The 2008 World Series Main Event champion is 22-year-old Peter Eastgate, from Odense, Denmark.

It took four hours of tense heads up competition against Ivan Demidov, from Moscow, Russia to reach this point, with records being smashed left and right along the way. The World Series Main Event has never had two players from outside of the United States going heads up for the title; there's has never been a final table lasting so long; tournament blinds have never before reached one million; and perhaps most impressive of all, Eastgate is the youngest ever world champion. At just 22 years old, he has knocked two years off the previous youngest mark set by Phil Hellmuth in 1989.

At around about 2.30am Vegas time, Demidov announced that he was all in looking at a board of 2d-Ks-3h-4c-7s. He might have felt good about doubling his dwindling stack as he table 4h-2h for two pairs. But Eastgate was going nowhere except into the winners' enclosure. He flipped Ad-5s for the wheel -- a straight ace through five -- to take the title and a first prize of $9,152,416.

"When I got my opponents all in, my hands held up every time; I was very fortunate," said Eastgate. "They were eight tough opponents," he added, referring to the vanquished competitors through two days of final table competition. Craig Marquis, Kelly Kim, David Rheem, Darus Suharto, Scott Mongomery, Ylon Schwartz and Dennis Phillips all hit the rail in yesterday's titanic struggle. But that's to say nothing of more than 6,700 others who came to Vegas clutching $10,000 back in July, whose chips are now all in front of Eastgate.

Watch WSOP 08 Final Table: Peter Eastgate Crowned Champion on PokerStars.tv

In truth, this heads-up battle was one way traffic, with Eastgate admitting that the deck was definitely with him today. In two key pots, he made a diamond flush with 7-4 and he turned a full house with pocket threes in another pot worth upwards of 10 million. Yesterday he'd also found small pocket pairs to oust opponents, beating Schwartz with pocket fives that made a full boat on the river, and removing the final table chip leader Dennis Phillips with pocket threes, flopping a decisive set.

That brought us to the final two, and most commentators agreed that Demidov and Eastgate deserved to be the ones to go head-to-head for the bracelet. Demidov, who also made the final table of World Series Europe this year, clearly remains a class act despite finishing second today. "I was trying to get my opponent to make mistakes. He makes very few mistakes," said Eastgate. "We will see a lot more of him in the coming years."

Demidov took his defeat as you might expect. He was crushed to take second, but comforted by the $5,809,595 he will cash out of the Rio cage. Demidov final tabled the World Series Europe Main Event this year while waiting for the Main Event of the World Series in Las Vegas to finish in November.

"When someone runs good like me, it helps," he said tonight after his finish. "I felt a lot more confident."

The deck did not treat him as well tonight. "I couldn't connect with a hand," he said. "I lost every big pot, when I tried to bluff, he had always had a hand."

We had a chance to chat with Demidov after his exit. Here's what he told us.

Watch WSOP Final Table: Ivan Demidov Runner Up on PokerStars.tv

For now, though, it's all about this young record breaker from Denmark. It was his first cash in a World Series event, and only his second final table in a major tournament. But he's already shooting for the very top: "I'm going for 11 bracelets," he said.

Why not 12?

Take a full look back at today's heads-up match-up by clicking any of the links below:

Eastgate and Demidov weigh in
Which way will the mountain topple?
Capacity crowd for history
The professionals
The sound of the moment
Heads up for rolz
Demidov defeated, Eastgate makes history

And don't forget--never forget--the hundreds of video blogs now over at PokerStars.tv, including countless from this weekend's final table.

Peter Eastgate has just become the youngest ever winner of the World Series of Poker Main Event at age 22.

The players saw a flop of 2d-Ks-3h. Ivan Demidov checked and then called a bet of 1,250,000 from Eastgate. The 4c fell on the turn. Demidov checked, Eastgate made it 2 million, and Demidov raised to 6 million. He had nearly half his stack in the middle. It was clear, this was the end.

The 7 s fell on the river. Demidov moved all-in and Eastgate snap called. Demidov held 2h-4h for two pair, but it was no good against Eastgate's A-5 wheel.

Every successful competitor can visualize his win. Whether a star quarterback or competitive eater, the mental movie that plays in the hours leading up to the big show always ends in the same. The hero wins. If you can't see it happening in your own mind, you can never make it happen in real life.

In the dream script Ivan Demidov wrote for tonight's feature attraction, this was not how he expected the third act to play out.

We'll be back in just a bit with a full wrap-up of tonight's heads-up battle.

In one hour, we saw one big hand, and that's all it took to put Peter Eastgate in dangerous lead.

It was a min-raise to 2 million from Demidov and a call from Eastgate that dropped the Td-Kd-7c flop. Both players checked and saw the Jd on the turn. Eastgate bet out 2.5 million and Demidov bumped it up to 5.5 more. Eastgate, seeming unsure, took several moments before calling.

"We have action," announced Jack Effel.

The 3s on the river drew a check form Eastgate. Demidov didn't take long before announcing his 12 million chip bet. Eastgate snap-called and turned over 7d-4d for the flush, well good enough to beat Demidov's Ac-9d ace-high.

