Tuesday, June 15, 2010 3:31 AM Local Time
Things are getting interesting now. James Dempsey raised pre-flop and Sam Farha called. He said, "This could be it," before checking the flop. Dempsey bet, Farha raised, and Dempsey re-raised. Farha made the call.
The turn was the . Farha checked and called one bet.
On the river , Farha may have inadvertently made a bet. The TD told him, "That's going to have to be a bet Sam." Dempsey then raised all in to 330,000 total and Farha called. Dempsey showed , a full house and a bad low. Farha had no low and mucked, allowing Dempsey to claim the whole pot.
Tuesday, June 15, 2010 3:24 AM Local Time
James Dempsey certainly isn't going gently into that good night. It probably helps that he has a rowdy rail egging him on. Dempsey and Sam Farha both checked a flop of . Farha bet the turn and the river, with Dempsey calling both bets. Dempsey's 6-low and pair of 4s was enough to scoop the pot.
Tuesday, June 15, 2010 3:06 AM Local Time
We have reached the end of the level. The last two players are on a ten-minute break.
Tuesday, June 15, 2010 3:03 AM Local Time
Sam Farha can't quite finish off James Dempsey. The two took a raised flop of , with Farha the player in position. He bet after Dempsey checked, then called a check-raise. The rest of the chips were in on the turn . Farha showed down . He was looking for a low card against Dempsey's three kings, . The river was paint, , to give Dempsey another double up. He's back up to 1.0 million.
Tuesday, June 15, 2010 2:59 AM Local Time
Sam Farha is trying to apply the pressure again. In a limped pot, Farha bet the flop, the turn and the river. James Dempsey called the first two bets, but tank-folded to the river bet.
Dempsey is sliding dangerously downwards.
Tuesday, June 15, 2010 2:54 AM Local Time
Sam Farha has to start all over with trying to eliminate James Dempsey. He took a step in that direction by betting the turn of a board. James Dempsey called. Both players checked the river, with Farha tabling , trip aces, to take down the pot.
Tuesday, June 15, 2010 2:45 AM Local Time
Much to the delight of the drunken British railbirds ("Scoooooooooop!" is their new favorite word), James Dempsey is dragging himself back into the match. He scooped yet another pot after check-raising a flop of and then betting the turn. Farha called the turn bet, then checked behind after Dempsey checked the river. Dempsey showed for two pair, kings and fours, to claim the pot.
Dempsey is up to 1.8 million.
Tuesday, June 15, 2010 2:33 AM Local Time
Sam Farha had opened a 15-to-1 chip lead over James Dempsey, but a series of pots have brought Dempsey back from the brink to only a 3-to-1 deficit. Most recently, he called after Farha raised the button and then check-called another bet on a flop of . Both players checked the turn. Dempsey then took the initiative to bet the river. Farha called but couldn't beat , a six-high straight and a low.
Dempsey now has about 1.65 million. Farha has roughly 4.8 million.
Tuesday, June 15, 2010 2:27 AM Local Time
At this point, any pair must look like a monster to the short-stacked James Dempsey. He opened his button pre-flop and was called by Sam Farha. They got one bet in on the flop, and then the rest of Dempsey's were in on the turn. Farha called with , a partial wrap draw. Dempsey showed . That hand made a full house, tens full of eights, with the river. Dempsey scooped and doubled to 750,000 to stay alive.
Tuesday, June 15, 2010 2:23 AM Local Time
It's looking grim for James Dempsey now. He's down to 375,000 after losing another pot to Sam Farha. Dempsey raiesd the button and was called by Farha. Farha led a flop of , with Dempsey calling. On the turn, Farha fired again. Dempsey made a raise, then snap-folded when Farha announced a re-raise.
The Farha train is rolling towards the finish line now.
Tuesday, June 15, 2010 2:20 AM Local Time
It continues to go poorly for James Dempsey in the heads-up portion. He was in the big blind and called a raise from Sam Farha on the button. Both players cecked the flop. Dempsey led the turn and was called by Farha. Both players checked the river. Farha showed to claim the pot.
