The final table is set, and not a minute too soon. The final table of Event no. 46 will begin tomorrow at 3 p.m., and here’s what it looks like…

Tom Schneider -- $275,000

Miguel De LA Cruz -- $253,000

Scotty Nguyen -- $203,000

Saundra Taylor -- $202,000

Hoyt Verner -- $129,000

Tommy Hang -- $110,000

Woody Deck -- $110,000

Tony Ma -- $60,000

 

Make sure to check back with CardPlayer.com at 3 p.m. tomorrow to watch all of the action of the final table unfold.

There are only 9 players remaining which means that we only need to lose one more before calling it a night and setting the final table. The remaining players have just entered Level 19 where the stakes have increased to $10,000-$20,000 with a $2,000 ante. Scotty Nguyen is having a good time keeping everyone’s spirits up, and has no problems blind raising anyone who wants play against him. Scotty laughs as he points to cup full of beer, “It’s not me playing no more, baby!”

Tony Ma has been severely short stacked for quite some time now, with barely enough chips to see one hand down to the river. He has gotten involved in a few hands, but mostly just split pots. Everyone, including Tom Schneider is getting a little antsy here in the Amazon Room just waiting for the last player to drop, and although everyone keeps looking at Ma, he won’t go that easy.

Tony Ma was all-in on one hand but managed to scoop the pot on the river and double up. Showing the 5 on third street, Tony Ma limps into the pot with Mark Smyrski and his J. Smyrski raises and Ma re-raises all-in. Smyrski ends up with an exposed board of J 6 10 7 2 A on sixth street and turns over the 2 for a pair of deuces; no low. Ma ends up being dealt 5 4 6 4 8 Q 10, giving him a pair of sixes and the win. Ma doubles up and lives to see another hand.

There’s a few new short stacks emerging, but they don’t seem to be going anywhere anytime soon, however, the latest ante increase just might be able to dictate their behavior and force them to get all of their chips in the pot much sooner rather than later.

Keep your browsers locked on CardPlayer.com for more updates and your favorite Pro Blogs.

There are only 12 players remaining as we get deeper into the night, but the action has virtually come to a stand still. Play has tightened up as everyone is vying for one of the spots on the final table. There's a lot of split pots and the players are staying alive. The average chip stack is $111,333, and there are no real short stacks in the field. We could be in for a long night here, but at least Scotty Nguyen is still alive and keeping us smiling with his funny antics.

Notable Chip Counts
Scotty Nguyen          150000

Andreas Krause apparently has been taking his sweet time.  Krause has drawn the ire of his table for taking too long to act on his hands.  He’s apparently had clock’s called on him multiple times today, and as soon as this latest clock was called, players from the other two remaining tables have added in their two cents; noting that he has been slow to act all day.  Krause managed to double up against Miguel Delacruz with Aces up, much to the chagrin of his table.

 

Scotty Nguyen scooped a small pot after misread his opponent.  Nguyen bet on the 5^th and 6^th streets with 5 8 7 2 showing against his opponent’s K 8 5 3.  Nguyen checked on the river assuming his opponent held Kings, but Nguyen showed Q Q, and his opponent could only muster 10 10 from his hole cards and Nguyen took the pot.

 

The most recent elimination was O’Neil Longson in 18^th place.  There are currently 17 players left with the average stack being just over $70,000.

Notable Chip Counts

Scotty Nguyen         73,400

Scotty Nguyen	73,400

The remaining 24 players have been combined into the final three tables.  The tournament officials are preparing to color up the $100 chips following the completion of this level.

Chad Brown was eliminated in 35th place ($4,498) when he ran into Jeff Rodriguez's scoop-worthy six high straight.

Dan Heimiller was eliminated in 29th place ($4,498) when he could no longer coast on the short stack.

Ron "Grumpy" Ware received a stay of execution soon after the tables were redrawn.  Ware moved all in with a (A 4) 6 4, and was called by Miguel Delacruz with (8 8) 2 9.  Ware received the great card on fifth street drawing the 4, while Delacruz drew the 6.  Ware essentially locked up the high when he received the 6 for the boat, but Delacruz received the 7 giving him four cards to an low.  Delacruz squeezed the river card, but it was the 7 giving him two pair, and Ware scooped the pot.

Tom Schneider, Tony Ma, and Scotty Nguyen are still going strong tonight, and it looks to be a long one as 16 players will need to be eliminated before play can be stopped, and in a split pot game that may take a while.

The players have returned from dinner and cards are in the air.

Level 13 has come to an end and players are entering Level 14 where the stakes have increased to $2,000-$4,000 with a $500 ante and a $500 bring-in. Forty-one players now remain with a guaranteed payout of $3,283. We’re on the bubble of new pay jump as we approach Level 14, and those players finishing in 40^th-33^rd will receive $3,890.

Scotty Nguyen had a good last hour or so and really got some momentum going into the level change. Nguyen had taken the betting lead down to the river with a board of 4 2 8  8, and his opponent in seat no.5 was calling him down with 9 7 4 8. Nguyen throws a final bet in on the river and turns over 4 4 10 for the full house. His opponent shows A A K, and then throws his hand into the muck. Nguyen scoops the pot.

A few hands later and Scotty Nguyen would scoop another pot, this time eliminating one of his opponents in the process. Nguyen was a showing a board of Q 6 A 7 when he turned over A K 4 for a pair of aces, scooping the pot and sending his all-in opponent to the rail.

Chad Brown narrowly escaped the rail himself this level, nearly tripling up in a pot with Dan Heimiller. Brown was showing a board of K 6 2 on fifth street when he got the rest of his chips in against Dan Heimiller’s board of 5 J A. Brown hit a K on sixth street while Heimiller caught the K. Brown turned over Q 6 4 on the river while Heimiller turned over J 8 7 for the missed flush and a pair of jacks. Brown scoops the pot and nearly triples up.

Rolf Slotboom, Editor of CardPlayer Europe, wouldn’t be so luck as he was eliminated this round in 50^th place ($2,675).

Players will be going on dinner break at 9:30 p.m. and will be returning at 11:00 p.m., so be sure to check back with CardPlayer.com for more updates and your favorite Pro Blogs.

Notable Chip Counts

Scotty Nguyen	67,500
Chad Brown	14,000

Migration

The remaining eight tables in the $1,000 seven-card stud eight-or-better tournament have been moved from the pavilion tent into the main building. They have been moved into the 70-numbered tables in the main room.

Still in the Hunt

A few familiar faces remain in the hunt and they include:

Scotty Nguyen: $38,000
Tommy Hang: $16,000
Chad Brown: $22,000
Jeff Lisandro: $7,000
Jimmy Tran: $21,000

Opposing Voices

Some of the players wanted to keep playing until they reached the money to move into the main room, but the wheels had already been put in motion. During the moving day Lisandro got into a spirited debate with one of the players at the table, which is not a rare occurrence for the brash Italian star.

Jeffrey Lisandro, who recently won event #32, the $2,000 seven card stud event, has taken over the chip lead this past level.  Lisandro is sharing the felt with Tony Ma and Chris Reslock, another 2007 stud bracelet winner, at arguably the toughest table.   The players are currently on a short break before starting the third level of the day.  Make sure to check back for more updates here at Cardplayer.com.