That hand put Eastgate at 108,500,000 to Demidov's 28,000,000, which brings us to the title of this post.

If ever two poker players are involved in a dispute, matters can quickly descend into a simple challenge to play heads up for vast amounts of cash. "Yeah, I'll play you heads up anytime, any stakes!" goes the refrain. "You name it, I'll be there!" comes the retort, each verbal joust often punctuated by the odd word unprintable on a family blog.

Of course, few of these battles ever come to fruition; they're usually just posturings across cyberspace. Still, claims of heads up superiority hints at the regard with which this form of the game is held. It is widely considered to be poker in its purest form: mano-a-mano, undiluted competition, two pairs of eyes staring at one another from either end of the table, from which only the strongest will survive.

If all that's true, then it really doesn't come any bigger or purer than what we're seeing right now. The chip stacks levelled out earlier this evening, with Demidov chipping away at Eastgate's overnight lead, then Eastgate going on a charge of his own to put some space between him and the Russian. Demidov got back within about 20 million in that past hour, before Eastgate opened it up to 40 million again and then 90 million.

But for all the romantic notions of heads up play, it's also fair to say that if you get that far in a tournament of this size, you're significantly more than just a fairly adept poker player. You know about picking your spots, making the right moves at the right time, seizing on weakness, applying measured aggression, getting out the way when beaten, pressing the advantage when ahead. It takes all these skills just to get to a final table, and then you somehow have to find another gear to be there right at the end.

The Team PokerStars Pro Daniel Negreanu knows much more about final table play, and heads up battles, than I ever will. So let him explain:

Watch WSOP Final Table Daniel Negreanu Thoughts on PokerStars.tv

If you're wondering how we reached the point at which we discussed just a single hand played in the heads up battle within the first five paragraphs, it's because we've reached an odd point in this fight. It's not unlike watching to boxers in a ring. Both are hurt, both are jacked up on adrenaline, both are wise enough fighters to know they need a quick breather before returning to bludgeoning.

The past hour of play has been the equivalent of the pugilist's dance. Jab, dance. Jab, dance. Repeat. Unlike the first couple hours of play, a pre-flop raise has been good to take down most pots. More than 100 hands of heads-up play have already taken place and there has been just one pot to speak of in the past 60 minutes.

In fact, with the blinds now at 500,000/1 million, we're watching yet another historic time. No other World Series Main Event has ever see blinds this large. It is such, now, that a min-raise is scary enough to fold the big blind. The first time Eastgate tried it, Demidov almost seemed to smile. Pretty soon, both players were doing it with remarkable regularity.

A little while ago, this final table broke the record for the longest Main Event final table ever (the old record being held at 14 hours and 2 minutes in 2005). At least in this case, the heads-up players had a chance to get some sleep before stepping back in the ring.

Now, 2am, the crowd has grown notably quieter. Even by Las Vegas standards, it's getting late.

Though the past 60 minutes was cut by one-third due to a break, Eastgate has used this time to pull out to a better than 3-1 chip lead over Ivan Demidov.

Though humble, Eastgate was confident coming into the match tonight. Just before he sat down, he spoke to our video blog team. Check out the interview below.

Watch WSOP Final Table: Peter Pre HU Interview on PokerStars.tv

Leaving the Penn and Teller Theater, even when players are on a break, is an uncomfortable proposition. One wrong turn in the Rio labyrinth can send a wanderer in the wrong direction for just long enough to miss one hand.

And one hand is all it takes.

Take for instance the last twenty minute break. The closest watering hole to this theater is the adjacent Starbucks. It's staying open eight hours longer than usual to accommodate the fatigued spectators and media. The line was 20 people deep and the barista was slinging caffeine with all speed.

As the stragglers checked their watches and got ready to make tracks for the heads-up match, the barista fired up one of his machines. To addled minds with questionable hearing, the steam machine sounded like a thousand-strong crowd in rapture.

No one wants to miss that one moment. With the blinds at 400,000/800,000/100,000, it could happen anytime. Now, the entire crowd has re-settled in for this last hour and watched Peter Eastgate go on a run to take him up over the 100,000,000 mark in chips.

Eastgate broke that psychological barrier when he took down a sizeable pot that played out as follows: Eastgate limped, Demidov raised 1.95 million and Eastgate called. The flop showed 9h-7s-6d and Demidov continuation bet 3.625, which Eastgate called. The turn was Js and both players checked, seeing a Qs on the river. Demidov found the bet and fired 7 million at it, but Eastgate was going nowhere, called, and showed J-8s for a pair of jacks. Demidov's A-10 was no good.

Apart from a small pot for the Russian when he made a seven-high straight, it's been a one-sided level so far. Eastgate has managed to strong-arm his way past Demidov in most pre-flop confrontations and even when they get all the way to the river, Eastgate is finding the better hand. In one such example, Demidov raised 2 million pre-flop, and Eastgate called. The flop came 10h-6h-Jh and both players checked all the way to showdown when turn and river came 7d-3s. Eastgate showed 5c-6c for a pair of sixes. And they were good.

