Event #3: 3,000 Heads Up No-Limit Hold'em / Pot-Limit Omaha (512 player max)

The final round of nine matches has concluded in Event 3, $3,000 Heads Up No Limit Hold'em/Pot Limit Omaha, at the World Series of Poker. Leif Force has claimed his first WSOP bracelet and 207,708 reasons to party after defeating Jason Koon in a short heads up battle.

The day began with eight players returning and they matched up like this:

Quarterfinal Matchups

Koon advanced over Obrestad, Naydenov advanced over David Benefield, Powell advanced over Merkow and Force bested Frankenberger to move on.

The match of Powell vs. Merkow took almost all three hours allotted for each session. Powell defeated Merkow with only 15 minutes remaining in the hour so the start of the semifinal matches were pushed back an additional 15 minutes to allow for a break.

Semifinal Matchups

Force never cashed in any of his rebuy lammers during his match against Powell and stayed in control of the match. After Powell cashed in his final lamer he opened to 40,000 and Force made it 120,000 to play. Powell called and the flop came       and Force quickly put Powell all in. Powell folded and his last hand came ten minutes later when Force made a better two pair during the PLO round.

Koon took a six-to-four chip lead in a hand where he made top pair and Naydenov had middle pair. That loss forced Naydenov to cash in both his rebuy lammers. Koon then crippled Naydenov when he paired his ace and Naydenov had pocket sixes. Koon finished off the Naydenov after hitting a pair of nines on the river when Naydanov had only ace high.

The championship match between Force and Koon lasted less than four full levels. Force took an early lead in the opening two levels and stretched his chip lead to 1.1 million to 300,000. At the start of the third level Koon cashed in his first rebuy lammer.

Koon evened things up when he got all in during the Hold'em round holding pocket jacks. Force called with     but Koon flopped a set and rivered a full house.

Force then got felted holding king high when Koon had a king high with a higher kicker. Force then used just one rebuy lammer to continue play.

Just minutes later Force evened things up again when he rivered a flush during PLO. Then took a big lead when he made two pair and Koon missed every draw imaginable.

The last hand happened with just a few minutes remaining in the fourth level. They saw a flop of      , Force shoved and Koon called.

Force:        
Koon:        

Koon was ahead with two pair but the   turn gave Force a flush draw. He prayed for a club and the dealer delivered with the  . Force claimed his first WSOP bracelet and over $200,000.

Jason Koon opened for 85,000 on the button and Leif Force raised to 260,000 and Koon called. The flop came      , Force moved all in and Koon called.

Force:        
Koon:        

The board finished     and Force's two pair took the pot.

The very next hand Koon shoved and Force called. Koon flopped a straight but Force caught runner-runner diamonds to catch a flush. Koon was felted and used his last rebuy lammer.

If you spent anytime at a Final Table last year when the Brits were out in force on the rail then you know how loud they can be. They are just getting warmed up singing "Give Us A Wave" and "Take Your Shoes Off." The clanging of bottles fill the dead air when they're not singing.

Leif Force decided not to take his lammer and try his luck with his 72,000-chip stack.

He shoved with    and Koon called with   .

The board ran      .

Force's queen-high was good for a double-up.

One of the Brits on the rail, Sam Grafton, has been giving our announcer some grief.

"Come on mate, make it interesting. I'm falling asleep over here!"

"Make it sound more colorful like 'Koon stares at his opponent, reaches for chips, dressed like Bono'." was an example of what he was shouting.

Jason Koon won a pot with a big four-bet pre flop, and then Leif Force won two small ones.

Force three-bet to 150,000 off the big blind and then made a pot-sized bet on the     flop. Koon called the first bet but folded on the flop.

The next hand Force raised to 50,000 and Koon called. The flop came     and Koon called a 60,000 c-bet. The turn came   and 175,000 bet from Force was too much for Koon to handle.

A large collection of pros are starting to fill in the seats at the ESPN Main Stage. We've spotted Tom Marchese, Chris Moorman, Scott Clements, Sam Grafton and Amit Makhija are all in attendance to rail Jason Koon.