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I'm here in Grosvenor Blackpool as the final four tables get ready to determine which of the 38 remaining players will win this near sellout event... Starting in a minute and a half, apparently.

Your Final Four Tables, then:

Table 1  (it's too early, my brain can't think of any names for them yet)

K. Khola                   21,000
Alan Mclean              49,600
JP Kelly                   115,900
Sunny Chattha           91,600
K. Burke                    19,800
D. Mayall                    19,400
N. Risdale                   18,100
Joe Grech                  34,200
Graham Clarkson         76,600
Mickey Wernick           34,500

Table 3

Jon Kalmar                79,300
Simon Nowab            28,100
I. Kahn                     16,800
Peter Smyth              18,100
Stuart Rutter             48,000
M. Nawab                  56,200
Ryan Fronda               33,800
Mark Greenwood        23,800

Table 8  (I know, it doesn't make sense)

Niamh Peters              86,700
D. Birtles                    46,100
Simon Zach                19,200
Chaz Chattha              98,200
A. Chambi                  12,500
Iain Girdwood             25,900
Paul Gardener             33,300
David Buttle               35,500
Alan Davies                 22,500

Table 2

K. Kirtlan                     27,600
Matt Tyler                  79,600
Sid Harris                  117,400
K. Hartree                 55,800
Z. Aslam                    29,300
N. Rutter                   16,600
K. Littlewood             52,000
Keith Hawkins            13,900
A. McNair                   20,100
Ash Hussain                50,100

So much early action I don't know where to start -

How about Sid Harris knocks out two players in one hand (one of them being Ash Hussain) and is now massive chip leader with over 200k...

Or JP gets 40k from Alan Mclean with trip Kings (Jack kicker) against Alan's trip Kings (10 kicker)?

That's just for starters - I have to run around identifying players for about 15 minutes before they're so mingled my life gets difficult...

Ultra short stack Iqbal Patel moved in and was called by Mark Greenwood on the button with Qd 2d - a spiked two means whatever Iqbal had lost and he's another goner, like The Camel, K. Kirtlan and I. Kahn.  And D. Mayall.

Alan Mclean, after losing that hefty early pot to JP, gets the rest in with his Ac 8h on an 8 9 10 flop - but Joe Grech's Qh Th beat him in the hand, and thus knocked him out.

Voila!

1  £48,900
2  £32,800
3  £19,700
4  £14,800
5  £10,700
6   £8,200
7   £6,600
8   £4,900
9   £3,300
10-11  £2,100
12-14  £1,800
15-17  £1,500

Stuart Rutter is OUT -

He made a move in earlyish position, all in with the 4c 5c - his neighbour Mazhar Nawab gave him a spin with his 9c 9s - even though a straightening 2c 3h appeared on the flop, Stuart didn't improve, and he's out as they consolidate to three tables...

Chip Counts:

Table Pope

Niamh Peters     160,000
JP Kelly             150,000  (could be more; he's a truly awkward stacker)
Sunny Chattha     70,000
Chaz Chattha      115,000
N. Risdale            31,000
Joe Grech           65,000  ("Twenty-one to go, and then there's Joe!"  I think he's a few crackers short of a barrel)
Graham Clarkson  110,000
Mickey Wernick     20,000

Table Double Simon

Iain Kirdwood       18,000
Simon Nowab       80,000
Simon Zach          40,000
Peter Smyth         26,500
Mazhar Nawab      92,000
Ryan Fronda         32,000
Andrew Chambi    27,000
Mark Greenwood   27,700

Table Skalie

David Birtles         52,000
Matt Tyler           80,000
Sid Harris            215,000
Kate Hartree        56,000
Jon Kalmar           58,000
Neil Rutter           12,000
Keith Littlewood    92,000
A. Menair              20,700
Paul Gardener       44,700

Sunny Chattha doubles up off JP with 4c 4s against JP's Ad Qh - a four on the river for some overkill, and brother (and neighbour to his left) Chaz goes, "Ship it!" 

Jon Raab wanted some dreadful pun in here about Sunny Delight but I refused to countenance such a thing.

