Jean Robert Bellande had Matt Graham down to $300,000 at one point and it was time for tequila! Bellande ordered shots of Patron for all of his cronies on the rail. Some people believe in jinxes and others don't, but tonight might have made a believe out of Bellande after all.

After taking a much needed (for all parties involved) twenty minute break, the two returned to play with Graham sporting a nearly 2-1 chip advantage.Though it looked like this match might never end, it took just 10 minutes or so for this event to be in the books.

Jean Robert got off to a bad start after returning from break when he blew a large chunk of his stack on a jack high rainbow board. Graham turned up J-9 for top pair weak kicker but Bellande mucked!

A couple of minutes after that, Bellande got all in preflop and turned up 9-7 offsuit to Graham's A J. The board helped neither player and all of a sudden it was all over!

According to the payscale, JRB received $173,564 for his second place finish while Matt Graham earned $278,180 for the win. That's not exactly what happened. For the real scoop, check out the interview!

Jean Robert Bellande's celebrations might have not been excessive but they were certainly premature. After having Graham crushed with a $2,400,000 to $300,000 chip lead, Graham battled back and are they are now almost even in chips. They have also traded the chip lead back and forth several times over the last level and a half.

Graham Takes the lead

After action on all streets the board ended up being J T 3 J 2 and Bellande fired once again. Graham raised and Bellande made a crying call. Graham showed the A for the nuts and Bellande showed the K and threw his cards in the muck.

Unintentional Slow Roll

Bellande check called a bet from Graham on a board of 9 5 5. The same thing happened on the turn and river when they came out 6 and 8.

"I have an eight," said Graham and turned over 8 6.

Bellande turned up the A 8 and a little confusion broke out. Bellande stood up and reached over the chips trying to drag the pot. The dealer realized that Graham had made a bigger two pair. It was an honest mistake and Graham apologized. Bellande slumped back in his chair and looked towards his friends on the rail.

"An unintentional slowroll now?" he asked.

Heads Up Chip Counts

Chip counts provided by www.worldseriesofpoker.com

Jean Robert Bellande	$1,200,000
Matt Graham	$1,500,000

 

Completely in line with our estimates that this final table would last between six and eight hours, the last hour got us that much closer to a winner. Three more eliminations came in the form of two Wongs and one De Niro (no relation).

Jean Robert Bellande is steamrolling the remaining players and it looks like it's only a matter of time before he seals the deal. He is now playing heads up against Matt Graham for all the tea.

Earlier in the day Graham mentioned how happy he was to make a final table and he couldn't believe it was in the last possible event before the Main. Now he sits with a large chip deficit, but a real chance of taking down his first bracelet at his first WSOP final table. These guys have half an hour to end it within the eight hour time frame PL.com has given them, not a bad day at the office.

Wong Out In Fifth

Jean Robert Bellande raised preflop and Wong came along. The A 6 5 came out on the flop and Bellande check-called Wong. The turn was a 6 and the action repeated itself. The river was the 6 and Bellande chose to fire.

Wong called and was shown Bellande's A 8. He will earn $33,701 for his efforts.

Wong Out In Fourth

Brandon Wong was eliminated when he called a raise from Joe De Niro preflop. Matt Graham elected to call as well and the three saw a flop of 2 8 T. Graham bet the flop and Wong called all in.

Wong showed A 2 while Graham countered with his 8 9. The turn and river were bricks and Wong was gone! The prize money is starting to look a little more substantial - Wong won $69,088 for fourth place.

De Niro Fockered

Joe De Niro was the first player in this event to break into the six figure payout mark. On a flop of J 8 T De Niro bet the last of his chips and Bellande called. De Niro tabled J 9 against Bellande's A 9.

De Niro had a real chance to double up, but a T on the turn followed by a heart breaking A on the river left De Niro heading for the cashier to collect his $107,845.

Heads Up!

Chip counts courtesy of www.worldseriesofpoker.com

Jean Robert Bellande	$2,400,000
Matt Graham	$300,000

 

We've lost two more players this past level, leaving us with just five bracelet-seekers going forward. Bobby Bellande is the chip leader at the moment so read on for details on those two exits as well as the updated counts.

Lawrence Arabia’d (Sixth)

Spencer Lawrence was shortstacked and got himself all-in before the flop against Jean-Robert Bellande. A 9 for Bellande had a slight edge over Lawrence’s K T and after the board ran 9 6 3 2 Q JR’s pair of nines was good for the pot and the elimination. Lawrence will take $20,221.

