Event #11: $2,500 No-Limit Hold'em 6-Handed

Today was the conclusion of one of the most action packed events of the summer, Event #11 $2,500 No-Limit Hold'em Six Handed. 14 players came back today for the Day 3 restart, and at the beginning of the day, Levi Berger held a big chip lead. He lost it before the start of the final table, and despite having an up and down final table, he ended up knocking out every single player, including Scott Clements heads up for his first gold bracelet, and $473,019 to boot.

It took about an hour for us to lose our first player, and that was the last woman standing, Tamara Tibbles. She ran her ace-four into the ace-king of Mickey Petersen, and wasn't able to catch up. We then lost Peter Turmezey in 13th, Gary Pearce in 12th, and Luke Vrabel in 11th, before Tuan Le busted in 10th in brutal fashion. Le got it all in preflop with aces against the sevens of Eddy Sabat, and he stayed ahead until the river brought a brutal two outer.

Mickey Petersen busted in 9th place to Ben Palmer, and then Scott Clements took a big lead going into the final table after busting Marcio Cid in 8th and Clifford Goldkind in 7th, though Berger was still second in chips to start the final table. He got some more chips when his    stayed in front of the    of David Gonia, busting him in 6th. Two more hours went by before we lost Jacob Bazeley in 5th, and it was Berger who once again did the deed, when his flopped set coolered Bazeley's top pair.

Eddy Sabat bowed out in fourth place when he got his short stack in preflop with   , and Berger called with   . The flop brought trip threes for Berger, and Sabat could not catch up. Three handed play lasted for a couple of hours and through the dinner break before Ben Palmer busted on Hand #91. It was the hand before that virtually did him in, when Berger doubled after his flopped bottom two pair held against the top pair of Palmer. That left Palmer with a single 5k chip, and Berger's    beat the    of Palmer, getting us to our heads up between Berger and Clements.

Despite both players having nearly 100 big blinds, heads up play lasted just under an hour. In the final hand, Clements and Berger got the money in on a     flop. Clements held    for an open ended straight draw, and Berger had him in trouble, with   . The board completed   and  , and Clements fell one spot short of picking up his third WSOP bracelet.

Congratulations again to Berger for taking down Event #11 at the WSOP. Berger's win means that Canadians have now taken four bracelets this summer. Thanks for tuning into Pokernews for all of the updates, and so long from the Rio!

Hand #92- Levi Berger made it 100,000 on the button, and Scott Clements defended his big blind. The flop came    , and Clements check folded after an 85,000 bet from Berger.

Hand #93- Clements limped on the button, and Berger checked his option. The flop came down    , and Berger check called a bet of 55,000. The turn brought the  , and Berger check called again, this time for 75,000. Both players checked the   on the river, and Berger tabled    for a pair of jacks. Clements mucked his hand.

Hand #94- Berger made it 100,000 on the button, and Clements made the call. The flop came down    , and both players checked. The   hit the turn, and Clements checked again. Berger fired out 55,000, and Clements called. The river was the  , and Berger fired 140,000 after Clements checked. Clements folded, and Berger took another pot to extend his lead.

Levi Berger	3,985,000	450,000
Scott Clements	2,895,000	-450,000

Hand #91: Scott Clements called on the button, Levi Berger called from the small blind, and Ben Palmer was already all in for his 5,000 ante.

Berger and Clements checked to the turn of a      board where Berger bet 40,000, chasing Clements out.

Berger:   
Palmer:   

The   river was no help to Palmer, ending his run in third place.

Hand #87: Ben Palmer raised to 80,000 on the button and Levi Berger called from the big blind. They checked to the turn of a      board where Berger bet 85,000. Palmer called to see the   river where Berger bet 350,000. Palmer gave it a good amount of thought, but folded.

Hand #88: Scott Clements raised to 85,000 on the button and Ben Palmer called from the big blind. They checked to the turn of a      board where Palmer bet 105,000. Clements raised to 305,000, resulting in a fold from Palmer.

Hand #89: Scott Clements gets a walk in the big blind.

