By Ryan Lucchesi

Six players took their seats shortly after 5 p.m. at Foxwoods Resort and Casino for the final table of the 2007 World Poker Tour World Poker Finals. While all six of them had the $1,704,986 first-place prize on their mind, two of them had a little WPT history on their mind as well. Nick Schulman won this event in 2005 and Nenad Medic took down the title in 2006. If either of them prevailed in 2007 it would mark the first time ever that a player has won the same WPT event twice. If Medic were to defend his title and repeat as champion it would mark the first time in history that a player has won back-to-back WPT titles. It would also be the first time since Johnnie Chan won the WSOP main event in 1987 and 1988 that a player has won back-to-back titles in a $10,000 buy-in open field poker tournament. Here is how things looked at the start of play:

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

Dwan came into play as the chip leader, but the first two hands of the night were very unkind to the young star, and he lost over 1.5 million. This put Schulman in the driver’s seat early as the chip leader, and it also made him the early favorite to make poker history. Medic was one of the players to score a large chunk off Dwan in the first two hands though, and he doubled up to 1.54 million. Medic had some chips and he wasn’t going to go down without a fight. He brought that fight to Mark Weitzman on the fourth hand of the evening: Medic raised to 200,000 from the button and Weitzman moved all in from the big blind for 835,000. Medic went into the tank for more than two minutes before he called with A5. Weitzman showed down A3, and the board came 972J2, which gave Medic a flush on the river. Weitzman was eliminated in sixth place, and he took home $189,142. This hand took Medic above the 2 million mark and reinstated him as a factor at the final table.

The flattening of the field continued when Mike White scored a pot worth 3 million off of Schulman three hands later. White’s cheering section went crazy after the hand (White resides in Hartford, and about 40 friends and family made the trip in a charter bus to root him on at the final table). Schulman was knocked back down to earth and the final table was now anyone’s ball game to win. Medic made some noise yet again on Hand #28: White raised from the cutoff to 240,000, Schulman called from the button, and Medic thought for more than 30 seconds before he moved all in from the big blind for 1,715,000. White moved all in over the top of Medic and Schulman mucked. Medic turned up pocket tens and White held AK. The board brought 1063JK and Medic won the pot with a set of tens to double up to 3.7 million.

Mike Vela slowly and silently took the chip lead during this stretch of play, and he very loudly jumped way out into the lead on hand #30: Dwan raised from the cutoff to 165,000, Vela called from the small blind, and White called from the big blind. The flop rolled out Q85 and Vela bet 410,000. White raised to 1,000,000, Dwan folded, and Vela made the call. There was more than 2.5 million in the pot when the turn brought the A. Vela checked, White bet 1.2 million, and Vela tanked for several minutes before he made the call. He then checked in the dark before the river. The river card was the 9 and White checked as well. Vela showed the Q and he took down the pot with a pair of queens when White mucked his hand. The huge pot was worth 7.4 million, and Vela was now the 7 million-pound-gorilla in the room.

The gorilla in the audience made its retreat from the room after the events of Hand #37 transpired: Vela raised from the cutoff to 175,000 and White moved all in for 515,000 from the cutoff. Vela called with K10 and White showed down 76. The board came J43102 and Vela won the pot with a pair of tens. The local favorite, White, was eliminated in third place, earning $243,184. His cheering section of 50 quickly followed him out of the room after the hand.

Dwan lost a pot worth 4.25 million to Schulman a few hands later (Hand #45) and he was never able to recover. The end came for the young internet star ten hands later: Schulman raised under the gun to 225,000, Dwan moved all in from the button for 1,290,000, and Vela went into the tank for several minutes from the big blind. Vela eventually made the call and Schulman quickly got out of the way. Vela showed down KJ, but Dwan had him dominated with AK. The board ran out 107310J and Vela made jacks up on the river to win the pot. Dwan was eliminated in fourth place, earning $324,244, and Vela was living large with over 10 million! With three players left, the two former champions were still alive and kicking, but neither of them had even half of Vela’s stack so their work was cut out for them.

The difficult task of catching Vela became next to impossible after Hand #71: Vela raised to 450,000 on the button and Medic thought for a moment before he moved all in for 2,930,000. Vela immediately called with AJ and Medic flipped up A7. The board hit the table K98JJ and Vela took down the pot with trip jacks. The defending champion Medic was eliminated in third place, earning $486,367. This left the stacks between the final two a little more than unbalanced. In fact, Vela held a better than three-to-one chip lead on Schulman:

Mike Vela - 13,015,000
Nick Schulman - 4,255,000

Schulman had the chips stacked against him, and the heads-up match came to an end quickly. Just seven hands into the match, Schulman got all of his chips into the middle: Schulman had the button and he raised to 350,000. Vela reraised to 1.7 million and Schulman moved all in. Vela immediately called with AQ and Schulman showed down pocket fives. The board rolled out AQJ78 and Vela won the pot with two pair, aces and queens. Schulman was eliminated in second place, earning $864,652, and Vela won the title. He took home $1,704,986, and a $25,500 seat into the Season VI WPT World Championship in April, 2008.

Hand #77 - Mike Vela has the button, he raises to 325,000, and Schulman calls. The flop comes J98, Schulman checks, Vela bets 600,000, and Schulman calls. The turn card is the K, and both players check. The river card is the 10, putting four to a straight on the board. Schulman bets 1.1 million, and Vela calls with 7-x for a jack-high straight on the river. Schulman rechecks his cards and tosses them into the muck. Mike Vela takes the pot.

Hand #75 - Mike Vela has the button, he raises to 360,000, Schulman reraises to 1.2 million, and Vela calls. The flop comes 1043, Schulman thinks for a moment before he moves all in, and Vela quickly folds. Nick Schulman takes the pot.

Hand #73 - Mike Vela has the button, he raises to 620,000, and Schulman folds. Vela shows one card -- the A -- as he collects the pot.

The money presentation is over, and the players are seated and ready to go. Shuffle up and deal!

Reminder: The button has the small blind and acts first before the flop.