So, we sat down and did some quick math. The final table started at 2pm, so at that point it had been a 19 hour final table with a six hour heads-up battle. Sick. We asked some of the more ironman members of the media, who had been up through the night just waiting for it to finish, and it turns out that Hanson had battled back from 4 to 1 chip deficit five different times and had currently managed to pull even again.

An hour later, it was all over. A 20-hour marathon and a seven-hour face-to-face duel. Absolutely brutal. In the end, Bach was able to keep Hanson at a deficit and drag all remaining chips across the table to his side to capture the $1,276,802 first-place prize and the Chip Reese Memorial Trophy. Hanson receives $789,199 for second place.

Five days, 94 players, five different types of poker and thousands of hands and we have a new champion. Stay tuned for more 2009 WSOP live updates as we get closer and closer to the Main Event.

Among the players at this final table are only a few names that are immediately recognizable to the outside world. Poker pro Huck Seed is chasing his fifth WSOP bracelet and is currently playing lights out poker as he took down the 2009 NBC Heads-Up Poker Championship just a couple of months ago. His career poker tournament winnings total more than $4.6 million and he has earned just over half of that at the WSOP, cashing an incredible 39 times.

Another well-known name at the table is Erik Seidel, who is after his ninth WSOP bracelet, which would put him ever closer to the legends of poker who occupy the top spot on that list. This is his 57th career WSOP cash, which puts him at fourth on the all-time list, right behind Chris "Jesus" Ferguson. A first or second place finish here would push his career earnings past the $10 million mark.

Other notables playing for a WSOP bracelet to add to their collection include Chau Giang, who will be looking to collect his fourth, and Vitaly Lunkin, who is after number three. The current chip leader Erik Sagstrom is not a well-known live poker player, but has been striking fear into online poker players practically since online poker started. As "Erik123" online, Sagstrom was one of the original online superstars and a win in this event would definitley solidify him in the live poker world as well.

Stay tuned as we keep you updated on the $50k HORSE final table and the other events that are happening today at the 2009 WSOP.

Bonomo is currently sitting in about 15th place and playing solidly, but the field is tough so the road to the final table won't be easy. Challenging Bonomo for a spot will be Barry Greenstein, Daniel Negreanu, Chad Brown, Bryan Micon and Annie Duke. The current chip leader is Al "Sugar Bear" Barbieri followed by Zak Gilbert and then Andy Bloch.

In other news, there are still 13 players remaining in the $50,000 HORSE event with Erik Sagstrom as the chip leader. Other notables still in the running include Huck Seed, Gus Hansen, Erik Seidel, Chau Giang and Tony G. They'll play down to the final table tonight, then call it quits and return tomorrow.

Stay tuned for more 2009 WSOP live updates and other poker tournament news.

As the players in the 2009 WSOP $50,000 HORSE World Championship event head out on their dinner break, poker pro Gus Hansen leaves with a sizable stack that seems to be growing at a rapid rate. There are currently 31 players remaining with Jon "PearlJammer" Turner the latest victim, just moments before the break hit.

The current chip leader is Erik Sagstrom, who is followed by Ville Wahlbeck in second and then the aforementioned Hansen in third. Other notable stacks still in the running belong to Todd Brunson, Freddy Deeb, Tony G, Bill Chen, Patrik Antonius, Erik Seidel, Scotty Ngyuen and Scott Clements.

Once the players get back from their 90-minute dinner break, they will play two more rounds and then wrap up play for the night. Tomorrow they will play down to a final table and then crown a champion on Tuesday. With Scotty still in the running, the chance of a repeat still exists, which would be a great storyline. So, stay tuned to see what happens and make sure to check out the 2009 WSOP live updates page.

And if you want to get in on some poker tournament action of your own but don't want to travel all the way to Vegas, check out the Bodog Mini Poker Series and your chance to win a seat to the 2010 WSOP Msin Event.

Here is a hand in which he accumulated most of his chips so far (courtesy of PokerNews):

Razz

Deeb: (X-X) {2-?}{7-?}{6-?}{3-?} (X)
Bonomo: (X-X) {2-?}{7-?}{2-?}{A-?} (X-X)

Freddy Deeb raised on third street and fired bets the whole way with Justin Bonomo calling him down. On the river, Deeb slowed down and checked over to Bonomo, who fired a final bet with Deeb making the call.

Bonomo tabled ({3-?}{4-?}-X) for a seven-low to scoop the pot.