Mickey Wernick doubles up, moving in over neighbour Graham Clarkson's raise with a stack short enough for his Ad Tc to call.  Mickey held Ac Qc, and no danger cards were forthcoming, so he's back up to 23k.

Skalie eliminates Paul Gardener in a rather large pot on a table surrounded by large gentlemen over whose heads I failed to see and who seemed impervious to nudging.  Skalie raised to 6,500 and was called by Paul's 10 8 suited

Flop:  10 7 4  Skalie had 5 4, and decided to call when his opponent pushed in for around 23k more - and backed into a runner-runner flush which drops the total number of players to 20.

And Jon was just telling me how he'd not played a hand for longer than, er, he's ever not played a hand.  Might have just snapped, perhaps.

D. Birtles is eliminated - finding Aspades Qs and moving in over the top of Sid Harris who'd raised with Ks Kc... a couple of Jacks came out, but no threat to the Kings and another 40k makes its way across the table.

***********************Break and chip race***********************

I assume the whole chip counting thing will be made easier in ten minutes' time, so that's when I'll do it.

Blinds are going up to 1,500/3,000 when they return.

Table Merge Bubble Deal News Now -

That's it - down to 18 players and they've counteracted the bubble effect (no MC Hammer, drat) - so hand for hand is cancelled and they're playing once again.  Chip counts in a sec.

So - quick estimates of the final tables:

Table BlueSquare

Kathrine Hartree   70,000
Niamh Peters       165,000
JP Kelly               120,000
Sunny Chattha     110,000
Mazhar Nawab       70,000
Simon Nowab        78,000
Mark Greenwood    23,500
Graham Clarkson    100,000
Mickey Wernick       31,000

Table Smyth is with a 'y'

Peter Smyth         46,000
Matt Tyler            57,000
Sid Harris            280,000
Joe Grech           58,000
Jon Kalmar          160,000
Chaz Chattha        90,000
Simon Zach          60,000
Keith Littlewood   100,500
Ryan Fronda          49,000

JP Kelly in Sick River Call News Now -

He'd been tangling with Graham Clarkson a bit (saw him lay down a hand minutes earlier), and this pot got very tangled and very large - Graham limped in mid position, and JP raised on the button.  He called.  Flop:  2h Th 5s.  Check to JP who bet 12k, call.
Turn:  7s  Graham checks, JP bets 25k, gets check-raised by another 30k.  Think and call from JP.
River:  3c  Now Graham pushes in for his remaining 34k.  A tough one for JP, who mutters something about only being able to beat a bluff.  The ipod comes off, and he asks, "Do you have trips?" before clearly answering his own question and calling.  With Jh 3h.
Graham had Aspades Qd and finishes in 18th place. 

And 17th place finisher is Katherine Hartree - she moved in on the 3s 9h 4h flop against Sunny with Ac Js, but he called pretty fast with his Jh Jc.
Turn and river:  Kd 8s  for completeness' sake.

Mickey pushes in preflop (a raise of 32k) against caller Simon Zach and Niamh Peters still to act.  She struggles for a while, before passing Qh Qd!  Simon's pass is easier with the 2h 2c.


Mickey shows his Aspades Ahrt, for the record...

Keith Littlewood raises to 10k preflop (leaving himself 29 behind).  To his immediate left, Ryan Fronda has a think and then pushes in.  He's covered, but says, "I'd better get lucky, then" and calls with Ac Qd.  Ryan shows Kd Kc.

The board:  3d 8d 6c Jh 5h  so Keith Littlewood is the 16th place finisher.

Some hefty pots changing the chip landscape currently, without elimination -

JP gets into a big skirmish with Niamh Peters, and comes out with a dented chip tower (down to 150k or so while she's got around 230k)...

A strange one involving Skalie (under the gun caller) and small blind Sid Harris - on a board of 5s Qd 5c Sid bets 17k, gets raised to 40k, and then makes a stack-threatening re-raise which persuades Jon to pass on that one.  (Thanks to Nick Slade for keeping a keen eye on that table).

