Champ Philip Tom (ImageMasters)

On what was to be the last hand of Event 11, Greg 'FBT' Mueller limps in and Philip Tom checks. The flop brings the board of 9 J 3  and Tom fires 150,000. Mueller raises it to 350,000 and after waiting a second, Tom reraises enough to put Mueller all in. Mueller makes the quick call and flips over the J 8  for top pair. Tom, however, has him outkicked as he tables the A J . When the turn falls the 5  and the river the K  Tom eliminates Greg Mueller in second place worth $298,638.

Players return from break.

The three participants sat back down at about a quarter after and play promptly resumed.

Wolpert takes three outer to the heart.

Greg Mueller and Phillip Tom are now heads-up and battling it out for the coveted bracelet. From the small blind, Leo Wolpert shoves for his remining stack of about 425,000. Mueller makes the call, but can only be disappointed with himself when he sees his K 2  up against the K 3  of Wolpert. Through the turn Wolpert was safe as the board read Q A 8 5 . Then the worst news possible came on the river in the form of a three-outer as Mueller hits the miracle 2 . Leo Wolpert has been eliminated and takes home $187,812.

The three remaining players are now on dinner break and will return at about 8:15 Sin-City time.

And then there were four.

Getting it all in preflop, Tim West and his short stack are facing long odds as his pocket 9s face the pocket Ks of Leo Wolpert. The board of 2 7 4 J 10  offers no help and Tim West is bounced in fifth place taking home $63,450.

Not long after.... and then there were three.

Sirious Jamshidi has been eliminated in fourth place winning $118,440.

Facing the preflop raise from the button sitting Phil Tim, Jamshidi reraises all in from the big blind. Likely feeling good with his pocket Js, Jamshidi's mood was surely quick to change once he spied the A A  of Tom. No help on the board of K 5 10 2 7c and Jamshidi will be headed home.

Mueller flexes muscles with solid call.

Mueller makes a standard preflop raise and gets reraised by Thomas Rouple from the cutoff. Everyone else get out of the way, and Mueller makes the call. The flop shows the 3 7 3 . Roupe announces he is all in which would also put Mueller all in should he call. Mueller takes some time to stand up, take a deep breath, and decides to make the call flipping over the 9 9  and Roupe the 8 8 . Mueller shows some excitement and the turn and river are the 2  K to double Mueller up and severly cripple Roupe.

Roupe busts in sixth.

After having his stack cripled in the previous hand, Thomas Roupe calls the preflop raise of Leo Wolpert for his tournament life. Showing the 10 7  Roupe would need a some serious help facing the A K  of Wolpert. The board would brick (9 4 2 5 9 ) and Roupe is sent packing in 6th place taking home $38,070.

Still Six-Handed.

Greg Mueller from the hijack makes it 70,000 to go preflop. Phil Tom re-raised making it about 200,000 to go. When action reaches Leo Wolpert, he pushes all-in from the small blind and the crown erupts in anticipation. Mueller decides to get out of the way, and Tom folds the pocket 9s face up. Wolpert scoops a few chips prelfop.

Just moments ago, the small stack, Tim West, pushed his stack to the middle and found a caller in the form of Thomas Roupe. West's pockets 8 were able to hold up against the 7s of Roupe and West has doubled his stack.

A little break time and back to business.

Play at the event 11 final table was a bit slower in the last hour due to a 20 minute break. Once play resumed Greg ' FBT' Mueller resumed his dominant ways. He now sits on the largest stack at the table.

Wolpert scoops a pot from 'FBT'

Greg Mueller opens the action with a standard sized raise from the cutoff and Leo Wolpert calls from the big blind. With the flop showing the K J 4  both players check. The turn brings the J  and Wolpert checked. Mueller fires 115,000 and Wolpert calls. The river is the 9  and again Wolpert checks. Mueller ponders it all for a bit finally deciding to also check. Wolpert shows the pocket 8s and Mueller mucks.

An interesting stat from the ESPN crew: Greg Mueller has won 18 of 56 hands dealt so far for a win percentage of 32.1%.

Cards are back in the air on this final day of play in this $5,000 NLHE Shootout event. Upon walking into the Rio today one quickly notices there is something different different in the air. It took this reporter a little time to realize that it was a more pleasant air was due to the multitude of women taking part in the Ladies Event. A nice change from the usual funk of the male dominated fields.

Action at the final table has been decent with all players guaranteed at least $38,000 in winnings.

No bust-outs thus far, but there has been some decent action. First hand witnessed saw Tom Roupe make a standard pre-flop raise. Sirous Jamshidi decided to come along for the ride, and the two ended up checking a board of 7 J K K 7 . With a check-check on the river, Tom shows the KQ and Sirious mucks.

Greg 'FBT' Mueller has been busy at the table pushing his agenda. From the small blind Sirous Jamshidi limps and 'FBT' raises from the big blind. Jamshidi makes the call and the flop comes 10 A 6 . Both players check and the turn shows the 10 . Checks for everyone and the river 6 . Sirous must have seen some weakness in Mueller's body language as he made a pot-sized bet. Mueller tanks for a few seconds, and then decides to call showing the A7 and scooping the pot.

In a later hand Mueller facing a raise and reraise preflop decides to repop it for another $395. The first raiser (Leo Wolpert) folds, and the re-raiser (Tim West) also folds after giving it some considerable thought. Mueller seems to have established a table image that says 'Don't mess with me."

Stats at the end of Day 2 of play: