For poker fans gathered in Las Vegas and those following the action worldwide, the next several hours at the Rio promises to be a critical period in the quest to determine poker's new world champion.
The seven finalists in the the 2010 World Series of Poker Main Event Championship completed their 90-minute dinner break. Play resumed at 8:15 pm on Saturday night.
All remaining players are guaranteed to receive at least $1,356,720 in prize money. So far, only two players have been eliminated after six hours of play. Soi Nguyen was the first player to exit in ninth place. Matthew Jarvis was the eighth-place finisher. Based on what's taken place so far, including a few astounding hands, the final stages of the world championship should be both thrilling and unpredictable.
Incredibly, the top two chip leaders are separated by a single chip. Michael "the Grinder" Mizrachi leads by the slimmest of margins -- 50,525,000 to Jonathan Duhamel's 50,500,000. When players returned, the chip counts were as follows:
SEAT 1: Jason Senti -- 22,775,000
SEAT 2: Joseph Cheong -- 30,350,000
SEAT 3: John Dolan -- 19,250,000
SEAT 4: Jonathan Duhamel -- 50,500,000
SEAT 5: Michael Mizrachi -- 50,575,000
SEAT 6: John Racener -- 25,675,000
SEAT 7: Filippo Candio -- 23,525,000
Play will continue all night until only two players remain.
Heads-up play will resume on Monday, November 8th at 8 pm PST when the final two will play down to a winner. Coverage of the final table will air in a two-hour telecast on Tuesday at 10 pm ET on ESPN.
The winner of this year’s Main Event, the second largest in the 40-year history of the WSOP with 7,319 entrants, will take home $8,944,310 in prize money. He will also be presented with the most coveted achievement in all of poker -- the World Series of Poker Main Event Championship gold bracelet.
Who will become the 2010 world poker champion? Keep it here at WSOP.COM for all the latest news, chip counts, and photos from the grand finale to find out. Be sure to tune in to ESPN’s telecast on Tuesday at 10 PM EST, to see how it all unfolded.