$5,000 Circuit Championship Event | 2008 WSOP Circuit Event - Caesars Las Vegas

05-01-2008 16:45 UTC-7

New Chips in Play

[user38449]

During the last break, the tournament staff colored up several thousand worth of the players' 1,000-denomination chips and have replaced them with a new orange colored 10,000-denomination chip.

05-01-2008 17:01 UTC-7

Blair Hinkle Eliminated in 6th Place ($80,510)

[user38449]

Tournament chip leader Ben Fineman has just eliminated online pro Blair Hinkle from the main event in a big-time battle of the blinds. Action folded around to Fineman in the small blind who made it 60,000 to go. In an apparent attempt to defend his big blind, Hinkle quickly shoved his entire stack across the betting line - a wager worth an additional 518,000. Fineman made the call holding {A-Spades}

and it turned out to be the right one as Hinkle tabled {Q-Spades}

.

By the turn, the board read {8-Diamonds}

giving Hinkle both straight and flush outs, but the river paired the board ( {8-Spades}

) cementing the hand for Fineman. The win further increased Ben's chiplead over the field, catapulting him way past the one million mark for the day.

Hinkle took home $80,510 in prize money for his troubles.

Tags: Blair Hinkle

05-01-2008 17:11 UTC-7

Samson Doubles Through Bonomo; 'ZeeJustin' Left Short-stacked

[user38449]

Kelly Samson opened the pot with a 90,000 pre-flop raise and when the action fell to Justin 'ZeeJustin' Bonomo, he moved all in holding a pocket pair of tens. Samson made the call and turned over pocket queens, leaving Justin in pretty bad shape heading into the showdown.

The board delivered {4-Hearts}

, giving Samson quad queens in an overkill victory that left Bonomo with just over 100,000 in chips. Samson skyrocketed past the one million mark and now sits with approximately 1,340,000.

05-01-2008 17:25 UTC-7

Scoreboard Update

[user38449]

'Moto' Mabuchi - 440,000
Kelly Samson - 1,410,000
Ben Fineman - 1,080,000
Justin Bonomo - 175,000
Allen Cunningham - 260,000

05-01-2008 17:26 UTC-7

Justin Bonomo Eliminated in 5th Place ($96,612)

[user38449]

Justin 'ZeeJustin' Bonomo has just been eliminated from the tournament by Team Full Tilt Pro Allen Cunningham. Bonomo open-shoved all in before the flop for his last ~150,000 and when the decision fell to Cunningham, he too moved all in, in an attempt to isolate Bonomo. The move worked, setting up a pre-flop showdown pitting Cunningham's {A-Hearts}

against Bonomo's {K-Clubs}

.

The board filled out {9-Spades}

in favor of Cunningham's ace-queen high, sending Bonomo to the rail in fifth place. Cunningham improved to about 470,000 after the hand.

Tags: Justin Bonomo

05-01-2008 17:48 UTC-7

Motoyuki 'Moto' Mabuchi Eliminated in 4th Place ($112,714)

[user38449]

On a flop showing {J-Diamonds}

, Ben Fineman announced that he was all in, putting crowd-favorite Motoyuki 'Moto' Mabuchi to a decision for all of his chips. Mabuchi made a quick call and tabled {K-Hearts}

only to find himself well behind Fineman's {K-Spades}

.

The turn and river came {8-Spades}

,

and Fineman's queen kicker earned him the pot. Mabuchi received a warm round of applause from the studio audience as he exited the tournament area.

Tags: Motoyuki Mabuchi

05-01-2008 17:55 UTC-7

Kelly Samson Eliminated in 3rd ($128,816)

[user65508]

On a flop of {4-Hearts}

, Kelly Samson led out with a 75,000 bet. Ben Fineman then came over the top for 200,000 and Samson made the call. When the {9-Hearts}

peeled off on the turn, Samson led out once more and Fineman pushed back with the force of his remaining 1,102,000 in chips. Samson quickly called and found that his {8-Spades}

for trip nines was behind Samson's jack-high flush {J-Hearts}

. The river brought no help to Samson as it fell {2-Hearts}

. After a lengthy countdown of both players' stacks it was determined that Fineman had Samson covered. The 53-year-old Kelly 'Kboy' Samson will take home $128,816 for his efforts.

Tags: Ben Fineman Kelly Samson

05-01-2008 18:04 UTC-7

Fineman v. Cunningham for the Title!

[user38449]

The elimination of Kelly Samson in third place has set the stage for a heads-up match between local pro Ben Fineman and consummate tournament pro Allen Cunningham.

Fineman will begin the match with a 3.5-1 chip advantage over Cunningham. Heads-up play will begin after our two finalists return to the table following a brief intermission.

05-01-2008 18:18 UTC-7

Game On

[user65508]

Julius Caesar has delivered the cash and gold Circuit ring to the final table and the heads-up battle is officially underway.

Chip stacks at the start of heads-up play are as follows:

Ben Fineman - 2,630,000
Allen Cunningham - 710,000

Level: 18

Blinds: 15,000/30,000

Ante: 4,000