Monday, November 8, 2010 8:41 PM Local Time
Jonathan Duhamel has the button.
He raises to 2.5 million to win the pot.
Monday, November 8, 2010 8:40 PM Local Time
John Racener has the button.
He limps into the pot. Jonathan Duhamel checks his option, bringing us to the first flop of heads-up play. It comes , drawing a murmur from the theater. Duhamel checks. Racener bets 1.5 million and takes down the pot.
As Racener stacks his chips, he starts smacking that ever-present chewing gum.
Monday, November 8, 2010 8:38 PM Local Time
Jonathan Duhamel has the button.
He raises to 2.5 million. John Racener moves all in and his fans rise to their feet. Duhamel folds and Racener wins the pot.
Monday, November 8, 2010 8:37 PM Local Time
John Racener has the button.
He folds, giving Jonathan Duhamel a walk.
Monday, November 8, 2010 8:37 PM Local Time
Jonathan Duhamel has the button to kick off heads-up play.
He raises to 2.5 million. John Racener folds and Duhamel wins the first pot.
Monday, November 8, 2010 8:33 PM Local Time
2010 Player of the Year Frank Kassela did the honors. With 13:52 left in the level, cards are finally in the air for the conclusion of the 2010 WSOP Main Event! Racener's fans are already chanting "Double up! Double up!"
Monday, November 8, 2010 8:22 PM Local Time
The second inductee in the 2010 class of the Poker Hall of Fame is Erik Seidel. He was introduced by Doyle Brunson. The first thing that Seidel said upon taking the mic: "I want to thank the members of the media and the Hall of Fame for voting me in before Tom Dwan."
Seidel said it was a double honor for him to enter the Hall of Fame this year, first because he went in with his good friend Dan Harrington and second because he had the vocal support of that venerable poker icon, Doyle Brunson. Brunson, in introducing Seidel, remarked that Seidel reminds him more of Chip Reese than anyone else playing the game today.
Seidel's speech toured what most of today's young players would consider the misty history of poker, from Johnny Moss to Reese himself.
"The other nice thing I didn't know about is that Harrah's pays the Main Event entry fees for all of us Hall of Famers." There was a pause. "Ok, I just wanted to see the look on Ty Stewart's face."
Seidel then thanked everyone for his induction and ended his speech. All of the honorifics are now out of the way. Next up: the conclusion of the 2010 World Series of Poker Main Event!
Monday, November 8, 2010 8:08 PM Local Time
Nolan Dalla presented the first inductee in the 2010 class of the Poker Hall of Fame, Dan Harrington. Harrington is now giving his acceptance speech. Harrington's accomplishments include $6.6 million in tournament winnings and a legendary series of poker books, Harrington on Hold'em.
Harrington has also shown he has some wit. He related a story from many years ago in which he declined to play in a high-stakes game because it was beyond his bankroll. Jack Binion told Harrington that if Binion had Harrington's skill, Binion would play higher and higher. Harrington replied, "Jack, if I had your money, I wouldn't play at all."
Harrington is wrapping up his speech now. Once he's done it'll be Erik Seidel's turn.
Monday, November 8, 2010 7:55 PM Local Time
Before the Hall of Fame induction ceremony, MOC Jack Effel introduced Ty Stewart to present the 2010 WSOP Player of the Year, Frank Kassela. Stewart also felt it was appropriate to take a moment to applaud the 2006 Player of the Year, Jeff Madsen, saying, "2006 was the first year of our new Player of the Year system. We were still getting the kinks out and didn't know how coveted this would become. The winner didn't get a trophy, didn't get a curtain call, and didn't really get his due. Four years later, please take a moment for our 2006 Player of the Year, Mr. Jeffrey Madsen."
After some polite applause, Stewart rattled off Frank Kassela's accolades at the 2010 WSOP. Kassela then came out on stage and was presented with a giant check, giving him exemptions to the next three Main Events for winning the Player of the Year award this year.
Monday, November 8, 2010 7:46 PM Local Time
Well, it's perhaps not a surprise that the Hall of Fame ceremony hasn't started yet. But MOC Jack Effel just assured the theater it's going to start in 60 seconds.
