10 Nov 10

WSOP: Demidov And Eastgate In The Heads-Up

Ivan Demidov and Peter Eastgate are the two finalists of the WSOP Main Event who will battle it out in today's heads-up for the most important trophy in poker and a prize money of over $9 million.

It took 169 hands until the decision had fallen and the two heads-up opponents for the bracelet had been determined.

Phillips as last American to the Rail on Rank three

Dennis Phillips (picture on the right) was the last American to drop out on rank three. Phillips bluff-raised Eastgate all-in on the flop with nothing more than a backdoor draw. Eastgate called with a flopped set, and Phillips only had about 5% for a runner-runner straight, which did not hit, however.

Phillips bowed out with standing ovations. His 300-people fan club, all of them wearing the same hats, thus created an unforgettable departure for the man from St. Louis.

Europeans battle it out for the Title

However, the honour belongs to the Dane Peter Eastgate (picture on the upper left) and his Russian opponent Ivan Demidov (picture on the lower right). With a win, Eastgate could break the 20-year old record by Phil Hellmuth as the youngest Main Event winner of all times. On the other hand, Demidov could become the first Russian Main Event winner, after his big role model, Alex Kravchenko, brought the Hold'em boom to Russia after his fourth place last year.

No matter how it will end, the winner will also represent the change of the last years. No US American who will win the event, and also no non-US American who learned to play poker in the USA, or lives there. This year, the decision will fall between two young Europeans, who represent a whole generation of young up-and-coming European players with their aggressive and analytical playing style.

Cautious Start

However, back to the beginning: the final table started rather slowly, and the players had some trouble to get back into their flow. The long break had simply destroyed the natural game dynamics, and the scanning took considerably longer than usual.

Kelly Kim survives Craig Marquis

Everybody expected a quick exit by Kelly Kim (picture on the left), however he turned out to be a real survivor again, as he watched how Craig Marquis was eliminated on rank 9 after his flopped set of sevens was busted by a rivered straight for Montgomery. Nevertheless, in the next hand Kelly Kim had to leave after all. Already all-in in the big blind, he had no chance and had to content himself with rank eight.

Rheem at the Rail on Rank seven

David Rheem (picture on the right), a favourite for many, was eliminated on rank seven. Throughout the day, Rheem never really got in touch with his style again, only to then also run out of luck when his A-K lost against Eastgate's A-Q. Darus Suharto was the next player to drop out. With A-8 he also had to submit to Eastgate, who once again held A-Q, and made the flush on the turn.

Eastgate is unbeatable

The probably most brutal elimination brought Montgomery (picture on the left) to the rail. With an ace in his hand and two aces on the board, he felt relatively secure, but Eastgate took him from the table when a six fell on the river, and gave Eastgate – who held 6-6 – the full house. Montgomery was out on rank five. Eastgate then also took Ylon Schwartz out of the tourney when another full house beat Schwartz' unimproved A-T.

Heads-up today

In a few hours, the decision of who will become the "poker world champion" in 2008 will fall. Eastgate holds 57,725,000 in chips, Demidov will have a stack of 79,500,000 in chips in front of him.

The prize monies for the November Nine were even increased a bit by Harrah's, as it had invested the about $25 million of the remaining final table prize money, and thus was able to add another $100,000 on top.

WSOP 2008 Final Table Main Event
Rank	Name	Prize money
1	--	$9,119,517 + $32,899 added
2	--	$5,790,024 + $19,571 added
3	Dennis Phillips	$4,503,352 + $14,421 added
4	Ylon Schwartz	$3,763,515 + $11,459 added
5	Scott Montgomery	$3,088,012 + $8,756 added
6	Darus Suharto	$2,412,510 + $6,052 added
7	David 'Chino' Rheem	$1,769,174 + $3,476 added
8	Kelly Kim	$1,286,672 + $1,545 added
9	Craig Marquis	$900,670