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Event #49 No-Limit Hold'em

Day 1
Buy-in: $1,500
Players: 2,543
Prize pool: $3,433,050 for the top 270

Event #49 No-Limit Hold'em had a really big turnout, pushing the field size over 2500. Some of the big names walking to the tables were Liz Lieu, James Mackey, David Pham, Tom Schneider, Jonathan Aguiar, Praz Bansi, Al Barbieri, Svetlana Gromenkova, Thor Hansen, Chris Klodnicki, Nam Le, Dwyte Pilgrim, Vanessa Rousso, John Juanda, Shannon Shorr, Chris Bjorin, Roland DeWolfe, Layne Flack, Tony Dunst, Dan Heimiller, Jerry Yang, Chau Giang, Kathy Liebert, Amit Makhija, Ylon Schwartz, Beth Shak, Amanda Baker, Jared Hamby, Alex Melnikow, Dennis Phillips, Ivan Demidov and Kevin Saul.

One of the first to bust is David Tuthill when his set of 6's became cannon fodder for his opponent who had a set of 10's. Amit Makhija also departed in a funky way. His move with A 10 got another Ace on the flop, but the other player who had a 10 of diamonds made the other 4 cards he needed for a flush winning the rest of Makhija's chips. Others who went in the direction of the rail were Jeff Papola who just finished the presentation of his gold WSOP bracelet for winning Event #32 No-Limit Hold'em/Six Handed, John 'The Razor' Phan, Eugene Todd, Praz Bansi, David Singer, Shannon Elizabeth, Mike Sowers, Phil Hellmuth, Carlos Mortensen, Eric Baldwin, David Sands, Maridu Mayrinck and Jeff Williams.

In all, there will be 289 returning for more action on Day 2. Some who made the cut were Peter Feldman 29,300, Robert Cheung 31,700, Andy Bloch 35,000, Matt Matros 36,600, Roland DeWolfe 38,400, Liv Boeree 43,400, Marc Naalden from Belgium 50,500, Shane Schleger 54,800, Mark Gregorich 55,600 and David Pham 83,300.

Payout Schedule for the Final Table
  1. $609,493
  2. $378,905
  3. $268,189
  4. $193,418
  5. $141,235
  6. $104,364
  7. $78,067
  8. $59,082
  9. $45,247
Top 9 with Chip Counts
  1. Giuseppe Zarbo -- 156,500
  2. Roberto Stamerra -- 120,100
  3. Andrew Gillis -- 120,000
  4. Gregory Roy -- 119,600
  5. Sean Prendiville -- 110,500
  6. Benjamin Eilers -- 109,900
  7. Kyle Knecht -- 104,400
  8. Israel Elias -- 104,200
  9. Thomas Fridley -- 103,600

Day 2

Cards were in the air at 2:30 PM and the players are excited as with 289 in the field and payouts beginning at 270, you can just smell the money. After player 271 busted, smiles came on everyone else left in the field. Liv Boeree left her chair after her all-in call with A J after seeing a table of J A 2 Q 8. To her misfortune, Anthony Spinella called with A Q and won the balance of her chips. Matt Matros soon followed after his paired 7's fell to the paired A's of his opponent. Andy Bloch's chair was empty, so it was assumed he is gone too. Roland DeWolfe did well, but with No Limit Hold'Em it takes just one bad hand to send you into the sunset, which is what happened to DeWolfe.

The field worked its way down to 23 that will see seats tomorrow.

Top 9 with Chip Counts

  1. Michael Linn -- 1,410,000
  2. Mihai Manole -- 1,253,000
  3. Jonathan Spinks -- 703,000
  4. Benjamin Smith -- 604,000
  5. Chadwick Grimes -- 591,000
  6. Sean Prendiville -- 574,000
  7. Taylor Larkin -- 570,000
  8. Benjamin Eilers -- 560,000
  9. Anthony Spinella -- 535,000

Final Table

It took 6 hours after the start to get down to the 9 for the final table, but when it did begin the first to bust was Tyler Cornell in 9th. His paired 9's were left behind by the paired Q's of Justin Zaki. For the 8th place payout was Erle Mankin who lost to the two pair (K's and 10's) of Taylor Larkin. Then Justin Zaki put his life on the line, but finished in 7th place after seeing the full house (A's/9's) of Mihai Manole. Alexander Kuzmin emptied his chair in 6th when the pocket J's of Taylor Larkin held to the river. Larkin then made a Queen high flush to bust Chadwick Grimes in 5th place.

A set of 8's belonging to Michael Linn was enough to stuff Benjamin Smith into a 4th place finish, ending his quest for the bracelet. Mihai Manole took all his chips to the middle with pocket 2's and was called by Linn who managed to pair his Ace card on the flop, sending Manole to the showers in 3rd.

Linn remained the dominate force in the heads up, moving over 10 million chips very quickly. Larkin basically flopped around, hanging on by a thread. But the final hand of this drama had Linn go all-in preflop with A 2 and was called by a barely breathing Larkin brandishing Q J. The dealer laid out 6 10 2 7 4, which gave the gold bracelet to Michael Linn with just a pair of 2's.

2010 Bracelet Champion #49 -- Michael Linn
2010 Bracelet Champion #49 -- Michael Linn

  1. Michael Linn -- $609,493
  2. Taylor Larkin -- $378,905
  3. Mihai Manole -- $268,189
  4. Benjamin Smith -- $193,418
  5. Chadwick Grimes -- $141,235
  6. Alexander Kuzmin -- $104,364
  7. Justin Zaki -- $78,067
  8. Erle Mankin -- $59,082
  9. Tyler Cornell -- $45,247