Event #56: $1,000 No-Limit Hold'em

Congratulations to Mike Kachan who has come out on top of a field of 2,525 on his way to winning a WSOP gold bracelet and a huge payday of $403,483.

Sixteen players returned today and they got off to a fast start. In short order the tournament lost Michael Spegal (16th), Robert Merulla (15th), Justin Schwartz (14th), Daniel Riley (13th) and Michael Marckx (12th )in the first two levels and Bastian Fischer finished in eleventh soon after.

The two tables then merged to an unofficial table of ten before Matt Salsberg shoved with    on a flop of     into the    of Raymond Henson and his gutter ball didn't arrive sending Salsberg home in tenth.

From the very first level of the tournament two days ago the action was fast and furious but as soon as the final table of nine was formed it was anything but. From then on it was the story of an extraordinary sequence of double ups as the short stacks came back from the dead time and time again, and a raise would often lead to the blinds and antes being won.

Stacks were mostly evenly distributed, and never very deep, so multi-street action was few and far between. No player wanted or could afford to make a mistake, and if they did it seemed as if a double up wasn't that far away.

One by one though they were eventually eliminated. Ray Henson called a shove with a nut flush draw but couldn't get there so was gone in ninth. Richard Milne fell eighth with a    shove from the button running into Egan's small blind   . Seventh place went to Steve Gross when he picked up a losing pair of pocket fives for the second hand in a row and shoved them into Jeff Blenkarn's tens to end his participation.

Neo Hoang was sixth when his three-bet shove with    was eventually called by the    of Viktor Skoldstedt. It then took nearly two more hours before Viktor Skoldstedt was felted when he picked what looked like a good three-bet shove spot with    but Jeff Blenkarn was going nowhere with his    and Skoldstedt had to be satisfied with fifth and $93,940.

More swapping of chips followed until Andrew Egan got short and his move with the    was picked off by Mike Kachan with   . Egan left in fourth with $128,032 having come back from a short stack several times.

Three handed play began with fairly even stacks again but the pace picked up considerably as players seemingly opened up their ranges. A shove from Eric Shanks with a strong three handed    was unlucky to run into the    of Blenkarn who claimed another victim and sent Shanks out in third to collect his $177,527 winnings.

Heads up play would last just fourteen hands as both players refused to back down and when Kachan turned two pair in position he instantly called the shove of second place finisher Blenkarn and held on for the win. Blenkarn desperately wanted that bracelet but had to console himself with second place prize $ 250,815.

A tumultuous and gruelling three days play had finally come to an end in the early hours of Wednesday morning as a delighted Kachan celebrated with friends and basked in the attention of the media. He held up the gold bracelet as the winners photographs were taken, promising to put in on the wrist of his baby as soon as he could.

Hand #183: Mike Kachan limped and Jeff Blenkarn checked. The flop was    . A bet of 150,000 from Kacham took it down.

Hand #184: Blenkarn raised to 240,000, Kachan made it 510,000 and Blenkarn moved all in. Kachan laid it down.

Hand #185: Kachan opened to 300,000 and Blenkarn moved all in. Kachan folded.

Hand #186: Blenkarn opened to 240,000 and Kachan called. The flop was     and a 125,000 bet from Kachan was called. The turn was the   and Kachan fired again for 175,000. The river was the  . Kachan checked and Blenkarn showed    and the    of Kachan was good for the one pair on the river.

Hand #169: Eric Shanks raised to 205,000 and Jeff Blenkarn in the small blind as well as Mike Kachan in the big blind called. The     flop got checked to Shanks and he made a continuation bet of 200,000. Blenkarn moved all in and both opponents folded. "I should have checked," said Shanks.

Hand #170: Benklarn limped from the button, Kachan raised to 255,000 in the small blind and Shanks folded from the big blind. Blenkarn reached for chips, double checked his cards again and made the call. The two players headed to the     flop and Kachan immediately bet 175,000.

Benklarn checked the board again, looked at his opponent and asked "Why so much?" before mucking his cards.

Hand #171: Shanks moved all in out of the small blind. Blenkarn took about two minutes before he released the cards.

Hand #161: Jeff Blenkarn on the button and Eric Shanks out of the big blind were all in preflop and Shanks was at risk for 1,100,000.

Shanks:   
Blenkarn:   

The     flop delivered one of the two over cards for Shanks and Blenkarn had only one out left after the   turn. The   river saw Shanks double up and both exchanged the roles.

Hand #162: Mike Kachan raised to 215,000 from the button and Blenkarn moved all in for 1,350,000 out of the big blind. It was no snap call but Kachan eventually announced the call and then sighed when he saw the cards of his opponent.

Kachan:   
Blenkarn:   

The     flop reduced the odds of an elimination dramatically and Blenkarn locked up the hand with the   turn. The meaningless   river completed the board.

Jeff Blenkarn	2,850,000	1,000,000
Mike Kachan	2,450,000	-1,090,000
Eric Shanks	2,375,000	775,000

Hand #159: Eric Shanks opened for 250,000 from the small blind and Jeff Blenkarn called. The flop was    . Shanks bet 220,000 and Blenkarn called. The turn card was the   and they both checked. The river was the   and the both checked. Blenkarn won it with   .

Hand #151: Andrew Egan opened for 200,000 and won the antes and blinds.

Hand #152: Eric Shanks moved all in and got no calls.

Hand #153: Mike Kachan opened for 245,000 from the small blind and Egan moved all in. Kachan let it go.

Hand #154: Kachan limped the button and Eric Shanks checked the big blind. The flop was    . Kachan bet 105,000 when it was checked to him and Shanks re-raised to 270,000. Kachan called and the turn card was the  . Shanks moved all in and Kachan folded.

Hand #155: Kachan opened for 265,000 and got a little back winning the antes and blinds.

Hand #146: Jeff Blenkarn raised to 160,000, Mike Kachan three-bet to 335,000 and they both folded after Andrew Egan four-bet all in.

Hand #147: Egan raised to 160,000 and Klenbarn called to see the     flop. Blenkarn checked, Egan bet 225,000 and received a stare from his opponent. Blenkarn folded after giving it some fold. The rail still jokingly cheered for Victor (Skolmstedt).

Hand #148: Blenkarn limped from the small blind and Kachan checked his option in the big blind. After the     flop, Blenkarn bet 160,000 and folded once his opponent raised to 400,000.

Hand #149: Eric Shanks raised to 165,000 and Kachan inquired about his stack behind, which would be 1.2 million in chips. Kachan then three-bet to 600,000 and that shut down all further action.

Hand #150: Blenkarn raised to 160,000 and Kachan called on the button. Egan folded his small blind and Shanks now moved all in out of the big blind. Both opponents quickly folded.