The final statistic read "6 - The number of years in a row an amateur has won the Main Event", referring, of course, to Jerry Yang, Jamie Gold, Joe Hachem, Greg Raymer, Chris Moneymaker and Robert Varkonyi, all of whom took down the Big Dance while moonlighting around the poker tables from another registered occupation--chiropractor, patent attorney and accountant for the three Team PokerStars Pros, for example.

It'll be interesting, though, to see how the media categorises either Peter Eastgate or Ivan Demidov, whichever of them takes away the first prize tonight. The term "poker professional" has grown to mean something different than just someone who makes their main income from the game. When the mainstream refers to a "poker professional" they're usually implying someone they see regularly on their television screens; some sources refer more accurately to so-called "named pros" meaning those prominent faces on the poker circuit.

This is worth considering in tonight's context because Demidov and Eastgate are, without question, poker professionals in the strictest sense of the word. Both carve out a very nice income playing online at PokerStars, occasionally supplementing this with their successful forays onto the live tournament circuit. And yet before the Main Event here, neither of them would have been recognised in any poker room across the world--indeed even today, I spotted Eastgate strolling untroubled through the Rio not six hours before he would be taking his seat on this hugest of stages.

These two are therefore obvious representatives of the new breed of poker professional, characterised by their intense application to the game, willingness to put in the hours, to study strategy and tactics and now to reap the rewards. It's also notable how professional each of these guys has been in their table etiquette and their exceptional manners in both victory and defeat. A wince is about the most dismay either has shown, a small fist pump, and a grateful gaze to the heavens about the limits of their celebrations.

Whenever this ends -- and it may be a good few hours yet -- one of them will instantly become a "named pro" as well as just an "online pro" or a "pro's pro" or however else they will be categorised in tomorrow's papers. But don't expect any bouncing around the room, whooping and hollering. My bets is on a gentleman's handshake, probably an emotional hug and, finally, a huge smile.

Anything else just wouldn't be professional.

We didn't get much closer to deciding who would be the winner in the past hour.

In the most entertaining hand of the hour, Eastgate came in for a raise to 2 million total and Demidov called. The flop came 8h-8c-5c. Both players checked. The As came on the turn. Demidov checked again and Eastgate bet out 2.25 million. Demidov called. The river brought rhe 4d. Both players checked.

Demidov shook his head and didn't want to turn over his hand. He finally announced, "Jack-high" Eastgate cocked his head for a second and turned over a queen, good enough to out-pip Demidov by one and take the chips.

"That's a big pot for no pair," TD Jack Effel said.

That showdown was one of few we've seen.

In other action, Demidov raised to 1,625,000 more than the 800,000 big blind and Eastgate called. The flop fell 4h-J-s-2h. Demidov confidently bet 3,125,000. Eastgate counted out his checks and called the bet. The turn was the Jc. This time, Demodov didn't seem nearly as confident and checked. When Eastgate pushed out 5,675,000, Demidov wasted little time before mucking.

That is the kind of action we're watching at this hour. While turns and rivers present themselves on a regular basis, it's rare to see the players' hole cards. For instance, in a recent hand, Demidov raised to 2 million and Eastgate called. The flop came Jc-7h-3h. Both players checked. On the 8h turn, Eastgate led for 2.5 million. Demidov thought for a moment and made it 7.5 million. Eastgate mucked.

While everyone knows it will only take one cooler to end this thing, these players are playing a long-haul game and show no signs of careless play. it took this hand to inspire the biggest pot of the hour.

The players saw a cheap flop of 5d-7h-4d. Demidov checked to Eastgate. The Dane bet out 1,150,000 only to be cheack-raised to 2,125,000. Looking mildly frustrated, Eastgate grabbed his chips and called. The turn came the 8h. Once against Demidov checked and let Eastgate bet 4,250,000. What's that? Yes, another check-raise from Demidov, now to 14 million total. Now it was Eastgate's time to think. He bit his lower lip and let his eyes settle on the Russian. Finally, he swallowed once and made the call. The river was the 3d. Surprisingly, both players checked. Demidov showed 6c-8c for the flopped straight. Eastgate showed 6h-4c for the turned straight. The monster pot got chopped up and on we played.

While you're waiting for the next update, check out this video blog shot tonight as Demidov talked about his chances tonight.

Watch WSOP Final Table: Ivan Pre HU Interview on PokerStars.tv

Thirty minutes ago, Michael Buffer (yes, the Michael Buffer) introduced Ivan Demidov and Peter Easgate and belted, "Lets get rrrrrready to shuflllllllle and deal!" The crowd, as you might expect, went wild.

There were skeptics who didn't think this Penn and Teller Theater would fill. Those people were proven wrong yesterday when there was a line out the door all day. Then there were people who believed that once the first seven busted out and their fans went looking for a bar that the heads-up battle would be void of spectators. Wrong again. Tonight, this theater is once again filled to capacity with a line of people waiting to get in. As one person here noted, "These aren't people who are here to watch one player. These are fans of poker."

Perhaps we should've expected it. Millions of people watch "Deal or No Deal" on television every week and the contestants on that show employ basic strategy and a little gamble to compete for a piddly million bucks. The two players who remain tonight are fighting for a combined $15 million and they will be doing a lot more than picking a numbered suitcase from a half-dressed model.

