2008 WSOP: Main Event Final Table: Demidov and Eastgate Heads Up

Published on Monday, November 10, 2008 10:08:00 PM

After nearly a four-month break, the "November Nine" returned to Las Vegas for their final shots at the WSOP Main Event bracelet. All the players came to the table guaranteed $900,670 (which had been paid back in July, but they all had their eyes on the top prize of $9.1 million. Dennis Phillips came into the day the chip leader, with Ivan Demidov close behind. Kelly Kim started the final table in survival mode, with less than 10% of Phillips' stack. At the end of the day, it was a truly World Series of Poker final table, as the last two standing were Denmark's  Peter Eastgate and Russia's Ivan Demidov, who will battle heads-up tonight for the bracelet and the most prestigious title in poker.

Since making the final table back in the summer, many of the nine finalists have traveled to WSOP Europe and various other tournaments around the world honing their skills, but none made good like Ivan Demidov, who logged a second WSOP Main Event final table before he ever sat down at this one. Demidov finished third in the WSOP Europe Main Event, and returned to Las Vegas looking to improve on that finish.

The seats in the Penn & Teller Theater were full of fans, family and friends, as the final table players had plenty of time to make travel arrangements for their supporters. Dennis Phillips was rumored to have reserved over 300 rooms at the Rio for his friends and family, and the crowd in matching white shirts and St. Louis Cardinals baseball caps was certainly the largest cheering section in the room. As play began, these were the finalists' seating assignments and chip counts:

Seat 1: Dennis Phillips (26,295,000)
Seat 2: Craig Marquis (10,210,000)
Seat 3: Ylon Schwartz (12,525,000)
Seat 4: Scott Montgomery (19,690,000)
Seat 5: Darus Suharto (12,520,000)
Seat 6: David Rheem (10,230,000)
Seat 7: Ivan Demidov (24,400,000)
Seat 8: Kelly Kim (2,620,000)
Seat 9: Peter Eastgate (18,375,000)

Chip leader Phillips came into the final table with a narrow lead over the young Russian Ivan Demidov, but he ran into trouble early at the final table. His stack took a hit early in a confrontation with Ylon Schwartz, and then he ran into a big hand with Ivan Demidov just a few hands later. Phillips limped in from under the gun, and Demidov raised in late position. Phillips quickly three-bet, and Demidov went into the tank for a long moment before finally making another big raise, putting the pressure right back on Phillips. Phillips called, and when all was said and done it cost each man over a third of his chips to get to the  flop. Phillips went into the tank on the flop before leading out with a small bet of about one-fourth the pot. Demidov quickly moved all in over the top, and the former chip leader Phillips had to think about whether or not to call for his tournament life, as Demidov had him slightly covered. After a long time in the tank, Phillips folded as Demidov cemented his chip lead in dramatic fashion. Phillips tumbled to almost the bottom of the leader board after that hand.

After weathering a 117-day wait, Peter Eastgate and Ivan Demidov then began the last delay in the WSOP Main Event, with play suspended according to plan. Their heads-up match for the title resumed tonight. Demidov finished the first session of the final table with the chip lead, with these counts recorded as the chips were bagged:

Ivan Demidov - 79,500,000
Peter Eastgate - 57,725,000

Heads-up play will commence at 10PM local time, as Peter Eastgate tries to break Phil Hellmuth's record for youngest Main Event champion ever. Ivan Demidov has already earned a place in the record books for being the first player to make the final tables of the WSOP Europe and the WSOP America. He has bettered his finish in London by at least one spot. Join PokerNews at 10PM Las Vegas time for all the live updates from the endgame of the final table.