(Jackie Witt Reporting)

	Champ Matt Hawrilenko

Faraz Jaka raised from the button trying to take it down preflop.  Josh Brikis called from the small blind.  The flop came A  9  5 .  Both players opted to see a free card.  The T  came on the turn.  Brikis checked, Jaka bet 350k, and Brikis made the call.  The river came a 6 .  Brikis checked again, and this time Jaka tried to take it down with a bet of 800k.  Brikis called immediately.  Jaka just as quickly mucked his hand, and Brikis showed Js Td for second pair.  Brikis scooped the pot while saying, “You can’t push me around all night.”

Faraz Jaka and Matt Hawrilenko raised and reraised preflop, and then Jaka declared all in.  Hawrilenko made the call.  Jaka showed Q  Q  and Hawrilenko showed A  K  for a race.  The flop came A  T  J  which had Jaka at a loss but not completely out of the game.  The turn and river brought a Jd  5  which sealed Jaka’s fate of being out in 3rd place.

It was then heads up between Matt Hawrilenko and Josh Brikis.  At the start of heads up, Hawrilenko had a dominating chip lead of over 9 million, while Brikis was at 4.9 million.  The first three hands of heads up had Hawrilenko taking charge, and he won each hand without a show down.

Four hands into heads up play, Josh Brikis raised to 300k from the small blind.  Matt Hawrilenko continued his agression and announced a reraise of one million.  Brikis was not going to get pushed around so easily and went all in.  Hawrilenko immediately called showing pocket jacks.  Brikis was live with A  9 .  The crowd was going wild as the board was dealt out.

2  8  8  3  T

Josh Brikis was unable to get any help from the board and finished in 2nd place for $619,609.  Matt Hawrilenko is the winner of Event 56.  He takes home $1,003,163 in cash prizes and a World Series of Poker bracelet. 

(Jackie Witt Reporting)

Matt Hawrilenko bet 200k on a 8  2  K  board,and Sean Keeton made the call.  The turn was a Q .  Keeton checked, and Hawrilenko bet 500k.  Keeton made the call.  The river was a 2 .  Keeton checked again, and Hawrilenko checked behind showing Q  8  for two pair.  Keeton showed K  T  which rivered him a higher two pair for the win.  Hawrilenko slips to 3.1 million, and Keeton is sitting pretty at 4.5 million.

Players went on a 20 minute break and came back to round 27 which has a 10,000 ante 40,000/80,000 blinds.  Josh Brikis begins the round as the chip leader with 5.2 million, and Sean Keeton is the short stack with 1.8 million. 

Sean Keeton pushed a few times trying to double up, but everyone folded to him, and he was left picking up the blinds and antes.  He then came in for a 200k raise.  Josh Brikis and Faraz Jaka called.  The flop was A 8 3 .  Jaka checked, Keeton led out for 250k, and Brikis called. Jaka folded, and the turn came a 9 .  Both remaining players checked, and the river came a 3 .  Keeton made a small bet of 200k.  Brikis quickly called showing A  T  for top pair, while Keeton showed Ks 9h for second pair.  Keeton slips down to 1.2 million in chips.

Keeton’s final stand came when Faraz Jaka raised to 200k in early position.  Keeton moved in for the rest of his chips.  Matt Hawrikenko went all in over the top forcing Jaka to fold.  Keeton had A  Q  against Hawrikenko’s J  J .  The board ran out 2  T  4  T  3  to eliminate Keeton in 4th place for $269,983.

We are now down to the final three players.

(Jackie Witt Reporting)

Sean Keeton goes on a roll after taking down two pots.  First, he raised to 150k under the gun.  Josh Brikis tried to take control of the action and raised to 350k.  Keeton made the call.  The flop came A  7  7 .  Both players checked.  The 7  came on the turn, and both players checked again.  The Q  came on the river and the pot went down to the first bettor.  Keeton fired 500k, and Brikis mucked rather quickly. 

Then, Season took another one down raising 175k from the small blind.  Jonas Wexler raised 550k from the big blind.  Keeton announced all in and Wexler made the call.  Keeton had A  K  against Wexler’s A  T .  The board ran 7  3  7  8  K .  Keeton doubled to over 3.5 million while Wexler has become a short stack with 700k.

