The WSOP Main Event is down to two players

Jay Farber and Ryan Riess have reached the heads-up stage of the WSOP Main Event, which will play out tonight.

Riess and Farber Image courtesy of PokerNews

So far the WSOP Main Event final table has been one of the fastest we have seen in years, with eliminations coming thick and fast, the chip lead changing several times and even a man dressed as a panda rushing the stage (Yes that really happened). 

WPT champion Mark Newhouse was the first player eliminated and the only one not to earn any additional money after the $733,224 all the finalists were awarded in July. His pocket nines lost a race against the Ace King of Ryan Riess.

Online legend David Benefield was next to fall, shoving all-in with King Two suited and getting called by the Ace King of Jay Farber, which went on to make the nut straight. 

Dutchman Michiel Brummelhuis was the first player to exit with a seven-figure score, when his pocket nines ran into the pocket aces of Ryan Riess. He took home $1,255,356 for his troubles. 

Perhaps the biggest cooler of the night would be a monster pot between Marc McLaughlin and Jay Farber - pocket kings for McLaughlin, pocket aces for Farber. The bullets held and the Canadian was out in 6th place for $1,601,024.

The big shock of the final table would perhaps be the relatively early exit for initial chip leader JC Tran, who could not get going tonight and was eliminated by Jay Farber after he got short stacked. Tran held Ace Seven offsuit and Farber hit a king on the flop with King Queen offsuit to send the initial favourite home with $2,106,893. 

Frenchman Sylvain Loosli was next to go, short stacked moving all-in with Queen Seven offsuit and getting called by Ryan Riess holding Ace-Ten, which held. Loosli earned $2,792,533.

WSOP bracelet winner Amir Lehavot was the final elimination of the night, his pocket sevens no match for the pocket tens of Ryan Riess. His third place finish earned him $3,727,823.

All of which has set up a tantalising heads-up match between two big stories in the making. Nightclub promoter Jay Farber had a huge rail and will be the first amateur to win the Main Event since Joe Hachem if he can hold on to his chip lead.

Young pro Ryan Riess came from nowhere to seemingly dominate this final table and will probably come across as the most active player when this show gets edited by ESPN.

The two will play tomorrow for the bracelet, world title and the small matter of $8,359,531. 

Watch the WSOP Main Event Final Table live stream

WSOP 2013 Event #62: $10,000 WSOP Main Event November Nine
Place	Name	Chips/Prize
1st	Jay Farber	105,000,000
2nd	Ryan Riess	85,675,000
3rd	Amir Lehavot	$3,727,023
4th	Sylvain Loosli	$2,791,893
5th	JC Tran	$2,106,893
6th	Marc McLaughlin	$1,601,024
7th	Michiel Brummelhuis	$1,225,356
8th	David Benefield	$944,650
9th	Mark Newhouse	$733,224
Players: 2 (6,352) | Prize Pool: $59,708,800    Average Chips: 95,000,000 | Blinds: 500,000/1,000,000/150,000