Rick Rossetti - Winner!

Here are the complete and final results for this event:

	Alex Gomez - 2nd place

Alex made it 120K to go and Rick called. Flop was K 9 3 and Rick fired 150K. Alex moved all in for another 585K and after a couple of moments, Rick called. Alex held pocket Tens and Rick had the lead with K7 for a pair of Kings. Last two cards were J 2 and Rick wins!

Rick Rossetti finished in 1st place, earning (officially) $386,096, the gold WSOP Championship ring, and the $11,000 2007 WSOP package.

Alex Gomez finished in 2nd place, earning (officially) $202,453.

Rick raised 100K and Alex called. Flop was 4 2 3 . Alex checked, Rick fired 100K and Alex called. Turn was the 2 and both checked. River was the Q and Alex bet 155K. Rick jacked it up to 600K and Alex mucked. That gives the chip lead back to Rick with 1.5 million to Alex's 870K.

Rick bumped it to 100K and Alex came over the top making it 300K to go. Rick called and the flop was Q 7 9. Alex moved all in and Rick folded. After that hand, Alex once again had the chip lead with 1.45 million to Rick's 920K.

They finally played a hand to showdown! With a board of 8 Q 7 2 Q , Alex fired and Rick called, showing Q2 for Queens full of deuces. But Alex showed Q8 for Queens full of 8s. Alex took the pot and increased his stack to 1.075 million, leaving Rick with 1.285 million.

Level 19: Blinds 20K/40K with 5K antes. Play has resumed.

End of level and players are on break. The 1K chips have been colored up to 10K chips. Here are the updated counts:

Just pushing blinds around the table. Updated chip counts:

Alex raised 60K and Rick called. Flop was 6 A Q . Rick checked, Alex fired 120K and Rick called. Turn was T and both checked. River was 5 and Rick fired 300K. Alex folded and Rick pulled the pot.

Rick's aggression has retaken the chip lead:

Rick completed the small and Alex checked his option. Flop was A J 7 . Alex checked, Rick bet 100K and Alex then popped it up another 200K. After about a minute, Rick folded.

Rick bumped it to 90K and Alex called. Flop was 4 3 J and Rick fired 100K. Alex moved all in. After a count (412K more) Rick called, showing A2 for the wheel draw, needing an Ace or 5 to beat Alex's pocket Tens. Last two cards were 7 K and Alex doubled up and re-took the chip lead:

Rick has continued accumulating chips:

Then on a flop of A 4 3 Alex bet 200K and Rick called. Turn was 3 . Alex moved all in and Rick mucked his hand, so Alex got a bit back:

Rick has been raising every pot and pushing Alex off his hands. The last hand actually went to showdown and Rick took the pot with a pair of Kings to beat Alex's pair of Jacks. Chip counts after that hand:

Rick continues his aggressive play raising the next two hands and forcing Alex to fold.

	Big Bucks and the Bling!

There wasn't an official money presentation since the money has been on display all day. With that last hand, Rick took a slight chip lead over Alex:

Play has now resumed.

	John Racener - 3rd place

On the first hand, John and Rick took a flop of 7 7 9 . John fired 155K and Rick moved all-in. John called, showing Q J for the flush draw with two overcards. Rick held 8 5 for the gutshot straight draw. John's tournament life was on the line and he was ahead with his Queen-high. Turn was K so John was still in the lead, but the river was the 6 filling Rick's gutshot for the straight and sending John to the rail.

John Racener finished in 3rd place, earning (officially) $103,527.

Clock is paused briefly as they prepare for heads-up play.

Level 18: Blinds 15K/30K with 4K antes.  Play has resumed.  Here are updated chip counts:

	Jack Effel - Tournament Director

Once again, Jack Effel, John Arthur, and Harrah's has out-done itself. They treated the final table players (and the media!) to dinner at Polistina's Italian Restaurant. Dinner was excellent and we stuffed ourselves! It was a great opportunity to chat casually with the players and tournament staff outside of the "interview" atmosphere. Kudos to Jack, John, and the entire tournament staff.

Part of what I learned over dinner is that the final three players have made a deal for the prize money. Basically, Rick and John are getting $190K each and Alex is getting $270K. They will play on for the title, the ring, and the WSOP seat.

Well, the level has ended without any big confrontations. Players are on dinner break until 7:45.