Wexler needed to find a place to double if he was going to be in contention for a first place finish.  After Faraz Jaka opened for 150k, Jonas Wexler announced an all in from the small blind.  Josh Brinkis went all in over the top.  Jaka had seen this move from Brinkis before, but let it go with a slight shrug.  Wexler showed K  Q  against Brinkis’ A  Q .  The board came 5  8  4  Q  7  to knock Wexler out in 5th place.  He will take home $189,555 for his efforts. 

(Jackie Witt Reporting)

Matthew Waxman pushed all in for 605k after Sean Keeton had raised from early position.  Action folded to Josh Brinkis who went all in over the top of Waxman.  Keeton must have sensed he was dominated, and folded his hand.  It was heads up between Waxman and Brinkis. Waxman turned over A  T , and Brinkis turned over K  K .  The board ran 3  J  7  8  7  which was enough to knock Waxman out in 6th place for $138,394.  Brinkis is now over 5 million in chips.

Blinds are going up again.  The new level will have a 5,000 ante and 30,000/60,000 blinds.  At these stakes, it wouldn’t be surprising to see another man fall.

(Elissa Harwood reporting)

In the one big hand of the last half hour, Jonas Wexler opened for 125,000, and Matt Hawrilenko, Sean Keeton, and Matt Waxman all came along for the ride. The flop was K T 7, and all four players checked. 5 on the turn, and after Keeton checked to Waxman, he carefully counted out 280,000. Wexler quickly tossed his cards, and Hawrilenko paused for a moment before announcing almost inaudibly that he was all in. Quick fold from Keeton, and then the pressure was on Waxman. He gave a deep sigh, checked his cards, shuffled his chips, shuffled some more, and eventually gave it up. Hawrilenko took over the chip lead with 4.65 million, and Waxman fell to 865,000. Josh Brikis is still neck-and-neck with Hawrilenko with 4.52 million.

Five hours into Day 3, the final table is set. Robert Kay was eliminated in 7^th place to leave six players to duke it out for the bracelet and a cool million dollars. Matt Hawrilenko opened to 105,000 UTG, and Faraz Jaka called. Robert Kay then moved all in behind for a little over 1.4 million. Hawrilenko, with exactly the same stack as Kay, decided to call for a double-or-nothing moment, and Jaka folded. Kay’s K Q was up against Hoss_TBF’s A K. The board came K 3 2 T J, and Hawrilenko out-kicked Kay to kick him out in 7^th place.

The final table is playing for some serious cash, but the atmosphere is far from somber. The rail has filled in with some interesting characters, and they keep pushing closer and closer to the table. One of Josh Brikis’ railbirds sent a shot of Jagermeister to Bill Chen. To his credit, Chen attempted the shot, but he choked on it about halfway through. The crowd had a good laugh, and Jerrod Ankenman stepped in and finished the job.

The final table is also pretty chummy. The guys are exchanging laughs between hands, sharing mints with the table, and even showing many hands when they get folds or walks. Sean Keeton was getting very short and biding his time waiting for a hand. After Faraz Jaka raised to 100K, Keeton moved all in for 580,000. Jaka called and had the better of it with AJ to Keeton’s A4. The flop fell 9 2 2 to the deafening demands for a 4 coming from Keeton’s Ed Hardy-clad rail (we’re talking shirts, hats, sweatshirts – it’s blinding.) The dealer finally gave in, peeling off a 4 on the turn. The river was a King, and Keeton doubled up through Jaka. “It’s all good,” said Faraz, but it’s doubtful he really meant it. Table camaraderie can only go so far with a million on the line.

Jaka had a tough last level, dropping a big pot to Matt Hawrilenko as well as doubling Keeton. Josh Brikis raised to 105,000, and then Hawrilenko made it 325,000. Next to act, Faraz bumped it up to 700,000. Hawrlinko wasn’t intimidated, however. He moved all in, and Brikis and Jaka both quickly folded.

The final six elected to take a 75-minute dinner break and will be back around 7:30. Brikis is the dinnertime chip leader with 4.65 million, followed by Matt Hawrilenko with 3.75 million. Sean Keeton and Jonas Wexler have 1.6 and 1.55 respectively. Faraz Jaka has fallen all the way to 1.4 million, and Robert Kay is right behind him as the short stack with 1.35 million.

