Event #2: €1,090 No-Limit Hold'em

It's all over but the shouting and the passing of the proverbial sugar. In just over seven hours of play today, Andrew Hinrichsen has completed his quest to achieve poker's most iconic prize, a piece of WSOP gold, adding nearly €150,000 to his pockets in the process.

When the day began, Hinrichsen was second in chips, though still a long way behind chip leader Gianluca Speranza. And the Italian was flexing that chip lead in the opening levels. Speranza was responsible for the elimination of the ninth-place finisher Gregory Lejolivet in the first few minutes of the day, and he won a big flip with ace-king against pocket fives to send Eric Baudry out in sixth place. That gave him more than half the chips in play with five left, but his lead was anything but safe.

Five-handed play lingered for a while before the table was able to bid farewell to a dangerous Welshman. Roberto Romanello came into this final table just eight players away from his first bracelet, and it would have made him only the fifth player to achieve poker's elusive Triple Crown. The day did not go as he had dreamt about last night though, and he soon found himself all in with his ace-deuce in awful shape. Bernard Guigon's ace-king was too much in the end, and Romanello was forced to settle for a consolation prize of €37,874 -- though it likely wasn't much consolation.

Guigon was next to fall in fourth place (at the hands of Speranza), and the final three broke for dinner in a near deadlock for the chip lead. When they returned, things began to go south for Hinrichsen. Pot after pot was pulled from him, and he soon found himself badly in need of a double-up with just over 200,000 chips. Soon thereafter, though, he found that lucky double when his     flushed Speranza's     to keep him afloat. He continued to chip his way up close to 650,000 when he played another decisive, double-up-or-go-home pot. It was a flip with Speranza, and the     of Hinrichsen managed to outrun his opponent's pocket fives to give him the chip lead for the first time.

It wasn't much longer before the end came. In the last hand, Hinrichsen took Speranza to Valuetown with    , and he ended up out-kicking his opponent on a king-high board to seal the deal. Speranza looked less than thrilled as they announced his name in second place, good enough for a big five-figure score.

So then, Australia has another gold bracelet to add to its tally. That's six by our count, and this one moves Hinrichsen into Australia's all-time Top 25 winningest players. Hinrichsen had a small rail here to support him this week, but he sends his regards to everyone who was rooting for him back home.

The drinks are on Andrew Hinrichsen tonight in Cannes, and Australia's newest bracelet winner has 148,030 new reasons to celebrate.

It looks like Gianluca Speranza is going to have a bit more trouble with Andrew Hinrichsen now that the Italian has relinquished the chip lead for the first time today.

In the last pot, Hinrichsen opened to 40,000 on the button, and Speranza three-bet him to 120,000 total. Hinrichsen took his pause, then stacked out another raise to 245,000 total. Speranza couldn't stand the heat this time, and he uncapped his cards and slipped them into the muck.

From the button, Andrew Hinrichsen raised to 40,000. Gianluca Speranza called from the big blind and the flop came down    . Speranza checked and Hinrichsen checked.

The turn was the   and both players checked again to see the   land on the river. Speranza bet 62,000 and Hinrichsen gave it up.

Heads-up now, the two remaining players have stepped away for a quick break. When they return for the final duel, they'll stack up like so:

Gianluca Speranza	1,794,000	544,000
Andrew Hinrichsen	541,000	-43,000

On the turn of a         board, we joined the action as Gianluca Speranza put out a bet of 48,000 into a pot of just more than that. His opponent, Andrew Hinrichsen, took pause, then raised the minimum to 96,000. Speranza made the call.

The   arrived on the river, and the two men were content to check it down. At showdown, Speranza just went ahead and mucked, and that was probably a mistake. You have to show two cards to win the pot in WSOP events, and Hinrichsen reluctantly turned over his airball     in order to claim the chips.

You should have seen the look on Speranza's face.

From the small blind, Andrew Hinrichsen raised to 33,000, and big blind Gianluca Speranza came along to the flop.

It brought      , and Hinrichsen continued out with another 35,000 chips. Speranza shot a glance and made the call, and the   landed on fourth street. There was no slowing down from the Aussie now, and a second bet worth 65,000 was good enough to drag the pot.

On the turn of a         board, Gianluca Speranza put out a bet of 60,000, and Tarcisio Bruno called instantly. That brought them to the   river, and Speranza had wide eyes. He reached behind his towers and slid out a huge bet of 285,000. Once again, the call came instantly.

Speranza tabled     for the flopped full house, and we got to see the hand that called him as Bruno laid his inferior     on the felt.

After that exchange, the Italian is down to about 580,000, while Speranza climbs all the way up to about 1.5 million.

Tarcisio Bruno check-called a bet of 44,000 on the board of      from Gianluca Speranza. The river then completed the board with the   and Bruno checked again. Speranza fired 96,000 this time and Bruno folded.

Gianluca Speranza	1,050,000	73,000
Tarcisio Bruno	740,000	20,000

The players are back in their seats, and the cards have gone in the air once again. We've got ourselves a horse race here.