Thirteen Charity Tournament' will be no less spectacular. The winner will receive a signed baize, framed, as you see above.

If you want to donate direct to the charity it couldn't be easier. To transfer funds simply go to the main lobby, then to Requests, and drop down to Transfer Funds. Type in the User ID NOOW and the amount you wish to donate. The funds will then be taken from your account and credited to the charity. All money will go directly to the charity and PokerStars will match all funds donated!

NOTICE: Any money contributed to Not On Our Watch through PokerStars may not be considered a tax-deductible donation in some jurisdictions.

Three PokerStars players have earned a combined $8,845,249 at the final table of the 2007 World Series. Tuan Lam, Raymond Rahme, and Hevad "RaiNKhaN" Khan all made it to the biggest final table in poker and put on a great show for the world.

Tuan Lam, 2nd place, $4,840,981


Raymond Rahme, 3rd place, $3,048,025


Hevad Khan, 6th place, $956,243

Lam, Rahme, and Khan join scores of other PokerStars players who won millions in this year's main event. Be sure to check out the list of all PokerStars World Series Main Event winners.

Here's a list of all the reports from the final table:

2007 World Series: Final Table Coverage (Pt. 1)

2007 World Series: Final Table Coverage (Pt. 2)

2007 World Series: Final Table Coverage (Pt. 3)

2007 World Series: Final Table Coverage (Pt. 4)

2007 World Series: Final Table Coverage (Pt. 5)

2007 World Series: Final Table Coverage (Pt. 6)

2007 World Series: Final Table Coverage (Pt. 7)

2007 World Series: Final Table Coverage (Pt. 8)

2007 World Series: Final Table Coverage (Pt. 9)

2007 World Series: Final Table Coverage (Pt. 10)

2007 World Series: Final Table Coverage (Pt. 11)

2007 World Series: Final Table Coverage (Pt. 12)

2007 World Series: Final Table Coverage (Pt. 13)

This has been a very long seven weeks on Las Vegas with too many stories to list here. We saw members of Team PokerStars make multiple final tables. We saw Supernovas win bracelets. We watched Team PokerStars' Katja Thater win her first World Series bracelet. Finally, we again witnessed how powerful a PokerStars field can be when it brings its online experience to the live felt. For a look back at the entire summer, be sure to visit our 2007 World Series coverage page.

I can't let this final post from the World Series go by without thanking the people who helped make this blog what it has been. Thanks to my co-bloggers Simon Young and Craig Cunningham for their excellent prose, friendship, and support over these past few weeks. I also cannot forget photographer Neil Stoddart and the entire staff of Image Masters for taking the photography on this blog to the next level. I owe many thanks to Matt, Chris, Susan, and Joan for everything from wrangling the players to a couple of key food deliveries that kept me going throughout the Series. Thank you to all the players who were good enough to put up with countless questions, photographs, and intrusions on your game as we sought to tell your story to the world. Finally, I thank you the readers for coming here by the thousands and offering kind comments along the way.

Now it's time at last to put the World Series to bed. It has been an adventure, but I owe my family seven weeks of life and a lot more.

I'm going home.

How appropriate that this is Part 13 of our final table coverage.

Tuan Lam, after making it heads-up for the World Series Championship bracelet has just finished in second place. He got all-in with AQ versus Jerry Yang's 88. Lam looked good for his second double up during heads up place when the flop came down 5Q9. Good fortune, however, would not continue to go his way. The turn was a seven, opening up four more outs for Yang's eights. Only an eight or a six would keep Lam from doubling up.

A six fell on the river, giving Yang the straight and forcing Lam into a second place finish. Still, it was an amazing run for Tuan "BABYHAN" Lam. He walks away this morning with $4,840,981.

It was the hand of the tournament so far.

Jerry Yang had raised to 2.6 million and PokerStars' Raymond Rahme re-raised 6 million more. Yang called. When the flop came J-8-A the South African checked, Yang bet 10 million and Rahme moved all in over the top for 17 million more.

Yang looked like he had been caught. He paced back and forth, muttering to himself, ignoring the crowd's whispers. "There's a friggin' lot of money in there," he said.

We on the rail started to note things. Raymond so rarely made this kind of move. It seemed almost certain he was good and had sprung a deadly trap.

Raymond sat up on his knees, his ESPN microphone transmitter hanging off his belt. He leaned across the felt, his face the same mask of seriousness it had been since he put in the re-raise. And then something odd happened. Raymond started talking. From our spot about twenty feet away, we couldn't hear what he said. Regardless, Raymond's voice seem to startle Yang.

Yang immediately stopped his lion's pace and sprang for the table.

"What?" he said. It was if he could divine the secrets of the universe if Raymond would just repeat himself. Raymond obliged.

And there began a one-minute conversation that we couldn't hear. When the ESPN broadcast comes out, we knew it would be one of a few things we'd be waiting for. Whatever Raymond said, it seemed to set Yang onto a different course.

We turned to each other and agreed Raymond wanted the call. The leaning forward on the table, the spontaneous talking--they seemed like reverse tells and Raymond was hoping Yang would step into the trap.

Later we learned from Tuan Lam what Raymond said:

"Make your decision."

Tuan Lam said, "As soon as he said that, I knew he didn't have it."

That was surely what Yang thought as well, because it was just a couple minutes later that he muttered, "Alright, I call."

The crowd was already on its feet. Now it surged forward. It took about ten seconds for the hands to be revealed, but when they were, Yang pumped his fist, and we knew we were wrong about Raymond. He didn't have a set. He didn't have AK with the heart flush draw. He had a pair of kings, needing a king or runner-runner to win. Yang held A5.

The turn was a 3 and the river a 2, and Rahme's sensational run at the World Series was over.

With that Raymond Rahme busted in third place of the World Series of Poker Main Event after his pocket kings were cracked by Jerry Yang's A-5. After a day when he see-sawed in chips - up to 30 million at one point, and down to 15 million at another - Rahme goes home with $3,048,025 having fought to the bitter end.

"Emotionally I will get over this in about ten minutes," he said. "Quite simply, I made a mistake, the only one I think I have made in the whole tournament. But I am happy with myself and how the tournament went. I said I wanted to go for the bracelet once we were down to four players, and I think I did that."

At 62 - and the oldest player to make the final table - you could forgive the father-of-six for being physically exhausted. "No, I feel physically 100% - I feel 40, not 62. And, yes, I shall be back here next year at the age of 63!"

His exit propelled Yang to a huge 104,445,000 in chips to Tuan Lam's 23,025,000. With Yang's relentless aggression we should have a new champion soon.

That leaves the one remaining PokerStars player left in a quest for the bracelet.

***

Tuan Lam was standing in the airport booked to Vietnam. His luggage was loaded on the plane, but something stirred inside him. "I just felt like I needed to play in the Main Event, and so I decided to head to Las Vegas instead." After he finally convinced the airline to remove his luggage, he headed to the Rio to play in the WSOP $10k No Limit Hold-Em Championship.

He was shaken when he left to eat at the dinner break. "My confidence was low, but when I won with the K-Q hand, it was back. I kept playing my best game from there. With the A-5 hand, I got lucky. But I play short-handed and heads-up a lot."

Tuan jumped from his chair when Jerry Yang made his incredible call of Raymond's all-in, reveling in the moment amidst his friends and family. They went outside beside the temporary tent to have some peace before the battle ahead. "Jerry is aggressive, he raises and puts pressure on. I understand this, and I can play with him."

He is at a significant chip disadvantage, no question. He may not win the bracelet tonight. Tuan has significant experience in this situation, so he won't be intimidated and he won't have many, many heads-up battles to draw from.