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Thursday, 02nd of July 2009 05:00 PM

(Elissa Harwood reporting)

The rapid-fire busts continued in the last hour, and now down to seven players, they have redrawn to one table and paused for a 20-minute break. Thorsten Schaefer had made a big laydown a few minutes earlier to slip to under a million in chips when he and Faraz Jaka saw a J 7 3 flop heads up. Both checked to the 4 on the turn. Jaka bet out 175K, and Schaefer gave it thorough consideration (as usual) before tossing in the chips. Jaka fired another bullet after the Q river, and Schaefer moved all in. Snap call from Jaka with A T for the turned second nuts. Schaefer’s A Q was no good, and he left to pick up his $100,230 check for 8^th place. The ladies have been brutal today.

Josh Brikis is still in the lead after a bit of an up-and-down level. Here are the break time chip counts: 

Josh Brikis	3,800,000
Faraz "The-Toilet" Jaka	3,100,000
Matthew Waxman	1,750,000
Jonas Wexler	1,650,000
Matt "Hoss_TBF" Hawrilenko	1,620,000
Robert Kay	1,280,000
Sean Keeton	825,000

They'll be back to play Level 24, with blinds at 20,000/40,000 and a 4,000 ante. The chip leaders have 95 and 77 big blinds, so this could go for a while. On the other hand, it's 6-max (7-max at the moment), so anything could happen.

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Thursday, 02nd of July 2009 04:00 PM

(Elissa Harwood reporting)

We’re down to eight, only two away from the 6-max final table. And it’s pretty ridiculous that these guys are playing for a first prize of $1 million in the middle of the media circus that is the Ante Up For Africa event. With Phil Hellmuth attempting stand up comedy over the loudspeaker, one or two of the group playing actual poker have asked if they can be moved to a quieter room, but most of the spaces in the Rio are currently occupied by super satellites for tomorrow’s Main Event. Some of the other players are thriving on the chaos and are quite happy with their location, though of course they wish they could play the final table on one of the feature tables.

After they drew to the last two tables, John Conkright didn’t get to keep his new seat for very long. Action folded to him on the button, and he made a standard raise. Josh Brikis bumped it up, and Conkright shipped. Easy call from Brikis, who tabled AK to put Conkright’s AJ in bad shape. The board fell K T 2 6 3, ousting Conkright in 12^th place for $52,296.

Next Rory Mathews open shoved. No callers, and he took down the blinds and antes. Mathews pulled the same move on the very next hand with K 9, but he wasn’t so lucky the second time. Jonas Wexler snap called with pocket Kings. The flop fell A 4 3, giving Mathews a flush draw. No spades came on the turn or river to save him, and was eliminated in 11^th place.

Meanwhile, Faraz “The-Toilet” Jaka has been accumulating chips like nobody’s business.   Alex Venovski flushed the rest of his chips down Jaka’s toilet when he shipped with AQ. Jaka tabled AA, and on an uninteresting J 8 3 2 4 board, busted Venovski in 10^th place. Venovski goes home with $72,446 as the payouts continue to rise for this very well compensated field. After the hand, Jaka was the chip leader with over 2.5 million.   

While Jaka didn’t drop any chips, a massive pot on the other table put The-Toilet in second place. Josh Brikis got his substantial stack all in preflop with A Q against even bigger stack James St. Hilaire’s A K. The flop came 7 5 3. Turn 4. St. Hilaire picked up a club draw, leaving Brikis with only two outs. But in poker, two outs are twice as many as you need to take over a chip lead. River Q, and suddenly Josh Brikis has almost 4 million chips. A stunned St. Hilaire was left with less than 300,000. He shipped it in from the button with pocket 4s, and Jonas Wexler called with Q7. The flop was safe, A 8 2. Jack on the turn also safe. But apparently one card in the deck really dislikes St. Hilaire today. The Q hit the river again to eliminate James St. Hilaire in 9^th place. He’s probably going to hate Alice in Wonderland for the rest of his life.

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Thursday, 02nd of July 2009 03:00 PM

(Amanda Rosenfeld reporting)

Rory Matthews raised to 48,000 from the button. Theh action folded to James St Hilaire who made it 155,000 to go. Rory Matthews thought for a bit before announcing he was all in. St Hilaire called very quickly and the hands were turned up.

