Steve Landfsih Eliminated in 2nd Place ($204,924)

After an epic heads-up battle in which the chip lead seemed to change nearly every hand, Bertrand Grospellier had finally gained the lead back once again heading into Level 28, and quickly went to work chipping away at Landfish’s stack.

Grospellier won a huge pot that went to a showdown with two pair against Landfish’s single pair and a busted draw. This hand put Grospellier way out ahead, and Landfish on his last life with just 300,000 remaining.

On the final hand of the night, Landfish got the rest of his chips in the pot on third street with an ace-high and three to a flush while Grospellier had just an offsuit jack and some random small cards.

Landfish: A 4 3 J 4 10 7
Grospellier: J 5 9 5 6 6 6

Grospellier open-paired sixes on sixth street and caught a third on the river for trips while Landfish bricked completely. Steve Landfish was eliminated in 2nd place ($204,924) while Bertrand “ElkY” Grospellier won his first gold bracelet in Event #21 and the $331,639 grand prize. This win makes Grospellier poker’s fourth Triple Crown winner overall, and the second of this year’s WSOP with Jake Cody already achieving this remarkable feat in the second event of the summer.

Ante: 15,000
Low Card: 20,000
Completion: 60,000
Limits: 60,000-120,000

Players Remaining: 2 out of 126

Average Chip Count: 1,890,000

Chip Counts:

1. Bertrand Grospellier – 2,990,000
2. Steve Landfish – 790,000

“ElkY” Mounts Incredible Comeback

Bertrand “ElkY” Grospellier began heads-up play with a chip deficit of 1.5 million to Steve Landfish’s 2.2 million. Level 25 Saw Grospellier begin a downward spiral that ended with Landfish having a 14:1 chip lead against him with 3.5 million to Grospellier’s 250,000.

Level 26 was much Kinder to Grospellier and he was able to chip back up to 1.4 million before eventually stealing the chip lead from Landfish and reversing the counts. Grospellier won a big pot with a full house against what Landfish claimed was a flush and then open-paired aces on sixth street to take another big pot, cumulatively putting him in the lead with 2.2 million to Landfish’s 1.5 million at that point.

Landfish was able to recover and eventually regained the chip lead with queens-up in a pot that went to a showdown. Grospellier then took down a pot on seventh street with a Broadway straight, ending the level with the chip lead. At this point in the match the average stack was slightly more than 15 BBs, so the back and forth nature of the chip counts could be expected.

Grospellier ended the level on top with just under 3 million to Landfish’s 800,000. With the limits increasing to 80,000-160,000 when the players return from break, Landfish has got a lot of work to do, and quickly, if he is going to challenge the chip lead once again.

Be sure to check back hourly for level-by-level updates of this final table.

Ante: 7,000
Low Card: 10,000
Completion: 30,000
Limits: 30,000-60,000

Players Remaining: 3 out of 126

Average Chip Count: 1,260,000

Chip Counts:

1. Bertrand Grospellier – 2,420,000
2. Steve Landfish – 860,000
3. Maxwell Troy – 500,000

Eliminations:

4th. John Hennigan – $92,928

John Hennigan Eliminated in 4th Place ($92,928)

John Hennigan came back from the dinner break as the short stack was eliminated in 4th place on the first hand back.

John Hennigan brought in the low card with the 4, Steve Landfish completed the bet with the A, Hennigan raised, Landfish three-bet and Hennigan called.

Landfish bet again on fourth and after pairing sevens on fifth street. Hennigan got the rest of his chips in and Landfish called.

Hennigan: 5 4 4 5 9
Landfish: A 3 A 7 7

Hennigan had made two pair on fourth street while Landfish had started with split aces and double paired on fifth street for the lead. Hennigan bricked on the remaining streets and was eliminated in 4th place ($92,928).

Be sure to check back hourly for level-by-level updates of this final table.

Ante: 5,000
Low Card: 5,000
Completion: 20,000
Limits: 20,000-40,000

Players Remaining: 5 out of 126

Average Chip Count: 756,000

Chip Counts:

1. Steve Landfish 1,400,000
2. Bertrand Grospellier – 900,000
3. Maxwell Troy – 800,000
4. John Hennigan – 775,000
5. Alexander Kostritsyn – 400,000

Eliminations:

6th. Chad Brown – $57,917
7th. Kevin Tang – $47,032
8th. Christopher Tryba – $38,812

Christopher Tryba Eliminated 8th Place ($38,812)

Christopher Tryba came to the official eight-handed final table as the short stack and was eliminated on the first hand. Maxwell Troy brought in the low card with the 3, Chris Tryba completed with the K, Alexander Kostritsyn called with the 5, Troy raised, Tribya made it three-bets, Kostritsyn folded and Troy called. Tryba got the rest of his chips in on fourth street and was behind with one pair of Kings against Troy’s two pairs of jacks and threes.

Tryba: K 9 K 6 A 7 8
Troy: J J 3 3 4K 2

Christopher Tryba bricked on the remaining street and was the first one eliminated in 8th place ($28,812).

Kevin Tang Eliminated in 7th Place ($47,032)

Kevin Tang was on the short stack after Christopher Tryba was eliminated in 8th place, and got it all in on sixth street in this hand shortly after.

Steve Landfish completed with the J and Kevin Tang called with the 8 on third street. Landfish continued to bet through sixth street where Tang was all in with K – Q high against Landfish’s wired pair of nines.

Tang: Q 5 8 7 K 4
Landfish: 9 9 J 7 K 2.

Tang revered the 8 to make a lower pair than Landfish was already showing and was eliminated in 7th place ($47,032). Landfish grabbed the chip lead for the moment with just over 1.1 million this hand.

Chad Brown Eliminated in 6th Place ($57,917)

In the previous hand, Bertrand Grospellier was all in on sixth street with with a pair of kings and a diamond flush draw against Chad Brown’s two pair of aces and threes. Grospellier rivered his flush and doubled through Brown in a 600,000 pot. Brown was left with just over one big bet and got it all in against Maxwell Troy right after.

Brown: 9 9 4 7 5 A
Troy: 9 9 4 Q 2 3

Incredibly enough, both players had the very same hand on third street with a wired pair of nines and a four in the door. Brown was ahead on sixth street with an ace-high to Troy’s queen-high, but failed to improve on the river as Troy paired his deuce and made nines-up. Chad Brown was eliminated in 6th place ($57,917).

Be sure to check back hourly for level-by-level updates of this final table.

The plan was to play down to a final table on Monday, but the $10,000 Seven Card Stud Championship was forced to halt play after ten levels with 14 players still in the hunt.

Leading the way going into the scheduled final day is Steven Landfish with nearly three times the average stack. He’s followed close behind by John Hennigan and the rest of the field is way behind, being paced by Bertrand Grospellier. Defending champion Men Nguyen is also still in contention, albeit on the short stack.

Here’s a look at the overnight chip counts.

All of the action continues today at 3:00 p.m. Join us then as Card Player brings you level by level updates from the final table.