Phil Hellmuth raised to 65,000 from early position and was called by Joseph Cheong from the cutoff. It folded to Christopher Brammer's small blind and he moved all in for 751,000. Action was back to Hellmuth and he tanked for about a minute before folding.
"I call," said Cheong, showing .
Brammer tabled the same hand- - and it looked like it was going to be a chopped pot.
There was a small sweat on the flop of , but the turned, meaning the two would indeed chop up the pot. The meaningless completed the board and the pot was split.
Christopher Brammer opened for 48,000 from middle position and received a call from Phil Hellmuth on the button. Stephane Girault then came in with a three-bet to 155,000 from the small blind, which was enough to get the job done as both Brammer and Hellmuth sent their cards to the muck.
Action folded around to Sergii Baranov's button and he raised to 51,000. Phil Hellmuth called from his blind and the two saw a flop of . Hellmuth checked in the dark and Baranov continued for 62,000. Hellmuth folded his hand and Baranov took down the pot.
The players have taken their seats and Tournament Director Jack Effel has given the traditional, "Shuffle up and deal!" Cards are in the air in the 2012 WSOP Europe €10,450 No-Limit Hold'em Main Event finale!
One of three Frenchman at the final table, the 36-year-old Stephane Girault, who qualified for this Main Event through a Barrière qualifier, does commercial framework by trade in Paris. That's not to say he doesn't have poker experience; on the contrary, Girault has a couple of local results including a win in the €750 Pot Limit Omaha at Trophees Haussmann in Paris for $14,655 and sixth in the 2012 Barriere Poker Tour €1,350 No Limit Hold'em Main Event in Enghien-les-Bains, Enghien for $20,876.
Needless to say, no matter where Girault finished today, it'll be the largest score of his career.
What needs to be said about Phil Hellmuth that he wouldn't already tell you himself? Hellmuth famously defeated Johnny Chan heads up in the 1989 World Series of Poker Main Event, both denying Chan his third straight WSOP Main Event victory and solidifying himself as the youngest Main Event winner in history, a title that he held until Peter Eastgate clinched a win nineteen years later. Hellmuth has amassed an incredible $16,159,430 in lifetime tournament winnings and holds a record 12 World Series of Poker bracelets.
If Hellmuth can defeat his seven opponents today, he will be able to earn his 13th WSOP bracelet and put himself in an almost perfect position to earn 2012 World Series of Poker Player of the Year. A win today will ensure his victory as long as Greg Merson does not win the final table of the Main Event later in the month. Hellmuth is in a great position to attain victory today, as he is sporting the biggest stack in the room with 3.434 million.
Sergii Baranov is a 39-year-old businessman from Odessa, Ukraine. Baranov, who finished Day 2 of this event as the chip leader, is bringing a stack of 3.339 million to the final table which is good for 2nd place. Baranov has been one of the more colorful characters in this field, often serving as a rival to the bombastic antics of Phil Hellmuth.
Baranov lists two wins of side events on the European Poker Tour as his greatest accomplishments in poker, a game which he simply considers a hobby. A win today, however, may change all of that. Baranov has a grand total of $252,862 in lifetime tournament winnings, meaning that no matter what place he comes in today he will be guaranteed his largest live tournament score.
Jason Mercier stormed onto the poker scene in the first half of 2008 after he won the EPT San Remo, which takes place just across the Italian border, for over $1.3 million. Since his boom, Mercier has been accumulating tournament results around the world in bundles. He currently has nearly $8 million in tournament earnings and two World Series of Poker Bracelets to his name: 2011 WSOP $5,000 Pot Limit Omaha - Six Handed for $619,575 and 2009 WSOP $1,500 Pot Limit Omaha for $237,462.
Mercier is no stranger to the WSOP Europe; in fact, in 2009 he entered the Main Event final table as the chip leader, but ultimately finished in fourth place for $440,620. Obviously he's looking for redemption here today.
3 years ago I had a massive CL going to the FT of this event. I had 35% of the chips but ended up getting 4th. This time I have 6% #nbd #wniOctober 04 2012
Christopher Brammer is a 24-year-old professional poker player from Southampton in the United Kingdom. Brammer, who plays online under the screen name "NIGDAWG", has been ranked number one in the world by PocketFives, an online poker ranking site. Aside from playing on the virtual felt, Brammer has amassed $654,320 in tournament earnings since 2008.
His biggest score came this past summer at the World Series of Poker when he finished fifth in Event #57 $10,000 No Limit Hold'em - Six Handed for $200,502. Today marks Brammer's first cash in the WSOP Europe.
.
- and it looked like it was going to be a chopped pot.
, but the 
turned, meaning the two would indeed chop up the pot. The meaningless 
completed the board and the pot was split.
. Hellmuth checked in the dark and Baranov continued for 62,000. Hellmuth folded his hand and Baranov took down the pot.
