Greetings from the feature table area at the 2009 World Series of Poker, where ten past WSOP Main Event winners return to battle at the final table of the Champions Invitational, each chasing the inaugural Binion Cup and a vintage cherry-red 1970 Corvette Stingray.
Exactly half of yesterday's 20 entrants return for today's action, with the seat assignments as follows:
(Seat 1) Berry Johnston -- 7,625
(Seat 2) Carlos Mortensen -- 42,375
(Seat 3) Peter Eastgate -- 18,425
(Seat 4) Robert Varkonyi -- 13,450
(Seat 5) Tom McEvoy -- 31,000
(Seat 6) Huck Seed -- 15,400
(Seat 7) Dan Harrington -- 19,975
(Seat 8) Phil Hellmuth -- 1,125
(Seat 9) Jim Bechtel -- 30,475
(Seat 10) Doyle Brunson -- 20,250
The official start time is 3pm, but it will be a while before all the players are present and the action begins.
It'll still be a short while before action begins at today's final table, though several of the finalists have arrived. Tom McEvoy, Jim Bechtel, Dan Harrington and Peter Eastgate are among those who've arrived.
With the addition of Huck Seed and Carlos Mortensen (the chip leader), we await only the arrival of Phil Hellmuth before play can begin. Given Hellmuth's ultra-short starting stack (1,125), it could be a brief day at the tables for the 1989 champ.
And finally, the arrival of Phil Hellmuth, who greeted the table after being wired for sound and slid into the eight seat. Nolan Dalla has stopped by to have a few words with the players, and we'll be underway shortly.
WSOP Commissioner Jeffrey Pollack's quote about this event representing the "Mt. Rushmore of Poker" aptly describes the players at today's final. Each of the former champs has been re-introduced onto the set by WSOP Tournament Director Jack Effel, amid several rounds of applause.
Action in the first hand was folded around to Carlos Mortensen, who made it 1,200 from Seat 2. Dan Harrington folded his small blind, and Phil Hellmuth in the big blind called for his last 675. This turned out to be a race, with Mortensen’s against Hellmuth’s .
The flop of missed Hellmuth. The turn gave Hellmuth additional outs to the straight, but the turn was the and Hellmuth’s unofficial final table here lasted exactly one hand.
Peter Eastgate decided to make his move early, but the fly in the ointment was Dan Harrington, or rather, Harrington's pocket aces.
Eastgate's three-bet all-in pre-flop was met by Harrinton's easy call, and it looked like a rout: for Harringtion against for Eastgate.
The flop, though, was a suspenseful , giving Eastgate a pair and the open-ended straight draw. After a round of gasps from the audience, the turn brought the , the river the . Harrington raked in the big pot to jump into second place, while the reigning Main Event champ exited here in ninth spot after only three hands.