When we left off they had just completed hand 30 and Ylon Schwartz had just taken the chip lead in a big pot from Ivan Demidov. As the next few hands have unfolded not much change has occurred there have been no flops with each pot being won with a pre-flop raise. As we continue through this day more and more well known faces are being seen around the Penn & Teller Theatre including Phil Hellmuth Jr., Tiffany Michelle (last women standing 2008), Maria Ho (last women standing in 2007), Evenlyn Ng, Michael and Robert Mizrachi, Greg “FBT” Mueller, Phil Gordon and Barry Greenstein.

Hand 34 Scott Montgomery decided it was time to make his presence know, after an opening raise from Schwartz of 850k, Scott pushed out just under 2 Million more to make it 2.8 Million total. Suharto folded on the button and after asking for a count of the bet and contemplation Rheem mucks his had from the SB and is followed by Demidov in the BB. Leaving the action back to Schwartz, who shows some frustration but eventually mucks after trying to draw some kind of reaction from Montgomery.

On hand 35 our short stack Kelly Kim gets all his chips in great shape as he avoids elimination at the hands of Ivan Demidov. After the action folds around to Demidov in the SB he puts Kelly Kim all in on the BB and Kelly SNAP CALLS Ivan and is ecstatic when he saw that Ivan is holding Ks 10d to Kim’s Kc Kh. As soon as the crowd sees the situation the chants begin and when the flop brings 7s 7c 6c Kim sees himself far and away ahead. With only running cards to come for Demidov he’s looking for running 10’s running flush or running straight, with a 9s on the turn he stays alive. With the nine on the turn the crowd gives a collective “OOOOOH” and has Kim sweating his tournament life. The 3s on the river causes a near riot from the Kim supporters and Kelly finds himself with 1,720,000 in chips and still alive.

The very next hand Demidov raises from the button to 775k and some gotta wonder if it’s a steam raise but no one calls and he takes the blinds. The next hand produces the same results as Demidov continues to wield his chips to his advantage and with a 800k raise achieves the same results on two consecutive hands. On hand 38 Kelly Kim gets it all in again after Rheem makes it 800k in front of Kim who quickly shoves it all-in for 1.45 Million. Rheem is priced in to call the additional 650k and both players see that hey have the same hand AK, with Rheem having hearts and clubs and Kim having spades and diamonds all four suits are live. Kim gets the worst possible flop when the board hits 8h Jh 10h. As both men continue to watch the hand unfold you can hear Rheems’ supporters chanting for a heart, when the Qc falls on the turn both men make broadway which is irrelevant as it is still only possible for Rheem to win the pot but when the board gets a Qd and Kim lives to fight yet again this time splitting the blinds and antes.

On hand 41 the chip leader at the start of the day finds himself all-in preflop against Rheem. The hand starts with Rheem making 800k UTG and Phillips moves in for all his chips totaling 4.510 Million. As Rheem contemplates the call he counts down his own chips and see’s that he will have 6.655 Million should he lose. After some thought he calls and see’s he is in bad shape with Jd Jc against Qs Qd of Phillips. Phillips supporters go crazy and when the board falls Kc 5d 3s leaving Rheem with only a Jack to hit, they just keep getting louder. With the 9d on the turn its looking bleak for Rheem how has only a 4.04% chance to win, and the 6h on the river ends the hand and leaves Rheem with 6.655 Million and Phillips with 9.83 Million just over a third of his starting stack. As that hand finishes we head to a break during which the tournament staff are going to colour up on the 5k chips. The chip counts are as follows:

Dennis Phillips: 9,850,000
Craig Marquis: 6,075,000
Ylon Schwartz: 40,050,000
Scott Montgomery: 11,625,000
Darus Suharto: 11,775,000
Chino Rheem: 6,650,000
Ivan Demidov: 27,075,000
Kelly Kim: 1,750,000
Peter Eastgate: 21,375,000

As play resumes we begin blind level 35 which sees the blinds at 200,000 & 400,000 with a 50,000 ante, and as has been a common theme here today Ivan Demidov opens with a preflop raise to 1.05 Million and takes down the blinds and antes. With that one begins to wonder when the other players will start standing up to him and push back?