And Simon Zach is our 15th place finisher:

He saw a 9h Th Qs flop with Sunny Chattha, who bet 15k and then faced a raise all in for 41k, which he called with his set of Nines (9d 9c).  Simon was caught with his Td Kd, and the running low hearts did nothing to change the situation.

They're getting a 20 minute break at the end of this level to eat toasties or whatever (like I'm doing now) so here are some pre-break counts (rough):

Table Peters

Niamh Peters      230,000
JP Kelly              180,000
Sunny Chattha    210,000
Mazhar Nawab     100,000
Simon Nowab       50,000
Mark Greenwood   88,500
Mickey Wernick     15,000

Table Harris

Peter Smyth         67,000
Matt Tyler            85,000
Sid Harris            263,000
Joe Grech            52,000
Jon Kalmar           96,000
Chaz Chattha      220,000
Ryan Fronda         82,000

Here's an odd one - Mickey moves in under the gun for his remaining 20,500.  Mazhar Nawab on the button somehow missed this occurrence, and put in 10k.  He didn't announce 'raise,' and since it was less than half the bet (by the slimmest of margins), he was allowed to take it back - Mickey won the blinds then uncontested. 
Nawab says, "I thought it was your big blind."
Mickey replies, "Oh, is that it?  You were nicking my big blind..."  He might have got the chance for a double up if he'd actually been in that position...

In the closing minutes before the break, Mickey Wernick moves in preflop again - and this time small blind JP calls him with Ac Ks.  Mickey says, "It's a race," showing the traditional Qc Qd -
Flop:  Qs 2d Aspades
Turn:  5h
River: Td

And Mickey's up to 40k+ just as everyone dashes off for a snack.

Back in 20 minutes.

Mickey Wernick gets some blinds...then it's a Nawab/Nowab small blind big blind moment.
Flop:  6d Ahrt Qs   M. Nawab bets 12k, S. Nowab calls
Turn:  Td  He bets 12k again, Simon instacalls
River:  9s Now it's check-check and Simon shows Ac 5d confidently; Mazhar mucks.

Well, not a huge amount to report from the last 14 - Skalie and JP get a set of blinds each (they are now 3,000/6,000 so not peanuts), while Mazhar Nawab has pushed in twice in a round, uncalled both times, firstly showing the bare Ahrt then Td Th. 

We have a prediction from cardroom manager that the final table will be getting started around 9:15pm.  Personally, I am tempted to see if he'll take a bet - there's been about one elimination per hour for the last few levels...

Jon Kalmar is the 14th place finisher -

Pockets for him (Fours) against pockets for Joe Grech (Tens) -

7 9 9 10 A came, so he was overpaired and housed out of the tournament... I'd really better stop fiddling with my photo program and go watch the tables.

Simon Nowab takes 13th spot, and Ryan Fronda takes 12th , and £1,800 each

Peter Smyth was the recipient of Ryan's now shortish stack - I apologise, no more detail available...

A quick scan of the chip stacks reveals:

Niamh Peters      160,000 (she dwelled for ages just now after Mazhar Nawab re-raised all in preflop from the big blind for another 94k into a pot of 50k before passing)
JP Kelly              170,000
Sunny Chattha    240,000
Mazhar Nawab    150,000
Mark Greenwood  112,000
Mickey Wernick     54,000

Peter Smyth        90,000
Matt Tyler          180,000
Sid Harris            230,000
Joe Grech           150,000
Chaz Chattha       220,000

And almost immediately, those counts aren't accurate - a HUGE hand developed between Joe Grech and Sid Harris:

They saw a Kd 5s Qh flop.  Big blind Joe bets 40k (he's now accumulated a decent stack).  Call from small blind Sid.
Turn:  3c  Now Sid bets out in the form of a push all in for a very large amount (covering Joe's 160k odd).
There follows an immense dwell, at the end of which Joe calls for his whole stack, with JK.  Sid had K9.

Sid, who's never dropped out of the top few chip leaders, is now crippled, down to 50k.

