2008 WSOP Final Table Down to Two, Ivan Demidov and Peter Eastgate

Russian poker player Ivan Demidov one of the two players left at the 2008 WSOP Final Table. (Image courtesy of WSOP)"]

After 117 days of building tension, the nine players that comprised the 2008 WSOP Final Table (fittingly labeled the "November Nine") made their way back to the Rio Hotel and Casino in Vegas last night to continue their journey toward being the next WSOP Main Event champion.

The day kicked off with much pomp and circumstance in the Penn and Teller theater with each player's cheering section, including chip-leader Dennis Phillip's in white t-shirts and red St. Louis ball caps, rooting them on to win the $9.1 million first-place prize. His cheering section didn't have much to yell about in the early going as he lost a substantial amount to Ylon Schwartz and then to Ivan Demidov.

Demidov then turned around at gave short-stacked Kelly Kim enough chips to make sure that he wasn't the first to bust out of the final table. That honor (dishonor?) went to Craig Marquis when Scott Montgomery hit a runner-runner straight to send him home in ninth with $900,670. Kim didn't manage to hold on for that much longer and his stack got him into trouble soon after Marquis' exit and went out in eighth for $1,288,217.

Next to duck out of the action was Chino Rheem, who some had picked to take the whole event down, when his seemingly dominant A-K went up against Peter Eastgate's A-Q only to see a Queen come on the flop and send him home in seventh place with $1,772,650. Canadian Darus Suharto became the sixth-place finisher when he tangled with fellow Canadian, Montgomery, whose A-Q dominated Suharto's A-8 from the start and became even better when his flush filled out. Suharto will cry himself to sleep tonight and wipe his eyes with $2,418,562.

Even with Suharto's chips, Montgomery would find himself in deep trouble in brutal fashion. He pushed all-in over the top of a raise from Eastgate to see himself in a race with A-8 versus 6-6. An ace on the flop and one on the turn seemed to cement the hand, until a 6 fell on the river giving Eastgate a full house and sending Montgomery home in fifth place but $3,096,768 richer.

Two hours later, Eastgate took out Scwartz in fourth place ($3,774,974) and then proceeded to remove the original chip leader Phillips from the proceedings, making him the third-place finisher for $4,517,773 and ending the day's play.

So, the two young European poker players, Eastgate and Demidov, will face off tonight to decide who will emerge as the new Main Event champion and walk away with the $9.1 million first-place prize. Demidov goes in with a 79.5 million to 57.7 million chip lead and is a slight favorite to win as such.

If you think you might have an idea as to which of them will actually win when all is said and done, then check out the WSOP prop bets in the Bodog Sportsbook where the lines are Eastgate at -130 and Demidov at -110.