Day 5: Cheong vs. Cazals for the Gold

Yesterday, on Day 4 of Event 6: $5,000 No-Limit Hold'em Mixed-Max, it took Joseph Cheong a little less than three hours to defeat Hugo Lemaire in his semi-final match. Over on the other side of the Amazon Room however, Aubin Cazals and Warwick Mirzikinian battled for over nine hours, until Cazals was finally victorious.

At that point, we had our final match set, we just didn't know when they were going to play. Cheong and Cazals wanted to play on Tuesday - Cheong had a stack in Event 9 $1,500 No-Limit Hold'em Re-Entry and Cazals wanted to play Event 11: $1,500 Pot-Limit Omaha. One of the tournament directors here at the WSOP told them that they would be unable to do this however, because of Nevada gaming regulations. The two then agreed to play their match at 9 a.m. this morning, but when Cheong busted from Event 9, the time was pushed back to noon.

So here we are.

This is Cazals' first WSOP cash, let alone his first WSOP final table. The Frenchman has nearly a quarter of a million dollars in live tournament earnings since 2010, a number which will double regardless of the outcome of today. Cazals is not stranger to heads-up play - he took down a heads-up event in FTOPS France II, and did a strategy video with PokerNews.fr.

Cheong is no stranger to big final tables either - he played a pretty big one back in 2010. His third-place finish in the 2010 Main Event earned him over $4.1 million, and after today, his career tournament earnings will cross the $5 million mark. This is Cheongs eighth WSOP cash and second WSOP final table.

Who will win their first WSOP gold bracelet? Cheong or Cazals? Find out soon, here at PokerNews.com!

Tags: Aubin Cazals Joseph Cheong