Among the remaining 31 players in today's $3,000 event, I have seen the following still alive with chips:

Massoud Nikjouian
David Plastik
David Williams
Tony Cousineau
Can Kim Hua
Guou Luong
Arnold Spee
Billy Baxter
Victor Ramdin
Tony Ma
Allen Kessler

Play will continue today until there are just nine left. They will return tomorrow at 3 pm for the final table. Join me then to see who comes out with the bracelet!

And like that it's over. They made a deal on break and Steve Wong is awarded the bracelet. Congrats to Steve Wong for winning yet again here at the Bellagio!

Steve & Gevork just agreed to chop the money. They are now playing for the bracelet & the $25,000 WPT seat (of which Mr. Wong already has).

Steve Wong has been getting his chips in the middle quite a bit. He's been opening all in on the button, sometimes shoving when Gevork limps.

Finally Wong is called. Steve shows A 9 and Gevork has A 8 . The board improves neither and the 9 kicker plays, doubling Wong up to over 600k and giving him the chip lead.

Steve is still the short stack, but that could change in one hand. Here's a pic of Steve earlier in the day next to Nam Le & John Esposito.

The blinds are now 10k-20k with a 4k ante. This should end very soon (I would assume).

Steve has around 315k and the rest (about 785k) is in Gevork's stack.

Both check a 6 3 2 flop. A 7 on the turn prompts Steve to bet 45k. He is called. The river is a 4. Steve bets 100k and is quickly called. Steve shows A 6 but Gevork shows J7 and wins the pot.

Steve limps on the button, and Gevork raises 45k from the large blind. Steve reraises another 65k and Gevork calls. The flop is A 9 3 and Gevork checks. Steve bets 150k and wins the pot.

In today's $3,000 event the following are still among the 32 remaining entrants:

Can Kim Hua
Arnold Spee
Tony Cousineau
David Plastik
David Williams
Billy Baxter
Alex Jacob
Victor Ramdin
Allen Kessler
Rene Angelil
Ralph Perry

Steve and Gevork are about to resume play. They will have a 3k ante with 8k-16k blinds.

Steve and Gevork are now on break for 15 minutes. Steve has about 610k to Gevork's 490k.

They finally showed some life... Gevork raises to 36k preflop, and Steve calls from the large blind. The flop is 2 8 3 . Steve checks to Gevork who bets 60k. Steve raises another 120k and takes the pot down.

In today's $3,000 NLHE event, 45 players remain. They are now playing 600-1,200/100 ante. Steve & Gevork are still heads up. Action is very slow. We haven't even had any big confrontations to speak of yet.

These guys simply don't want to take second place. Gevork has a chip lead now, probably around 650k to 450k.

In a limp pot, Steve Wong calls a 30k bet on the turn with the board showing K 9 5 4. The river is a 3. Steve now bets 110k, roughly a pot-sized bet. Kasabyan thinks for a good two minutes before showing a king and folding. The chip counts are roughly equal still.

They are now playing 2k ante, 6k-12k blinds NLHE. Play should speed up here with the new blind level.

Steve and Gevork are still playing heads up at 4k-8k/1k ante. There's around 10 minutes left at this level. In today's event #4 ($3,000 NLHE), there's 55 players left. I'll have the final table tomorrow around 3 pm for that event.

Wong has chipped up to around 520k. That leaves the rest (about 580k) for Kasabyan.

Play is very slow, with a bet preflop or on the flop generally winning. Wong has showed me a few pocket pairs that he keeps missing the board with. He's wondering what the deal with his luck is, when he has pairs or when he's against them. Remember Steve lost heads up to Andreas Walnum here in October for the WPT event--against Andreas' set of deuces. When will Steve get a set?? Anytime this year??

Wong limps for 4k more from the button, and Kasabyan raises 25k more from the large blind. Wong calls. The flop is 8 6 8 and Kasabyan bets 50k. Wong calls. The turn is the J . Kasabyan checks, and Wong instantly pushes all in for 332k. Kasabyan thinks for a minute before mucking.

At the break Steve Wong has 440k to Gevork Kasabyan's 660k. Play will resume in a few moments.

The blinds are now 4k-8k with a 1k ante. Steve Wong is at about a 2.5-1 chip disadvantage heads up.

Nam Le moves in and Gevork Kasabyan calls. Nam has A 3 , Gevork K 9 . The board comes 5 9 5 4 J . Nam Le is out in third place earning $56,415.

Steve Wong 300k
Nam Le 90k
Gevork Kasabyan 800k

Theo Jorgensen gets all of his chips in the middle with jacks. Unfortunately, Gevork Kasabyan wakes up with aces. Theo Jorgensen is eliminated in fourth place, earning $30,770.

Steve Wong 285k
Nam Le 100k
Theo Jorgensen 300k
Gevork Kasabyan 460k

Theo has tossed a few chips to his left and Gevork has inhereted the chip lead. Nam just made a move in a limp pot to pick up some dead money on his short stack. He's probably a little shy of 100k, but he has his single stack of chips stacked very high and I can't count them as well.

Theo Jorgensen calls 3k more from the small blind. Gevork Kasabyan exercises his option and raises 15k more from the large blind. Jorgensen reraises 30k more and Kasabyan calls. The flop is A K x, and Jorgensen bets 55k. Kasabyan announces raise and Jorgensen mucks before he can count the chips.

At the final table, Steve Wong was joking about how bad the movie "Casino Royale" portrayed poker rules. He made mention of the movie and Jack McLelland, the tournament director, said he enjoyed the movie even with the poker mistakes. Steve then said "Jack, you're from the old school right?" Jack laughed and said, "Well, I'm old..."

At least they are still loose and having fun, even though they're playing for a lot of money.

The blinds are now 3k-6k with a 1k ante. On the first hand back from break, Nam Le opened for 25k. Theo Jorgensen made it 75k to go and everyone folded. Theo continues to chip up and has a monster stack. Steven Wong is still in second place in chips.

The players are now on break. Here are some updated chip counts.

Steve Wong 320k
Nam Le 145k
Theo Jorgensen 410k
Gevork Kasabyan 250k

Steve Wong and John Esposito square off again. This time Wong has him covered slightly (I must have mis-counted a stack of John's a moment ago). Wong shows A T , and Espo makes the call for all of his chips with 9 9 . An ace on the flop ends the race. John Esposito goes home in fifth place, earning $23,080.

There's a few minutes left at the 2k-4k level. Next should be 3k-6k. I believe that is still a 500 chip ante, but I will know for sure in a few minutes when it increases.

Steve Wong 140k
Nam Le 160k
John Esposito 150k
Theo Jorgensen 420k
Gevork Kasabyan 200k

John Esposito reraises Steve Wong's opening bet all in. Wong calls and shows K Q . Esposito shows A 6 . The board comes J 8 2 8 3 . Esposito doubles up.

Theo gets Alan all in with 99 v Alan's 55. Theo turns a set of nines to seal the deal. Alan Cutler is our sixth place finisher, cashing for $17,950.

Alan Cutler is all in the next hand with A9 against Gevork Kasabyan's AK. Alan spikes a 9 on the turn to double up.

Event #4, a $3,000 buy-in event, drew 203 entrants. It pays 18 players and first is worth $234,000. There's about 110 players left. Right now they are playing level four, 100-200 blinds.

We just had another elimination. Mark Abousharkh gets all in against Steve Wong. Mark has pocket aces, but they go up in smoke when the board comes K 9 7 Q J. Steve's AT makes broadway on the river. Mark Abousharkh is out in eighth earning $10,255.

Immediately after, David Tran is all in as the short stack against Theo Jorgensen and also Alan Cutler. The board is 7 7 4 Q 9. Alan and Theo check the flop, then Theo starts a side pot betting 5k on the turn. He bets 20k on the river, and Alan folds. Theo wins with 9 7. David Tran is out in seventh, taking home $12,820.

The players are at the 500 ante, 2,000-4,000 blind level. There's still eight remaining. I will have chip counts shortly--the Bellagio actually changed the colors of their tournament chips which makes it tough to figure them out. I just figured out what the 500 and 1,000 chips are, so give me a few minutes to figure out the rest!

I just showed up after battling the traffic on I-15 just in time to see our first elimination. Theo Jorgensen called the allin from Dapo Fadeyi. Theo tabled KT, while Dapo had the lead with AJ. The flop was QJx, turn a blank, but the river filled Theo's straight with a 9. Dapo Fadeyi is eliminated in ninth place, earning $8,205.