Day 1A

Foxwoods is a perennial stop on the World Poker Tour, and it has been since the beginning. It is one of the charter casinos on the tour, and starting with season IV, two stops have been made at Foxwoods every year. The total prize pool created by the first five editions of the World Poker Finals is a staggering $17,673,681. That number will only grow tomorrow when the official prize pool is announced, and that type of money is going to attract a lot of sharks.

Many of those sharks were present today in the field of 237 players that was present for day 1a of the 2007 WPT World Poker Finals. Action began shortly after noon and five 90-minute levels transpired over the course of the day. The players began with 30,000 chip stacks and with the excellent blind structure in place; deep stack poker set the stage for the day. The tale of the day became a tale of two tables. One flamed up early and then subsided, while the tale of the other became more intriguing as play continued into the evening. Table #15 and Table #39 became a magnet for poker talent, and they featured a number of exciting hands. Table #15 started with Allen Kessler, Bradley Berman, Eric Froehlich, Vanessa Rousso, and Tom Schneider. While Table #39 began with Alex Bolotin, Lee Markholt, and JC Tran, and then quickly added Steve Zolotow, Chau Giang, and Matt Giannetti to its roster.

Rousso was very active at Table #15 table throughout the day, accumulating chips with aggressive play. She grew her stack to 70,000 by the start of Level 4, but ended the day with 54,575. It was Kessler though, who went on the wildest ride during Day 1a. His pocket aces were cracked very early in the day to knock him down to 5,500, which he got all in a few hands later: Kessler was all in with aces against the pocket kings of Rousso. Another player at the table confessed that he had laid down pocket queens and he muttered, “So sick,” as the board rolled out [Qs9d7c7hJd]. Kessler doubled up and now held 12,000. A few hands later Kessler and Rousso were at it again: On a board of [8c8h7hJc3h] Rousso bet 2,000 and Kessler made the call. Rousso flipped up [Ah9h] and Kessler showed down [KhQh]. Kessler’s king-high flush lost to the ace-high flush of Rousso and he was knocked back down to the poker equivalent of the Mendoza line once again. Kessler was able to turn things around once again though when he woke up with pocket kings. He faced the A-Q of Eric Froehlich (who he had covered by 200) and the board bricked out. Froehlich was eliminated and Kessler doubled up to 14,000.

While Kessler just struggled to survive in the early going Joe Sebok was on a tear. He quickly grew his stack to 80,000 early in the day, but what the poker gods giveth the poker gods can also take away. Sebok held queens full at the worst of times, when his opponent held quads. This sick beat knocked Sebok down to 30,000 and he was knocked out of the tournament a short time later when his pair of pocket queens ran into “Miami” John Cernuto's pair of pocket kings.

As the embers at Table #15 began to die down later in the day, the fire really started to roar over at Table #39. It was the worst of times for Steve Zolotow, who busted about midday, but it was the best of times for Matt Giannetti, who made a statement with his strong play. He tangled in the day with JC Tran on this hand: On a flop of [Jd8d6h], Matt Giannetti bet 500 from early position, and Tran made the call from the button. The [5h] hit on the turn and Tran opened the action for 1,800. Giannetti thought for a minute and raised to 5,000. Tran made the call and the river fell [3d]. Giannetti fired out 8,500 and Tran made the call. Giannetti turned up pocket eights and Tran mucked his hand. Giannetti grew his stack to 70,000 during the middle stretch of the day and he grew it even more when he tangled with Lee Markholt: Tran raised to 1,700 and Markholt called from the button. Giannetti decided to call from the small blind and the flop came [9d8s3c]. Gianetti and Tran checked to Markholt, who bet 2,600. Gianetti made the call and Tran mucked. The turn was the [9s] and Markholt bet 6,000. Gianetti casually made the call and the river was the [Jd]. Both players checked and Gianetti showed down [Ac8c] to take down the pot and vault his stack up to 89,000. Although Markholt lost the aforementioned hand, it should be noted that this is the 20th WPT event of the calendar year 2007, and Markholt has already cashed in eight of them. He finished the day with 52,250, and he is looking to improve his amazing cash rate in WPT events this year.

Table #39 was home to more than its fair share of poker drama on Day 1a in Foxwoods, but it was also home to the largest act of human drama as well: In the last hand, before the last break of the evening, Tran was involved in a very unusual situation: Tran and his opponent were all in on a flop of [9h9s5c], but when Tran showed he had [Jc9c] for trip nines, his opponent mucked his cards. Well, sort of…he tossed his cards at the dealer face down, conceding defeat. He was ready to leave the tournament area, but the dealer turned over his hand (A-7), and then ran out the last two cards on the board [8h6d]! Tran's trips had suddenly lost to the other player's runner-runner nine-high straight! Tran immediately questioned why the dealer turned over his opponent's cards when he clearly mucked, and a floor man was called over. The floor man ruled that since the cards never physically touched the muck, and the player was all in, his hand was still live. A crowd gathered as the dealer pushed the pot to the other player and Tran continued to dispute the outcome. Tran took a hit on the hand, but he was still alive with about 27,500. He ended the day with 24,725.

Amidst the chaos of the day a number of players made their exit from the tale, and the notable bust outs included: Jonathan Little, Jon Friedberg, Fred Goldberg, Barry Greenstein, Chad Brown, Bernard Lee, and Mimi Tran. Bill Edler found his way to a familiar spot on the leader board by the end of play - right near the top. He was the first to cross the 100,000 mark, and ended the night with 109,450. He will return two days from now, but not before he first jumps on a plane to Vegas, so he can accompany his wife at the Latin Grammy Awards tomorrow night. Edler and the rest of the day 1a field that remains will join the surviving field from day 1b two days from now. Day 1b will begin play at noon tomorrow.

Here is a look at the top of the leader board at the end of the night:

1: Michael Farris -157,750
2: Brent Roberts - 148,325
3: Bill Edler - 109,450
4: Kevin Saul - 99,325
5: Tuan Le - 98,400
6: Roy Winston - 94,450
7: Andrew Kloc - 94,125
8: Matt Giannetti - 89,975
9: Giuseppe Galluzzo - 85,525
10: Kyle Bowker - 84,700

Day 2

It was a classic case of young meets old at the close of Day 2 at the Foxwoods World Poker Finals as some of poker’s youngest stars met with some of the game’s most seasoned pros atop the leader board. With 23-year old online pro Matt “mattg1983” Graham out in front and approaching 600,000, it was Freddy Deeb that was so adamantly trying to close that distance with 451,900, followed closely by some of the more notable players such as Tom “durrr“ Dwan (387,800), Victor Ramdin (316,000), and Nick Schulman (307,900).

With 575 total entrants spread out over two first days, the fields combined on Day 2 with 366 players, of which Matt Graham managed to jump out in front with an early lead by hitting the 450,000 mark before anyone else had even broken 225,000.

With so many players sprinting out of the gate early on, it was the overall Day 1 chip leader, Teddy Adalis  that would be the first to break stride after forfeiting his once commanding chip lead of over 200,000, only to make an early exit after a series of tough boards and missed opportunities.

As young guns Matt Graham, Tom Dwan, and Season IV WPT World Poker Finals Champion Nick Schulman climbed their way up the leader board, poker veterans, Freddy Deeb, “Miami” John Cernuto, and T.J. Cloutier proved to the world that experience is still king.      

Tactfully quiet and often unnoticed in a room full of big personalities and loud-mouthed characters, Matt “mattg1983” Graham found his groove early on and just as soon as the tournament director yelled those famous words, “Shuffle Up and Deal!”, Graham began hacking away at his opponents’ stacks until his side of the table was so heavy that it almost tipped over by the end of the seventh level. Graham took a massive chip lead in record fashion, doubling that of the next closest player, and if one were to blink they might just have missed him put all of that distance between himself and the field. 

No stranger to the game of no-limit hold’em and the World Poker Tour, three-time WPT final tablist and Season IV Aruba Poker Classic champion, Freddy Deeb spent the day putting the squeeze on his opponents and making them pay the ultimate price for getting involved in a pot with him. In his usual fashion, “Fast” Freddy spent the afternoon schooling the youngsters on how to knock out opponents at an alarming rate and spent the night pulling their chips to his side of the table. Starting the day with just over 100,000, Deeb ended the night with 451,900 after taking a sizeable pot off of internet guru, Kyle “kwob20” Bowker, forcing him to fold to a 60,000 continuation bet after firing out on a three-club flop. Deeb has his eye on yet another final table where he would love a rematch with Nick Schulman who he finished runner-up to in Season V’s Battle of Champions. Deeb might get that chance after all, seeing as Schulman currently sits in Day 2’s top ten chip counts and has played solid poker since he stepped foot in the Sunset Ballroom.     