He's ready to battle Jerry Yang for the most cherished title in all of poker.

If this final continues in the same fashion, we will all still be here at Christmas. The same four players have been doing battle for an incredible seven and a half hours since the elimination of Britain's Jon Kalmar. And far from the chip stacks getting stretched over time, they have condensed, meaning the Gold Bracelet is within everyone's reach.

Raymond Rahme will be the first to admit that it could have been so very different. Just minutes ago he re-re-raised all in with A-Q and found himself dominated by Jerry Yang's Q-Q. It looked like we would at last be down to three players, and that Yang would have a soar away lead.

But, this being the World Series, not everything is straightforward. If Rahme was to survive, he needed an A. He stood up, and for the first time the wrinkles on his face betrayed his real age. At 62 he is the oldest player to make a final table. He looked at his supporters in an "oh well, it's been a good run" sort of way, and in return they shouted for the dealer to put out the A. He did not mess around, putting it on the flop of 9-4-A.

Rahme punched the air in delight and turned to his crowd, who burst into song. Yang now had only the case Q to save him, but the turn and river came 3 and 5. Rahme ran over to hug his family, then, like the gentleman he is, went over to shake Yang's hand, knowing that he had got lucky.

The pot means Yang is pegged back to 45,600,000, while Rahme, the short stack just an hour ago, is now second and within touching distance on 34,875,000. It's not a two-horse race, though, as Tuan Lam has 27,800,000, and Alex Kravchenko 19,200,000.

Meanwhile, Tuan Lam's battle with Jerry Yang continues. Yang continually raises Tuan's big blind from the small blind as well as button raises. It becomes an expensive orbit for Tuan each time the dealer button passes him by. It is a tangled web as the chipleader, even when brought down to size, stays aggressive with any two cards. Neither Tuan nor Raymond have shown a willingness to play recklessly. Kravchenko has give up some chips to Yang, and now he has slipped down below 18m. Tuan and Raymond have been at the Amazon Room since 10:00AM for interviews. With Wednesday now here, this quarted has been playing for more than twelve hours. They passed their 100th hand with four players, and there is no reason they couldn't play for another four hours.

Grab yourself a hot drink and a snack, folks, this one is going to run and run.

Late add: Alex has just lost a race against Jerry and been eliminated in third place. That leaves Jerry Lang up against PokerStars players Raymond Rahme and Tuan Lam..

If you're just now logging on and want to catch up with where we have been, an index of today's coverage is below.

2007 World Series: Final Table Coverage (Pt. 1)

2007 World Series: Final Table Coverage (Pt. 2)

2007 World Series: Final Table Coverage (Pt. 3)

2007 World Series: Final Table Coverage (Pt. 4)

2007 World Series: Final Table Coverage (Pt. 5)

2007 World Series: Final Table Coverage (Pt. 6)

2007 World Series: Final Table Coverage (Pt. 7)

2007 World Series: Final Table Coverage (Pt. 8)

2007 World Series: Final Table Coverage (Pt. 9)

2007 World Series: Final Table Coverage (Pt. 10)

While we still have the same four players at the table, the dynamics have changed substantially. Granted, Jerry Yang remains in the lead with more than 50 million, but it is the scrap below that has turned on its head.

Alex Kravchenko, the short stack earlier is now in second place, while Tuan Lam, who replaced Alex as the short stack, has himself now doubled through fellow PokerStars Raymond Rahme, leaving the South African bottom of the pile.

Four-handed at the final table

It was a killer hand, with Jerry Yang raising (yet again) to 2.5 million on the button. Lam announced re-raise all in for a total of 11.6 million - and then Rahme, who has been relatively cautious up to now, moved all in himself. Yang stood and looked at the worn photo of his family that he's held for key decisions. He thought long and hard about making the call with a chance to bust both PokerStars players. When he folded, we saw Rahme had Q-Q, well ahead of Lam's A-5 hearts, but the flop came 10-A-10 to move Lam ahead. The 2 on the turn kept him there, and the third A on the river made him the full house for good measure. That hand shot him up to 26.0m. Raymond slipped to 17.1m, visibly stung by the bad beat.

How Rahme deals with being the short stack remains to be seen, but already in the few hands since he raised twice in quick succession - something he has not done until now - then soon after moved all in two hands in a row without resistance.

Earlier, he told us he "felt like a lion" - he'll need a lion's heart and courage to regroup now.

After an afternoon and early evening that saw Jerry Yang run roughshod over the final table, the post-dinner break play has evened out the stacks. Back to back double-ups for Tuan and Alex have returned this from a one-man show into a poker tournament.

Now nearing the eleven o'clock hour, the crowds have thinned out and a majority of the media are waiting for the next big thing to happen. The convention center air conditioning has returned to its Arctic ways and people without sweatshirts are either buying one or shivering.

Earlier tonight, we mentioned the possibility of an early evening here. It now seems clear that won't happen. Yang seems chastened by his after-dinner losses and the other players have slowed down in kind. We are now seeing more measured responses to raises. Instead of raises being met with all-ins, now players are more content to see a flop and play carefully from there.

With Alex Kravchenko doubling through Jerry Yang, the match turned into a four-horse race. Yang dropped below 50m for the first time in quite awhile, with Raymond (30.45m), Kravchenko (27.6m), and Tuan (21.7m) back within striking distance. Anyone who doubled through Yang now would take the chip lead. Yang didn't pull back, though. He fired 2.0m from the button, and Tuan called. The flop came Jd-4d-3d, and Tuan bet 3.0m into the pot. Yang raised another 6.0m, this time without all the study. It was Tuan who had to figure out if he was beat or not, and he ultimately mucked his hand. A couple more hands, and Tuan was back under 14.0m again.

Among the last moments of residual excitement here revolve around the Tuan Lam's timely double-up. As we mentioned earlier, Lam is a lot happier when he's able to play hard, play back, and play aggressive. Below you'll find a couple of pictures of what it looks like when that kind of play works out.

Players have again headed to break. We are still four-handed and looking for a long night ahead.

Tuan Lam is an aggressive player short-handed, certainly with the most experience short-handed at the table with these four men remaining. And it's been a painful afternoon for him.

"Ac-Jc is the best hand I've had the whole day," said Tuan as he headed to the dinner break. "I've had many, many bad hands today. I'm now in a bad position as I'm getting shorter in chips and the blinds are climbing."

Tuan tried to get some things going without cards, but Jerry Yang kept getting in the way. "He's been very aggressive with his stack," he said. "I've had to get away from some hands when Yang has bet into me. When you're up against a big stack, you have to get some cards." And they came.

With blinds up to 200k/400k with 50k antes, Tuan and Yang got into it immediately after dinner. Kravchenko limped on the button, Yang completed his small blind, and Tuan checked. The flop came Js-10c-4d, and Yang checked. Tuan bet 1.5m, and Kravchenko folded. Yang raised to 4.5m, and Tuan sat knew what he would do: he moved all-in for his last 10.8m. Yang went through his ritual of studying his opponent, then he quietly announced call. Yang showed As-10h for middle pair and the over, while Tuan showed Ks-Qc. When another four came on the turn, the crowd and spectators grew restless. Tuan needed a nine, ace, king, or queen on the river, and the dealer flipped over Qd.

When the queen hit, Tuan showed the most emotion since he's been here. He leapt into the stands as his friends and family banged him around like he was in a mosh pit. His chest was still heaving as he stacked the mess of chips in front of him. The drop down to 60.725m didn't hurt Yang too much, but getting Tuan healthily up to 22.7m may come back to haunt him later.



