Event No. 18 has come to a close and Eric Buchman from Valley Stream, New York is your champion!

Buchman entered the day as the chip leader. Combining that with his experience at the poker table made him the favorite to win it all going into things. It doesn't always happen that the chip leader entering the final day of play rides it all the way to the win, but it happened in this instance and it happened without any doubt. Well, maybe there was a little doubt.

Buchman never slipped below the amount he entered the day with, but he did have a few slip ups here and there. Buchman seemed to win all of the hands he played using aggression and skill to make his opponents hand over the chips. A little run good helped as well as Buchman seemed to always have it when he was called down. Once the four remaining players returned from dinner break, Buchman steamrolled the competition to a victory.

Last year, Buchman final tabled the most famous poker event in the world, the WSOP Main Event, and became a fixture of the famed November Nine. He wound up placing fourth for over $2.5 million to boost his career earnings to nearly $3.5 million in all. You can now add $203,607 to that and wrap a gold bracelet around Buchman's wrist.

When asked how this win compares to his finish in the Main Event last year, Buchman paused before saying that it's a really hard comparison to make. The win is total satisfaction for him, but the fourth-place finish in the Main Event gave him more experience and the money was much greater. Congratulations for Buchman for adding the ultimate piece of hardware to his trophy case and taking home the title!

That wraps up our coverage of Event No. 18, but there's plenty of other events going on right now if you're still looking to get your poker fix. Check out all the [URL="http://www.pokernews.com/live-reporting/2010-wsop/"]live coverage[/URL] PokerNews has to offer and thanks for following!

Eric Buchman opened the pot on the button with a raise and Brent Courson re-popped it. Buchman called. The flop came out and Buchman called a bet from Courson in position. The turn card was a and Courson bet all in. Buchman made the call and the cards were turned over as the crowd stood to their feet to see the action.

Showdown

Buchman:

Courson:

Buchman's two pair was in the lead with one card to come. The river card was the and Brent Courson finished in second place. For this second-place finish, Courson he took home $125,737 while Buchman took home the title.

Eric Buchman had the button again and raised before Brent Courson reraised all in. Buchman made the call with the . Courson had the .

The board ran out and Courson was able to flop a straight and hold up from there to double up.

On the very next hand, Courson had the button and raised. Buchman reraised and then Courson re-reraised all in for 160,000 total and was all in. Buchman called with the . Courson had two black queens.

The board ran out nd Courson doubled again. He now has 320,000 chips to Buchman's 2.54 million.

Eric Buchman had the button and raised. Brent Courson reraised and Buchman called. The flop came down and Courson fired. Buchman raised and Courson called.

The turn was the and Courson check-called a bet from Buchman. The river produced the and Courson check-called again. His was no good against Buchman's and he slipped into the danger zone.

With the flop reading Brent Courson ended up all in holding . Eric Buchman called with .

The turn brought a and the river a , double up for Courson. Buchman slipped to 2,200.000 chips and Courson is now up to 400,000 chips.

Eric Buchman opened the pot on the button and Brent Courson called. The flop came out and Courson check-called a bet.

The turn card was a and Courson check-called once again. When the fell on Courson check-called Buchman's bet and the 2009 November Nine tabled for trip kings.

Nice start for Eri Buchman!

After a pre-flop raising war, Steven Hustoft and Eric Buchman went to see the flop. With only 50,000 chips, Hustoft was all in on the flop.

Showdown

Hustoft:

Buchman:

The turn card was a safe , but the fell on the river giving Buchman the straight.

Steven Hustoft is the third-place finisher and took home over $90,000.

Since coming back from dinner break it's been the Eric Buchman show. He finally lost a post after steam rolling the other players for a solid 20 minutes of action.

Buchman raised the button before Brent Courson reraised from the small blind. Buchman called and the two took a flop of . Courson bet and Buchman made the call. The turn brought the and Courson bet again. Buchman called before the dealer plaxced the on the river. Both players checked.

Buchman mucked his hand after Courson tabled the , finally losing a pot and giving up some chips.