And what has the action been like?

Well, any belief that the chips would be kept out of the pots as the opponents sized each other up were quickly dissolved by a couple of action flops in the first few hands. First up, Eastgate raised out of the small blind to 1.5 million, which Demidov called, an additional 900,000 on top of his 600,000 big blind. The flop was a perilous 10s-Kh-10h, which was checked by Demidov. Eastgate bet 1.75 million and Demidov called. The turn spiced it up even more -- it was the Kd -- and both players checked, only to see an even more frightening Kc on the river, making a full house on the board. Demidov was first to act, and act he did, sliding out 8 million and forcing a reluctant fold from Eastgate.

Demidov kept his foot on the gas through the opening few hands, picking up three in a row. But Eastgate found his own accelerator pedal soon enough, repopping Demidov pre-flop on one hand to take it down, then continuation betting a flop of 9h-As-8h to take down back-to-back pots of his own.

The tournament director Jack Effel soon announced that we'd entered level 38, where the blinds and antes had raised to 400,000-800,000 (100,000), and the "standard" opening raise went up to 2.25 million or thereabouts. There are millions of chips in every pot, but no huge swings just yet.

Earlier, the PokerStars Video Blog team asked Ivan what he thought of Peter's abilities. Here's what he had to say.

Watch WSOP Final Table: Ivan on Peter on PokerStars.tv

And this has gripped Las Vegas like the world heavyweight title fight it has indeed become. The players were introduced to the news media at the official weigh in at around lunchtime. Then as was the case yesterday, the lines outside the entrance to the Penn and Teller Theater grew steadily since mid afternoon, several hours before the scheduled start of play. And when the doors opened within the past 30 minutes, those who had waited patiently to take their part in this slice of history poured into the auditorium, where they found their seat somewhere in view of a small green table on which teetered a mountain of bundles of $100 bills.

Somewhere waiting in the wings are the contenders who will sit either side of that shaky mountain, hoping that it topples in their direction sometime in the coming few hours. Each of Demidov and Eastgate is already guaranteed $5,809,595, the second place prize. But only one can take the title of World Champion back to Europe, and see their name forever in the company of Moss, Brunson, Ungar, Chan, Hellmuth and all others.

With chip counts relatively close--Eastgate has 79,500,000 to Demidov's 57,725,000--and both players clearly deep in the zone, this has the makings of one hell of a heads up battle. Follow it all in words and pictures right here, the official blog of the PokerStars Million Dollar Men.

Watch WSOP Final Table: Chip Count Lvl. 37 HU (0:30) on PokerStars.tv

"This is the weigh in," bellowed Nolan Dalla, "of the World Series of Poker Main Event!"

The Rio Hotel and Casino is an active place. There is rarely a five-minute period in which there is not a giant Carnival float sailing through the air, beads rocketing from all heights, and dancer-tainers performing on small stages. This, however, was unlike anything the casino patrons had ever seen.

"What are they doing?" asked a lady sitting at the slot machines.

"The are giving away the million dollars to the poker guy," her husband said.

No one took the time to explain, there was not one guy and that the money still at stake equals nearly $15 million. There wasn't time, because Dalla's voice was rising up above the music.

"Only one player will achieve immortality!" he said.

And then from the rafters, one at a time, walked PokerStars Million Dollar men Ivan Demidov and Peter Eastgate. At 22-years-old, Eastgate has a chance to become the youngest World Series Main Event winner ever. Demidov, the 27-year-old man from Moscow, drew his inspiration from Team PokerStars Pro Alexander Kravchenko's World Series performance last year. Five months ago, they were unknowns even in their own country. Before they return home, they will be national heroes, not to mention millions of dollars richer.

Dalla, as much a veteran of these battles as anyone in the room, put it best. "In a sense, their dreams have already come true," he said. Indeed, they have. Early this morning, the two men realized how rich they were and how much work they still had to do, as they got heads-up for the 2008 World Series bracelet.

Today, with "Eye of the Tiger" blasting behind them, the two men engaged in an afternoon virtual weigh-in. Instead of pounds, the men measured their stacks, 57.7 million for Demidov to Eastgate's 79.5 million. It wasn't Ali/Frazer, but it was as close as poker can get. Camera flashes popped, video crews rolled, and casino gamblers stopped their action to watch the spectacle on stage.

Eastgate and Demidov played their roles, mugging for the camera and grabbing for the championship bracelet stacked on a pile of cash.

"Wait until tonight," Dalla scolded with a smile.

Standing before the world media, the two remaining players took questions from Dalla and answering in their native language. The foreign-tongue responses drew chuckles from the crowd, a softball for Dalla. "This truly is the World Series of Poker," he noted.

Though both Eastgate and Demidov were happy to serve and bask in the preliminary limelight, a giant responsibility hung over them. In less than 12 hours, they would be sitting down to play for the historic title. Both men wanted to be resting. They knew the fight was not going to be easy.

Later, Demidov admitted, going into the November 9, he believed "Peter is the best player at the table."

Eastgate joked, "I thought Ivan was the easiest," but then conceded, "It's going to be tough and I'm going to try to adjust."