Since the dinner break, Raymond Rahme seems to be quietly digesting the play at the table around him. As Yang's stack took a hit, it meant Rahme, a father of six, was within striking distance at last. But he is yet to pounce, instead getting involved in just a couple of the first post-dinner skirmishes, picking up the blinds and antes both times with meaty raises.

The four remaining players are a contrast of behaviors at the table. Alex Kravchenko may have had a facial tic or slight move of his lip, but that was probably seven or eight years ago. He sits erect and upright. When he makes a move, it is a sudden action after a silent wait. He stands behind his cards when he moves all-in, dour faced and sullen.

Jerry Yang has both hands in front of his mouth and studies his opponent intently before acting. That could be thirty seconds or five minutes. He often stands up to make raises, his small stature making it difficult to reach over the oversized poker table.

Raymond Rahme looks like a great character actor in an old British period film. He crunches his face together, leans back, crinkles his forehead. He's delighted to be here, taking pictures of the cash or heading to his supporters.

Tuan Lam is playing quite deliberately four-handed. His distinctive features are his bushy, spiky hair and his unique sunglasses with their white rims. He pushes up his sunglasses occasionally when faced with a big decision or if he's out of a pot; otherwise, he stays hidden behind the lenses. He looks ten years younger than his 40+ years, and the hip shades add to the effect.

Kravchenko and Tuan sit together at 16.5m, behind Yang with 65.7m and Raymond with 28.8m. The blinds are 200k/400k with a 50k ante. 800k in the pot is a big target, and Yang has been attacking Tuan to his left relentlessly. Tuan has changed gears from Sunday, playing much tighter with Yang's big stack at the table. With an M of 20, Tuan still has plenty of time to move in any direction. He just hopes it is into the pot soon, pulling chips into his stack.

Rahme has been far more active, picking up 4 of the last 11 hands before the ninety-minute dinner break, including one big 5 million re-raise from the big blind to Yang's button raise of 1.5 million. He told us two hours ago he would mean business when it got four-handed, and he is playing it out accordingly.

He has, however, been in a little tit-for-tat skirmish with Alex Kravchenko. On one hand, Rahme in the big blind called Kravchenko's 1.1 million raise from the under the gun. The flop came A-7-2, Rahme checked but then went all in to Kravchenko's 1.1 million bet, causing the Russian to fold.

On the very next hand Rahme made it 2.1 million from the small blind, and Kravchenko, as if in retaliation for the previous hand, moved all in for 9.7 million, from the big blind. PokerStars' Rahme thought for a good few minutes before mucking his cards.

This morning, nearly everyone involved in covering this event had planned to be here until daylight on Wednesday. Now, with more than half the final table gone, some people are already re-booking their flights. At this point, though, it's impossible to say how late we'll be here. Dinner break arrives in just a few minutes. That will delay us a bit. After that, the stress of playing for eight million bucks and the kind of deals being a world champion offers may just slow everything down.

"I'm feeling like a lion," said Raymond Rahme, quite fittingly for a man from South Africa. "It is going exactly as I planned: I'm up about one million from my starting stack today."

You might think the "it's going to plan" line is just a throw-away comment, but for Rahme, he means it - and he proved it, pulling out a piece of paper from his pocket. It was the payout structure sheet.

"I got this on the day I arrived, and ever since then I have written on it where exactly I want to be at each stage. I update it, of course, as we go along, but right now you can see I am about right." He pointed to the spot on the sheet where, among the hastily scribbled notes, he was indeed where he wants to be."

On the sheet, a number of crosses had been put next to the fourth place. What does that mean? "My strategy will be to move when the next person busts, leaving four players. Then I am guaranteed $1.8 million and I shall go after the win."

Is he not a little concerned by Jerry Yang's huge stack? "No, I'm not worried at all about him - he should be worried about me!"

Rahme confided that on the hand that Alex Kravchenko doubled through Khan, he would have made the best hand. "When Alex moved in, I had Q-9 and was willing to call, but Khan moved all in with his 3-3. It was a typical internet move, really, and I had to let it go. Of course, a Q and a 9 came on the flop and I would have made two pair!"

Finally, as Rahme headed back into the room after a 20-minute break, we couldn't resist telling him there were those in the media room who reckon he is a dead ringer for Crocodile Dundee.

"Hardly," he said, "I'm scared of crocodiles!"

Just minutes after they sat back down, Rahme won a huge pot - knocking out Britain's Jon Kalmar in fifth place. He raised with J-J, only for Kalmar to move all in over the top with A-K. Rahme said he was feeling like a lion, and called. The board came 9-6-10-3-3, giving Rahme all of Kalmar's 15 million or so chips. As a result, he soars past the 30 million mark and is now in prime position to battle with Jerry Yang.

Kalmar takes home $1,255,069, and what a difference a week makes. He won his seat for the Main Event in the last satellite at The Rio - and that was after blowing most of his bankroll in the events leading up to it. In fact, he was so disheartened he nearly flew back to Britain early, but the cost of changing his flight was too much!

Across the table, Tuan Lam has been one cool customer through the fireworks around him. In the first fifty-five hands, Tuan raised pre-flop six times, taking the blinds and antes five of those times. Raymond Rahme took down the sixth pot when he bet 2.0m on the flop. Tuan also called one raise and took down the pot on the flop. All of that is good for 19.915m, now in third behind Raymond but quite a distance from Jerry Yang's 73.0m.

Harrah's officials and security brought in the $8.25m first prize into the room, and Tuan couldn't take his eyes off of the monster pile. Dollar bills have been in the middle of the cash bricks, but I doubt anyone will be able to find that out until he is holding them. Tuan and Raymond have moved up from $525,934 to at least $1,852,721.

RaiNKhaN has danced his last step at the 2007 World Series.

Jerry Yang, as we've reported here already, has been as active as anybody at the final table. He'd busted every player so far. One time, he'd made a move with J8, only to have it suck out on Lee Child's KJ. RaiNKhaN no doubt held this in mind as he put together an unorthodox play from the small blind.

It could best be described as a combination isolation stop-and-go. After facing a raise to 1.5 million from Yang, RaiNKhaN made it six million to play from the small blind. This left RaiNKhaN only about three million in his stack. Yang, instead of re-raising all-in, simply called. Before the flop came out, RaiNKhaN moved all-in in the dark. The flop fell K42. Yang didn't think for long before calling.

Yang ended up turning over JJ against RaiNKhaN's AQ.

By the river, RaiNKhaN had not caught up and was eliminated in sixth place.

It's been rare in the past week to see RaiNKhaN get in with the worst of it. He finally decided it was time to start pushing the edges.

"I played as good as I can in this tournament," he said. "I lost two races in a row. I don't blame [Yang] for the call. He's been playing great. I guess it's just his day. I wish him the best of luck."

When it was over, RaiNKhaN walked out into a different world. Hordes of media were lines up for interviews. Spectators were waiting with Sharpie markers in hand and requesting autographs.







For the past year or so, RaiNKhaN has been famous as the not-bot in PokerStars SNG lore. Now, he moves on to a different kind of fame...and a different kind of fortune. For his sixth place finish, he earns $956,243.

After all the theatrics and histrionics displayed by Hevad "RaiNKhaN" in the past week, I think both the crowd and ESPN producers were a little disappointed in the early going. Khan didn't seem to be himself. Although he had a playable stack, the heavy early action kept him from getting into pots. And, when Khan can't get in a pot, he rarely seems happy. Further, we don't get to see his dancing, nor hear his primal screams.

That has all changed post 3pm today. With play now six-handed, Khan has started getting involved. In fact, even when we thought he would be shut out of pots by raises, he has come over the top. Within a span of just a few minutes, Khan was all-in twice. Neither time did the players in front of him choose to call. Both times, the crowd got a RaiNKhaN Dance treat. After getting some work done, Khan once again fell down below seven million.

