At the Featured Table, Ray Henson raises from middle position to 200,000, and Lee Watkinson calls from the small blind. The flop comes , and both players check. The turn card is the , Watkinson bets 400,000, and Henson calls. The river card is the , and both players check. Watkinson shows A-J with the for the ace-high flush, and Henson says, "I can't beat that," as he mucks. Lee Watkinson takes the pot.
At the Featured Table, Ray Henson raises from middle position to 200,000, Bob Slezak calls from the cutoff, Hevad 'Rain' Khan calls from the small blind, and Jeff Bryan calls from the big blind. There are four players to the flop with 890,000 in the pot.
The flop comes , it's checked to Slezak who bets 350,000, and everyone folds. Bob Slezak takes the pot.
Scotty said that his energy drink made him push all in
Ryan Elson fired out a raise of 375,000. Scotty Nguyen took a deep breath and moved all in for 1,875,000. Elson went into the tank as he asked Nguyen to count out his chips. The rowdy spectators on the rail began to shout and scream. Most of them were rooting for Nguyen.
"Come on, Scotty!" one railbird yelled.
"Go get them Scotty!" another screamed.
"I'm the comeback kid," Nguyen said.
Nguyen stood up as Elson pondered the call.
"All In drink made me do it," Nguyen joked as he took a big sip off of the energy drink for the ESPN cameras.
Elson counted his chips a couple of times before he called and said, "Let's party."
Elson flipped over . Nguyen tabled . The flop was and Nguyen took the lead. Nguyen pumped his fist and his smile grew wider. Elson just sighed as he politely asked the dealer for a ten. The turn was the and the river was the .
Scotty Nguyen took down the pot and increased his stack to almost 3.8 million. Elson took a big hit and slipped to under 3 million.
Throughout this whole tournament, one player has truly stood out as a first-class act. His name is Bill Edler. You might remember Edler winning $904,000 for first place in Event #45 ($5,000 6-handed NLHE) where he took home his first WSOP bracelet.
Bill is not only a great poker player, but is modest, gracious, and has a very polite demeanor. He graduated from UC-Berkeley with a law degree, but has never practiced, instead electing to play poker. He started out as a cash-game player and has transitioned into the tournament world over the last two years. His best friends are Gavin Smith and Erick Lindgren. Smith even gave him his poker nickname-- "The Stunning One."
Edler has placed sixth, seventh and 13th in various World Poker Tour events, making the final table at Bay 101 in March 2007. He recently won the $10,000 NLHE Heads-Up Championships at Crystal Park Casino in Southern California where he defeated Daniel Negreanu in his first match and Barry Greenstein in the finals.
Make no mistake about Bill Edler-- he's a poker tournament machine. With 27 players left, he has 4.8 million chips and is in position to perhaps go all the way. Edler feels that in tournaments, if he finds himself in a coinflip situation, he has failed. According to him, there is an art to building a stack without too many coinflips where you're risking your tournament life.
Given the manner in which Bill handles himself with people, what a great ambassador for poker he could be as a WSOP Main Event Champion. Best of luck, Bill!
Billy Spadea
At the Featured Table, Bob Slezak raises from middle position to 240,000, Philip Hilm calls from the small blind, Billy Spades reraises from the big blind to 640,000, Slezak folds, and Hilm calls.
The flop comes , Hilm checks, Spadea bets 600,000, and Hilm thinks for about 20 seconds before he folds. Billy Spadea takes the pot worth 1.61 million.
Jeff Bryan - 27th Place
At the Featured Table, Jeff Bryan limps from the cutoff for 80,000, Philip Hilm raises from the button to 320,000, Bryan thinks for a bit before he moves all in for 1,375,000, and Hilm quickly calls with . Hilm shows , and he'll need to improve to stay alive.
The flop comes , and Hilm retains the lead with ace high.
The turn card is -- the ! Bryan takes the lead with a pair of tens. Hilm needs an ace or a king for a higher pair, or a jack for an ace-high straight.
The river card is -- the ! Philip Hilm rivers an ace-high straight to win the pot.
Jeff Bryan is eliminated in 27th place, earning $333,490.
Bill Edler led out for 240,000 preflop and was called by Raymond Rahme. The flop came and both players checked. The turn was the and it was checked around again until the river when the fell. Rahme made it 200,000 and Edler came over the top for a total of 650,000. Rahme made the call and showed and Edler mucked. After the hand, Edler is at 3,100,000 while Rahme is at 6,000,000.
From under the gun, Nguyen raised to 280,000 and Lam called. The flop came and after Scotty checked Lam led out for 350K. Scotty called, and both players checked after the fell on the turn. When the arrived on the river Nguyen led out for 470K and that was enough to chase Lam out of the pot.
Ray Henson
At the Featured Table, Lee Watkinson raises from middle position to 250,000, and Ray Henson calls form the small blind. The flop comes , Henson checks, Watkinson bets 500,000, Henson moves all in, and Watkinson folds. Ray Henson takes the pot worth 1.66 million.
At the Featured Table, Bob Slezak raises under the gun to 250,000, and Philip Hilm calls from late position. The flop comes , and both players check. The turn card is the , Slezak checks, Hilm bets 450,000, and Slezak folds. Philip Hilm takes the pot.
, and both players check. The turn card is the 
, Watkinson bets 400,000, and Henson calls. The river card is the 
, and both players check. Watkinson shows A-J with the 
for the ace-high flush, and Henson says, "I can't beat that," as he mucks. Lee Watkinson takes the pot.
, it's checked to Slezak who bets 350,000, and everyone folds. Bob Slezak takes the pot.
. Nguyen tabled 
. The flop was 
and Nguyen took the lead. Nguyen pumped his fist and his smile grew wider. Elson just sighed as he politely asked the dealer for a ten. The turn was the 
and the river was the 
. 
, Hilm checks, Spadea bets 600,000, and Hilm thinks for about 20 seconds before he folds. Billy Spadea takes the pot worth 1.61 million.
. Hilm shows 
, and he'll need to improve to stay alive. 
, and Hilm retains the lead with ace high. 
and both players checked. The turn was the 
and after Scotty checked Lam led out for 350K. Scotty called, and both players checked after the 
