Event 1 Champ Nenad Medic (ImageMasters)

Medic Wins First Gold Bracelet; Bloch Comes Up Short Again

Nenad Medic is the first World Champion of Pot Limit Hold 'Em, taking home a gold bracelet and $794,112. Andy Bloch is stuck with second, gaining $488,048, but no jewelry.

Bloch survived one all-in in heads up play and tries to double up again just minutes before the end of his 39th birthday. Medic calls on the button, Andy raises $300K, and Medic calls. The flop is 4 5 8. Bloch bets $500K, Medic raises the pot, and Andy calls all in. With his cheering section singing happy birthday for at least the third time, Bloch turns over 9 9. Medic shows 5 7. Some people begin a "heart, heart, heart" chant while others shout "no heart, no heart."

The turn card is the J and the crowd goes goes nuts. The people who were just calling for a heart are now yelling for anything but, as Andy has 9 for the higher flush draw. But alas, the river is 5, and Bloch is relegated to second place again. He took second in the $50K H.O.R.S.E. championship in 2006. At least this time, the final table was only nine hours.

Nenad Medic, aka "Serb," is the first bracelet winner of 2008. This is his fourth WSOP cash and his first win. He won the No Limit Hold 'Em tournament at the WPT World Poker Finals in Foxwoods in 2006, earning more than $1.7 million.

PokerKat Scratched

Kathy Liebert left the tournament in third place, earning $306,064 and leaving Nenad Medic and Andy Bloch to battle heads up.

Medic raises from the button to $300K, and Liebert moves in all of her $850K. Bloch re-pots for $2.8 million, and Medic moves all in. With a win, Bloch could knock out both Kathy and Nenad to win the championship. Everyone is on their feet to see the hole cards: Bloch 9-9, Liebert 6-6, Medic Q-Q. The crowd goes crazy when a Queen on the flop give Medic a set.  The three ladies hold up to eliminate Kathy and nearly tripple Nenad's stack.

Liebert, the second woman to cash in the 2008 WSOP, was quite pleased with her top three finish. Jerri Thomas became the first female casher when she took 27th place in Event #1.

Andy Bloch and Nenad Medic are now duking it out for the first bracelet of 2008. Medic is the chip leader, with around $4.3 million. Bloch trails with slightly above $2.7 million. Andy has been in this position before, playing heads up against Chip Reese for hours in the first $50K H.O.R.S.E. event at the 2006 WSOP.

And Then There Were Three

Mike Sexton exited the tournament in 4th, unable to win a second gold bracelet. He returned from dinner with $1.6 million in chips, but was short stacked by Nenad Medic. Mike shoved and Nenad called all in, making the pot $2.7 million. With Sexton's pocket Tens up against Medic's A-J off-suit, the flop fell 3 6 A, giving Medic top pair. Another Ace on the turn meant Sexton needed a Ten and only a Ten for a full house and the win. The river was not a Ten, doubling Nenad's stack and leaving Sexton with only $480,000.

A few hands later, Sexton raised $280K pre-flop and BB Kathy Liebert called. Liebert checked the 8 J A flop, and Sexton pushed the rest of his chips into the middle. Liebert called with A 8, giving her two pair. Sexton wasn't pleased, holding A 6. He had no chance to win the pot after the 4 on the turn and needed a Jack to split the pot and stay alive. The 6 on the river washed Sexton out of the tournament in 4th place, earning him $248,160. Mike shook his head as the crowd gave him a standing O.

Andy Bloch is still the chip leader with $2,870,000, but Medic is only trailing by $300K. Kathy Liebert is still fighting for the ladies with $1.6 million.

Yawn

Nothing has happened in the last hour. Any bet is likely to take down the blinds, and the hand goes to the BB with zero action more often than not. Even the players are showing signs of boredom, standing and stretching between hands and getting up to talk to family and friends in the stands. Kathy's cheering section is doing their best to keep the crowd awake, celebrating every time she wins the blinds.

In the one hand worth mention, Sexton raises to $170K pre-flop, and Andy Bloch calls. It's check-check on the 6 7 9 flop. Check-check again after the T on the turn. After the Q river, Andy bet $200K, and Mike raised to $600,000. Bloch pondered for a while and folded, sending the $750K pot to Sexton.

The final four are now on a much-needed dinner break. Play will resume at 9:15 PDT with blinds at $50-$100K.

Here are the chip counts at dinner time:

Andy Bloch $3,300,000

Nenad Medic $1,700,000

Mike Sexton $1,600,000

Kathy Liebert $580,000

Road Blocks for Bloch

Andy Bloch had accumulated almost $5 million, but his attempt to steamroll the competition was stopped by Medic, Sexton, and Liebert. All three other remaining players doubled through Bloch in the last half hour.