The dancing ended about half an hour later when Alex Kravchenko moved all-in pre-flop. From the small blind, Khan isolated with pocket threes. He found he was in the race situation he was expecting: pocket three versus KsJs. A jack on the flop put Khan way behind. He never caught up.

Raymond Rahme continues his patient game, sensing perhaps that his best chance is catch a monster hand and get heads up against Yang. He has been involved only twice in the last hour - first he was in the big blind and faced a raise of 750,000 from Tuan Lam in the cut off. Rahme called, and on the flop of Q-9-6 bet two million. It was too much for Lam.

On the very next hand, with blinds of 150,000-300,000 with a 40,000 running ante, Rahme picked up the big blind and antes with a minimum raise in the small blind, showing 9-9.



The South African PokerStars player - a media wag here thinks Rahme looks like Crocodile Dundee - is now just shy of his 16,320,000 starting stack, but he must be happy to have thus far escaped being flattened by the Jerry Yang steamroller.

We overheard Phil Gordon contemplating who would be affected the most by the jumps in prize money. There should be some players who play skittish, but you can guarantee Tuan Lam is not one of them.

Tuan made the biggest jump heading into the Final Table, going from 3.46m to 21.32m. You don't do that by accident. He won a monster pot against John Armbrust, increasing his stack over 5.5m with a paired board and four spades (he had Js-9s for the second nut flush). He took an 11.5m pot

Tuan entered the day #2 in chips, but Jerry Yang has been the story so far. He moved in twice in the first, pushing Lee Childs off of pocket queens on a baby flop then moving all-in on Philip Hilm to take down a 11.5m pot. He then called Hilm's all-in on a Kd-Jd-5c-2h board. Hilm had 8d-5d, and Yang showed Ad-Ks which held up. It was first to worst for Hilm, and Yang moved up to 44.88m. He then raised pre-flop and saw Lee Watkinson move all-in for 9.745m. Yang took several minutes to call with A9o vs Watkinson's A-7o. Watkinson 2-4-6 came on the flop, and the turn king brought Watkinson to three outs. A jack on the river sent a very dangerous Lee Watkinson out in 8th. "I wasn't playing to move up; I was playing to win," said Watkinson. This is true of course, but neither Watkinson nor Hilm can do anything now Yang is now up to 55m with a solid chiplead.

Tuan is solidly 2nd in chips with 20.775m. He's shown over the last three days that he fights for every pot he is in. He's playing tight in these first dozen hands, in no rush to prove himself to anyone at the table.

Meanwhile, Hevad "RaiNKhaN" Khan and Raymond Rahme are having a hard time getting into a pot. With Jerry Yang playing nearly every pot, Rahme's tight style and Khan's low chip stack mean we've seen very little action from these two players. Khan pushed two hands in a row during the first level of play, but only picked up the blinds and antes.

Khan's Rain Dance

The pair clashed once early on, when Khan raised in mid position to 700,000. Rahme hit back with a re-raise to 2.8 million, forcing Khan to fold. Lam, Rahme and Britain's Jon Kalmar, who have the larger of the remaining stacks behind Yang, could be forgiven for letting Yang to do the dirty work, climb up the ladder and hope to get heads up.

Right now, a lot of people would have you believe it's a battle for second place. That remains to be seen.

The line of spectators snaked from the Amazon Room, down the hall (and believe us, it's a long hall) and nearly all the way out of the front door. But only a few of them would get a prized position to watch the final from the comfort of a grandstand seat. The rest were offered batches of chairs, laid out neatly in lines in front of various television screens around the room. It was like an open-plan school, with classes dotted around at which the students sat waiting eagerly for their poker lesson.

But when it all started, they were disappointed, as while the screens above the final table showed all the action, the ones they were forced to watch screened only the flop cam. It meant they saw some cards laid out, the occasional chip passing by, and the top of the dealer's head. But that was it. Soon, the pupils had truancy on their mind, not poker, and started drifting away.

Stuck in one corner of the room, on a little stage, sat Phil Gordon, doing his hand-by-hand commentary here for television. At least he gave the crowd something to gawp at.

The final table started in typically showbiz fashion - with first the National Anthem, and then each player introduced one-by-one to the crowd. Of our three here, South African Raymond Rahme came on first to enthusiastic roars from his family and friends. The 62-year-old is the first player from Africa to make it to the final table, and he won his seat here as part of his prize for coming fourth in the All Africa Poker Championship.

Tuan Lam, from Canada, came on next to more cheers from his fans, many waving Canadian flags - and then Hevad "RaiNKhan" Khan was introduced. He ran in bouncing around and cheering, no doubt letting off some of his boundless energy before the final got under way.

Another player at the final table will be familiar to PokerStars players. Philip Hilm, from Denmark, has enjoyed considerable success on the PokerStars European Poker Tour, and also represented Poland (where half his family come from) at last year's PokerStars World Cup of Poker - see here for details of this year's World Cup and how you can take part.

At the EPT, Hilm came fourth in the Copenhagen event in season two for $90,000, and also a creditable 15th in season three's Monte Carlo Grand Final for another $53,000. You can watch him in EPT action here. At the World Cup of Poker, Hilm's Poland team won the event. You can see him in World Cup action here.

Early action has not seen a lot of work by the three PokerStars players in the field. With only an hour and half under our belts, there's still time for that. Just ask Philip Hilm (mentioned a mere one paragraph of above this one). He just got the rest of his chips in on a draw versus Jerry Yang one with one card to come. Hilm needed a five, eight, or diamond on the river and didn't get there. He was eliminated in ninth place.

The line stretching into the Amazon Room is as long as it as has been. Despite there being only nine players left in this championship event, it seems a crowd has developed from nowhere. In the past, tournament directors and ESPN have actively recruited spectators to watch--something akin to a carival barker pulling people into the House of Mirrors. In the line stand a motley crew. One man is wearing a t-shirt with a picture of Charles Manson and the subtitle, "Role Model for America's Youth." Another guy is wearing a hat fashioned from a case of Milwaukee's Best Light.

Today, nine people will vie for the $8.25 million first prize. Among them are three PokerStars players, each of whom have a legimate shot at the title (see "Three PokerStars Players at Final Table" for more information on the players).

Tuan Lam


Raymond Rahme


Hevad "RaiNKhaN" Khan

Here's how the players stack up going into the first hand (PokerStars players listed in bold).

Philip Hilm 22,070,000
Tuan Lam 21,315,000
Jon Kalmar 20,320,000
Raymond Rahme 16,320,000
Lee Childs 13,240,000
Lee Watkinson 9,925,000
Hevad Khan 9,205,000
Jerry Yang 8,450,000
Alex Kravchenko 6,570,000

Here are the prizes they are fighting for.

1. $8,250,000
2. $4,840,981
3. $3,048,025
4. $1,852,721
5. $1,255,069
6. $956,243
7. $705,229
8. $585,699
9. $525,934

This is the moment we've been leading up to for the past six weeks. While media rules prohibit us from covering the final table hand by hand, we will have regular posts here throughout the day, so be sure to check back for all the news on the PokerStars players left in the big one.

By the members of Team Blog

When the final table of the 2007 World Series kicks off on Tuesday, three PokerStars players will be vying for the gold championship bracelet. Among them are a PokerStars VIP Club Supernova, a high-limit cash game specialist, and a sexagenarian from South Africa.

Here's what the final table looks like (with PokerStars players in bold).