Kranyak Sacked (Seventh)

Former world champion Bridge player John Kranyak has been eliminated. He got his hands on chips early in this match but took some damage before playing what turned out to be his final hand. He Joe De Niro got into a raising war and capped the betting pre-flop.

The flop came down 9 4 3 and Kranyak bet out. De Niro called and the turn was the A. Kranyak fired but this time De Niro raised. They ended up capping this street as well which left Kranyak all-in going to the river.

Kranyak tabled A J which was in terrible shape against De Niro’s A Q. The Q on the river made it official and John Kranyak gets up to go. He’ll take $13,480 for his finish. We spoke to Kranyak earlier and he said this was basically the first time he’d played Limit Hold’em. Not a bad finish all thing considered.

New Counts

Here are the new counts as we move forward with five-handed play, courtesy of www.worldseriesofpoker.com.

Jean-Robert Bellande	$1.2 million
Joe De Niro	$750,000
Matt Graham	$380,000
Brandon Wong	$250,000
Danny Wong	$150,000

 

We're down to seven at this final table as a pair of players have kicked the bucket this past level. The stacks may have been deep at the beginning of this final table but things are quickly heating up as the blinds and limits increase.

Read on for the details on those exits as well as the new counts.

Prock All-In and Lucky

Andrew Prock found himself dangerously short-stacked with less than $50,000 but has just doubled up thanks to a bit of help from the cards. He got all-in before the flop against Brandon Wong with 4 4 flipping against K 7.

The flop came A 7 5 and things were looking grim for the all-in Procker. Luckily for him the board finished out 8 6, making a straight for Procker and doubling him up to the tune of $100,000.

Prock Marked (Eighth)

They say luck evens out in the end, a concept that Andrew Prock is probably trying to come to terms with right now. After getting lucky to double up just a few hands earlier he got all-in again, this time in great shape, but was unable to weather the board.

Prock and Joe De Niro got in a raising war before the flop which let Prock all-in. A Q for Prock had De Niro’s A J dominated. The board ran A J 3 K 8, however, and De Niro’s two-pair was good for the elimination.

Andrew Prock takes eighth and $10,335.

Kachan Kablammo! (Ninth)

It took some doing but we finally have our first elimination of the night/morning. Michael Kachan was the early shortstack and he was unable to get much going. In his final hand he opened for a raise only to see Jean-Robert Bellande re-raise behind him.

Brandon Wong, Danny Wong and Spencer Lawrance all called and the flop came down A 7 6. Danny Wong bet out and Kachan raised, putting himself all-in. Bellande re-raised and Wong made the call.

The turn was the 4 and the two players still with chips both checked. The river was the Q and Wong bet again. Bellande folded and Wong tabled A K which was enough to make Kachan’s hand go in the muck.

Michael Kachan is out in ninth and will take $7,526.

 

Over four levels in and people are starting to wonder if anyone will ever be knocked out. Mike Kachan and Andy Prock are hoping to make a turn around soon to move out of the bottom two spots.

John Kraynak has built himself a solid lead with nearly double the stack of second place. The players are moving into the $10,000/$20,000 limit. Something is bound to happen soon...

Smoke Break

Nicotine is a hell of a drug and Kranyak loves it. He lost a few pots and figured it would be best to take a quick break outside to clear his lungs with a few puffs. While outside, PL.com asked him how often he plays limit.

"This is the first time I've ever played it! Except for sometimes when I mistakenly register for one online!" he replied.

Kranyak Trippin’

Jean-Robert Bellande opened from middle position and got calls from Brandon Wong in the small blind and John Kranyak in the big. The flop came down K 6 T and it was checked to Bellande who bet out.

Wong called but Kranyak opted for the check-raise. Both other players called and the turn was the K. Wong checked, Kranyak bet out and both opponents called. The river was the 9 and it was checked around.

Wong showed A-T for two-pair, kings and tens, but Kranyak tabled K 7 for trips and took down the pot.

Money Graham

Matt Graham played a pot that was three bet preflop with Matt Graham. Lawrence called down the whole way on a board of K J 9 8 T. Graham flipped over A-Q for broadway and the stone cold nuts.

All Wong

Danny Wong raised preflop and called when John Kranyak three bet. Kranyak then check raised the T 8 6 flop. Wong called and then led on the T turn when Kranyak checked. The river was the 7 and Kranyak check-called again. Wong showed pocket aces and Kranyak showed 7 2.

Top Nine

Chip counts provided by www.worldseriesofpoker.com

John Kraynak	$630,000
Spencer Lawrence	$335,000
Brandon Wong	$315,000
Jean Robert	$305,000
Danny Wong	$200,000
Matt Graham	$200,000
Joe De Niro	$195,000
Mike Kachan	$145,000
Andrew Prock	$120,000

 

 

Not surprisingly, nobody has busted out yet. It will still be another couple of levels before real progress is made. In the meantime here are a few key hands.