Barely old enough to play land-based poker in the U.S., Nick Schulman came on the scene in 2005 as the youngest player to ever grab a WPT title, earning one of the largest cash prizes to date of $2.14 million. Claiming victory in this very same tournament just two years ago, Nick “The Takeover” Schulman has certainly proved his worthiness on the tour. Schulman made a slow creep to the top ten today, methodically chipping away at his opponents’ stacks and ending the night with 307,900.

With so many players traveling all corners of the globe to capture a WPT title, it was  hometown hero, Frankie Flowers that managed to put himself in contention today without ever having to leave his own backyard. This Foxwoods regular ended an impressive day by finishing in the top five chip counts with 393,000.

Online aficionado, Tom “durrr” Dwan ended Day 1b third in chips with 134,500, and five levels later he would remain on the Day 2 leader board with 387,700. After severely punishing his opponents in yesterday’s match up, the onslaught continued as Dwan dominated his table yet again and although he got off to a rather slow start today, he finished the night strong with a last minute flush that propelled him up the chip latter, leaving him just shy of 400,000 heading into Day 3. 

One hundred and thirty players remain at the close of Day 2 with an average chip stack of 132,692, and with so many notables still left in the field, Day 3 promises much more exciting action to come. Play resumes sharply at Noon EST tomorrow.

Day 3

Day 3 comes to an end after five full levels as originally scheduled. With 52 players still alive, the field is two spots away from the money. Nevertheless, the staff is sticking with the schedule, and all 52 players will return tomorrow with a completely different table draw -- and two of them will go home with nothing after playing for four days.

Day 4

Freddy Deeb’s Fight - Matt Graham’s Fall - Tom Dwan’s Wild Ride

Fifty-one players entered the Sunset Ballroom at Foxwoods Resort and Casino for Day 4 of the 2007 World Poker Tour World Poker Finals, and all but one would make the money. Play had ended right on the money bubble the night before and thus, action started hand-for-hand at noon. It took less than 15 minutes for the unfortunate individual to bust out in 51st place: Mike Meskin moved all in with pocket jacks, but he ran straight into the pocket queens of Kyle Orvis. No help came on the board and Meskin was the last player to walk away empty handed.

The elimination of Meskin at the beginning of the day meant two things. One was that everyone remaining in the field would walk away with at least $13,510 for their troubles. The second was less obvious, but much more impressive. Two brothers (Zvi Shiff and Daniel Shiff) remained in play at that point, meaning that both brothers cashed. Table #1 quickly emerged as…well…the #1 table of the day on Day 4. Here was the lineup when things got started:

Seat 1: Michael Binger
Seat 3: Ray "exit only" Coburn
Seat 4: Freddy Deeb
Seat 5: Tom "Durrrr" Dwan
Seat 6: TJ Cloutier
Seat 7: Jimmy Tran
Seat 8: Ken Weiner
Seat 9: "Miami" John Cernuto

Michael Binger (47th place) and Ray “exit only” Coburn (37th place) would exit this table in the early parts of the day, but Nenad Medic was added for a large chunk of time to keep things interesting. Note: Medic was later moved to a table with Nick Schulman, which placed the 2005 and 2006 WPF defending champion’s right in each other’s path to a second title.

Stacked tables aside, there was a lot of poker to be played, and a lot of players that busted during Day 4 action. Internet Phenom, Hevad "Rain" Khan, was the first of the notables to exit when he was eliminated in 50th Place ($13,510). The 2006 WPT Festa al Lago champion, Andreas Walnum, followed Khan to the rail in 46th place ($13,510). An hour of slow action transpired between these eliminations, which created a reverse money-bubble effect. One table where the chips did continue to move around with reckless abandon was Table #1. Freddy Deeb was riding high when he took the chip lead away from Matt 'mattg1983' Graham early in Day 4. Deeb held 1,130,000 to Graham’s 1,034,000, but he was about to be tested:

Tilt Test #1: Jimmy Tran raised 25,000 preflop from middle position and Ken Weiner called from late position. "Miami" John Cernuto also called on the button and Deeb said, "I got a discount, I call." He then tossed his chips in from the big blind and the flop rolled out [Qc8c5s]. Deeb and Tran both checked and then Weiner bet 75,000. Cernuto mucked and Deeb then moved all in, which was more than enough to cover both Tran and Weiner. Tran mucked and Weiner made the all-in call. They then turned up their hands:

Deeb: [5c5h]
Weiner: [KsQs]

Deeb had the lead with a set of fives, which was ahead of the top pair that Weiner held. That was until the turn and river hit the table...