Philip Hilm 22,070,000
Tuan Lam 21,315,000
Jon Kalmar 20,320,000
Raymond Rahme 16,320,000
Lee Childs 13,240,000
Lee Watkinson 9,925,000
Hevad Khan 9,205,000
Jerry Yang 8,450,000
Alex Kravchenko 6,570,000

Here's a bit more about the PokerStars players at the final table.

Tuan Lam

Tuan Lam is a 40-year-old former poker dealer from Ontario, Canada. Known as BABYHAN on PokerStars, you'll find him regularly playing the high-limit cash games to a lot of success. Lam finished runner-up in the 2005 World Championship of Online Poker $200 short-handed no-limit hold'em event. He has played a few big live tournaments, but this is by far his biggest tournament cash so far.


Raymond Rahme

Sixty-two year-old Raymond Rahme only started playing no-limit hold'em two years ago. This life-long seven card stud player is a semi-retired entrepreneur from South Africa and is part of a television program that has followed him here to Vegas. Rahme has a large contingent of South Africans here with him in Las Vegas and was responsible for breaking the final table bubble by busting the tenth place player after flopping a set of queens.


Hevad "RaiNKhaN" Khan

Hevad "RaiNKhaN" Khan is an imposing and excitable figure who is a PokerStars VIP Club Supernova. Once accused of being a poker bot, RaiNKhaN is famous for being able to play dozens of SNGs at the same time on a single 17" monitor. RaiNKhaN has developed quite a following here after proving to be the most animated character left in the event. This is RaiNKhaN's second trip to the World Series main event. He now stands to make more money than he ever has before.

The game will resume on Tuesday at noon. The final nine players will be competing for these prizes.

1. $8,250,000
2. $4,840,981
3. $3,048,025
4. $1,852,721
5. $1,255,069
6. $956,243
7. $705,229
8. $585,699
9. $525,934

Final table play will last for hours and hours (some have predicted anywhere between 18 and 22). It will be a marathon. Still, getting there wasn't easy either.

***

The Amazon Room is a 39,000 square foot ballroom, used for conventions and trade shows. Two months out of the year, it becomes a poker room for the WSOP. Down to eleven players, only a twentieth of the space is used to hold the final two tables. The ESPN Feature Table is down to five players: Tuan Lam, Scotty Nguyen, Philip Hilm, Raymond Rahme, and Lee Childs.

Short-handed play at the Main Event can be difficult to adjust to for some players. Those experienced with this part of a tournament can grab crucial chips needed at a Final Table while others stay tight and hope to wait out the next guy to bust. The money starts jumping after the tenth player busts, and no one wants to be the Final Table bubble boy. Play was not weak/tight, but it certainly was deliberate. Each hand was unpredictable. One would be a quick raise met by universal folds and resulted in a pot only as big as the blinds and antes. The next would be an excruciatingly long hand that lasted longer than some Turbo SNG's. Screams came from sweaters as one player or another took down a big pot. For the most part, it was a long process of sitting and waiting, for the players as well as the spectators. Short-handed play ended there with the unexpected elimination of The Poker Prince Scotty Nguyen. That left PokerStars players Raymond Rahme and Tuan Lam.

On what PokerNews dubbed "The Outer Table," play was not much different. However, it did feature the most animated player left in the field. After a card-dead opening to the day, PokerStars qualifier Hevad "RaiNKhaN" Khan built up a head of steam, and then got together a decent stack that gives him plenty of ammunition for the final table. Two big pots after the dinner break against first Jerry Yang and then Jon Kalmar pushed him over the 12,000,000 mark. And although he slipped back a bit, he is in far better shape than he could have hoped for just hours earlier.

He spent most of the day on the outer table, and ended his stay there in typically aggressive fashion in the big blind, re-raising Lee Watkinson's 500,000 bet from the cut-off to 1,170,000 to take the pot without further bloodshed. Finally when Nguyen busted off the feature table, the final ten players got together to knock off one more player.

That process took a couple of hours and only ended when Steven Garfinkle moved all-in pre-flop with A3. Rahme woke up in the small blind with pocket queens, made the call, and flopped a set. A couple of cards later, Garfinkle was out and the final table was set.

Here's a look back at the rest of the day's coverage:

Roy's 4's

Lazy Sunday

Scott Freeman's Magic

Focus

Patience is a virtue

John Armbrust from the felt

Big han's for BABYHAN

Strong Rain forecast

John Armbrust's finish

Almost Everybody Loves Raymond Rahme

RaiNKhaN storms up leaderboard

by Simon Young

At the dinner break, PokerStars Supernova Hevad "RaiNKhaN" Khan was slightly downcast. He had slipped down the leaderboard and was card dead. He needed hands - and he needed them quick. Furthermore, he needed action. "And I need to adapt and try and play strong," he added.

Hevad Khan: begging for his hand to hold up
Well, what a difference two hours makes. After picking up two huge pots, Khan has soared to 12,740,000 million chips, well above average, and is able to do considerable damage to his table's and tournament chip leader Jon Kalmar from Britain, who has a massive 22,800,000.

And, as we have seen so many times before here, when Khan wins a big pot, everyone in the room gets to know about it pretty quick. I picked the first action up when the flop was A-K-Q two diamonds. Khan was facing a bet from Jerry Yang - and re-raised all in for 825,000 more. Yang went into the tank, then stood up. Khan sat as still as a rock, staring down at his lap. "If I am wrong this will cost me a lot of money," said Yang, desperate to get a reaction. "Of course, if I am right...."

He called. Khan rolled over K-Q for two pair... then shrieked with delight as Yang produced A-6 for top pair and no diamonds. "Hhhhoooolllllddd," cried Khan, almost unable to look. The turn was a 3 and the river a 10. He doubled up, ran around the floor, jumped up and down and screamed at the top of his voice. I think he was happy.

Soon after he faced a 300,000 pre-flop bet and re-raised to 750,000. He collected those spoils without further confrontation.

Then, another huge engagement, this time with Kalmar, whose wife flew in from England only this afternoon to support her man. Khan raised to 300,000 from under the gun, and Kalmar called. The flop was J-K-10. Khan bet 300,000 again, and once more Kalmar called. The turn was a 4 and both checked, but on the river, another 10, Khan put out a huge 3 million chips. Kalmar called quickly, saw Khan turn over K-10 for the boat, and mucked.

Cue more general leaping, dancing, and shouting from the PokerStars player as he took congratulations from his fans and friends in the crowd.

With 12 players left, we are getting close to our final table. And with Khan getting the cards and the action he needs, he's a pretty good bet to be there.

The board read 7sAcQs7d9h and South Africa's Raymond Rahme had just called Ray Henson's monster bet on the river. Henson knocked the table and flipped up 63, a big bluff that went very wrong. Surely, we all expected, Rahme was going to turn up at least an ace. Or even a queen. A nine, perhaps?

No, Rahme turned up pocket eights.

There was a collective gulp, followed by a series of "Nice hands," around the room. Hensen and his sweaters--a big group of young pros--were aghast. Rahme's South African rail went nuts.

When the noise died down, Scotty Nguyen said "Thank God he likes me," and bowed to the sixty-two year old semi-retired entrepreneur.

With thirteen players remaining, Rahme--the a sexagenarian who only started playing no-limit hold'em a couple of years ago--has done his share of damage. He busted PokerSTars Bob Slezak with pocket sevens to Slezak's pocket fours. What's more, at the night started to grow little late, he rivered a straight against Philip Hilm's trips.


Bob Slezak -- 15th place $429,114

PokerStars cannibalism has become fairly commonplace. In just the past few minutes, Tuan Lam has sent David Tran to the rail in fourteenth place with AK vs 66 all-in pre-flop. An elimination seconds later left us with just three more to lose before the final table.