Demidov has been doing some preparation all his own. Even before arriving, the Russian had his eye on a heads-up fight. "I have practiced my heads-up game on the internet," he said.

The pomp and circumstance finished, the men headed off to find some quiet time before stepping into the ring tonight. They know how important it is. No Russian or Dane has ever won the World Series of Poker Main Event. Tonight, one of the two will.

Already millionaires, both men seem to have agreed, they aren't necessarily playing for the additional $4 million for first place. Eastgate, seemingly wise beyond his 22 years, summed it up in just a few words. It is a familiar refrain, but one that rings true every time.

"It's not about the money," Eastgate said. "It's about the bracelet."

Live coverage begins here at 10pm local, 1am ET. Join us here for all the news as history happens.

It was an historic final table four months in the making. Nine men from around the world reconvened after an extended poker vacation. They walked into the Rio Hotel and Casino Penn and Teller Theater this morning knowing that when they left tonight, they would know if they still had a chance at winning poker's most coveted prize and nine million bucks.

Tonight, we know who among those nine men have that shot.

Denmark's Peter Eastgate and Russia's Ivan Demidov will return to this theater Monday night to play heads up for the World Series bracelet.

Among the November 9 who started here today were six members of the PokerStars family. The Million Dollar Men were better known as Dennis "FordMan1954" Phillips, Darus "Dennis_TO" Sahurto, Ivan "hasuling" Demidov, Ylon "TenthPlanet" Schwartz, David "Chino" Rheem and Peter "Isser" Eastgate. They faced off against off against Craig Marquis, Scott Montgomery, and Kelly Kim.

Although the event started slowly, it quickly turned to a bloodbath. As chronicled in Thrills, spills and brainaches Marquis was the first to go after opening-shoving pocket sevens into Scott Montgomery's A-Q. Marquis loved the 7c-Ah-Td flop. Just to keep the audience engaged, tournament director went through the long recitation of ways Montgomery could suck out.

"He could catch running aces. He could catch running queens," etc, etc.

He failed to mention the possibility of running jack-king. He should've mentioned that. Sure enough, the Jd on the turn and Ks on the river and Craig Marquis went from overwhelming favorite to the ninth place finisher in the 2008 World Series of Poker, earning $900,670.

Kelly Kim and his short stack gave the Cinderella story lovers an opportunity to root for a comeback. After surviving well past when anybody thought he would, Kim finally gave up the ghost, getting pocket fours all-in against three players. He was out-flopped by Darus Suharto's 9c-Tc and Kim went out in eighth place for a $1,288,217 payday.

Still alive were all of the PokerStars Million Dollar Men. With six out of the seven left in the field, it was only a matter of time before one had to go. That man was David "Chino" Rheem. An early favorite among prognosticators, Rheem had a hard time finding consistent traction today. Finally, he got his short stack all-in, and got it in good. Rheem open-shoved with As-Kc and got a call from Peter Eastgate in the small blind. Eastgate held Ah-Qd. As always, everything looked fine until the flop: Qs-5s-7d. Rheem bricked twice and was eliminated in seventh place $1,7772,650.

"I would have changed the last hand," Rheem offered, when asked if he would have done anything different. "One hand I got unlucky and that cost me my bracelet. But that's poker."

That, of course, is poker, and now Rheem returns to the cash games and tournament circuit with a reputation only enhanced by this World Series experience. "I'll try to stay positive and say there's always next year," he said. "But the odds, you know..."

While the stories of these eliminations were worth reporting, the big story of the day had been Dennis Phillips' epic fall from the chip lead. Starting with more than 25 million chips, he'd fallen below ten million and looked ripe to exit early. It took getting A-Q in against Ylon Schwartz' Q-Q and flopping an ace to get back in the game.

Chino Rheem's exit left PokerStars qualifier Darus Suharto as the short-stack in the event. Suharto found himself in a position in which he had to start looking for good opportunities. When Scott Montgomery opened for a standard raise at the 250,000/500,000/50,000 level, Suharto shoved all in for a little more than 8 million. He held Ah-8c.

Though he sat with a Terminator look behind his shades, a close up camera highlighed his heavy breathing. To the outside observer, it was impossible to say whether he was putting it on or in fact nervous. Montgomery decided it was time to look up Suharto. He made the call with a half smile, turning over As-Qd. Suharto winced. He knew he was in trouble.

Though neither player paired on the flop, it was soul-crushing anyway: K-J-2, all spades. Montgomery's ace of spades was just begging for one more of its kind. It came on the turn. The 4s gave Montgomery the nuts. Suharto's magnificent run at the 2008 World Series of Poker was finished. He earned $2,418,562.

After his exit, Suharto gave this exclusive interview to the PokerStars Video Blog team.

Watch WSOP FInal Table: Darus Exit Interview 6th Place on PokerStars.tv

Of all the things that happened today, and there were many, the most startling came next. In a raise, re-raise, all-in battle, Montgomery pushed and got snap-called by Demidov.

