THE WINNER!

1st goes to Erick Lindgren for $261,555.

	Erick Lindgren

In the last hand of the day, the guys see a flop of the Td 6d 4d. Jim Eggebrecht made a play and bet his whole wad. Erick didnt hesitate and called. Jim had the Ah 2d. Erick the Ac Kd. One more diamond and Erick was gold. Jim needed a two or running 3 and 5. The turn made the difference to both as it brought a Kh giving Erick a pair of kings and Jim was drawing dead. No help left in the deck. Jim Eggebrecht takes 2nd for $140,355.

	Jim Eggebrecht

	Heads up

Erick Lindgren is sitting pretty with over a million chips while Jim Eggebrecht is fighting to hold on to his 340K.

Bernard Ko made a bet of 100K from the small blind followed by an all in by Erick Lindgren. Bernard elected to play. Bernard showed a pair of eights and Erick the Ah Js. Three hearts hit the flop with the Q 6 4. Bernard still had the lead. However, the Jd on the turn flipped it to Erick being way ahead. The only card left in the deck to keep Bernard alive would be the 8c. The Tc hit the river and removed Bernard Ko in 3rd for $70,180.

	Bernard Ko

In the hand of the day, James Hoeppner got it all in with the Ad Jc and Erick Lindgren joined the skirmish holding the As Kc.  Erick has James covered by a tad.  The flop brought the Qs Jd 4h giving James a pair of jacks, but a king turned taking Erick into the lead. The 2h on the river added no life to James Hoeppner and we lose him to 4th for $38,265. With that take down Erick sits at over 800K in chippage.

	James Hoeppner

Ante is now 2K with 6K / 12K blinds.

Players take a 15 minute break.

We have the proverbial dropping like flies going on here. Mark Cole and Bernard Ko go to battle this time. Mark held the As Qh and Bernard the 6c 6h. The board of the 8s 5c 3h Js 2d made the small pair golden and off goes Mark Cole in 5th for $28,710.

	Mark Cole

Brett Jungblut and Erick Lindgren were heads up and Brett was all in with pocket tens. Erick held pocket jacks and when the board ironed out with the Kc 8h 7d 4h 8s, the jacks held up again and we lose Brett Jungblut toe 6th for $22,330.

	Brett Jungblut

Thor Hansen took his suited big slick all the way with an all in move. Bernard Ko called his as he held pocket

	Thor Hansen

After a flop of th 6 5 3 rainbow, Bernard Ko pushed all in with A 2. Vinny DeVita called with pocket fours. The K and A hit the turn and the river sending Vinny DiVita home in 8th for $12,760 as the aces paired for Bernard.

	Vinnie DeVita

Just a few minutes later, a three players saw a flop. It came Q Q 9 rainbow. Rene Angelil, short stacked, pushed all in. John Phan called and James Hoeppner raised. Phan reraised and Hoeppner made it all his chips to go. John called all in. Rene had the Ah 2c, Hoeppner the Qc Jc and John had pocket nines for a full house. Lookin goot! The turn was an ace giviing Rene new life but the river was the fouth queen taking John and Rene home with quads for James Hoeppner. Absolutely amazing.

9th - John Phan - $10,201

 

	John Phan

John Phan has an enormous amount of cashouts and has 3 to his name this year.  None have been final tables, but it looks like he is going to change that today.

10th - Rene Angelil - $7,655

	Rene Angelil

Bernard Ko was all in with the mighty pocket aces verses Erick Lindgren and his big slick. The board brought the Ts 8s 6c 7c 8d and Ko doubled through Erick to about 135K and Erick dropped to about 170K

I am sitting out on the patio at the Bellagio, running back and forth to get info and pictures. I came out to catch the big dancing waters show, but it is a bit windy. Perhaps tonight I can get a really sweet shot of it for you.

Blinds just increased to 1K antes with 4K / 8K blinds.

FInal Table Setup:

11th - David "Devilfish" Ulliott - $7,655

	Dave "Devilfish" Ulliott

So much to be said about this man.  He is a true gentleman, a great poker professional and has a list of accomplishments a mile long.  This year he placed 3rd in the European Finals of Poker.  Last year he was a man to be reckoned with throughout the WSOP.

12th - $7,655 - Cary Katz

13th - $7,020 - Jeff Abramovitz

14th - $7,020 - Jeff Miller

Beginning today at 1K antes with 3K / 6K blinds, we lost two right away.

15th - William Parker - $6,380

16th - Graham Duke - $6,380

	Graham Duke

Graham picked up a sweet 2nd place finish at the  WPO LA Poker Classic this year for a little over $68,000.

Live coverage today for the $3000 event. With 16 players left we should have quite a fun day today. We have some big names and some spoilers to chase the remainder of the booty.  Last year the event had 236 players and so they are right on track for about the same prize money.  David "Dragon" Pham took first last year for $270,165.   Who will it be this year?

For a full list of player stats, go to:

http://www.pokerpages.com/players/stats.php?CMD=List&Action=List%2BPlayers&lastname=Enter%20last%20name%20ONLY

Meanwhile, here is a little meat to chew on about a few of the players.

	James Hoeppner

Bernard Ko has a long list of accomplishments but is still looking for his elusive cashout for 2006.   Look no farther....... the list has begun.

Cary Katz made his first final right here at the Bellagio at the Festa al Lago in October for a 6th place finish.  Dont count him out for making the final today.

Look for R. Jim Eggebrecht  to be our potential  "pro" spoiler today.  I can find no history on him and he could sneak in and take it away from all the pros. 

Jeff Miller is in the hunt and is looking to add to his winnings.  He has not moneyed since 2004 so he is hungry for the win.  Look out for Jeff!

William Parker is another one who is looking to sneak in the back door and bag a few pros for the win on this one.  Dont count him out even though his chip stack is dwindling.  We know how NLHE can change in a blink of an eye.

No Limit Hold’em

$3,000 + $100 Buy-in

228 Entries Total Prize $663,480

Prize Money

* Includes $25,500 seat in WPT Championship Event at Bellagio on April 18, 2006.