David Tran -- 14th place $429,114

by Craig Cunningham

I met Doug Kim last year when I interviewed Jason Strasser for PokerStars blog. If you don't remember, Jason was one of the chip leaders into the money but suffered a horrific beat when his aces were cracked by A-Ks. Following Doug gave me someone to root for until the Final Table, when he went out in 7th place. Doug then went to work shortly after his Main Event experience, playing little poker as he worked long hours for a consulting firm. David Einhorn finished 18th last year in the Main Event. You probably remember him from ESPN for his sweatshirt with handprints of his family covering it. Einhorn donated his $659,730 winnings to the Michael J. Fox Foundation for Parkinson's Research, an incredibly selfless act after getting down to the last two tables.

John Ambrust is hardly similar to Einhorn, the investment banker, husband, and father. John is three years out of Duke and has a girlfriend. His last job hasn't been financially lucrative, but it has been as selfless as Einhorn's action. John is a teacher with a special interest in underprivileged youth. He taught 8th grade math (what else?) in inner city Atlanta and just moved to Los Angeles, where he will be teaching 9th and 10th grade math and algebra.

Last year as a PokerStars qualifier, he was among the chipleaders heading to the cash bubble. Over a span of a couple levels, he went from a ton of chips to an exit short of the money. This year, he finished 18th for $381,302. Two hands were key to his exit.

In a limped pot, the flop came Kd-6s-8s. Tuan Lam bet 350k, and John called along with Lee Childs. Ks came on the turn, and Tuan checked. John fired out 1.5m, and Tuan called after Childs folded. The fourth spade, an ace, brought ooh's and aah's from the crowd. Tuan checked, and John fired out 3m. Tuan called pretty quickly with Js-9s, and John mucked. "It was the third bluff that didn't work out of probably a hundred," he said afterwards.

He folded for probably an orbit, then Ray Hinson and Lee Childs limped 100k from the button. John raised for another 600k, and after a couple minutes Childs made it another 1.6m. John quickly moved all-in for another 3.34m. It took several minutes, but Childs called with Ac-Qs. John flipped over As-Ks, a dominating position. It was a sick sound when Jc-7c-2c came on the flop, and when the 10c flipped over on the turn, it was the end for John Armbrust. It was a sick way to go out, but is there any other?

Armbrust waits to see if Childs will call

John and I headed to his Mexican dive that he found. He followed Jim McManus' "Positively Fifth Street" book as a guide for playing in the Main Event. He ate the same meal for lunch and dinner, wore the same basic outfit. A Bellagio cap sat on his head. He sent regular emails and text messages to his sister, who then forwarded the information through his big fan base in Austin.

He'll be playing more on PokerStars in the future and may play tournaments in Commerce. But he has a new home and a new job and a girlfriend now living in the same city as he is for the first time in their relationship. And he has new kids to connect with, to make a difference in their lives. And if he can sneak in a tournament here and there, that's adds up as well.

by Simon Young

After days of hearing about Hevad "RaiNKhaN" Khan's aggressive and creative play, I was looking forward to the last level when he was sitting on the tables I was covering, one of only two remaining. Nothing happened in the first 30, then 60, then 90 minutes. Finally, in the closing minutes, he raised twice... and it was folded around each time.

Hevad "RaiNKhaN" Khan: time to adapt
Was he just tightening up because, with just 17 players left, he could smell the final table? Or was it simply that he was getting no cards?

"Mainly that I have been pretty card dead," he said. "But also we are pretty deep here and there's no point in being reckless."

Furthermore, he has a pretty tricky table right now, with Lee Watkinson huge in chips (12,875,000) after doubling through with A-K against Will Spadea's 9-9, Britain's Jon Kalmar is up to 9.6 million and Kenny Tran is on 9.1 million.

"Yeah, that is my other big problem," Khan said. "I only have a certain amount of control now - the table is really quite tough. But what I need to do now is adapt and try and play strong."

Khan is a confident chap, though, and he will not be intimidated by anyone around him, even those with huge stacks. It will take just a few cards at the right time to get him shooting back up the leaderboard.

Seventeen players remain - blinds will now be 60,000-120,000 with a 15,000 running ante.

"You're playing like a champion, Tuan!"

Those words floated down to the ESPN stage, dainty as the lady who delivered them. In fact, at the moment, Tuan Lam was playing with even more in his heart. He was playing like he already had his eye on the championship bracelet.

Lam took second place in the six-handed no-limit hold'em event in the 2005 PokerStars World Championship of Online Poker for $55,000. Although he's played a few $10,000 live events, he's never had a huge cash. Now, he's on the verge of the world's biggest cash of the year and the second biggest prize in poker history.

Players just took their dinner break and I'm skipping mine to deliver the news that Lam now holds the chip lead in the 2007 World Series. [Note: Official chip counts just came in and show Lam is actually in second place after Lee Childs won a monster hand against John Armbrust at the end of the last level.]

His chips came largely at the expense of PokerStars' John Armbrust. It was an unraised pot with Lam and Armbust in the blinds. The button limped in, So did Lam from the small blind, and Armbrust checked his option. The flop came down Kd6s8s. Lam led at the pot for 350,000, Armbrust called, and so did the button. The crowd "oooooh"ed when the turn brought the king of spades. This time, Lam checked, and Armbrust came at the pot for 1.5 million. The button folded, but Lam called. The crowd "ahhhhhh"ed when the As fell on the river. Lam checked again and Armbrust didn't think for long before announcing, "The bet is three million." Lam called and it was immediately clear Armbrust was beat. Lam flipped up Js9s for the flush.

That pot, bigger than ten million, moved Lam immediately to the chip lead.

Ambrust (left) and Lam prepare to go to battle

Lam, known as BABYHAN on PokerStars, can be found playing some pretty big cash games online. That's just about all he does to make money. At 40 years old, his face looks a lot younger. Hailing from Canada, it's been pretty common to see Lam break his poker face and crack a smile at his friends on the rail. During slow periods in the game, he walks over to them and speaks in rapid-fire Vietnamese. I have no idea what he's saying, but it's pretty clear that he's happy.



A one-time dealer, Lam now spends his life playing online poker. Whatever he's learned there seems to be serving him well here today. At the dinner break, he has more than 15 million chips. Only 17 players remain in the event and Lam is looking good to make the final table with ease.

by Craigh Cunningham

John "texduke" Armbrust wasn't down to a chip and a chair yesterday, but he wasn't far from it. He was so low in chips that he started using them to form the letters "AA" as he pleaded with the dealer for any card. "Moving up a cash level is not the way I play, but I had just a horrible run of bad cards. Any time I was in position, I'd have a raise in front of me with rags." John asked another player to give him 5k chips from his 25k chips, and he spelled "ESPN" with the new chips.

Without Ryan Elson to one to his right, he wouldn't be alive. Elson gave him a walk twice in his big blind, and John had 5-3 and 4-3 for the two blinds. From there, it was a big evening. He almost tripled up then doubled up with pocket 7's. ESPN has named him the Kid that Can't be Killed, and he ended the night squarely in 18th with 2.6m.

His day today has been terrific. He sits on 7.0m with twenty-one players remaining. He made a big play against Scott Freeman. John raised to 100k, and Scott made it 550k to go. John re-raised another 850k, and after several minutes, Scott folded.

Down to twenty-seven players, John moved to a table with Alex Kravchenko, Bill Edler, chipleader Lee Childs, Roy "The Oracle" Winston, PokerStars Raymond Rahme, and Jerry Yang. John and Roy got involved in another big pre-flop hand. Bill Edler made it 250k to go, John called, and Roy made a 750k raise. After Edler folded, John moved all-in. It was a gutsy play, and Roy had a great deal to think about. He had A-K, and he didn't want to call off his chips. The 9s called the clock, and Roy let the clock run out to kill his hand. It put John up to 7.0m. Roy went out a few hands later in a coin flip with Jerry Yang, pocket queens vs Ac-Kd. Yang spiked an ace, and Roy was out in 26th place ($333,490).