In what would become the biggest pot of the tournament yet (worth around 50 million by our count), Montgomery turned over a startling Ad-9d. Not as surprising was Demidov's Ks-Kd. Montgomery had Demidov's 24,435,000 covered. The crowd called for their man's ace or their man's king as the dealer laid out a perfectly frightening 6d-4d-6c flop, Two diamonds and the three remaining aces remained for Montgomery.

He missed twice, sending Demidov into an uncharacteristic dance around the stage. At once, he was the new chip leader.

Montgomery went out a few hands later, getting one-outered on the river by Peter Eastgate. He finished in fifth place for $3,096,768.

Four-handed, play slowed down dramatically before finishing the night in one-two-punch fashion.

First, Peter Eastgate raised pre-flop to the now-standard 1.5 million. Schwartz called from the small blind. Both players checked a flop of 2s-Kh-8h and after the Kd came on the turn, Schwartz checked but Eastgate bet another 1.75 million. Schwartz called.

The river was the 5d and again Schwartz checked, Eastgate bet 4.6 million and Schwartz moved all in, for 12.5 million more. Eastgate called and tabled pocket fives, hitting his full house on the river and beating Schwartz's A-10, for ace high. Schwartz's fourth place finish earned him $3,774,974.

Schwartz sat down with us for an interview after his exit.

Watch WSOP Final Table: Ylon Schwartz out in 4th place on PokerStars.tv

With three remaining, crowd favorite Dennis Phillips was the prohibitive short stack.

After Demidov folded his button, Eastgate raised from the small blind, called in the big by Phillips. The flop came Jc-4d-3s and Eastgate led out for 1.5 million. Phillips moved all in over the top, his entire stack worth 15,275,000 sliding into the middle. But it didn't even get there before Eastgate called and flipped pocket threes for the flopped set. Phillips showed 10-9 off-suit. "I couldn't keep on folding!" he declared.

In his exit interview, Phillips said, "We've had a real blast. Who would've ever thunk it? Now I get to play golf tomorrow. McFadden's everybody!" and off to the bar they went.

Here's what Phillips told us after he left the theater tonight.

Watch WSOP Final Table: Dennis Phillips Takes 3rd Place on PokerStars.tv

Peter Eastgate returns tomorrow with 79,500,000 to Ivan Demidov's 57,725,000.

For a complete look at all the day's coverage, see any of the links below.

Final table set to start
Shuffled up and dealing has begun
First hour in the books
Have we seen this before?
Late night a-comin'?
Thrills, spills and brainaches
Short-stacked and smiling, but gone
Phillips find a reason to be cheerful, Rheem not so much
The moment everyone dreads
Looking forward and looking back
Food coma?
Suharto bids a fond farewell, Demidov is here to stay
Ivan and winding road
The European invasion
Ylon's road runs out, Phillips trucking no more

We've posted tons of great videos from the PokerStars video blogging team today. We couldn't post all of them, though, so be sure to check all of them at PokerStars.tv.

Live coverage from the final table of the World Series of Poker will resume at 10pm local time Monday. Join us here as we watch history as it happens.

All photography by Joe Giron/IMPDI

How it happened will take a little longer. We lost two players--Ylon Schwartz and Dennis Phillips--in less than an hour. We were writing as we went, so here's what was on the notebooks about those two bust-outs, starting with Schwartz, who went in third.

It went like this: In an ideal world, there would have been a post on this blog sometime tomorrow night entitled "I played $3-$6 limit poker with the World Champion". It would be referring to this story from the early days of this year's World Series Main Event, where I remembered my first meeting with Ylon Schwartz, killing time before his day one by playing some gentle hold 'em in the Golden Nugget.

The ideal post won't be written, because Schwartz is out of this tournament, the latest casualty to fall victim to Peter Eastgate. The Danish player had Schwartz well covered at the start of a hand that played out like this: Eastgate raised pre-flop to the now-standard 1.5 million. Schwartz called from the small blind. Both players checked a flop of 2s-Kh-8h and after the Kd came on the turn, Schwartz checked but Eastgate bet another 1.75 million. Schwartz called.

The river was the 5d and again Schwartz checked, Eastgate bet 4.6 million and Schwartz moved all in, for 12.5 million more. Eastgate called and tabled pocket fives, hitting his full house on the river and beating Schwartz's A-10, for ace high.

In his post-game interview, Schwartz was remarkably upbeat about his World Series experience, looking at close to four million dollars and a huge party with his friends in South America. He made reference to the hand much earlier today, when Dennis Phillips' A-Q beat Schwartz's Q-Q, and he also said that his elimination hand was pretty unlucky too. He reckoned, not unreasonably, that Eastgate would have had to let his small pocket pair go had he not rivered the full boat.

But there was soon a beer in his hand; there was instantly a smile on his face; and there was one happy man heading back to Brooklyn. Whenever he gets there.

We then found ourselves writing about the "three players remaining" a number including Phillips, the hero from St Louis, Missouri, who has kitted out half the Rio in his trademark red hat and white shirt. But Phillips couldn't quite bring it home and he was vanquished by Eastgate again, setting our final, final table.