Turn and River: [8s8h]

Weiner hit a runner-runner full house to survive and he said, "There is a God." Tom "Durrrr" Dwan replied, "That's not what Freddy's going to say." Deeb followed that up with, "That was a sick beat...sick beat." The amount of Weiner's all-in call was counted out and it came out to 179,000. "Can I owe you 179," said Deeb as he counted out the chips from his stack.

Tilt Test #2: Cernuto moved all in from middle position preflop for 203,500 and Deeb made the call on the button. Deeb was in line for a cooler when he flipped up pocket queens, only to discover that Cernuto held pocket aces. The board added insult to injury, and made a wheel for Cernuto. Deeb was knocked down to 810,000 after the hand. Deeb was battered, but not beaten in the face of two unfortunate situations. He knows the value of controlling your emotions at the poker table. Deeb kept his emotions in check and eventually climbed back over the one million mark.

Deeb had gone through a dog fight to reclaim his millionaire status, while Mike Vela (1,800,000), Matthew Ehrlich (1,700,000), and Mike White (1,446,000) took advantage of their softer surroundings to claim a stake at the top. One player who was surprisingly absent from this list was Matt Graham. He started Day 4 as the chip leader, (1,161,000) but by this point of the day he wasn’t even in the top ten. A number of notable players busted during this stretch as well: Frankie Flowers in 42nd Place ($13,510), Tony Cousineau in 38th Place ($13,510), and Matt "hazards21" Giannetti in 36th Place ($18,914). Zvi Shiff also fell in 39th Place ($13,510) during this period, which insured that the bragging rights in the family belonged to his brother Daniel.

Five hours into the day Kevin Song busted in 28th place ($18,914) and play was paused for a table re-draw. Players took their seats at the final three tables and action was slated to continue until end of Level 5, or until 18 remained, whichever came first. The ball started rolling towards this inevitable conclusion when Steve Brecher was eliminated in 27th place ($24,318) and he was followed by Cernuto, who busted in 26th Place ($24,318). There was a violent restructuring of the chip stacks during the final stages of Day 4, and no one’s stacked was shuffled more violently than Tom Dwan’s.

At one point of the day he held just 335,000, but he began his climb by doubling up through Matthew Ehrlich with pocket jacks. This catapulted Dwan’s stack to 1,516,000, and he continued his march to the top by finishing off Ehrlich for good. Dwan stole over 450,000 from Ehrlich when he picked off a river bluff, and this took Dwan up to 1,780,000. Dwan followed that up by calling Ehrlich down with A-J in the hole on a J-7-3 board. Ehrlich showed down K-J, and the turn and river brought two fives to eliminate him in 23rd Place ($29,722). Dwan now had 2.4 million and he towered over the competition, he was almost a million ahead of the player in second place at the time, Mike White. Dwan’s day was far from over though. He was doubled up through by both John Myung and Robert Legendre during the final half hour of play, and this wild ride left him with just 1,160,000 at the end of the night.

The end of the day was also a bitter experience for the Day 3 chipleader, Matt Graham. His early freefall continued and he ultimately met his demise near the end of play: Graham raised to 53,000 and Anthony Casagrande reraised to 200,000. Graham said "I can't fold, I'm all in." Casagrande instantly called all in (293,000 more) and flipped up pocket kings. Graham showed down pocket jacks. The board brought [10d4s3c9c10s], giving Casagrande a huge double up to 1,035,000. Graham was knocked down to 55,000 and the end was near. His last gasp for air was quickly stomped out by Medic on the very next hand, when he made a king-high straight to eliminate Graham. Graham’s fall from grace was complete, and he took home ($35,126) for his 21st-place finish.

This left an opening at the top for whoever wanted to fight for it, and like he had so many times throughout the day, Freddy Deeb rose to the occasion: Deeb limped under the gun, Billy Pilossoph also limped, and Mike Vela raised to 50,000 on the button. Both Deeb and Pilossoph called. The three players saw a flop of [5h4d3c]. Deeb checked, Pilossoph checked, and Vela bet 200,000. Deeb reraised to 500,000 and Vela quickly called. The turn was the [10c]. Deeb asked Vela "How much do you have left?" to which Vela replied "about 900,000". Deeb moved all in for 756,000, and the pot now had more than 1,800,000. Vela went into the tank and Deeb asked "Can you beat two sixes?" Vela said "Ok, I fold" and mucked [As5c] faceup on the table. This left Deeb with 1,865,000, and he finished the day with chip lead.