Monday, November 8, 2010 7:13 PM Local Time
There are a few different things going on tonight in the Penn & Teller Theater at the Rio. The media guide states that the Hall of Fame ceremony inducting Dan Harrington and Erik Seidel will start at 7:30pm. The ceremony is only supposed to last 15 minutes.
John Racener and Jonathan Duhamel are supposed to arrive to the theater no later than 7:45pm. Once the Hall of Fame induction ceremony is complete, the stage will be set for heads-up play. Racener and Duhamel are scheduld to be introduced to the crowd at 8pm, with cards in the air by 8:10pm.
At an event of this magnitude, things invariably run late. If Saturday is any guide, expect cards to be in the air somewhere around 8:30pm.
Monday, November 8, 2010 6:06 PM Local Time
Jonathan Duhamel came into the final table with a big lead, eventually got a little short, then went on a tear to take an even more monstrous chip lead into this final showdown.
Thirty hands into the final table, Duhamel's chip lead was dented when his was coolered off by Filippo Candio's . All the chips went in preflop, and Candio had secured his double up by the turn to knock Duhamel down around 50 million. Nineteen hands later, he and Joseph Cheong tangled up in a pot that gave us a new chip leader for the first time in four months. Cheong raised and called a Duhamel three-bet, then called a continuation bet on the flop. They checked the turn, and Cheong made a healthy bet of 8.25 million on the river. Duhamel called, and Cheong's gave him two pair, a pot of more than 30 million, and the chip lead.
There was no slowing down for Duhamel, though, and he continued to take his fair share of preflop pots over the next few orbits. After 90 hands, he was at 47,500,000 at dinner. His active play allowed him to scoop up a lot of free chips, but it also forced him to raise-and-fold, or even three-bet-fold on a few occasions.
On hand #129, John Dolan took his final stand. When the table folded around to his small blind, he moved his short stack of about 13 million into the middle. He ended up having , and he was snap-called by Jonathan Duhamel's . The at-risk player seemed happy to be in a coin flip with his queen-five, but he could not connect with the board.
Despite that kockout pot, Duhamel's stack was in the midst of a steady decline, and it would get worse before it got better. A short-stacked John Racener doubled up into contention, then promptly ran his into Duhamel's for a pot of more than 34 million. The flop robbed Duhamel of that big pot, though, and Racener's second double up knocked Duhamel all the way back to 27 million.
That chip problem didn't last long.
On the very next hand, it was Duhamel opening with a raise from the small blind before Michael Mizrachi moved all in from the big. Duhamel called off his stack with , and he was racing for double or nothing against The Grinder's . A nine landed on the flop, and another one on the turn, and Duhamel was right back up over 50 million. He and Mizrachi continued to mix it up in several big pots, most of them eventually being pushed into the French-Canadian's corner.
On Hand #185, Duhamel dealt the final blow to Mizrachi. On a queen-high flop, Mizrachi three-bet jammed his . Duhamel had limped his from the small blind (sneaky, sneaky), and he snap-called the shove to send Team Mizrachi and half of the theater out the double doors.
Joseph Cheong was still the chip leader through all of the middle-stage madness, but that would change in a flash. On Hand #197, Duhamel raised to 2.8 million, and Cheong came along with him from the small blind. Cheong check-raised on the flop, then barreled on the turn and river. Duhamel finally paused to think on the river, but he called off 13.5 million of his chips with to win the massive pot and take the chip lead once again with about 110 million.
Whether or not he can close out this Main Event, Jonathan Duhamel's name will be etched in the WSOP books for winning the largest pot in its history. It happened just a few shuffles before the end of the night, and it was Cheong and Duhamel playing for more than 170 million chips, the buy-ins of nearly 6,000 players. Cheong, the chip leader once again, six-bet shoved his , and Duhamel called all in with . A board full of blanks crushed Cheong down under 10 million in a pot that will live on in WSOP infamy, shooting Duhamel up into a near-decisive chip lead. Six hands later, Duhamel cued the end of Day 9 when his eliminated Cheong and his in 3rd place.
