Here's a recap of the final 9, along with their original payouts, per schedule, and estimates of the payouts based on the deal that was made between the final 6.

And the winner is.....Jeremy Phipps.  On a board of 2267Q, Jeremy moved all in and was called by An.  An had A7 for two pair, but Jeremy held 32, for trip deuces.  An Tran finishes second, winning $81,972 (per schedule) and Jeremy Phipps wins first place, $136,621, (per scedule) a $10,200 entry to the championship beginning January 19th and the gold and diamond WPO bracelet.

	Jeremy Phipps

	Jeremy Phipps with his bracelet

	An Tran

An and Jeremy are still playing heads up for the $10,200 entry and the bracelet.  An has cut into Jeremy's chip lead significantly.  I couldn't hear for sure, but it sounded like An was offering Jeremy $5,000 extra to let him have the $10K entry and to play on for the bracelet, but Jeremy shook his head, declining the deal.

It appears that An has about 3 stacks of green (300,000) and Jeremy has the rest, meaning about 600,000, giving him about a 2 to 1 chip lead.

An and Jeremy have been pushing small pots back and forth for a while, but we just had an all in.  An raised, Jeremy moved all in, and An called.  An had A5 offsuit and Jeremy had pocket fours.  A 5 fell on the turn giving An the lead and he doubled up. 

Scooter says they chopped up the money 6 ways strictly based on chip counts at the time.  Here's a table showing those approximate chip counts, payout percentages, and approximate payouts based on such a deal. 

Noah was riding a short stack and couldn't wait any longer, so moved all in for his last 34,000.  He was called by both Jeremy and An, who both checked it all the way down.  In the end, the board was A53JQ and Jeremy won the pot with his A6.  Noah showed 97.  Noah Nodine finishes in 3rd place earning $43,263 (per schedule).

	Noah Nodine

The hand of the day just played out:  on a flop of Q73, Jeremy and Scooter got all in.  Jeremy had KQ offsuit for top pair and Scooter held pocket Jacks (I hate Jacks!).  No help for Scooter and Jeremy scoops a huge pot.  Scooter Crutcher was covered by 5000 chips and is our 4th place finisher, earning $25,047 (per schedule).

	Scooter Crutcher

Now Jeremy has most of the chips on the table.

David moved all in on a flop of 732 and was called by Jeremy.  Jeremy was in the lead with A7 for top pair.  David had 45, for the open-ended straight-draw.  No help for David Tran, however, and he finishes in 5th place, earning $18216 (according to schedule).

	David Tran

 Things have definitely lightened up since the deal...Jeremy got Noah to lay down a hand with an all-in raise and after Noah folded, Jeremy showed the 43 offsuit bluff, saying he "just had to try it once".

Scooter raised to 20,000 and David made it 61,000 to go.  Scooter moved all in.  After some thought, David called and showed .  Scooter had .  The arrived on the flop giving Scooter the lead.  No help for David and Scooter doubles up. 

David Tran is now the short stack with only about 60,000 left.

Rukhsana gets all in with A7 and is called by Scooter with pocket tens.  The 7 on the flop is no help to her because it is accompanied by a ten, giving Scooter a set.  Rukhsana Guevarra is our 6th place finisher, earning $12,751 (according to payout schedule - we don't know what additional she may have received due to the deal).

	Rukhsana Guevarra

There has been some chip movement since we resumed, but without showdown, so I haven't had anything to report...until now.  On a flop of 456 rainbow, Scooter moved all in and was immediately called by Jeremy.  Scooter had pocket sixes for a set, but Jeremy held 78 for the nut straight.  Jeremey had Scooter covered so Scooter's tournament life was at risk.  However, another 4 fell on the river, pairing the board and giving Scooter a full house.  Scooter doubles up through Jeremey.

A deal has been made...I'll try to get details for you.  Play now resumes at 4000/8000 blinds, 2000 ante.

Talking deal is a complicated issue...calculators are in use....  Eventually play will have to resume since they have to play it out for the championship seat and the bracelet...stay tuned...

Players are on a 15 minute break, so here's my chance to get some updated stack sizes.  These are all approximate:

An Tran                      209,000
Scooter Crutcher     197,000
Jeremy Phipps         190,000
David Tran                165,000
Rukhsana Guevarra 109,000
Noah Nodine               95,000

Apparently a deal is being discussed...the break has been extended.  I'll let you know if I can find out any details.

Brian Taylor moved all in with his last 24,000 and was called by Jeremy Phipps.  Brian had AJ offsuit and Jeremy had AQ of diamonds.  A Queen on the flop is all it took to seal the deal and Brian Taylor finishes in 7th place, earning $9,108.

	Brian Taylor

Yes, Rukhsana, there is a Santa Claus...

Rukhsana Guevarra gets all in with and runs smack into Brian Taylor with .  Miracles do occur, as the turn was the and the river was the , giving her two pair and a nice double up -- Merry Christmas!  Unfortunately, Brian is left short-stacked.

Angela Mijalis had not seen any action today and was in the big blind for 6,000 of her remaining 21,000.  Noah raised to 18,000 from late position and Angela folded.  On the next had she had 3,000 in the small blind with only 11,000 left behind.  David Tran raised from the button to 18,000 and Angela moved in.  David had KQ and Angela had K9, so she was dominated from the get-go.  No help from the board and Angela Mijalis is our 8th place finisher, earning $7,286.

	Angela Mijalis

David Tran raised from the button and Brian Taylor in the big blind moved all in over the top for another 54,000.  David thought about it for a few seconds, and folded.  That's the kind of game it has been so far today -- pre-flop jousting.

We just saw our first river of the day (besides the Missisippi, that is).  Scooter Crutcher bet enough to put Tomothy Back Jr. all in.  Timothy called with and Scooter showed .  Timothy got no help from the board and is our 9th place finisher, earning $6,376.

	Timothy Back, Jr.

Not much action so far, but the level has changed.  We are now at 3000/6000 blinds with 1000 ante.

Players have been introduced and cards are in the air.  Blinds are 2000/4000 with 1000 ante.

I just talked to Angela Mijalis and confirmed that the James Mijalis who finished in 42nd place in this event is her husband.  How's that for a poker-playing couple??  I wonder what dinner conversation is like at their house..."you should've seen this hand...I raised under-the-gun and this donkey calls me with 86....".

Event #4 had the largest field so far in this 7th Annual World Poker Open. 480 players did battle yesterday, fighting for a peice of the $465,600 prize pool. Only 50 of those who started succeeded in getting paid and last night they played down to nine, so here are the payouts for 10th through 50th place:

The battle will continue today at 3pm here in Tunica with these nine players:

Most notable among this final table is An Tran, who has one WSOP bracelet, (1991, $1500 Pot Limit Omaha) numerous WSOP money finishes and final tables, and several money finishes here at the WPO. David Tran (no relation) also has an extensive poker resume, including money finishes here at the WPO and at the WSOP.

And last but far from least, here are the payouts for this final table:

*First place includes a $10,200 entry to the WPO championship event beginning on January 19th and a gold and diamond WPO bracelet.