When we took our last break Peter Eastgate had just retaken a slight chip lead over Ivan Demidov who has held the chip lead since early in heads up action. Things are really exciting here today! This is a historic moment for poker in many aspects. Peter Eastgate has the chance to be the youngest ever Champion besting the mark set by Phil Hellmuth Jr. as well Ivan Demidov has already made history by becoming the first player to final table both the WSOP & WSOP-E Main Events. As we move forward lets see how many other records can and will be broken.

We pick up the action on hand #192 and it continues to be very back and forth between these two, and continues to show signs of a monumental heads up battle. After both players limp into the pot and the board falls 8c 3s 2h at which point Peter Eastgate bets a Million straight so quick that he is almost out of turn. Demidov who looks a little surprised by the speed at Eastgate’s bet eventually calls. With a Five of Clubs the board gets very scary for both players and induces a check from each of them. With the 9d on the river Demidov elects once again to check and this time Eastgate puts out a bet of 2.675 million, though not quite as fast as on the flop. Which after a intent staring match and some careful thought is called by Demidov, who then sees the unfortunate news that Eastgate’s Jd 9h has made top pair on the river and is good for the pot. With that one has to wonder if Demidov missed a bet or instead bought himself a free card on the turn by calling the flop.

On the very next hand the action continues to keep up as we once again make it to a river cards and see a decent sized pot. The action this time begins with Demidov making it 1.750 million to go and is called by Eastgate, both men will take to the flop which falls 9d 8s 4c. This enduces yet another check round from these men however, once the 3c hits the turn and Eastgate takes control of the hand by betting out 2.75 million which after consulting his hole cards is called by Demidov. With the Jc on the river Eastgate fires his second bullet this time for 3.5 million into the 10.2 million chip pot, however even with good value on the pot Demidov is forced to fold. After this hand we see Eastgate now with his largest chip lead of the day and tournament and one has to wonder if this is the beginning of the end for Demidov, the chip counts are as follows:

Eastgate: 81,025,000
Demidov: 55,875,000

The last few hands have gotten Demidov right back into the match. After a couple of preflop raises to win hands, along with two hands he took down on the turn, he found himself in great shape and then with these next two hands (#197/198) he is right back in this yet again and may even have the chip lead. Firstly on hand #197 Demidov raises from the button to 2 million and is called by Eastgate, and we get a flop of Jc 7h 3h which draws a check from both men. When the turn comes down the 8h Peter Eastgate makes it 2.5 million to Demidov who after a stint in the tank decides to force Eastgate’s hand by making it 7.5 million which draws a rather quick fold from Eastgate. Then on the next hand Eastgate has the button and makes it 2 million to go, after quite a while thinking the situation over he decides to make it 6.125 million which draws a fold from Eastgate! And with that the Russian fans here are really showing there enthusiasm and support for Demidov. Demidov finally gave Eastgate some chips for the first time in a few hands, and those chips were the small blind and his ante as he give Eastgate a walk, and then folds the big blind on the follow hand after Eastgate makes it 2 million to go. With that we have completed 200 hands here at the final table and we have completed 30 hands of heads up play. The chip counts are as follows:

Eastgate: 73,625,000
Demidov: 63,275,000

After this run of hands one has to wonder if Demidov is now in control or if he has just had some fortunate hands on hand #202 we got ourselves the biggest pot of the evening! It started with Eastgate limping from the button and Demidov checking his option. The flop came down 5d 7h 4d and with the action on Demidov he who chose to check to Eastgate who fired out 1.25 million, which was then raised to 3.375 million drawing a thoughtful call from Eastgate. With the 8h on the turn Demidov once again checks which Eastgate poorly reads as a sign of weakness and bets out 4.25 million which is then for a second time check raised by Demidov to 14 million! After a deep gaze at Demidov amidst the cheers of the Demidov faithful Eastgate makes the call. As we head to the turn with almost 40 million sitting in the middle of the table in the shadow of the 9+ million in cash, one has to wonder if this is were we’ll end our night? The river hits in the form of the Three of Diamonds which is definitely a scare card for Demidov one has to imagine and thus he checks. Eastgate who has been check raised twice in this pot will not allow Demidov even a crack at a 3rd attempt so he checks. With that Demidov shows his 6c 8c which flopped the nut straight and Eastgate realizes that his 6h 4c got one major suck out on the turn and they chop the pot.

Just two hands later we again see these two men tangle in another large pot, this time it begins with Demidov raising from the BB to 2.8 million. After the call Eastgate and Demidov see the flop of Ad Jh 3s this draws a check from Demidov who is out of position and a subsequent check from Eastgate, following the Jack of Diamonds on the turn Demidov once again checks however, Eastgate decides to bet 3.25 million and is called by Demidov. With the Queen of Clubs on the river Demidov continues to leave all the action to Eastgate who obliges by betting 6.95 million on the river and is called so fast leaving Peter with a bit of a surprised look however, once Peter shows his Ac Qh for top two all Ivan can do is muck! With that you have to wonder if it now truly will be Peter Eastgate’s tournament to win one can only come back so many times but we definitely are not counting this Russian out yet! With that the chip counts are as follows heading into the first scheduled 20 minute break of the heads up action:

Eastgate: 86,325,000
Demidov: 50,575,000

Once again we will take a break from reporting here at the Penn & Teller Theatre in the Rio All Suite Hotel & Casino in Las Vegas, Nevada. Keep reading everyone and make sure tomorrow night to watch the coverage from this last two days on ESPN.

Part 3 – Peter Eastgate vs Ivan Demidov for the 2008 WSOP Main Event