Monday, November 8, 2010 6:05 PM Local Time
John Racener didn't get too involved until Hand #21 when he picked up two kings. He raised to 1.3 million and John Dolan made the call. After the flop came down , Dolan checked. Racener checked behind to see the fall on the turn, completing a lot of possible draws. Dolan fired out 1.775 million and Racener made the call, prompting the dealer to place the out on the river. Dolan fired 3.55 million and Racener made the call. Dolan's wasn't good enough to beat the that Racener held and he won the pot, moving a little over 25 million in chips.
From there, not much happened in Racener's favor for a while. At the break after Hand #65, Racener was down to 13.675 million and the shortest stack at the table. Then, Hand #77 came up and Racener was able to pick off a bluff by Filippo Candio. Racener had limped the small blind and Candio checked in the big blind to see the flop come down . Both players checked and the fell on the turn. Racener fired 950,000 and Candio called.
After the small fir the river, Racener fired out 2.5 million. Candio raised to nine million and Racener tank-called all in for all 8.75 million of his chips. He showed the for trip queens and Candio mucked his hand.
That hand with Candio doubled Racener up and then he took some more time off from really getting involved until the last two hands before the dinner break. He raised to 1.95 million preflop in Hand #89 before Joseph Cheong and Michael Mizrachi both called him. The flop came down and Mizrachi checked with first action. Racener fired 2.4 million and Cheong called. Mizrachi folded.
The turn brought the and Racener paused for a minute. He then fired all in and Cheong mucked his cards, allowing Racener to scoop the pot.
On the next hand, Hand #90, Racener exercised his three-bet card. After Jonathan Duhamel raised from the button to 1.75 million, Racener three-bet from the big blind to 4.1 million and won the pot. This was the first hand that Racener three-bet preflop and it allowed him to go into the dinner break with 25.675 million in chips, good enough for fourth place on the leader board and smack in the middle of the remaining seven players.
There was no after-dinner-break rush for Racener. In fact, his chips seemed to all go the other way and things weren't looking too good for him. When Hand #139 came up, Racener was down to under 10 million. Mizrachi raised to 2.5 million and Racener moved all in for 9.825 million. Action folded back around to Mizrachi and he thought for a while. Two full minutes went by and then Mizrachi made the call. He called with the , but was dominated by the for Racener. The board ran out and Racener was able to double up.
Then on Hand #149, Racener doubled up again. This time, he called all in after Duhamel had three-bet shoved on him. Racener called it off and was the dominated player this time holding the to Duhamel's . No worries for Racener though. He was able to find a queen on the flop as the board ran out and double up. This time he was all in for 16.95 million.
When play got short handed, Racener really started to get involved and try and pick up chips. He raised a lot of hands and no one really contested him. He found his way down to the final three, but was matched up against two ridiculously larger stacks in Duhamel and Cheong. It looked as though it was only a matter of time before Racener was kicked to the curb in third place, but then Cheong tried to push Duhamel around on Hand #213 and ended up ruining his chances at the title. Cheong six-bet shoved into Duhamel's pocket queens and the queens held up, crippling Cheong. It was put Duhamel at a staggering 180 million. Shortly thereafter, Cheong hit the rail and Racener had made it to heads-up play, but at a severe disadvantage.
Racener finished with 30.65 million in chips. He's going to have to overcome a deficit that's greater than 6-to-1 against Duhamel, who will return tonight with 188.95 million of the 219.6 million that are in play. Racener has over 25 big blinds when the two return at 8:00 PM PST tonight, but he's still going to have a ton of work cut out for him. No one thought when play got down to three handed that he'd make it to the final two, but here he is. Will he overcome the odds once again? Be sure to return later on to PokerNews to find out!
Monday, November 8, 2010 6:04 PM Local Time
For all you math people out there and stat freaks, PokerNews took some time to crunch some numbers for the final table. There were a couple hands were the action was unknown, but other than that, these numbers should be fairly accurate and help you get a scope of how the final table played out from nine players down to two. There were a total of 219 hands played before heads-up play was reached.