Graham Rivered

Matt Graham was under the gun and brought it in with a raise. It was folded to John Kranyak in late position who made the call. The flop came down Q Q 7 and Graham led out. Kranyak made the call and the turn was the 7. Both players checked. The river brought the T and two more checks. Kranyak showed just the T and Graham turned over pocket eights.

“Show both your cards,” said a frustrated Graham. Kranyak turned over the A to go with his ten as he raked the pot.

Aces are Good Too

Jean-Robert Bellande just picked up pocket aces and, somehow, managed to make them hold up. It started with Brandon Wong opening and Bellande raising. The flop came down T 9 5 and Wong checked it.

Bellande fired at the pot and got a call. Wong proceeded to check-call every street as the board finished out J 6. Bellande tabled A A and raked in a nice one.

Andrew Procktered

A few railbirds were giving Andrew Prock a hard time about folding his big blind too often. The next time it was up to Prock to post they started stomping their feet and began chanting,"Defense!!! defense!!!"

Prock smiled and when Kranyak raised from early position Prock obliged his fans by defending his blind. The flop came out K 4 7 and Prock check-raised. The turn was the 8 and Prock bet out again. The river was the J causing disgusted look to wash over Prock's face and he checked.

Kranyak bet and Prock made the crying call. Kranyak showed the T and the dealer told him to expose his other card.

"I wanted to get away with showing just one!" laughed Kranyak as he sheepishly showed the A that was hiding behind the ten.

Top Ten Nine... Still

Chip counts provided by www.worldseriesofpoker.com

Jean Robert	$455,000
Joe De Niro	$422,000
Brandon Wong	$410,000
John Kranyak	$350,000
Andrew Prock	$311,000
Spencer Lawrence	$270,000
Matt Graham	$203,000
Mike Kachan	$120,000
Danny Wong	$100,000

 

The players took their first break of possibly many. Mike Kachan is scraping the bottom of the barrel working himself up to $124,000 from a scant $70,000. Joe De Niro made a good recovery and can take a deep breath after working his stack from second-last place to the top of the leader board.

Raging Bull

Joe De Niro got off to a bit of a rocky start but was able to recover after taking a big pot off of John Kranyak and then wasting no time to get back into the action against Matt Graham.

Graham raised and both Mike Kachan and Joe De Niro called. The flop was Q T 8 and De Niro elected to take the lead and bet. Just Graham called and the turn fell Q. De Niro bet again and one more time on the A river. De Niro tabled Q-9 and HHWG.

Kings Are Good

Matt “Mattg1983” Graham just picked up a nice pot, relieving former Bellagio Cup winner Danny Wong of some chips in the process. It started with Graham opening the pot and Wong making the call.

The flop came down Q J 4 and Wong checked. Graham bet and Wong called.
Wong check-called the next two streets, leaving the final board reading Q J 4 7 5. Graham tabled K K which was enough to send Wong’s cards to the muck.

Top Ten Nine

Chip counts provided by www.worldseriesofpoker.com

Joe De Niro	$355,000
John Kranyak	$350,000
Jean Robert Bellande	$340,000
Brandon Wong	$335,000
Matt Graham	$275,000
Andrew Prock	$270,000
Spencer Lawrence	$249,000
Danny Wong	$154,000
Mike Kachan	$124,000

 

Jean Robert Bellande has bled off some of the chips he won early on. John Kranyak has assumed the position of new table chip leader while Mike Kachan has somehow managed to work his way down to $125,000 in just over an hour.

Danny Wonged Early On

Jean Robert Bellande is sitting next to Danny Wong which means the two will probably get to play a lot of pots with each other. Wong won a small pot during their first confrontation when Bellande folded on the river, but it wasn't long before they met again.

The board was 9-6-3-8-7 and Bellande fired. Wong made the call and Bellande turned over Q-T for the nuts. Bellande is splashing around and already incresed his chip stack by 50%.

Graham Chips Up

John Kranyak and Matt Graham played a pot heads up and saw a flop of A K 8. Kranyak led, Graham called, and they saw a 4 on the turn. Kranyak fired again and Graham called. The K appeared on the river and it was the same action. Graham turned up A-Q and took down the pot probably due to a bigger kicker.

Kranyak Attack!