Alex raised pre-flop and John called. Flop was Q J T and both checked. Turn was a 5 and Alex fired again; John called again. River was another Queen and Alex fired 150K. John went into the tank for a few minutes, but finally folded. The big stack gets bigger.

Nothing exciting to report. These final three guys have settled down to play some serious poker. On the dealer push, they decided to take a 5 minute bio-break, so the clock is paused with about a half hour to go in this round. At the end of this level they will take a dinner break.

	Feming Chan - 4th place

Alex moved in and Feming called all-in. Alex held AT offsuit and had Feming in bad shape with A3 offsuit. Board came Q T 4 9 x (river was irrelevant as Feming was drawing dead).

Feming Chan finished in 4th place, earning $80,521.

Updated chip counts:

Updated chip counts:

Level 17: Blinds 10K/20K with 3K antes. Play has resumed.

	Ken Goldin - 5th place

Ken moved his last chips in and again got action from Feming. Ken's K9 offsuit was dominated by Feming's A9 suited. Board was no help to Ken and Feming took the pot.

Ken Goldin finished in 5th place, earning $69,018.

That's the end of the level and players are taking 15.

Feming moved all in and got called by Ken in the big blind. Feming's KQ offsuit was trailing Ken's AJ offsuit. Until the flop, that is. A Queen on the flop was all Feming needed to double up.

Updated chip guesstimates:

	Michael "MJ" Bernstein - 6th place

MJ moved his chips all in from the small blind and Alex called from the big blind. MJ's KJ offsuit was trailing Alex's pocket 9s. Board came Q 3 2 6 2 and MJ was done.

Michael "MJ" Bernstein finished in 6th place, earning $57,515.

After Rick opened for a raise, Feming moved all in for 99K. After a count and some thought, Rick called, showing A2 offsuit. Feming was trailing with J9 offsuit, but not for long. Board was J J 7 4 Q and Feming doubled up with trip Jacks.

Updated chip estimates:

	Ray Lin - 7th place

Rick raised and Ray Lin came over the top all-in. After a couple of moments, Rick called, showing AK. Ray had AJ suited and got no help on the board.

Ray Lin finished in 7th place, earning $46,012.

	Drew Gliem - 8th place

Drew moved his last 70K in and then MJ moved in over the top. All folded and it was pair versus pair: Drew held pocket 6s and MJ held pocket Kings. Ken commented that he mucked a 6, so Drew was drawing slim. Board came 7 8 T 3 J and MJ's Kings held up.

Drew Gliem finished in 8th place, earning $34,509.

Play has resumed. Here are the counts as they begin play 8 handed:

	Tam Ly - 9th place

Rick raised to 40K on the button and Tam Ly moved all-in from the big blind for another 98K. Rick asked for a count and had Tam covered by just a few chips. Rick finally decided to call, showing A9 off. Tam held A7 off and his tournament life was on the line. Board came J 5 3 6 A and Rick's kicker played to give him the pot.

Tam Ly finished in 9th place, earning $23,006.

Clock has paused for a short break and we're getting updated chip counts.

Level 15 has ended and they have continued to the next level.

Level 16: Blinds 8K/16K with 2K antes. Play continues....

Alex took down the first couple of hands without any competition. Then Tam Ly made it 30K to play and Ken Goldin moved in for 77K. After some thought, Tam called, showing Q T . Ken held A K and the lead. That lead held up with the flop of 7 9 4 , but was crushed when the T came on the turn. Ken was sweating that last card for his tournament life -- he needed any diamond, King or Ace. River was the Q completing Ken's flush and giving him the double-up to survive.

Player introductions have been completed and play has resumed with about 19 minutes remaining in level 15 with blinds at 6K/12K and 2K antes.

Final Table play begins at 2pm Eastern Time!

Alex Gomez will start the today's final table as a tremendous favorite with 1,051,000 of the 2,370,000 chips in play. He amassed his huge total with 11 players remaining when he doubled up with pocket Kings against Brian Strahl’s pocket 9s. He later knocked Brian out in 10th place to end play for the day.

Here are the chip counts and seat assignments for the final 9:

These guys will be playing for a grand prize over $360K. Here are the payouts still to be decided:

The winner will also receive a $10K seat to the 2007 WSOP Main Event (plus $1K for travel expenses) and a gold WSOP Circuit Championship ring.