Champ Duncan Bell (ImageMasters)

Un-Bell-ievable

Duncan Bell has won his first WSOP bracelet, coming to the final table as chip leader and leaving $666,697 richer. Steve Merrifield takes second and $428,949 for his valliant effort at this fast and loose final table. This is Duncan "Pumper" Bell's second WSOP cash and Merrifield's first.

Watching the heads-up part of this final table was like watching a samurai sword fight on fast forward. If you thought Merrifield and Bell would tighten up when they were neck-and-neck sitting two feet from a shiny gold bracelet, you were wrong. (Don't feel badly. I was wrong too.) These guys are nuts.

In the first major hand heads-up, Bell makes it 175k to go, and Merrifield calls. The flop comes 8 5 2. Merrifield bets 270k, and Bell calls. 4 on the turn, Steve bets 475k, and Duncan calls again. The river brings a 9, and Merrifield bets a staggering 1 million. Bell auto-calls. I'm telling you, these guys don't blink. Merrifield shows K-9 for a pair on the river. And incredibly, that's good for the 2 million chips in the middle. Merrifield takes a 3:1 chip lead over Bell.

Duncan gets his chips back a few hands later. Merrifield raises to 175k and Bell calls to see the flop: 9 7 4. Bell bets out 200k, and Merrifield calls (of course). After seeing a 4 on the turn, Bell bets 525k. Merrifield actually pauses to think for a moment, but don't worry, he's not thinking about folding. Instead he pushes Bell all in. Bell shows A-9 and is ahead of Merrifield's pocket 5s. A T on the river means Duncan doubles up.

On the final hand, Merrifield bets 155k and Bell calls. The flop is 8 6 2. Bell bets 150k and Merrifield comes over the top to make it 500,000. What to do if you're Bell at this final table? Shove all in obviously. Merrifield calls with pocket Tens and is not thrilled to see Bell's A-A. A 4 on the turn and a Jack on the river official end this turbo final table. Winning a bracelet with pocket Aces is almost too easy, but you can't begrudge Bell for making it wire to wire at this final table.

Lightening Round

Wow, this final table is heads up in under three hours. It was Steve Merrifield's turn to play assassin, eliminating three players in a row. Merrifield and Duncan Bell are now taking a short break to prepare to battle each other for the bracelet. They are exactly even with 3,300,000 apiece.

Merrifield eliminated Brent Hanks in 5th place ($178,327). Brent's A-2 didn't connect on the board, and Merrifield's A-T was good for the pot and the kill.

Shawn Buchanan finished 4th, earning $218,491. Buchanan was all in with A-K suited, but couldn't catch a break from the board to improve against Steve Merrifield's pocket 9s. Merrifield connected hugely on the 8 7 6 2 5 board, improving his pair to a straight. The Canadian Buchanan earned his fifth WSOP cash, and his departure left the final table three-handed after 34 hands.

Merrifield is on one monster rush. He managed the resuck out to send Nathan Doudney home in 3rd place. Steve raised from the button, Doudney shoved, and Merrifield called with A 9 . The crowd was a bit surprised when Nathan flipped up his K 8. The flop brought a King for Doudney in the door, but followed with an Ace for Merrifield and a Jack. The turn was an 8. An 8! Doudney's fans couldn't believe his luck in hitting two pair. Until the 9 on the river. That's gonna sting. But $260,261 should make it feel a little better.

Bell's Death Toll - 3 and Counting

The action has been non-stop since the final nine hit the final table. In the first hour, four players hit the rail. The final five took a quick break just to make sure Day 3 lasts more than two hours, and now they're back and ready to rumble some more.

Brent Ditzik was eliminated in 8th place, taking home $83,541. Ditizik was all in pre-flop holding A-Q against Duncan Bell's pocket Jacks. The flop brought Brent a Queen in the door, but cruelly dashed his hopes when it also had a Jack to make Bell a set.

Next, Bell took out Ariel Soffer in 7th place ($107,639). Soffer was all in with pocket 6s, and table bully Duncan Bell called with J-T off. The Q 9 2 cooperated with Duncan's straight draw, and the King on the turn ended Soffer's tournament.

What happened to Jason Sanders, who finished in 6th (139,770)? The answer is once again Duncan Bell at the table with the set. Sanders began the day with over a million in chips, but was down to less than 100k. Bell raised pre-flop and Sanders through in what he had left with an unimpressive T-7 off. Bell's pocket dueces looked good, but the 9 6 6 flop gave Sanders hope of ruining Bell's underpair. His hopes were dashed when a 2 on the turn filled Bell's boat.

Bell now has the commanding lead and is approaching 3 million in chips. Nathan Doudney is the short stack with around 500k.

Levi Burst

The cards are finally in the air after the usual final table delays. After reaching the final nine at 4:00 this morning, tournament staff decided to go ahead with Day 3 at 2:00 pm as scheduled since it is the requisite ten hours later. Which means they started playing a little after 2:30. The players are looking a little tired around the edges, but no doubt that will wear off as the excitement builds.

Nicolas Levi made up for lost time, getting his last 227,000 chips into the middle on the second hand. All in pre-flop with pocket sevens, he was racing Steve Merrifield's A-T off. The flop fell T 6 6, giving Merrifield the higher two pair. An 8 on the turn was no help for Levi, and a third Ten for Steve on the river sealed Levi's fate. Nicolas leaves in 9th place, picking up a check for $59,442.