After Demidov folded his button, Eastgate raised from the small blind, called in the big by Phillips. The flop came Jc-4d-3s and Eastgate led out for 1.5 million. Phillips um-ed and er-ed for a while before moving all in over the top, his entire stack worth 15,275,000 sliding into the middle. But it didn't even get there before Eastgate called and flipped pocket threes for the flopped set. Phillips showed 10-9 off-suit. "I couldn't keep on folding!" he declared.

He was dead to two running straight cards, but this time there were no miracles. Phillips was as gracious in defeat as he had been on his charge to the final table chip lead. He has played his heart out over all those days to get here, and there won't be a sinlge disappointed fan among his many hundreds. That'll be another spectacular party. "Now I can golf tomorrow," he said.

While we put together all the admin at the end of the day, not least a full wrap up from the final table, which will appear here shortly, why not take a look at some of our peerless video blogs. Here Peter Eastgate discusses Ylon Schwartz, the player he recently defeated. And below, there's some more about Dennis Phillips, our third placed finisher.

Watch WSOP Final Table: Peter on Ylon on PokerStars.tv

Watch WSOP Final Table: Dennis Phillips Player Profile on PokerStars.tv

That's never happened before, and it would be one great story for us Europeans to come over here and take the title in what is the undisputed home of poker. And even the Americans in the audience couldn't begrudge either Peter Eastgate or Ivan Demidov, with the latter in particular impressing everyone watching. Those include David "Chino" Rheem and Darus Suharto, both of whom named Demidov as their pick from the remaining players. And the Team PokerStars Pro Hevad Khan, watching from the stands, was also impressed by the Russian. "Undoubtedly," Khan said when it was put to him that Demidov was the man to beat.

Right now, though, there are still four in with a legitimate shot at this one, and only a fool would write off either Ylon Schwartz or Dennis Phillips. The former had a great opening level before getting on the wrong end of that massive hand when his queens lost to Phillips, all in pre-flop. And that only served to underline Phillips' staying power. He's bounced back very well from the bludgeoning he took early on, where he was looking like being the second chip leader in successive Main Event final tables to be the first to hit the rail. Not so, and Phillips--and his mass of supporters--are all still alive.

Now the minimum anyone can go home with is $3,774,974, which is a lot of dollars, kroner or roubles.

Here were the chip counts as we started the current level.

Watch WSOP Final Table: Chip Count Lvl. 37 (22:10) on PokerStars.tv

As you might have gathered by the lack of hard hand history coverage in this post, there wasn't much in the way of action in the last hour. We expect that to change after this 20 minute break.

Even more surprising, at least to us, was that the man we knew as Ivan (EYE-van) actually pronounced his name Ee-vahn. And so, here we sit tonight with the same tune in our head, except now Ivan's long and winding road has taken him to the chip lead of this world championship event.

In the video blog below, he tells us how to get to this fantastical place in history.

Watch WSOP Final Tables: Ivan's Tips For Final-Tabling on PokerStars.tv

Now three spots off the bracelet and two spots off the break for the night, we have two Americans, a Dane, and a Russian vying for their spot in history. Any of the four players would be a fun addition to the fraternity of Main Event winners. All of them would bring something different to the game. Whether inspiring a country with its first Main Event win, realizing a freedom dream that nine million bucks provides, or trumpeting the power of the everyman worldwide, the four remaining runners all carry with them something special.

At this moment, though, they aren't thinking about that. They are thinking about how to eviscerate each other and do it in as short order as possible.

With four players left, the predictions was for a bit of a grind until the final two. But with blinds now at 300,000-600,000 (75,000 ante) there really can't actually be all that much sitting and folding. Dennis Phillips has certainly noticed that and he's been the most active in the first 30 minutes of the new level, reraising a Peter Eastgate button raise, making it 3.5 million to play and on the next hand getting his own button raise through the blinds. Phillips and Ylon Schwartz are now the players most under pressure, with the two Europeans, Eastgate and the chip-leading Ivan Demidov, relatively comfortable. But "relatively" is a big word in poker, and having already seen some horrific outdraws and some massive hands, everyone is aware that this can change rapidly. Very rapidly.

Schwartz took his own stab at getting something going in the final 10 minutes of the past hour, raising pre-flop to 1.5 million. But betting into the big stacks of Demidov and Eastgate is always going to be hazardous and Demidov repopped another 3.425 million. Schwartz called, but after a rag flop and a bet of 7 million from the Russian, Schwartz let it go.

In all of poker, there are few stories more heart-warming than the online qualifier made good. Players investing less than about $100 who then go on to make millions are usually some of the most humble folk involved in these huge events.

Few fit that bill more comfortably than Darus Suharto, the PokerStars qualifier from Canada, whose fairytale has just come to a halt here in the Rio. Suharto found himself in a position in which he had to start looking for good opportunities. When Scott Montgomery opened for a standard raise at the 250,000/500,000/50,000 level, Suharto shoved all in for a little more than 8 million. He held Ah-8c.

Though he sat with a Terminator look behind his shades, a close up camera highlighed his heavy breathing. To the outside observer, it was impossible to say whether he was putting it on or in fact nervous. Montgomery decided it was time to look up Suharto. He made the call with a half smile, turning over As-Qd. Suharto winced. He knew he was in trouble.