Kranyak just recovered from the loss he sustained against Graham in a big way. After capping the flop in a three way pot, Kranyak fired on a K J 8 board. Joe De Niro called and Mike Kachan raised it up. Kranyak three bet without skipping a beat and both players called. The turn was the 5 and Kranyak, showing no signs of slowing down, bet again.

Both players called and the J appeared on the river. Kranyak bet again and De Niro finally gave up. Kachan called and Kranyak showed pocket eights for a boat. Kachan showed pocket aces and mucked.

The players in the shootout have convened at the final table. Spencer Lawrence, the three seat, failed to arrive on time but finally made it in a few minutes late. It appears that the players are each starting with $300,000 and a $4,000/$8,000 limit. The over under on how long the table will last has been estimated to be between seven and eight hours. Looks like it could be a long one folks!

The final table has been set now that the last two tables have found winners. These guys will take a one-hour break before sitting down to play Limit until daybreak.

Taking The Rapp

Stefan Rapp made a button raise before Duane Graff Jr. made it three bets. Matt Graham folded his blind and Rapp called all in. It was K 8 for Rapp against Graff's 8 8 and after the 10 9 3 flop the eighst still led.

The turn was the 4 giving Rapp the flush draw, but the river 4 wasn't a diamond and Rapp was done.

Heads-up began with Graham holding $238,000 in chips to Jr.'s short stack of $32,000.

Lawrence Lays Out Norinder

It was one big punch that sent Mikael Norinder out putting Spencer Lawrence into the next round at the other table.

On a #10c9c3 Norinder bet, Lawrence raised and Norinder called. The turn was the 6 and when Lawrence bet Norinder called all in. Lawrence showed K 3 to Norinder's K J and was ahead. The 2 did not deliver the gutshot  or a jack and Norinder was out.

Graff Juniored!

Shortly after the blinds limits went up to a staggering $10,000/$20,000, Matt Graham finished off Duane Graff and will proceed to the final table. Graham complained about the large jump in blinds but he later observed it just helped him win faster, if at all.

The last hand was raised and reraised preflop until the last $50,000 of Graff was in the pot. Graham turned up A-K against Graff's J-5 offsuit. The dealer burned the flop and the door card was an ace.

"Hold'em!" said Graham as he watched on. The brought a nine and paired the board leaving Graff drawing dead.

On To The Final

We're taking a one hour break before coming back with the final table that will include Jean-Robert Bellande, Danny Wong, John Kranyak, Joe DeNiro, Mike Kachan, Brandon Wong, Andrew Prock, Lawrence and Graham.

All but two of the tables have now been finished. The confirmed finalists so far are, Jean-Robert Bellande, Danny Wong, John Kranyak, Joe DeNiro, Mike Kachan, Brandon Wong and Andrew Prock.

The remaining two tables feature Spencer Lawrence heads up against Mikael Norinder, and the epic three-way battle between Duane Graff Jr, Matthew Graham and Stefan Rapp.

Titanic Swings

The three-way battle almost came to a head when Stefan Rapp had both his opponents all-in, holding A 2 against Matthew Graham's J 6 and Graff's 2 8. The board ran out 3 9 K J J, Graff won the main pot worth $46,500 and Graham took the $11,000 side pot. 

Graham then managed to double up with 2 2 against Graff's A 8 and got short again before doubling up with K 7 against Rapp's J 3 before losing a load back to Graff who hit runner runner wheel on a K-4-5-7-8 board with pocket 6-6.

Graham rebuilt then dropped it all back again when Graff made it three bets on a 6 9 J A board, both checked the 4 river before Graff showed J 4 and Graham simply asked, "Jesus man, Are you real?" He then mucked.

The Other Battle

In the heads up between Norinder and Lawrence, they started almost even in chips, but Norinder has slowly built up enough of his stack and now has a $180,000 to $120,000 chip lead. Lawrence though, has not given up and the two are really battling it out for every single pot. 

In the last hour Jean-Robert Bellande has joined Danny Wong, John Kranyak and Joe DeNiro on the final table. On the other tables, they are all heads up with no immediate signs of finishing, two tables where the action is still three handed. One is mentioned below where all three players are close to equal while in the other Mikael Norinder and Spencer Lawrence are close to being heads up with the third stack on their table quite short.

Floor-ed Matt

Matt Graham is suffering a real horror show. He's been outdrawn on turns and rivers several times. First he was 4-bet preflop by Duane Graff Jr when holding 9 8 and hit the 8 6 3 7 K board, calling his opponent down, only to find Graff had re-re-raised with 7 6 and caught two pair on the turn.

Needless to say, he was unimpressed with Graff's extra raise before the flop and let his opponent know it. Soon after he held A-J on a J-T-5-9-K board against Stefan Rapp's J-9 and was left sighing in frustration again.

