WSOP Event #29: Only Duthie And Wolpert Remain

The $10,000 No Limit Hold'em Heads-up event was down to just eight players before the start of Day 3 and eventually, the final two players were decided, as they will battle for the title on Day 4.

Action kicked off with Leo Wolpert going up against Dustin Woolf, Jamin Stokes taking on Johnny Chan, Nathan Doudney facing Bryan Pellegrino and John Dutie playing against Steve O'Dwyer.

Johnny Chan and Jamin Stokes began their battle by playing small ball poker, but Chan quickly gained the lead after he took the first bigger pot. On the flop of Stokes bet 40,000, Chan raised to 110,000 and Stokes re-raised to 230,000. Chan asked him, "You bluffing me?" After 15 seconds, Chan decided to move all-in and Stokes mucked his hand. Chan got up to 1,350,000 by winning this pot and Stokes went down to 570,000.

Nathan Doudney was the first player to advance to the next round. Doudney's opponent Bryan Pellegrino played great for the past three days and even though he took the lead in their heads-up match, eventually he lost it and surrendered all of his chips to Doudney. In the final hand, Doudney raised, Pellegrino re-raised, Doudney moved all-in and Pellegrino snap-called.

Doudney turned over and Pellegrino showed . It looked like they were going to split the pot, but then the board came . The ace on the river was meaningless since Doudney had already caught his flush on the turn and thus won the match, while Pellegrino walked away with $90,000 for his efforts. Dustin Woolf never really had a chance to win his match, not because he played bad, but because the deck was undermining him on every step. His last hand of the tournament was no different, Woolf got in all of his chips with pocket sixes only to find out that he was up against Leo Wolpert's pocket sevens.

Woolf walked away from the table and off the set entirely, and then the floorman told him what came on the flop - . Woolf came back to the table just in time to see the turn card and then the river came to give Wolpert the straight. Just when it looked like his luck was about to change, Woolf had to admit defeat and pack his bags. He spent the whole heads-up match with a short stack and managed to put up an admirable fight.

Action continued with Johnny Chan (pictured left) and Jamin Stokes reaching their 100th hand. The match was apparently taking a little longer than the broadcast crew expected, since the players' microphones needed a battery change. Even though Chan was looking for his chance to bust Stokes through most of their match, it was Stokes who eventually advanced to the final four.

In their last hand, Chan raised, Stokes bet enough to put Chan all-in and Chan made the call with . Stokes turned over and the board came to give Stokes the final pot of an epic match. Johnny Chan was the only player left in the tournament with a WSOP bracelet, but he will have to look for his 11th bracelet and a tie with Phil Hellmuth elsewhere. Leo Wolpert pulled off a huge bluff in the early stages of his heads-up match against Jamin Stokes. Wolpert opened with a raise to 40,000 and Jamin called. The flop came , both players checked and the turn brought . Stokes checked again, Wolpert bet 50,000 and Stokes called. The river came , Stokes checked, Wolpert bet 124, Stokes check-raised to 300,000 and Wolpert made it 824,000.

Stokes was confused by the bet and stood from the table, asking, "Did you really hit your gut-shot?" After some consideration, he decided to muck his hand. Wolpert turned over for bottom pair and got his stack up to 2,140,000 while Stokes was down to 1,700,000.

Meanwhile, Nathan Doudney and John Duthie embarked on an epic clash which saw tides changing several times during their encounter. Eventually, it was Duthie who grabbed a seat at the final table after his pocket queens held up against Doudney's . Doudney left the tournament in 4th place for which he earned $214,289.

The second finalist turned out to be Leo Wolpert. Jamin Stokes raised to 100,000, Wolpert made the call and the flop came . Wolpert checked, Stokes bet 125,000, Wolpert put in 420,000, Stokes moved all-in and Wolpert immediately called.

Wolpert held and Stokes held . The turn brought and the river came a , thus Wolpert earned his seat in the final best-of-three match. Jamin Stokes managed to take out Johnny Chan in an exhausting match but he couldn't find the strength to overcome his last obstacle and had to walk away in 3rd place.