{TABLE}*Player | Hands Played | VPIP | PFR % | PF 3B % | PF 4B %*
Jason Senti | 116 | 22.41% | 14.66% | 1.72% | 0.86%
Joseph Cheong | 219 | 34.25% | 20.55% | 5.02% | 2.28%
John Dolan | 129 | 14.73% | 11.63% | 2.33% | 0%
Jonathan Duhamel | 219 | 30.14% | 20.55% | 6.85% | 0%
Michael Mizrachi | 185 | 26.49% | 12.43% | 3.24% | 1.62%
Matthew Jarvis | 43 | 27.91% | 13.95% | 11.63% | 0%
John Racener | 219 | 23.29% | 13.7% | 4.11% | 0%
Filippo Candio | 188 | 12.23% | 6.91% | 2.66% | 1.6%
Soi Nguyen | 28 | 14.29% | 10.71% | 0% | 0%{/TABLE}
Some other interesting facts and numbers about the final table are as follows:
{LIST}
{*}Senti was all in four times during the first 14 hands of play.
{*}Senti was all in a total of nine times before finally busting out on his tenth all in.
{*}Mizrachi didn't play his first hand until the 16th hand of action.
{*}The first walk was on the 58th hand.
{*}The first limp was on the 72nd hand.
{*}Racener's first three-bet wasn't until the 90th hand.
{/LIST}
Either Jonathan Duhamel or John Racener will be walking away with the most coveted title in poker, the WSOP Main Event championship bracelet and $8,944,310! To put that number into perspective, just check out the table below.
{TABLE}*Event | Winner | Prize*
WSOP Main Event | TBD | $8,944,310
Indianapolis 500 | Dario Franchitti | $2,750,000
Daytona 500 | Jamie McMurray | $1,514,649
US Open (Tennis) | Rafael Nadal | $1,700,000
US Open (Golf) | Graeme McDowell | $1,350,000{/TABLE}
If you take the time add up those numbers for the prizes won by Franchitti, McMurrary, Nadal and McDowell, you'll come up with $7,314,649. That's $1,629,661 less than the number for the 2010 WSOP Main Event champion. In order to help you get a bit of a grasp on how much money that is really is for the winner, {URL="http://www.pokernews.com/news/2010/11/2010-world-series-of-poker-what-is-8-9-million-really-9267.htm"}check out Rich Ryan's article{/URL}.
Monday, November 8, 2010 12:14 PM Local Time
Only two remain for tonight's heads-up battle for the 2010 World Series of Poker Main Event title! Those two players are John Racener and Jonathan Duhamel. They're return at 8:00 PM PST to do battle. When it's all said and done, one of them will have etched their name into poker history.
Duhamel began the day on Saturday with the chip lead and although he didn't hold that chip lead throughout play, he got it back and is going into heads up play with a 6-to-1 chip lead over Racener. Don't count Racener out however, he's still in the game and his play has been solid as of late. The chip lead for him is just two double ups away. If Duhamel can ride the momentum he's had, however, he would become the first-ever Canadian to win the WSOP Main Event.
Given Duhamel's massive lead going into heads-up play, things may only last for a little while. Or, Racener could find a double up early and get right back in this thing to make it a long night. We'd recommend getting here promptly at 8:00 PM PST, or even a little bit earlier, for all of the action as only PokerNews can bring it to you live from the Penn & Teller Theater.
{id:46}
PokerNews' Editor-in-Chief Matthew Parvis and Managing Editor Elaine Chaivarlis will be hosting the PokerNews Cover it Live chat again. A slew of pros including Daniel Negreanu, Barry Greenstein, Jason Mercier, Lauren Kling, Greg Raymer and Joe Sebok came by Saturday night to discuss the final table with our readers. We'll be discussing the action Monday night and there's no telling which pros will stop by, so be sure to join us!
Remember, the action kicks off tonight at 8:00 PM PST and PokerNews will be providing every single hand of action for you! We'll see you tonight!