He then got his last few chips in with A K against Rapp's Q J on a T 9 5 board, he managed to all of Rapp's out and doubled back up to the point where all three are now evenly matched in chips once more.

Bellande Survives

Jean-Robert Bellande finally finished off Hansu Chu after winning most of Chu's chips when his K-7 made two pair against Chu's K-J. Chu was down to his last $1,000 and got all-in with 8-5 against Bellande's 7-4. The Survivor star spiked a seven on the flop and it was enough to put him into the final.

Two tables have been completed so far, five are at the heads-up stage with one still three-handed and another which still has four players battling it out to win their spot at the final table.

You Talkin' To Me

Joe DeNiro was the first person to win his table. He had already had his opponent Sol Mammon, all-in twice already and lost both times, the third time was the charm though. He had Mammon all-in with 9 5 vs A 6 on a 9 4 3 and the latter needed to catch an ace or running cards to survive again. The turn and river came Q J and DeNiro is the first person to final.

Final FTW!

John Kranyak was the next person to final table, winning his heads up against Markus Stranzinger when the A 3 T 5 A board was capped on the flop. Stranzinger was all-in by this and needed to catch a spade or king which he failed to do.

Graham Still Going...

In the remaining four handed table, Matt Graham button raised and bets every street of a 3 4 2 8 4 board. On the river his opponent leads out and Matt raises and is called. He flips over 6 5 for the floppped nuts which wins a healthy pot.

Chop!

Short-stack Hansu Chu gets it all-in with 8 7 against Jean Robert Bellande's A 9 on a 9 7 6 flop. Chu catches the T on the turn to make his straight but then the 8 on the river chops the pot. Both players stare blankly at the board for about 10 seconds before realizing they'll be splitting this pot.

Bellande is the more happy of the two, but admits, "I was just trying to see if I had a flush or not!"

No table has finished yet, but we have three tables which are heads-up, three three-handed tables and a final three which are four-handed. Jean Robert Bellande is one of those players heads up and with a decent chip lead and looking to 'survive' to the final table.

The Golden Bullet

Spencer Lawrence was facing a tough decision. He bet out $4,000 on the turn of a T T 5 9 board, Swede Mikael Norinder had re-raised to $8,000 before Lorenz Guarin had made it $12,000. Spencer decided to move all-in, making it $16,000. Norinder called, before Guarin capped it with the Swede calling again. 

The river was the A and this time Norinder check-called another bet, turning over T 7, Guarin showed J T before Lawrence triumphantly produced A A for the rivered house to scoop a $60,000 plus pot.

Lawrence added afterwards, "I should fold, but I can't forgive myself if you two turn over jacks and queens!"

Chu-ed Up

Hansu Chu managed to KO two players in one hand, he was holding A A against Will Durkee's J J and Jesse Martin's A 2. Neither of the short stack managed to improve and Chu made the nut flush on the river of the 8 Q K 5 3 board.

Players are starting to drop but we've yet to get heads-up in any of the events so far, most though are short-handed now and there's no table which hasn't actually lost at least three players altogether.

Piece Of A Cake

Jeff 'Jaffcake' Kimber started back today with just $12,000 which wasn't good with the blinds being $1,000/$1,500 with $1,500/$3,000 limits. But he's been steadily working his way up on the table. He eliminated Greg Debora after raising preflop and being called by the blinds.

The flop came 9 2 3 and Debora lead out from the big blind, Kimber raised, the small blind passed and Debora made it three bets. Kimber set him in for his couple of thousand and Debora called, showing A 6, Kimber showed 6 6. Blanks appeared on the turn and river though, and Debora was out.

Kimber followed up calling a re-raise preflop Stefan Rapp from the blinds along with Matt Graham, who had originally raised. The flop came out K 7 4, Kimber and Graham checked, Rapp bet $1,500 and Kimber raised. Graham folded and Rapp threw away his jacks in utter disgust, face up. Kimber showed K Q.

Don't Mess With Jack!

Sebastian 'Jack' Bauer raised preflop from the cutoff and Sasha Rosewood then elected to re-raise from the button. Bauer made the call and let into his opponent on the K Q 6, Rosewood raised all-in with K J and Bauer called with A A. The turn was the 9 which meant Bauer had to sweat a king, jack or ten. The river was the 8 and Rosewood was busto.

Play has just restarted in the Limit shootout, with 72 players remaining in the tournament. This is a two-day event so they will be playing all the way to a winner tonight. Players still involved include Blair Rodman, Rhett Butler, Hoyt Corkins and Jimmy Fricke.