Raymond Rahme has had an adventure this tournament. He and John have shared the same table before and after the redraw. The 62 year-old entrepreneur from Johannesburg, South Africa has only been playing NLH for two years, but he's been long time stud player for most of his life. He's stayed out of harm's way and sits on 5.0m in chips with twenty-one players remaining. Scott "SCTrojans" Freeman moved back to Raymond and John's table, and you knew fireworks would ensue.



John raised Raymond's blind, and he called. The flop came Kd-Jd-3d, and Raymond fired out 350k, John folding as the flop missed him bigtime. Two hands later, Scott raised in the small blind to 325k, and John re-raised to a million. In a syncopated beat, Scott moved all-in and John insta-called. It was Scott's pocket tens vs. A-K for John. As-Kh-3h-Qc kept it interesting, but the river 6c busted out one of the toughest players left, Scott Freeman (19th $333,490). That puts John up to 4th in chips as the redraw to the last two tables.

by Simon Young

David Tran began the day as chip leader and, despite getting involved in a flurry of action early in the first session, he has sat back more in the last two-hour level. In fact, I think I saw him involved in no more than five hands.

"I just have to be patient," he said, "and wait for the right hand. But it is going okay for now."

David Tran: biding his time
With 6,690,000 in chips, he is in the comfort zone at the moment, but blinds are about to go up to 50,000-100,000 with a 10,000 running ante.

That may speed some of the action up for those on the shorter stacks. But for now David, from California, and another PokerStars player at his table, Tuan Lam (6,100,000) will play the same game.


PokerStars chat: Jason Welch, left, and Tuan Lam
Not so PokerStars player Jason Welch - he busted almost as soon as they returned from the break. He was down to his last 1,585,000 and you sensed it was all going in the middle very soon. Sure enough he pushed with A-3 only to come up against the pocket jacks of Steven Garfinkle in the small blind. The board of K-5-2-2-10 failed to help and Welch took home $333,490.

His table - as well as Tran and Lam - includes Scotty Nguyen, the only surviving former World Champion (1998), and Brit Jon Kalmar, who has put on a surge, busting two players in the past 45 minutes.

Aggression is the key - Scotty Nguyen took a nice pot off Kalmar with 9 high and a missed flush draw, while David Tran took down a pot off Welch by betting 350,000 on a J-5-5 flop.

It's all very much cat and mouse, but with the prize money now approaching $350,000, no one wants to make a mistake.

For the past six and half weeks, the Rio Convention Center has looked like a giant festival. Vendors pitched their products, people walked around in silly costumes or like biped-billboards, and poker was played on 200-300 tables at any given time. To anyone looking in from the outside, it would've looked like some odd and expensive carnival.

Now a sign in the hallway reads "Live poker moved to Rio Poker Room." A new convention has entered the hall, imploring its conventioneers, "RetailNOW! Educate, Engage, Empower!" Most of the poker vendors have either packed up or reduced their prices in anticipation of the end.

The Amazon Room's lights have dimmed and only three tables are in action. Around those table now sit 26 people with the dream of winning $8.2 million and the world championship bracelet. Last night the mood was still celebratory and sometimes silly. Today, the players are more quiet. Even RaiNKhaN seems reserved. Whether he still needs six or seven more Red Bulls before he gets pumped up or he's intent on focusing today, he's not dancing today. At least not yet.

Even when the fire alarm went off earlier, the players barely noticed. At the ESPN table, Scott Freeman, Bob Slezak, and RaiNKhaN all sit with a seemingly nervous energy. They are all very accomplished players, but this is all their best shot yet to make life changing money.

RaiNKhaN gives a pre-game interview


Focused Freeman


Bob Slezak

As the players fall off one by one (we're now down to 22), the players seem to grow even more attentive. Roy Winston's pocket queens couldn't hold up against AK. Jeff Bryan ended up getting JT in against AK and couldn't draw out. It moved everybody else focused harder on their opponents.


Jeff Bryan, 27th place


Roy Winston, 26th place

Thirteen more players will fall before Day 6 ends. With two hours left before the dinner break, I'm siding with the people who predicted a late night tonight. If anything though, everything is in focus. In the center of the frame sits the final table of the 2007 World Series.

by Craig Cunningham

USC Trojan Scott "SCTrojans" Freeman started the day solidly with 7.36m in chips. He's been a force at the bid PokerStars MTT's, and he's a force here with twenty-eight players left. "He's the third best player in our home game," said one of his friends supporting him. "He has a dog named Daisy!" shouted another.

His table includes 1998 WSOP Main Event Champion Scotty Nguyen and Alex Kravchenko, a WSOP bracelet winner earlier in the event. It has been other players who have put him to the test.



John Armbrust in the 4s raised to 100k, and Scott in the 5s made it 625k to go in a battle of the blinds. Armbrust laid the hand down. A few hands later, Armbrust made it 100k again, and Scott made it 550k to go. Armbrust then re-popped him another 850k. Scott was forced to lay down. He got involved next with Ron Kluber in the 1s. Kluber called Scott's 165k raise in the big blind, then both checked the 8d-As-Js. 3h on the turn brought "I'm all-in" from Kluber. "Wow!" exclaimed Scott, and he stood up to begin the process of thinking through the hand. It was a 2.8m bet, another bizarre twist in this Main Event. After a couple minutes, Scott said "I call," and showed Ad-9c. Kluber flipped over Jd-9h, dead to two outs. 3c sent Kluber home, and put him up to 7.4m.

He was back to square one, and eight players left in the first level of the day. The former Magic player will take that, no question.

by Simon Young

It's Sunday afternoon, and while most folks are relaxing with the family, washing the car or tending to the garden, 36 returned here for Day 6 of the World Series Main Event, hoping to get through today to reach Tuesday's final table - and the $8,250,000 first prize on offer.

Happily, many of them are PokerStars players. Way back on Friday July 6 when all this kicked off, the Amazon Room on Day 1A was packed out with all shapes and sizes of players, and most tables had one of our representatives on board. It was the same for the next three flights.

So despite a huge starting number of more than 6,000 for this poker marathon, to have four PokerStars players on one of just four remaining tables for the sprint finish is a great credit to them and the site.

David Tran: involved in early action
This table - with the number 2 hanging above - is currently home to David Tran, Bob Slezak, Jason Welch and Jeff Bryan. And the action has been fast and furious so far.

With blinds starting out today at 30,000-60,000, Tran, from California, kicked off the first tussle raising before the flop and being called by Bryan. They saw a flop of 6-A-Q, and Tran led out with another 285,000. Bryan called. The turn was a 4, and when Tran bet 625,000, Bryan moved all in for another 1.2 million. It was too much for Tran, and he folded.

Tran,who started today as chip leader, has been playing poker for ten years or so, mostly as a cash game specialist at the $100-$200 limit holdem tables. He also has an impressive number of tournament cashes, including a second in a WSOP circuit event at the Rio in 2005 which netted him $58,821.

But that figure will be dwarfed by his payday here - he is already guaranteed at least $285,678.


Jeff Bryan: picked up nice early pot
Bryan is a sales manager for a construction equipment company back home in Fort Calhoun in Nebraska. His wife, Donna, is here railing him today.

Bryan said: "I managed to pick that one big pot up early on against David Tran. I had A-6 and had flopped two pair - a read a bit weakness in him, so re-raised all in. I think he had an ace, but that was it. That put me on approaching 3 million in chips, but after the first level I'm back to 2 million or so. I've not really had many cards."

