| Today's final table started with relatively even chip stacks. The Chip leader coming into today was Mike Hirschensohn with $98,400 in chips. Our first big pot of the day occurred on hand 17 when Billy Miller and Eugene Todd locked horns. When all players folded to Billy on the button he raised to $10,200 with Ac 8c. Can Hua folded the small blind but Eugene elected to call and see a flop holding Kh Tc from the big blind. When the flop came down Ah 7d Kd Eugene checked and Billy bet out $17K. Eugene decided a check raise all in was the best way to get his kings to win the pot, but when Billy called and showed his pair of aces, Eugene was in trouble and facing elimination. The turn brought the Qs and now Eugene had another out, he now needed a jack, king or ten to double up. The river came down as a Jc spiking the nine outer for Eugene and now Billy was horribly short stacked.
Only two hands later Billy moved all in under the gun with the computer hand, Qs 7h. Billy's all in was $4,300 and the big blind already had $4,000 in the pot, happily called blind. David showed 9s 3c and when the flop came down 7s 4d 2c, Billy had a breath of life. Unfortunately for him the turn card brought the 9d and now he was trailing with his tournament life at stake. The river card 3h certainly didn't help his cause and we had today's 6th place finisher.
Billy Miller is eliminated in 6th place and wins $5,529
Tournament veteran Can Hua can certainly mix things up and that is exactly what he did on hand 25. Under the gun and holding less than 6 rounds of blinds, Can moved all in for his last $30K with 9h 7d. Obviously Can was hoping to take down the blinds and antes but seat one David Bradley decided to call with his Ad 8c and Can needed to get lucky to stay alive. Can's plan was looking good when the flop came 5c Td 9c giving him a pair of nines and the lead. The turn card brought the Qh and all Can needed to do was dodge an ace and he would get his full double up. The river card was the tragic Ah giving David aces over Can's nines and we had our 5th place finisher.
Can Hua finishes in 5th place and collects $6,451.
Full tilt has had several players make final table appearances at the NPL Vegas Open, and today was no exception. Perry Friedman came into today's final table as one of the short stacks, but was determined to move his chips in early with just about anything. His plan paid off and before too long he had built his stack up to an average chip stack. On hand number 33 Perry was dealt the 5s 5h on the button. Action was folded around to Eugene sitting in the cut-off who held Kd Qh and when he raised the pot to $20K, Perry moved all in over the top for an additional $46,100. Eugene called and we were off to the races. The flop came 8h Kc 2c effectively making it a one horse race as Perry now needed one of the last two fives on the turn or river to stay alive. Even worse news for Perry was that in seat 2 David Bradley folded Td 5d before the flop leaving Perry only one out, the 5c (Speaking of one horse races). The turn card was the 6d, still no help for Perry and after the river dropped with the Qc we had our 4th place finisher.
Perry Friedman finishes in 4th place and takes home $7,372.
It took a long time for our last three players to get involved in a big pot as they were all playing very tight, however on hand number 52 that all changed. On the button Mike limped in with the Qd Td. David also limped in from the small blind holding the 3h 6h and Eugene rounded out the field when he checked with 5s 8d. When the flop hit 4d 7d 6d we knew someone was going broke on this flop, just not who. David was first to act and he checked. Next Eugene deliberated on what to do with his straight, and then finally decided to bet out $24K. Mike instantly moved all in for another $125,500, and after David got out of the way Eugene eventually called. Although Eugene was up against a made flush, he still held the 8d in his hand so he had one out, the 5d. The turn and river came down as 2h Kc and now Eugene was crucified and left with only a handful of chips. The next hand saw Eugene put his remaining $20K into the pot with 9s 6s from the small blind, and as if the gods had smiled on Mike, he looked down to find two little ladies staring back at him. Qc Qs for Mike and no help for Eugene when the final board read 4c 8c 5c Ah Kd.
Eugene Todd finishes in 3rd place and collects $10,137.
Now David and Mike were heads up and Mike held a 3-1 chip lead over David. It wasn't long before the last hand of the day came up. Mike was in the small blind and was dealt the best starting hand in the game, Ad Ac. Mike tried to give David some rope and flat called. When David looked down to see Jc Tc he raised $20K more and it looked like Mike's pre-flop plan was coming together well. Sensing that David had enough rope to hang himself Mike moved all in and was quickly called. When the final board read 3h 6h 9s Td 2c we had our next semi-final contestant.
David Bradley finishes in 2nd place and collects $19,352.
Mike Hirschensohn wins today's event and a seat in the semis. He also collects $32,250 for his efforts.
Well done Mike and we shall see you in the Semi-Finals.
This report was brought to you by TV Poker and Rob Huxley.
May the flop be with you. . . Always | 