Tuesday, June 15, 2010 2:17 AM Local Time
Small pot by small pot, Sam Farha is widening his lead. He's up to 4.9 million chips now after a pot in which James Dempsey took a long time facing a bet on the river. He eventually folded and conceded the pot to Farha.
Dempsey still has 1.5 million.
Tuesday, June 15, 2010 2:11 AM Local Time
We're heads up now, with Sam Farha starting out with the chip lead. he's one a few small pots to start to open a 4.3 million to 2.1 million lead. With limits at 100,000 and 200,000, Dempsey has room but things could go south quickly.
Tuesday, June 15, 2010 2:05 AM Local Time
No sooner had Richard Zhu asked for a spectator to be thrown out of the final table area than he was all in pre-flop against James Dempsey. Dempsey had Zhu in this spot several times during the last hour, but Zhu managed to wriggle away every time. Their hands for this confrontation were:
Dempsey:
Zhu:
Dempsey and Zhu were both on their feet for a flop that came . Dempsey flopped a lock low hand.
"Now you can't lose," noted Sam Farha. Things got even better for Dempsey when the turn came to give him a wheel. He had to sweat one last river card, which blanked out harmlessly with the to finally end Zhu's tournament. He leaves in third place with $225,326 and, finally, the tournament is heads up.
Tuesday, June 15, 2010 2:04 AM Local Time
Although most of the people here are rooting on James Dempsey, there's a couple of older men cheering for Sammy Farha and engaging in some friendly banter with the Dempsey cheering section while having a few cocktails themselves. Just a few moments ago, that friendly banter turned a little ugly when one of the men cheering for Farha yelled out, "You can't mess with the Lebanese unless you're Chinese! I don't see any Chinese at the table!"
Yueqi Zhu snapped his head around and seemed to take some offense to the comment, being Chinese himself. A few moments later the man continued with another comment.
"Everything made in China always breaks!" he yelled out.
Zhu's head immediately snapped around again. "Shut the f*** up!" he yelled back at the man.
The tournament announcer warned the man over the microphone, but Zhu insisted that he be removed from the final table arena. The man was then escorted out by security.
Tuesday, June 15, 2010 1:57 AM Local Time
As if things haven't gotten loud enough on the final table stage, James Dempsey's cheering section, have literally had another batch of over 50 beers delivered. It took two cocktail waitresses with giant trays to carry all the beer in.
Tuesday, June 15, 2010 1:48 AM Local Time
Yueqi Zhu was all in for 150,000 preflop and James Dempsey made the call. Zhu held the and Dempsey held the .
The flop came down and Zhu locked up at least half the pot with a low. The turn was the and the river the , giving Zhu trips to scoop him the high as well and he doubled through.
Tuesday, June 15, 2010 1:42 AM Local Time
James Dempsey's railbirds seem quite fond of Sammy Farha, as long as he's not in a pot against Dempsey. Farha tangled with Richard Zhu in the last pot, with Dempsey sitting out. By the time they got to the river, several bets were in the pot. Farha fired out 160,000 on a board of [jd . Zhu called but couldn't beat , two pair eights and sevens and the nut low.
Dempsey's railbirds were overjoyed. So was Farha. Perhaps not surprisingly, Zhu was not
Tuesday, June 15, 2010 1:35 AM Local Time
Sammy Farha checked the flop of and James Dempsey bet. Farha raised and Dempsey called.
The turn brought the and Farha checked. Dempsey bet and Farha called.
The river was the and Farha checked. Dempsey paused for a second and then bet out. Farha folded and Dempsey's railbirds went nuts.
Tuesday, June 15, 2010 1:31 AM Local Time
The later the night goes, the drunker the British railbirds supporting James Dempsey get and the rowdier their cheers and chants become.
"Cocktails!" is a common refrain. They're also fond of "He's a doctor!" whenever Flushy wins a pot, though nobody has been able to tell us *why* he's a doctor and what relevance that has to anything. "Sammy give us a wave" is chanted whenever Sam Farha loses a pot to Flushy. There are also various other chants that we can only assume have some special significance if you grew up doing odd things like playing cricket and eating crumpets.
We can't imagine what it would be like to watch England's quadrennial failure in the World Cup with these guys. At least there would be plenty of beer.