And immediately thereafter (again, thanks to Ariston for helping out), Peter Smyth was eliminated in 11th place, winning £2,100.

All the money went in against Chaz on a 6h 3h 5s flop - A4 for Peter but the 6d 5d of Chaz in the big blind stayed good, and knocked him out.

We have a final, ladies and gentlemen...

Matt raised to 26k, Sid Harris made his stand (total 46k) and got the call he must have seen coming.  He held Qc Ks, against Matt's Ad Jc.
The board came:  3h 9c 5c Aspades 8s  and that's that - Sid Harris finishes in 10th spot, winning £2,100. 

Here's your final table in all its chipped up glory...

Mark Greenwood     67,000
Mickey Wernick       61,000
Sunny Chattha       232,000
Chaz Chattha         328,000
JP Kelly                 198,000
Niamh Peters         107,000
Matt Tyler             234,000
Maz Nawab            142,000
Joe Grech             274,000

To see pictures of the finalists, you might be interested in popping over to the Interactive update - -http://blondepoker.com/forum/index.php?topic=17054.msg351511#msg351511  and following.

They're off - and Mickey doubles up his short stack first hand against Sunny - moving in (blind on blind situation) with KQ, he found AJ against him, but, as the railing contingent said, "Mickey doesn't lose these..."    He didn't.  130k is now his.

Calamity of the Aspades Qd variety hits Niamh now - she gets it all in preflop against Joe Grech's Ac Qc.  It looks fine until club club club club later and he's knocked her out.  So Niamh Peters is the 9th place finisher, winning £3,300

It's been quite raisy-foldy, and actually if you include the small blind walk-giving from both Mark Greenwood and Maz Nawab, foldy-foldy.  But there have been some all-in moves - three in total, two from very short stacked Mark.  The first time, he pushed for just 42k under the gun, and even with the blinds at 5k/10k no one wanted to give him a spin.  The very next hand, however, he pushed on the big blind when small blind Joe Grech had raised a little.  Call.
Joe showed:  4h 9c
Mark showed:  Aspades 6s
Flop:  Td Js 2s
Turn: Ks  (Joe calls, "Queen!")
River:  Qh   He doesn't like it so much when he realises it gives his opponent the higher straight...

Ooh.  Kh Kc.  For JP - who gets it all in against Mazhar Nawab's Td Tc. 
Flop:  8c 2c 5s
Turn:  Qs
River:  Th    That "Owww" noise rises from the finalists but JP doesn't say a word, while Maz accepts that he got some good fortune and Gets It Quietly...

That was a 300k pot, by the way.

Those chips didn't sit still for more than five minutes - Maz is right back down to 83,000 after getting it all in preflop with Ac Ks against Sunny Chattha's Kd Kh...They did their job of standing up, and we get an education in Easy Come Easy Go...

Chip leader now Sunny (over 400k)

And with lightning-quick efficiency, the rest of his stack goes in preflop with KQ, but Mickey Wernick has AQ and that means that honestly, in the space of about four minutes, we've lost Mazhar Nawab in 8th place, who takes home £4,900.

Classic Match-Up News Now -

Mickey Wernick raises preflop two hands in a row (that's newsworthy in itself) - the first time a re-raise from small blind Chaz pushes him off, but the second time Matt Tyler pushes all in for around 120k.  Call.
Matt shows:  Qd Qh
Mickey shows:  Ac Kd
The Aspades was the first card off, and the rags which followed did nothing to change the situation, so Matt Tyler finishes in 7th place, winning £6,600

The brothers Chattha are taking each other's chips in some aggressively played hands - it's Sunny who's come out the best from these fights, winning what looked to be 180k in one pot, and then getting involved again preflop (for 32k) only to pass when Chaz bet once they'd seen the board come 7c 2c 6s Ks...

And then:  JP raised preflop to 25k, and Joe on his immediate left immediately re-raised to 65k.  JP called, in the end, leaving himself under 100k back.  The flop came down:  8c Tc Ad.  JP checked, and at almost the same time Joe announced, "all-in."  Pass from JP, showing Jc Jd...