Though neither player paired on the flop, it was soul-crushing anyway: K-J-2, all spades. Montgomery's ace of spades was just begging for one more of its kind. It came on the turn. The 4s gave Montgomery the nuts. Suharto's magnificent run at the 2008 World Series of Poker was finished.

For his sixth place performance, Suharto earned $2,418,562, which is exceptional enough without the additional information that it only cost him $80 to qualify, a fact he pointed out in his post-game interview.

"No, absolutely not," he said when asked if he ever imagined that he'd be here when he first fired up PokerStars to join the satellite. "Eighty dollars is my whole investment, so I never expected to go this far."

And how about that humility? Well, Suharto is an accountant in Toronto and was one of the few players to claim that he wouldn't be quitting his job in the wake of this success. And with effortless charm, he just reassured his company that he'll not be running away from his desk just yet. "I promised my boss that I'd go back to work, and if I'm going to quit I'm going to make sure that the office will be OK, that he has someone to replace me."

Whoever gets Suharto to keep--be it his existing boss or his new friends in the poker world--they're getting a gem.

In other tournament news, Ivan Demidov has just propelled himself back into the chip lead - and then some.

"Uh, we've got a big pot here."

That was the signal from tournament director Jack Effel as he looked down at a rapidly developing pot. Because Effel missed the betting action, we in the field missed it as well. Suffice it to say, after some raising and re-raising, Montgomery moved all-in and got snap-called by Demidov.

In what would become the biggest pot of the tournament yet (worth around 50 million by our count), Montgomery turned over a startling Ad-9d. Not as surprising was Demidov's Ks-Kd. Montgomery had Demidov's 24,435,000 covered. The crowd called for their man's ace or their man's king as the dealer laid out a perfectly fightening 6d-4d-6c flop, Two diamonds and the three remaining aces remained for Montgomery.

He missed twice, sending Demidov into an uncharacteric dance around the stage. At once, he was the new chip leader.

Montgomery was left with less than six million chips which he moved in just a few hands later with Ad-3d. Peter Eastgate looked him up with a pair of sixes.

"Can he catch an ace?" Jack Effel asked the crowd.

The question was answered one second later when one ace fell on the flop and then another on the turn.

"There is one out left in the deck," Effel told the crowd, which corrected him presently, saying there should be two sixes left in the deck.

"Dennis said he folded a six, so there is one left in the deck. Let's see the river!"

Boom shacka-lacka. There it was. A one outer on the river for the win.

Montgomery exited in fifth place earning more than $3 million.

Fast eating, a long day, and the intense pressure of the final table could only mean one thing: food coma. Right?

Well it started off that way, For the first half hour after dinner, there wasn't much action of which to speak. It was the poker equivalent of unbuckling one's belt after a feast. Poker metabolisms working such as they do, though, there was little doubt the action would pick up.

With an opening raise usually being in the region of 1.2 million, the stacks are suddenly looking not quite as intimidating as they once did. Darus Suharto has about ten of those raises to play with and is wisely staying out the way. Scott Montgomery and Ivan Demidov, on the other hand, are mixing it up and the most notable pot in the past hour went to the Canadian, who raised 1.2 million pre-flop and then called Demidov's 2.75 million re-raise. The turn brought the 9d and Montgomery bet 3 million, which finally got rid of the Russian.

Then, in a hand that seemed similar to start with, Dennis Phillips and Peter Eastgate got involved. Eastgate opened and Phillips re-raised to 2.6 million.

The flop was 2d-Kd-2s and Phillips checked. Eastgate bet 3 million and Phillips to 3 million and Phillips found out where he was by raising to 7 million. He got an emphatic answer - "You're behind," Eastgate said in poker speak, as he shoved all in. Phillips folded and Easgate took over the chip lead.

Then, in a battle of the blinds, Ylon Schwartz took a pot off Montgomery. Small-ish, but they all count.

Speaking of food comas and the cities that can serve as their catalyst, Dennis Phillps had this to say to us earlier about Sin City.

Watch WSOP Final Table: Dennis's Feelings on Vegas on PokerStars.tv

Brunson--for it is he--was brought here to induct the latest additions to the Poker Hall of Fame. This year they are Dewey Tomko, himself the holder of three World Series bracelets, and Henry Orenstein, a notable-enough player but most famous as the inventor of the hole cam, which set the whole poker television bandwagon in motion, and brought us a huge step closer to where we are today.

As the players take their seats again, there are six hole cams still in operation, in front of Ivan Demidov, Dennis Phillips, Peter Eastgate, Ylon Schwartz, Darus Suharto and Scott Montgomery. Take a quick look back at what's happened so far by clicking on any of the links from our coverage so far.

Final table set to start
Shuffled up and dealing has begun
First hour in the books
Have we seen this before?
Late night a-comin'?
Thrills, spills and brainaches
Short-stacked and smiling, but gone
Phillips find a reason to be cheerful, Rheem not so much
The moment everyone dreads

And you can also see all the video blogs over at PokerStars.tv

Here's a look at one video blog with update chip counts from the dinner break.

Watch WSOP Final Table: Chip Count Lvl. 36 (18:00) on PokerStars.tv

But there's a load more action still to come, so stay tuned right here.