At the end of the fifth level 19 players remained and here is how the top ten chip counts looked at the end of the day:

1: Freddy Deeb – 1,865,000
2: TJ Cloutier – 1,614,000
3: Mike White – 1,488,000
4: John Myung – 1,272,000
5: Tom Dwan – 1,160,000
6: Nick Schulman – 1,100,000
7: Billy Pilossoph – 978,000
8: Rodney Legendre – 951,000
9: Mark Weitzman – 901,000
10: Michael Vela – 884,000

The final 19 will start play at noon tomorrow to play down to a final television table of six.

Day 5

In a tournament that started with 575 players, the final six are split between two generations -- three players are under 25, and three are over 40. But don't write off these youngsters as inexperienced, because two of them just happen to be defending champions here at the WPT Foxwoods World Poker Finals.

Nick Schulman became the youngest WPT champion in history when he won this event two years ago at the age of 21, and Nenad Medic was 23 when he won last year. If either player wins tonight, it will be the first time in WPT history that a player has won the same WPT tournament twice. Keep in mind that neither was old enough to play in casinos when the World Poker Tour began playing in 2002.

When play began on Day 5, Schulman was in strong shape with more than a million in chips, and he quickly moved into the top spot, seeming to coast for the rest of the day. Medic, however, had a much tougher road to the final table, struggling to stay alive near the bottom of the leaderboard.

With 19 players remaining at the start of the day, two long-time poker pros were in control -- WPT titleholder and WSOP H.O.R.S.E. champion Freddy Deeb was the chipleader, and the legendary poker Hall of Famer T.J. Cloutier was in second place. Deeb reached the final table of ten players, but Cloutier busted in 12th place.

Deeb spent most of this tournament near the top of the leaderboard, but things took a turn for the worse on Monday. In the most dramatic hand of the day, Deeb laid down pocket kings preflop with nine players left, saying, "In all the years I've been playing tournament poker, I've never been in this situation." Mike Vela had limped under the gun, Deeb raised, John Myung reraised behind him, and Vela moved all in for nearly 2 million. Deeb, certain that Vela had aces, folded his pocket kings. Unfortunately for him, it turned out to be the wrong play, as Vela also had pocket kings, and went on to win a huge pot against Myung's pocket tens. Deeb was eliminated about an hour later in ninth place.

Here are the official chip counts for Tuesday night's WPT Final Table, along with the remaining prizepool:

Seat 1  -  Nenad Medic  -  555,000
Seat 2  -  Mike Vela  -  4,155,000
Seat 3  -  Mark Weitzman  -  855,000
Seat 4  -  Mike White  -  2,455,000
Seat 5  -  Nick Schulman  -  4,395,000
Seat 6  -  Tom "Durrr" Dwan  -  4,875,000

1st  -  $1,704,986 + $25,500 seat in WPT World Championship
2nd  -  $864,652
3rd  -  $486,367
4th  -  $324,244
5th  -  $243,184
6th  -  $189,142

Now for a deeper look at the six players who make up this WPT Final Table.

Seat 1
Nenad Medic

Nenad Medic (online name: Serb) is the defending champion of this event, outlasting 608 players last year to claim the first prize of $1.7 million. If he wins tonight, Medic will be the first player in history to win back-to-back titles in the same WPT tournament. As the short stack headed to the final table, Medic definitely faces an uphill battle.

This is Medic's ninth cash in WPT events, and his third WPT Final Table -- he also finished sixth in the Season IV PokerStars Caribbean Adventure. Medic has more than $1.9 million in career WPT earnings, and a victory tonight would take him over $3.6 million, moving him up to seventh place on the all-time earnings list for the World Poker Tour.

Medic is definitely a player on the rise, breaking into the poker scene with his final table in the Caribbean before finishing third in the 2006 Aussie Millions, and winning this event later that year. Regardless of his finish here, this Canadian player looks to remain a force on the tour for a long time to come.

Seat 2
Mike Vela

If asked what he considers to be his home casino, Mike Vela will tell you it's Foxwoods. (I know because I asked him.) He's done well here -- earlier this year he made back-to-back prelim final tables during the Foxwoods Poker Classic.