St. Hilare: K K
Matthews: 5 2  (Obviously it was a move that did not work)

The board would come 5  J  A  6  7  and St. Hilare would double up to over 2 million in chips. Matthews was down to around 300,000

Aurelien Guiglini eliminated in 13th place: Faraz Jaka put in a raise to 190,000. Aurelien Guiglini reraised all in from the small blind for his last 500,000. Jaka made the quick call.

Jaka: AQ
Guiglini: QQ

The board would flop Jaka an ace when it came A2264 and Guiglini would be eliminated from the tournament in 13th place.

The players are now down to two final tables (12 players). James St Hilare is the chip leader with around 2.4 million. Jaka is now in second place with around 2 million in chips.

Right now, action is being overshadowed by the Ante Up For Africa event that is going on behind them. However, the remaining 12 players are looking for their own action. Stay tuned, As Pokerpages will have LIVE coverage throughout the day.

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Thursday, 02nd of July 2009 02:00 PM

(Elissa Harwood reporting)

The cards are in the air for the last day of the last preliminary event before the big one! Sixteen players came back this afternoon to play down to a final table of six, and then to one lucky bracelet winner in the $5,000 6-max No Limit event. The field, full of online sharks, is playing in the orange corner of the Amazon room, trying to concentrate on high-stakes poker while the rest of the Rio is in a frenzy over the Ante Up For Africa charity tournament full of celebrities (non-poker ones, gasp!) about to get underway on the other side of the room.

Frank Calo didn’t stick around very long today. He was the first to go in 16^th place. First he lost most of his stack when his Queens ran into a set, and Calo hit the rail a few hands later. Eugene Katchalov was in the small blind when action folded to him. He just completed, and BB James St. Hillaire bumped it up to 60K. (Blinds are at 10,000/20,000 with a 3,000 ante.) Without much thought, Katchalov moved all in. St. Hillaire needed more time to mull it over before making the call, and Eugene liked what he saw. His AQ had St. Hillaire’s AT dominated. Until the flop came T 5 2, that is. Turn 3, river Ace, and Katchalov was on his way out in 15^th place for $37,379.

Not wasting any time this morning either, Peter “Nordberg” Feldman saw an 8 5 4 flop with Thorsten Schaefer. Feldman check-raised Schaefer, making it 295,000 total. Schaefer snap shoved, and Feldman called just as fast. Feldman tabled 44 for bottom set. And Schaefer showed down 55 for middle set. Ugh. Bricks on the turn and river ended Feldman’s tournament in 14^th place. Schaefer now has the chip lead with 1.875 million.

Josh Brikis had been short coming into the day, but he doubled through Schaefer a few minutes into play. Brikis was all in pre with A4 to Schaefer’s Kings, but Brikis turned a wheel to stay alive. Schaefer had the chips to spare and seemed unphased by the beat.

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16 players return to the felt at 1 p.m. PDT today to fight their way to the final six players and then a winner. Rory Mathews, Peter Feldman and Matt Hawrilenko each have over 1,100,000 chips and lead their respective tables going into the final day of play. Come back at 1 p.m. as we find out who will win the last tournament before the Main Event and the $1,003,218 first prize.

Table 58
Name	Chip Count	City	State/Country	Seat #
Peter Feldman	1,328,000	Harper Woods	MI	1
Matthew Waxman	1,132,000	Parkland	FL	5
Thorsten Schaefer	1,094,000	Rodgau	Germany	4
Alexander Venovsky	684,000	Orlando	FL	6
Aurelien Guiglini	549,000	London	UK	2
Josh Brikis	294,000	Pittsburgh	PA	3
Table 59
Name	Chip Count	City	State/Country	Seat #
Rory Mathews	1,358,000	Edinburgh	UK	4
James St. Hilaire	876,000	College Park	MD	1
Jonas Wexler	848,000	Southampton	UK	5
John Conkright	749,000	Lexington	KY	2
Eugene Katchalov	356,000	New York	NY	6
Table 60
Name	Chip Count	City	State/Country	Seat #
Matt Hawrilenko	1,327,000	Boston	MA	5
Robert Kay	1,213,000	Johannesburg	South Africa	1
Faraz Jaka	778,000	San Jose	CA	6
Sean Keeton	641,000	Melbourne	Australia	4
Frank Calo	569,000	Syracuse	NY	3