Bryan has several decent tournament cashes to his name, including $10,843 for tenth place in a WSOP circuit event in February this year, and $61,000 for third in the $5,000 Scotty Nguyen Poker Challenge in June last year. Scotty is still in this event, too, although down to 1.4 million.

As players head back from the 20-minute level break, we have lost one of our number, Hoa Nguyen, who was busted by Lee Childs. Nguyen had 5-5, Childs A-9 and all the money went in at the end when the board showed 3-2-2-9-4.

"My close friend had a premonition that I would finish 4th, 14th, or 44th," said Roy "The Oracle" Winston. "I've had quad four's twice and two sets of fours, and it is great to get past 44th. I think I'd be disappointed now to get 14th, but I'll take 4th now."

Roy had a very tough day yesterday. "I had very tough cards, and the ESPN cameras will show that I had to lay down alot of hands. It turned out to be right every time. I dodge lots of bullets out there." Roy sat across from Kenny Tran most of the day.

"The only time I tried to make a move all day, Kenny made a fabulous call against me." Roy raised 50k pre-flop then fired 150k into a flop of 7h-8h-3h. He bet 350k when 2h fell on the turn, and when 2d came on the river, Roy bet 700k. Again, Tran called and showed Ad-8s for top pair top kicker. No heart for Roy, and Tran drug the huge pot.

"I play high-limit cash games with Kenny alot, and he knows I play fairly tight," Roy said. "I think he's one of the three or four best cash players around."

Day 4 was like walking through a minefield for Roy. "Of the original nine players at my table, eight were gone plus six others that sat down. It was something to watch." He almost made a final table earlier this year in the $1.5k Limit Hold-Em Shootout. "I'll tell you a funny story. It was down to three in our shootout table, and Victor Ramdin really wanted to play in another event. He started pushing with anything, and I picked up aces. He cracked them catching two pair with a horrible hand, and I ended up out of the event."

The Oracle hopes to see lots of fours and get deep tonight.

I'm not sure there was a day so far the World Series that carried such importance, potential wealth, or tension as Day 5. With still a hundred players in action at the beginning of the day, the jump between beginning bottom payout and the money with which players would finish was astounding. Close to life changing.

At the beginning of the day, it was virtually anybody's game. It would be a matter of not only who played better, but who ran better. That seems like a painfully obvious statement, but with the stacks as deep as they were, this was no crapshoot. It was not simply a matter of running well.

Enter the online kings Hevan "RaiNKhaN" Khan, Scott "SCTrojans" Freeman, and David Tran. All are big PokerStars players and all are huge stacks with 36 players remaining in the field. With a combination of tabletime and fading the bad luck, they all finished near the top of the field.

Scott Freeman


RaiNKhaN

In other news, Philip Yeh, a PokerStars player from Sweden, busted in 40th place. It was a battle of the blinds - Philip in the small blind re-raised all in to Billy Spadea's bet. Call. Yeh had A-5 hearts, Spadea A-8 spades, leaving Yeh in a tight spot. It got tighter when the flop came 6-Q-8 rainbow - and his tournament door was slammed shut whan J hit the turn. Yeh takes home $237,865.

Soon after another PokerStars player, Rep Porter busted in 39th. He was in the cut-off and had just 15,000 left. His chips went in with J-8, but he ran up against Tuan Lam's J-J. No miracle arrived and Porter pockets the same payday as Yeh.

With an average chip count of around 3.5 million, there are still a number of PokerStars players still alive in the field. In addition to the above runners, we'll be watching Bob Slezak, Raymond Rahme, Hoang Nguyen, Jason Welch, and Roy Winston.

Although we had a lot of technical issues here today, here's a look back at what we saw.

Alive in Day Five

The Wheel of Misfortune

Personality and poker

The Four Horsemen of the featured table

Winston has the nuts

Ryan's Slaughter

Jason Welch form the brink

Where we've been

A different kinf of rain dance

The View through Roy Winston's eyes

The final four tables will resume at noon PDT on Sunday. The plan is to play down to the final table before taking a day of on Monday before Tuesday's final table. Barring any heart attack with technical issues, we'll be here until the end.

by Craig Cunningham

Plastic surgeon Roy "The Oracle" Winston has He's honed his game in cash games at the Bellagio, Commerce, and the Spa Resort in Palm Springs. His game is $25/50 NLH or $50/100 NLH. "He's a very solid, aggressive player," said pro Jean Gispard. "He likes to gamble sometimes and shows no fear. He's not a guy a game is built around, that's for sure. He's a tough player."

He's fought through a card dead day. Starting with 1.4m, he built it up to 2.2m through sheer desire and timely plays at pots. It's been a very tough grind for him as he's spent most of the day at a brutal table that included Rep Porter, Lee Watkinson, and Kenny Tran. Short stacked John Armbrust, a PokerStars qualifier, moved into the 9s and quickly doubled through Roy, cutting him deep to 225k. He's doubled up once but is clawing for survival as the night winds down. You can be sure that The Oracle has no interest in cashing up; he's only wants to get to the Final Table. He'll have to fight his way through a short stack to get there now.

Jason Welch could give him some help. He's spent the second half of the day at the ESPN Feature Table, and he's been in the bottom 20% in chips the entire time. It's been enough to get him from $58,570 for 112th up to $237,865 with 39 left. That jumps to $285,678 when it gets to 36 players remaining. It can be painful to play a short stack, but the masters can nurse a few chips with deadly effect. After all, tomorrow is another day.

The media rules here are very strict and usually for good reason. I respect and protect my media access here, so I never break the rules--usually to the detriment of my coverage.

That said, a while ago, I watched from the rail as RaiNKhaN once again, in his words, "ran good." After winning a big hand with jacks, he almost immediately got queens in against AK. Some industrious friend of his found a way to get a look at this video. I can take no credit for it (in fact, I'm in the white shirt at the top-left of the frame). Nonetheless, I think to deprive the world of this RaiNKhaN Dance would be very sad.

So, out of respect for the media rules here, I won't post what I've seen.

However, if you take a look here, you might just find something interesting.

If there is variance in poker, there might as well be in poker blogs as well.

Nearly every major event we've done on the PokerStars Blog has experienced one day of techincal difficulties that sends me into a technological tilt that pushes me to the edge of both unemployment and insanity. It's never been my fault, but I feel a huge responsibility to make everything work. In 2005, the traffic crashed the server. At the 2007 PCA, an issue with our publishing system put us down for eight hours in the middle of one of the most important parts of the tournament. The same thing happened at the EPT Grand Final and here again today.

I was on my way to the Stratophere tower to judge the likelihood of making it over the edge when we were able to recover our publishing ability and get back to work. All along, the members of Team Blog were working tirelessly to make sure we had comprehensive coverage. Nonetheless, as I'm sure regular readeres are aware, we were dark for about eight hours today. The archives have been published here, so you can still read back on what we covered. Nonetheless, I feel it a personal responsibility to aplogize for our absence. While there was nothing I could do about it, I feel bad about being gone.

So, where do we stand now?

With just a little more than 50 players remaining, PokerStars Hevad "RaiNKhaN" Khan still sits in the top five in chips. He's worked his way up above 4.3 million in chips and shows no signs of fading. Other big players still left in the field are Scott Freeman, Raymond Rahume, Jason Welch, Hoa Nguyen, Stig Tap Rasmussen, Roy Winston and Jeff "mrrain" Banghart.

The plan tonight is to play until just after midnight, unless we still have more than 36 players remaining, at which point we will play until we reach that point. With a bit of good luck and the creek don't rise