While this is Vela's first WPT Final Table, he's reached the final two tables twice, finishing 13th in this event last year, and 18th at the WPT Borgata Poker Open two months ago.

Vela is currently making the most of a single $1,100 entry into a Borgata supersatellite several months ago. He won a $40,000 package that included $10,000 in cash, entry into the WPT Borgata Poker Open (where he finished 18th), entry into the WPT Borgata Winter Poker Open (in January, 2008), and entry into this event at Foxwoods -- where he's guaranteed to finish sixth or higher. If he can cash in all three events, it will be an amazing trifecta, and if he can take first in this one or the next one, he'll further parlay it with an entry into the Season VI WPT World Championship in April, 2008.

Vela is the senior vice president of an investment company, and he's been playing poker for four years. Between work and poker, this native New Yorker still sets aside time for his two kids, and coaches his son's baseball team.

Seat 3
Mark Weitzman

Mark Weitzman has been a professional poker player for 21 years, with six World Series of Poker final tables under his belt (four of them in variations of deuce-to-seven). This is just the fourth WPT tournament that Weitzman has entered, but he has already reached his second final table. Perhaps he shouldn't have waited until Season VI to enter WPT events.

Weitzman finished fourth at the WPT Borgata Poker Open two months ago, earning $380,000 for the biggest cash of his career. His career tournament earnings come to more than $750,000, and if he finishes fifth or better, he'll cross the coveted million-dollar mark.

While Jonathan Little seems to be running away with the WPT Player of the Year award this season, Mark Weitzman will move into second place if he finishes third or higher, and a victory would really put some pressure on Little.

Born in Israel and raised in Brooklyn, NY, Weitzman currently lives in Las Vegas. After two decades as a professional poker player, Weitzman would like to return to school for a Ph.D. in physics.

Seat 4
Mike White

Mike White is a local player from Hartford, CT, so you might say he represents the home team -- in more ways than one. He actually earned his entry by winning a $1,200 satellite among friends, and he's making the most of the opportunity.

White has more than $150,000 in live tournament winnings, including a cash in the 2006 WSOP Main Event and an 18th-place finish in the 2004 U.S. Poker Championship. This WPT Final Table represents the highlight of his poker career -- even a disappointing sixth-place finish would more than double his career earnings. Of course he's hoping to do far better than that.

White owns a commercial construction business, and he actually has to be at work at 5:00 am before this final table -- he didn't plan to make it this far and didn't make arrangements for someone to cover for him. But White promises to make it back to Foxwoods in time to hear Mike Sexton say, "Shuffle up and deal."

Seat 5
Nick Schulman

Nick Schulman is another former winner of this event. He was less than two months past his 21st birthday when he won this event two years ago, making him the youngest WPT champion in the show's history -- a record that still stands.

Since then, Schulman has continued to build his poker resume, adding a victory in the WPT Battle of Champions IV, a fourth-place finish in a WSOP Circuit Championship, and a WSOP final table. With more than $2.2 million in WPT earnings, a victory here would catapult him into fifth place on the all-time WPT list with just under $4 million.

It should come as no surprise that the youngest WPT champion honed his chops by playing online poker (under the name, "TheTakeover"), though Schulman first started playing the game live in pool halls.

Seat 6
Tom Dwan

Tom Dwan is a well-known online player who goes by the name "Durrr" (though the number of r's in "Durrr" varies from site to site). He has entered several WPT events since turning 21 years old a little more than three months ago, and this will be his first televised final table. (For those keeping track, Dwan is a few weeks too old to break Schulman's record as the youngest WPT champion.)

Dwan starts the final table as the chipleader, but his lead is hardly safe with two players close behind him -- Schulman and Vela. Dwan is no stranger to the chip lead, because he's been near the top of the leaderboard for most of this tournament.

Dwan attended Boston University as an English major, but he dropped out after one year, and has been playing poker for the past four years or so. He has impressive results online, but this final table shows he can also hold his own with the best live tournament players in the world.

Will this final table bring the first repeat champion (Medic or Schulman) in World Poker Tour history? Or will chipleader Dwan have a breakout performance on TV the way that Schulman did two years ago? These youngsters will have to get past two local players sure to have plenty of fans in the audience (White and Vela), and a 20-year professional who can challenge for the WPT Player of the Year title. As you can see, there's plenty to root for.

The WPT Final Table is scheduled to begin at 5:00 pm Eastern, and will continue until a champion is declared -- possibly a repeat champion.