The next few hands were all won with a single preflop raise and no contest; it looks like the players are still trying to feel each other out. One thing people may not realize is that even though many of these players played with each other as the tournament wound down they have all had 117 days to fix holes in there game along with studying the play of others thus essentially making this a brand new tournament. Our first flop in a few hands came on #47 when Eastgate limps from the button and is followed by Phillips in the SB and a check from Marquis in the BB. With a flop of Ks 7s 6d Phillips and Marquis both check and Eastgate makes a bet of 825k and both players fold.

On hand 48 we see another Battle of the big stacks in this episode its Ylon Schwartz (40 Million) and Ivan Demidov (27 Million). Action starts with Demidov making it 1.05 Million to go from middle position and is called by Schwartz out of the BB. As both men take the flop one can only wonder how big this pot will get. With a flop 5h 7h Jh both players check through to the turn, which produces yet another heart, the 9 of hearts. With that card Schwartz takes a stab of 1.075 Million, which is raised by Demidov to 2.675 Million. Schwartz takes his time in playing out the situation before finally settling on a call. The River brings the 5s pairing the board and potentially becoming a major action card. Schwartz checks to Demidov who places a very strong bet of 4,325,000 chips and in the Lavender (100k) chips no less. With that motion Schwartz hits the tank hard rubbing his face and showing signs of serious frustration, after two minutes and lots of lip biting by Schwartz he finally mucks his hand. Leaving himself still as the chip leader with 35.975 Million to Demidov’s 32.6 Million.

In the next hand Schwartz completes the SB and option is to Montgomery who checks, with a flop of Qs 10h 9h both players check. When the turn peels off an Ah both players check yet again, and do the same after the Kd on the river. Schwartz reveals Ad 5s for a pair of Aces which takes the pot.

That brings us to hand 52 and our first elimination of the day. With the Action on Craig Marquis in middle position he open shoves for 4,925,000 chips. Craig has spent the day being very quiet hardly getting involved in any hands and yet finds him self with just under half the chips he started with (10 million and change). When the action comes Scott Montgomery in the hijack seat who announces call! Drawing a gasp from the crowd you can instantly feel the electricity double over. One has to wonder if this pot will continue to grow with three other players left to act and Scott just announcing call and not making a move to isolate the action. However everyone else folds, leaving just the two players and as the cards are tabled Marquis see’s the classic situation.

Marquis: 7d 7h
Montgomery: Ad Qh

The ever classic 50/50 race, as the cards hit the table the 10s sits in the door but is immediately followed by the Ah and then by the 7 OF CLUBS! What a flop! Montgomery sits with top pair against bottom set for Marquis, whose supports are going crazy! This leaves Scott with only a running over tight and running broadway to win the pot. With the Jack of diamonds on the turn Marquis is far from out of the water and now has to avoid any of the remaining four Kings! As the crowd goes deathly silent all that can be heard is Jack Effel saying “Let’s see the river card” and with that announcement the KING OF SPADES HITS! With that card the crowd goes absolutely bananas and Marquis graciously shakes hands with Montgomery and is the only player to leave today without an increase over the money received following the finalization of the final table. As you remember on the last day of the tournament in July all players were paid 9th place prize money 900,670 USD. Following the hand we are on a break as Craig Marquis does his exit interview with ESPN.

With that we will take a break and come back soon with more coverage, thanks for following our coverage of the final table live from the Rio All Suite Hotel & Casino here in Nevada Las Vegas. The chip counts are as follows with only eight players remaining:

Ylon Schwartz 36,625,000
Ivan Demidov 32,000,000
Peter Eastgate 23,575,000
Scott Montgomery 17,500,000
Darus Suharto 11,475,000
Dennis Phillips 9,550,000
David “Chino” Rheem 4,900,000
Kelly Kim 600,000