$570 No Limit Hold’em Double Black Chip Bounty (Single Re-Entry)
Level 25: 12,000/24,000/4,000 Ante

Ido Ashkenazi began heads-up play with a chip lead of 1,090,000-to-600,000 over Will Failla, or roughly 1.8-to-1. But once heads-up play began, it was all Ashkenazi.

They battled for a full hour, and they both acted quickly and saw a lot of hands. There were only three all-in situations during that time, and each time Ashkenazi had at least a 9-to-1 chip lead.

Before the final hand was dealt, Ashkenazi said, “This is it. This is going to be the last hand.” Failla looked down at his cards in the small blind and said, “All in.” Ashkenazi checked his cards and said, “I call.”

Failla showed , and he needed to improve to stay alive against Ashkenazi’s .

The board came , and Ashkenazi won the pot — and the tournament — and Failla’s bounty — with a set of fives.

Failla finished as the runner-up to earn $9,126.

Ido Ashkenazi won Event 5 ($570 NLHE Double-Black-Chip Bounty) to earn $15,716 and a Seminole Hard Rock Poker Showdown trophy.

Congratulations to Ido Ashkenazi!

1st:  Ido Ashkenazi  –  $15,716
2nd:  Will Failla  –  $9,126
3rd:  Nissim Vaknin  –  $5,831
4th:  John Merchant  –  $4,107
5th:  Blair Miller  –  $3,169
6th:  Eric Ward  –  $2,408
7th:  Marcus Stein  –  $1,876
8th:  Arkadiy Tsinis  –  $1,394
9th:  Natasha Barbour  –  $989
10th:  Greg Marcus  –  $786

$2,200 Eight Game Mix (Single Re-Entry)
Level 9: Limits 800/1600

Poker superstar Jason Mercier will carry the chip lead into the Day 2 of Event 10 tomorrow and will joined by another top professional, Brian Hastings, who will be on the short stack.

Six players are still standing after the level claimed Ilya Krupin in 7th and Michael Mixer in 8th.   With two spots being paid, it should be a much more tense atmoshpere tomorrow afternoon as the players try to cash and take down the title.  The winner will pick up $18,000 and the runner-up receives $12,000.

Here are the chip counts for the remaining six players returning tomorrow:

Seat 1: Jonathan Gray – 33,150
Seat 2: Marcello Costa – 28,400
Seat 3: Ben Yogel – 43,950
Seat 4: Jyri Merivitra – 34,125
Seat 5: Jason Mercier – 67,725
Seat 6: Brian Hastings – 17,550

Jason Mercier – 67,725
Ben Yogel – 43,950
Jyri Merivitra – 34,125
Jonathan Gray – 33,150
Marcello Costa – 28,400
Brian Hastings – 17,550

$570 No Limit Hold’em Double Black Chip Bounty (Single Re-Entry)
Level 24: 10,000/20,000/3,000 Ante

Will Failla moved all in from the small blind, and Nissim Vaknin called all in from the big blind for 175,000 with . Failla turned over , and Vaknin needed to improve to stay alive.

The board came , and the pocket deuces held up for Failla to win the pot and eliminate Vaknin in third place.

Nissim Vaknin  –  Eliminated in 3rd Place  ($5,831)

Here’s how the final two players stacked up before heads-up play, with the blinds increasing to 10,000-20,000 and a 3,000 ante:

Ido Ashkenazi  –  1,090,000  (54 bb)
Will Failla  –  600,000  (30 bb)

And the prizepool they’re playing for:

1st:  $15,716
2nd:  $9,126

$570 No Limit Hold’em Double Black Chip Bounty (Single Re-Entry)
Level 23: 8,000/16,000/2,000 Ante

Will Failla moved all in from the small blind, and Nissim Vaknin called all in for 206,000 from the big blind with . Failla turned over , and said, “They have to cooler me to beat me.”

The board came , and the pocket queens held up for Vaknin to win the pot and double up in chips.

Nissim Vaknin  –  418,000  (26 bb)
Will Failla  –  230,000  (14 bb)

A few minutes later, Failla moved all in from the small blind for 193,000, and Vaknin called form the big blind with . Failla turned over , and this time the cooler was in his favor.

The board came , and Failla won the pot with a pair of queens to double up in chips.

This is how the final three players stacked up after that hand:

Seat 2.  Will Failla  –  392,000  (24 bb)
Seat 7.  Nissim Vaknin  –  241,000  (15 bb)
Seat 9.  Ido Ashkenazi  –  1,055,000  (65 bb)

$2,200 Eight Game Mix (Single Re-Entry)
Level 9: Limits 800/1600

Almost immediately after the break, Cory Zeidman was eliminated in 9th place.  With the option of the players stopping at eight players left or playing out the level they are on, the table agreed to play out the level they’d just started.  The players will be playing for a little under an hour and then return at 3 PM tomorrow.

$570 No Limit Hold’em Double Black Chip Bounty (Single Re-Entry)
Level 23: 8,000/16,000/2,000 Ante

Shortly after the elimination of John Merchant in fourth place ($4,107), the final three players took a 15-minute break before Level 23. Here were their official chip counts:

Seat 2.  Will Failla  –  607,000  (37 bb)
Seat 7.  Nissim Vaknin  –  310,000  (19 bb)
Seat 9.  Ido Ashkenazi  –  773,000  (48 bb)

And here’s the remaining prizepool they’re playing for:

1st:  $15,716
2nd:  $9,126
3rd:  $5,831

$570 No Limit Hold’em Double Black Chip Bounty (Single Re-Entry)
Level 22: 6,000/12,000/2,000 Ante

Will Failla raised from the cutoff to 22,000, Blair Miller moved all in from the button for 49,000, and Failla called with . Miller turned over , and he needed his hand to hold to stay alive.

The board came — Failla paired his four on the flop, but Miller paired his ace on the turn to win the pot and double up in chips.

Blair Miller  –  118,000  (9 bb)

A short while later, Miller was all in preflop from the small blind in a three-way pot against Nissim Vaknin and Ido Ashkenazi.

Vaknin and Ashkenazi checked the dry side pot all the way down on a board of , and Vaknin turned over for two pair, fives and fours. Ashkenazi mucked, and so did Miller, who was eliminated in fifth place.

Nissim Vaknin  –  285,000  (23 bb)
Blair Miller  –  Eliminated in 5th Place  ($3,169)