First hand after the break, and permashortstack but tenacious final tablist Mark Greenwood moves in.  Mickey shoves a chunk of 5k chips in, but says, "call."  The blinds get out of the way, and they're on their backs:
Mark:  3s 3h
Mickey:  Td Tc

Nothing dramatic happened when the five cards came out (OK, so I couldn't quite see what they were) and that means that Mark Greenwood is our 6th place finisher, winning £8,200.

Double up for JP -

With just 60k we knew the move all-in was coming, and yes, sure enough, he made a stand.  With Kh Kd, as it happened.  Chaz Chattha decided to take him on with 6s 6c, but the board came 5s 5h 2c 7d 5d, so house over house and JP's back in it with 120k...

And again!  Almost straight away and JP's all in with Ac Js - Joe Grech gives him the spin this time with Kd Jd, and he doubles up to a totally playable 250k.  Back in it, no doubt.

Sunny has been raising pretty consistently (and by that I mean often) - JP takes him on regularly.  Recently, Sunny raised to 40k preflop, and JP on the button called.  Flop:  6c Td 5s  Sunny checked, JP bet 40k, call.
Turn:  9d  check-check
River:  Aspades  check-check.  Sunny shows two pair with his Ad 6d, and that's a little chunk back for him from Mr. Kelly.

Other than that, Chaz has taken down a couple of the 6k/12k blinds with preflop raises no one liked the look of, and Mr. Joe Grech is now the Official Short Stack.

And with just 70k, Joe Grech moves all in preflop over Chaz's 30k raise.  Quick call with the Ac 5h, and he's up against Joe's Jd Kc.
Flop:  6s 6h 8c
Turn:  3c
River:  3h   and the Ace high is enough to eliminate Joe Grech in 5th place, for £10,700

This leaves the remaining stacks (roughly with a capital 'R') as:

Mickey Wernick    270,000
Sunny Chattha    550,000
Chaz Chattha      600,000
JP Kelly              170,000

Been a bit quiet - just trying to collate some hands into a nicely digestible and not too repetitive chunk for you:

Chaz has taken about 100k with preflop re-raises, firstly from the small blind when brother Sunny raised to 40k on the button.  He passed pretty quickly showing the unpalatable 10 2...then he does the same to Mickey Wernick, who also lets it go, saying, "Get in son..."

Slowly he's been building a lead over Sunny, and far over JP and Mickey - latest count puts him at decently over 700,000.

And JP is no more - he re-raised all in on the big blind over the top of habitual preflop button raiser Sunny.  A good think before he made the call;
JP showed:  Tc 8d  (fingers in the till)
Sunny showed:  Ts Th  (what a match-up).
Board:  Qd 6d 9c 6s 6c  and that's that - JP Kelly takes 4th spot and £14,800

More action now - short stack Mickey Wernick needed to get some chips to take on the aggressive brothers, and moved all-in on the big blind against small blind Chaz Chattha.  He called with the speculative Kc Jh; Mickey showed Ahrt 5h.
Flop:  3s 7d Tc
Turn:  9d
River:  Jd  (although any paint would've done) and that means that Mickey Wernick takes 3rd spot and £19,700.

That means that we have a (probably) unprecedented final situation, where two brothers are heads up.  Avid railer James Akenhead (who has 10% of Chaz and 5% of Sunny - some people are born lucky) says that there will be no business...

Lots of action on a 4c 8d Kh 9c board, in fact, a called all-in - Chaz shows 7h Ts for the straight draw, while I think Sunny was the caller with Qc 9h. 
No straight, and the huge chip advantage goes to Chattha the Younger.

And it's all over -

The chips go in on a 6 4 2 10 board - Chaz moved in when Sunny bet 50k - call
Chaz had J 4 while Sunny's 6 4 took the last pot.

SO - Chaz 'The Elder' Chattha takes 2nd spot and £32,800

While Sunny 'The Younger' Chattha takes the Title and top prize of £48,900

Very well played to them, and congratulations on making the final such an entertaining one to update...