Hand #75- Ben Palmer made it 80,000 on the button, and Levi Berger made the call from the big blind. The flop came down    , and Berger check folded when Palmer made it 120,000.

Hand #76- Scott Clements made it 85,000 on the button, and Palmer defended his big blind. The flop came down    , and Palmer checked to Clements who fired out 90,000, which induced a fold from Palmer.

Hand #77- Palmer called from the small blind, and Clements checked his option. The flop came    , and Palmer check folded after Clements bet 45,000.

Hand #78- Palmer made it 80,000 to go from the button, and Berger came along from the big blind. The flop came    , and Palmer fired out 120,000 after Berger checked. Berger then put in a check raise to 310,000, and it was back to Palmer. He tanked for about 45 seconds before moving all in, and Berger thought for just a few moments before kicking his hand in.

Hand #79- Clements made it 85,000 on the button, and Palmer defended his big blind. The flop came    , and Palmer check called a bet of 90,000 to see the hit the turn. This time the bet from Clements was 240,000, and that was too much for Palmer, who folded his hand.

Ben Palmer	2,500,000	375,000
Levi Berger	1,400,000	-630,000

Hand 67: Levi Berger raised to 80,000 from the small blind, Ben Palmer called from the big blind, and the flop fell    . Both checked and Palmer won the pot after the   turn fell with a bet of 105,000.

Hand 68: Ben Palmer raised to 110,000 from the small blind and Scott Clements called from the big blind. Both checked to the turn of an      board where Palmer bet 110,000. Clements called and both checked the   river. Palmer took it down with   .

Hands 69-70: Walks for Berger and Palmer

Hand 71: Levi Berger raised to 80,000 from the button and won the pot.

Hand 72: Scott Clements limped from the small blind and Levi Berger checked his option. The flop fell     and Clements bet 45,000. Berger called and both played checked the   turn and 2d river. Berger's    bested Clements's   .

Hand 73: Walk for Palmer.

Hand 74: Levi Berger raised to 80,000 on the button and Scott Clements called from the big blind. The flop fell     and Clements checked to Berger who bet 80,000. Clements raised to 205,000, Berger reraised to 400,000, and Clements folded.

Scott Clements went into the dinner break with a comfortable lead and in excellent position to win his third WSOP bracelet. PokerNews' Pamela Maldonado caught up with Clements to discuss his chase for the bracelet trifecta.

PokerNews: Your last bracelet achievement was in 2007 and came close to adding another in Omaha events twice in 2009. How important is it to you to win a bracelet in a no-limit hold'em tournament?

Clements: Every bracelet is important. It's my goal for me to win the $50,000 Players Championship before I die. That is the one bracelet I have my heart set on, but all the rest, whether no-limit or Omaha or even another game, they're all of the same importance.

We heard a rumor that back in February you said you wouldn't cut your hair until you win a bracelet. We see your hair is getting a bit long, is that bet still in place?

It wasn't actually until I win a bracelet. It was that I wouldn't cut my hair until I have a $100,000 score. As of today, I've reached that dollar amount. Third place is guaranteed at least $185,000 so as of today I'll get to cut it. Maybe now I'll wait and see if I can win a bracelet first.

How do feel about your game at the final table?

I am very happy. Simply put, I like my spot. I feel so comfortable with where I am, with my competitors, with my chip stack, I just overall am happy with where I'm sitting. Benny is a very good player and Levi seems to be playing well too, but I'm just confident right now.

Is there any key hand or pivotal moment that helped lead you to where you're at right now?

Early in the tournament I had pocket queens versus Chris Moorman's ace-king. I had a lot of chips but he was maybe chip leader at the time. It was of course a big flip but I won that flip which put me up toward the top. That jolt really helped give me the freedom for the rest of the tournament. From that point, there weren't really any spots where my stack got low. It's been a good run since.

If you were to win the bracelet tonight, how will you celebrate?

I will spend the morning with my wife and kids. I'll be playing in the $1,500 H.O.R.S.E. event at noon tomorrow also. If I bust the H.O.R.S.E, then I might play in the heads-up event, but I definitely won't miss the noon event. I love H.O.R.S.E.

The players are now taking a 60 minute dinner break.