Medic was the first to double up, calling Bloch for $1.1 million with A K. Bloch showed pocket cowboys, to match his trademark hat, but Medic flopped the Ace high flush 2 6 7. Nuts! Medic chipped up, and Bloch remained the chip leader with $3,825,000.

Next Bloch reraises Mike Sexton all in, who calls to build a $1.5 million pot. Sexton held A-J, and Bloch showed A-6. Mike paired his Jack on the flop and took down the pot, further eroding Bloch's stack.

Kathy Liebert doubled up three hands later, calling Bloch all in with A-T off. Kathy paired her Ace on the flop, and her hand held up to defeat Bloch's Q-3 off. Liebert doubled to $465K, and doubled again through Medic to build her chip stack above $1 million for the first time in the tournament. All in against Medic's Ace high, Kathy needed to pair either her King or Ten on the river to stay alive. PokerKat leapt out of her seat when a Ten fell on the river, and her cheering section erupted.

Amit Bit It

Amit Makhija just busted in 5th place, winning $198,528. Makhija bet $175K, and after asking for a count of Amit's chips, Andy Bloch pushed him all in. Makhija called with A 3, making the pot close to $875,000. Bloch holds A 7 . The flop bled 6 9 Q. The turn was a brick, and Andy hit the higher straight with A on the river to knock out Makhija.

Bloch now towers with more than $4 million in chips. Number two, Nenad Medic, is far, far behind him with almost $1.3 million.

Nap Time

Before Makhija's exit, play was stagnant. Players and spectators were getting board, as the only action was blind stealing.  David Stroj, who finished yesterday in 23rd place, literally fell asleep in the stands.  Maybe too much partying last night with his $26K in winnings?

Dropping Like Flies

An hour and half into the final table, only five players remain. I guess they decided they didn't want hang around as late tonight as they did yesterday.

On the 15th hand, Mike Sexton bet $110K pre-flop, and BB Mike Sowers raised the pot to $390K. Sexton shoved and Sowers called. Sexton turned over pocket Queens, and the crowd gasped when the younger Mike showed 4-9 off. Sowers didn't catch a miracle and left in 8th place, taking home $99,264. Sowers left looking extremely displeased, rebuffing ESPN's attempts at an interview.

Four hands later, Patrik Antonius raised $120K from the button and pushed in the rest of his $495K when Andy Bloch reraised. Bloch called, holding A 4 to Antonius' K H . The 5 9 9 flop made both flushes unlikely, and the 7 turn 5 river made Bloch's Ace high good for the pot. Antonius took home $124,080 in 7th place.

Chris Bell was eliminated in 6th ($157,168) in a heartbreaking resuck by Nenad Medic. Bell's A-3 were trailing Medic's J-J post-flop (5 6 Q), but an Ace on the turn had Bell celebrating. One of Nenad's two outs popped up on the river to ring Bell's bell (sorry - can't help it).

In one big hand, Andy Bloch took $500K from Mike Sexton before Sexton capitulated. Now Bloch has more than 3 million piled in front of him, just minutes away from break time.

Laak Runs Jacks into Kings, then Aces to Exit First

The first final table of 2008 was underway for 15 minutes before Phil Laak became the final nine's first casualty.  His day was extremely short. He was late to the event, running in at the last minute. Tournament staff said a car was sent to his hotel at 2:45. After dashing in, he called short-stack Patrik Antonius' all-in on the first hand. Yes, the first hand. Patrik flipped up K-K, dominating Phil's J-J. Laak announced to the audience that, not to worry, he'd still be alive "even if I die." But he jumped for joy when he flopped a set with the A J 2 flop. Things looked slightly better for Antonius when a T on the turn gave him four extra outs. A cowboy rode to his rescue on the river, giving Antonius a set of Kings and the W. While Patrik barely flinched, the audience went nuts. Humberto Brenes heard the cheering and ran into the stands to see the action.

Apparently, Laak didn't learn his lesson the first time. A few hands later, he pushed all in again with pocket Jacks. While Nenad Medic tanked, Laak wrote on a sticky note "Please Fold," and showed it to ESPN's cameras. Medic didn't get the message and reraised to make it $350K to go, and Mike Sowers folded. Now heads up pre-flop, it was Laak's J J against Medic's A A . 2 6 K on the flop took away one of his outs, as a J would give Medic the nut flush. The turn 9 and the river 5 meant Phil Laak was done in 9th Place ($74,448).

Soon after, Kathy Liebert doubled through Patrik Antonius, boosting her chip stack to $725K and dropping him way down to $165K. Chip leader Andy Bloch has shed $400K in chips, but still leads the pack with almost $1.9 million.