In what has been considered by many to be a WSOP dominated by the unknowns, last night saw the climax of a star-studded $5,000 No Limit Hold 'Em Freezout in which Phil Hellmuth, Marcel Luske (right), Isabelle Mercier, and Vinnie Vinh all made the final table.
With Dutch Boyd being the only familiar face to make an impact thus far, it made a change to see so many household names making the final day of Event 9. Whilst many have been cashing, few have taken the big bucks, and although, on this occasion, it was the amateur who took top spot, it was refreshing to see the big guns back where they belong - even if that includes the Poker Brat himself.
Maybe it was due to the number of players (622) or perhaps the $5,000 buy-in, but there were plenty of other names up there with the aforementioned stars. Dustin Woolf, Michael Mizrachi, Dewey Tomko, Chad Brown, and Rob Hollink all managed to cash, with the latter being the highest paid non final-tabler with $20,464.
There was also the welcome addition of three blondeites to the list of winners. Whilst Conor 'Sealey' Tate continued his cracking WSOP form (12th in last year's Main Event) with a 15th place finish, Nottingham Nick Gibson (who, incidentally, is from Windsor) made the cash for the first time this year by taking 45th spot.
And then there was Sir Brian Wilson of Rookieness (left), spookily picking up 47th spot. Now if he'd won $4,747 I'd be worried, but the honoury blondeite was finally awarded $8,770 (as was Nottingham Nick) for his top 50 finish.
Moving on to the Final Table, the chip leader at the start of play was Vinnie Vinh with a massive 784,000, with his nearest threat coming from Mr Hellmuth who held a paltry in comparison 461,000. With this information, the next question would have to be - how did Vinnie Vinh manage to take 8th spot on a final table of 9?
Well, after Luske took a 700k plus pot off Vinh with A-K v A-J, Vinh had managed to dwindle his stack down to a rather disappointing 200k, before finally seeing his K-Q suited over the top all-in lose out to Hellmuth's dominating A-Q. Not a good day for the Texan and one he'll want to forget very quickly.
With Danny Smith, Vinny Vinh, Douglas Carli, and Thomas Schreiber taking 9th, 8th, 7th, and 6th respectively, we were down to just 5, with each remaining competitor being guaranteed a rather pleasurable $175,404. However, it was clear that these five would be after nothing less than 1st spot and one of those lovely shiny bracelets, especially with the likes of Luske and Hellmuth still seated, the latter desperate to get his grubby mitts on that elusive 10th WSOP win.
And with Mercier (left) gone in 5th and the Poker Brat holding double the stack of second placed Eugene Todd, Hellmuth seemed odds on favourite to achieve that goal, potentially joining Chan and Brunson on that record-breaking feat.
But, with Jeff Cabinallas taking a big bite out of Luske (Hellmuth picked up the pieces with K-T v Q-J), Phil had a game on his hands - with three left, Hellmuth had 1.6 million, Cabanillas 1 million, and Todd 500,000.
As expected, it was Todd who placed 3rd when his K-8 failed to outdraw Cabanillas' pocket tens, leaving the youngster and his mere 100,000 chip lead to lock horns with the vastly more experienced Hellmuth.
Although Hellmuth (right) was clearly determined to level the record of his two legendary peers, it wasn't to be. On a flop of 6d-4d-3h, Hellmuth reaised all-in with 5h-4d, only to find a call from Cabanillas' 5d 3d. The turn brought a black 4 but, to Hellmuth's deepest chagrin, the river saw the rather devestating Jack of diamonds drop.
The young gun rose triumphant for $818,546 and Hellmuth was forced to settle for $423,893 and a bare wrist.
So, no bracelet for Phil, but the journey is long and tomorrow's another day...
[Ed Note: To see the final result of this comp, please click here]