World Series of Poker Day 27 Recap

The elder statesmen of poker took center stage on Day 27 of the World Series of Poker as the final table of the $1,000 Seniors No Limit Hold ‘em World Championship was decided. One of the quicker final tables of this year’s WSOP took less than five hours to complete as an ultra fast heads up matchup occurred between two civic heros each hailing from the Buckeye state. Two events kicked off the day – the $1,000 No Limit Hold ‘em w/ rebuys that featured yet another insane re-buy period and the fan favourite $50,000 H.O.R.S.E. event which showcases the world’s greatest players competing in a pentathlon of events.

Here is the rundown of the Day 27 news.

One of the most popular events among railbirds during the entire WSOP is the $50,000 H.O.R.S.E. World Championship. This year’s running featured 148 of the world’s best taking on each other in what will be a gruelling test of stamina and skill. A who's who of poker showed up for the event, the most notable absentee being Erik Seidel, who passed up the big buy-in event in favor of playing Day 2 of Event #43. Knockouts on the first day were few and far between as only eight players found themselves on the outside looking in after the first day of play. The first elimination was Event # 19 runner-up Jamie Pickering, who was sent packing during the third level of play. Joining him as a spectator for the next four days of play are Aaron Katz, Phillipe Rouas, Bari Sklar, Amnon Filippi, Shunjiro Uchida, David Williams and Phil Hellmuth. Dealers did not have much luck either as at least three had to be replaced after only the first level of play. The chip leader at the end of the first day was Chris Reslock who deposited 225,000 chips in his clear plastic baggy. James "mig.com" Mackey and 2008 bracelet winner Phil "OMGClayAiken" Galfond are also among the chip leaders.

Event #45 Chip Counts and Live Updates.

"Rebuy" was the word of the morning in the Amazon Room on Day 27, as it could be heard an average of once every five seconds during the first two levels of play in Event #44. In total there were 871 entrants in this tournament and a walloping 2,508 re-buys which pushed the final prize pool to $3,240,174. Surviving the first day of action still with a shot at the $693,444 top prize were J.C. Tran, Men "The Master" Nguyen, Humberto Brenes and, seeking his third bracelet of 2008, John Phan.

Event #44 Chip Counts and Live Updates.

The major story coming out of the Brasila Room today is that Erik Seidel survived the further breakneck action to make Thursday's final table. Seidel passed up the $50,000 H.O.R.S.E World Championship to continue play in Event #43 and if he can capture the victory, it will be his ninth career bracelet putting him in a tie with Johnny Moss and only two bracelet’s shy of the overall lead. However, there are eight other players that would like to stand in the way of history: Martin Klaser, Tom Chambers, Casey Kastle and five others are also gunning for the first place payout of $216,249.

Event #43 Chip Counts and Live Updates. Watch the final table live on ESPN360.com.

Event #42 saw Dale Eberle and Daniel Lacourse enter the final table in a virtual dead heat for the chip lead. Other than being nearly deadlocked in chips, these two gentlemen showed that they had a lot in common, although they had not met until this event began. Both of these gentleman hail from the state of Ohio. Eberle is a retired firefighter and Lacourse is a retired police officer. Both gentlemen are consider civil heros to their fellow buckeyes and for one more day the firefighter vs. policeman rivalry would play out on center court on the ESPN Main Stage. Lacourse would find himself the winner taking home his first ever WSOP Bracelet, but the real winner of this event were all the fans who were treated to a phenomenal showing of classfull, honest, straight to the point old school poker.

For a full recap of the final table of Event #41, check out Senior Class.