Since that hand, Bonomo has moved up to 164,000 and is steadily scooping pots. The current chip leader is Hasan Habib (387k), and it looks like David Benyamine has made some serious strides during the holdem level to get up to 315k. Also near the top are Alex Kravchenko, Andy Black and Chris "Jesus" Ferguson.

Stay tuned for more updates from this event, the $1,500 Limit Shootout and the $1,500 No Limit Holdem, which got underway today.

Either way, the field is still stacked with well-known players and to tell you who they all are would be to basically list out the entire field and, as you may know, that's entirely too much work for us to do on a Friday afternoon. So, suffice it to say that if you think they should be playing, they probably are.

This event is widely considered by many to be the true test of a poker player's skill and after its inception in 2006 has become an extremely popular event for those wanting to test their mettle and possible leave an indelible mark on the poker world. The inaugural event was won by Chip Reese, a quiet, non-media/attention-seeking poker player, who was already known as one of the best players around to those that know those sort of things. After his passing, the trophy lofted by the winner of this event was named the Chip Reese Memorial Trophy.

We'll keep you posted as things progress in the HORSE event. In fact, quick update… there are now 91 entrants and four minutes left for stragglers to get in on this. Stay tuned for more 2009 WSOP updates.

By no means the most recognizable name at the final table of the event, Phil Ivey probably held that title with Howard Lederer not far behind, Farnood still has a fairly impressive resume under his belt. While this is his first WSOP bracelet, he has cashed six times in WSOP events and reach four final tables out of those, including one at last year's WSOPE. For this victory, Farnood wins ₤76,999 ($192,894). Otherwise known as what he could find inbetween the cushions on his couch, or most likely his "sofa."

This win also means that an American still has not managed to take down a bracelet, making it even more likely that one will not win the WSOP Europe Main Event (an outcome over which you can wager with Bodog's WSOP Europe prop bets), but there are still three more bracelets to be awarded and this is poker, so anything can happen.

Stay tuned for more updates from the 2008 WSOP Europe from the Bodog Beat and if you want to get in on some poker tournament action of your own then make sure to check out the different tournaments available in the Bodog Poker room.

Leading the remaining 12 is a well-known poker player, Howard Lederer, and he is followed by another fairly recognizable name, Sherkhan Farnood. Sitting in third is online poker pro Yuval "yuvee04″ Bronstein, who is a mixed game specialist and has become known for his Razz prowess as well as his Holdem game. He won two major online tournaments bac-to-back and also has a WSOP final table under his belt. Following Bronstein is probably the most recognizable stare in poker, Phil Ivey.

Play gets underway at 3pm local time and the players will condense down to a final table once there are 10 players remaining, then the official "official" final table will commence when there are nine players left. All of them are chasing the ₤76,999 first-place prize. Stay tuned for more updates from the Bodog Beat and get in on your own poker tournament action in the Bodog Poker room.

When Hellmuth enters an event he's always a favorite to win a bracelet, but that's usually just in holdem events. Every one of his 11 bracelets has come in this discipline, and when he reached the final table of the mixed game HORSE event he had his mind set on two things, breaking his own record for number of bracelets (11) and winning his very first mixed game bracelet.

Looking around the table must've been comforting for him as there wasn't a lot of name recognition or high-powered players shuffling their chips around him, except for maybe Victor Ramdin. Hellmuth managed to outlast and outplay all but two of them earning $93,168 for his third-place finish. Not many players would be disappointed with that result, but you know that he could almost feel the gold around his wrist.

Hellmuth will now have only one more chance to win his 12th bracelet at the 2008 WSOP and that will be in the Main Event, something he's won before and would love to do again. Thursday is the day that it all begins and we'll be here, but not before some serious partying.

Hellmuth will be gunning for his record breaking 12th WSOP bracelet which would incidentally also be his first in a non Holdem event. The first place payout of $256,412 is probably a very minor concern for the WSOP record holder who is probably much more interested in expanding his WSOP bracelet lead over poker legends Johnny Chan and Doyle Brunson.

The 20 remaining players will get back on the WSOP HORSE at 3pm and will supposedly play down to a winner tonight. We say supposedly because we expect that to take a very, very long time.

Here are the top five chip stacks heading into Day 2: Phil Hellmuth – 287,500, James Schaaf – 236,500, Art Young – 175,000, Victor Ramdin – 158,500, Matt Grapenthien – 151,000.

Stay tuned to the Beat for all of your WSOP news needs.