On the flop of , Eric Buchman continued to apply pressure to his opponents by firing a bet, this time into Brent Courson. Courson raised and Buchman called. The turn brought the and Buchman checked. Courson fired a bet and Buchman then raised. Courson folded and the Buchman train picked up some more steam.

Brent Courson opened the pot on the button with a raise and Steven Hustoft reraised it from the small blind. Courson called. The flop ran out and Courson called a bet from Hustoft.

The turn card was the and Hustoft ended up all in. Courson called and tabled . Hustoft was in the lead with the , for two pair. The on the river didn't change anything and Hustoft doubled up. He now has 600,000 chips.

On the next hand following Flavio Ferrari's bust out, there was a dead small blind and Steven HUstoft raised from under the gun. Eric Buchman reraised from the button and Hustoft called.

The flop came down and Hustoft bet out. Buchman called. The turn added the to the board and both players checked. The river completed the board with the and both players checked again.

Buchman tabled pocket tens after Hustoft showed queen high and won the pot. He's really cruising now.

Action folded to Eric Buchman in the small blind and he raised. Flavio Ferrari reraised from the big blind and was all in. Buchman made the call. He held the and Ferrari held a dominating .

The flop came down and nailed Buchman's seven to put him in the lead. The turn was the and no help for Ferrari, who would need an ace on the river to stay alive. The river completed the board with the and that was it, Buchman earned the elimination of Ferrari to send the Italian home in fourth place.

In the third hand after the dinner break, Flavio Ferrari took a big hit.

Ferrari and Eric Buchman went heads up to the flop and Ferrari called a three-bet.

The turn brought the and Buchman check-raised Ferrari, who called. The river card was the and Ferrari called a bet from Buchman.

Buchman tabled for a full house, tens full of sevens, and took the pot. Ferrari slipped to 80,000. Buchman now has over one million chips.

We're now on a 60-minute dinner. Back after that to find the new owner of one of these bracelets.

From under the gun, Brent Courson raised and Flavio Ferrari called out of the big blind. After the flop came , Ferrari check-called a bet from the preflop raiser Courson.

The turn brought the and both players checked. The river completed the board and out four hearts out there with the . Ferrari checked, Courson bet and Ferrari called. Couson tabled the for a king-high flush and Ferrari mucked his hand.

Hansu Chu reraised all in after Steven Hustoft raised. Hustoft made the call and the hands were tabled. Chu held the , but was dominated by the of Hustoft.

The flop came down and both players hit their nine. Chu's ten kicker was behind Hustoft's queen though and they both picked up a gutshot to go along with their pair.

The turn brought the and the river the , failing to help Chu and sending him to the rail in fifth place. He took home just under $50,000. Hustoft moved up to 700,000 in chips.

Eric Buchman raised and then Brent Courson reraised from the small blind. Buchman raised again and Courson called.

The flop came down and more bets went into the pot. Courson checked, Buchman bet, Courson raised and then BUchman called. The turn brought the and both players checked. The river completed the board with the and both players checked again.

Courson tabled the and Buchman mucked his hand.

Steven Hustoft raised and Flavio Ferrari called from the small blind. The two players took a flop of and Ferrari bet out. Hustoft made the call.

The turn added the to the board and Ferrari bet out again. Hustoft raised and Ferrari called before seeing the fall on the river. Both players then checked.

Hustoft tabled the and won the pot as Ferrari mucked.

Plenty of hands have been dealt, but only a few have been blog worthy. There's been dozens of hands since coming back from the last break where a simple preflop raise takes down the blinds. Without any action, as the levels pass by the average stack goes down and each player has fewer big bets in their stack with which to work with. This should make for some very fast poker come the later levels as we move into the night.

Hansu Chu opened the pot from the button and Brent Courson called in the big blind. The flop was and Courson check-called a bet. The turn brought the and both players checked.

The river card was the and Courson took the pot after bet. Courson moved up to 450,000 chips while Chu now has just 45,000.

Hansu Chu was all in preflop with the and called by Brent Courson and his . The board ran out and Chu doubled with a pair of tens back to about 160,000.