APPT Sydney: Final table, level 29 updates

Live updates from the final table, level 29 (blinds 60,000-120,000, ante 10,000) of the PokerStars.net APPT Grand Final brought to you by Sean Callander and Landon Blackhall from Star City Casino in Sydney, Australia. Click refresh to see the latest updates below, while the latest selected chip counts can be found by clicking here.

1.30am: Ernst Hermans eliminated in 2nd place, AUD $381,348 - Aaron Benton is the 2009 APPT Grand Final winner

For the third successive year, the APPT Grand Final championship trophy is staying in Australia! Having worked his stack back to as much as 2.3 million, Ernst Hermans called a pre-flop button raise from Aaron Benton of 325,000 to see a flop of [7d] [9c] [7s].

2009 PokerStars.net APPT Grand Final winner Aaron Benton

Hermans checked, Benton fired out 375,000 and Hermans called. The dealer produced the [qc] on the turn; Benton checked, Hermans snap-shoved and Benton snap-called, miles ahead with [kd] [kc] against Hermans [9d] [8d].

Benton's supporters were ecstatic; the dealer burned and the last Star City snap echoed through the Sports Theatre, bringing the river [6c] and eliminating the Dutch PokerStars Qualifier in second place. Having satellited into every season three APPT event on PokerStars, it's fitting that Aaron Benton has struck gold here at Star City!

1am: Benton in the box seat

Aaron Benton has just wrestled the chip lead off Ernst Hermans in a big hand. Hermans raised to 225,000 from the button and Benton called, then he check-called Hermans' bet of 225,000 on the flop of [2h] [jc] [ah]. On the turn of the [7c], Benton checked, Hermans led out for 800,000 and Benton called, then quickly check-called Herman's bet of 1.6 million on the river [10d].

"I've got nothing," Hermans muttered, rolling up [8c] [4h]. Benton rolled up [jd] [9h] for second pair and took the pot down. Benton is dominating with 9.76 million in chips while Hermans is on 1.92 million.

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EPT Prague: Final table player profiles

Eight players will contest the EPT Prague final table, starting at noon on Sunday at the Hilton hotel in the Czech capital. Details of the full prize-pool, and winners so far, is on the prizewinners page.

The chip leader is the only local player remaining in the field, the Prague-based student Jan Skampa.

The full line up is as follows (in seat order):

1 - Anthony Roux, 26, Provence, France - 2,839,000


Anthony Roux was studying accountancy when he first tried online poker. He used to spend his evenings playing the video game Quake 3 when a friend suggested he try Texas hold 'em instead. He deposited $1 and has never looked back. He is now a well-respected high stakes online cash game player at the $10-$20 and $20-$50 limits and turned pro nearly three years ago. Although Roux has played numerous EPT events, this is his first cash on the tour. However, he came fifth at a WSOP $2,000 no limit hold 'em event this summer for $120,311 and followed that up at the WSOPE in London a few months later with another fifth place finish in the £1,000 hold 'em event, winning £28,181.

2 - Stefan Mattsson, 30, Stockholm, Sweden - 3,553,000


A professional player from Sweden, Stefan Mattsson is a familiar figure on the European Poker Tour circuit and has cashed three times - 41st in Barcelona on season four (?12,550), 35th in Prague last season (?9,700) and 37th in Vilamoura two weeks ago where he came 37th for ?8,121. This is his first final table. Mattsson has played poker since he was a child and took up Texas hold 'em seven years ago. Although he considers himself primarily a cash game player, Mattsson has notched up more than $800,000 in major tournaments winnings. He first came to international attention when he went deep in the 2006 World Series, finishing 57th for $123,699. The following year he bettered that with a 22nd finish for $333,490. In May 2008 he was runner-up at WPT Barcelona in for ?220,000 and this summer came sixth at the pot-limit Omaha World Championship at the World Series. Mattsson grew up in Kiruna in Lappland, Sweden's northernmost city, but now lives in Stockholm.

3 - Larry Ryan, 46, Tipperary, Ireland, PokerStars qualifier - 1,338,000
Laurence Ryan

Larry Ryan won his seat to Prague in a $22 rebuy satellite on PokerStars and is the last remaining PokerStars qualifier in the tournament. The 46-year-old grandfather, who runs his own employment agency in Tipperary, only came to Prague so that he could gain some experience before the PCA, for which he has also qualified. This is the first tournament he has ever played outside Ireland but he's a familiar figure on the Irish Poker Tour. Ryan started playing draw poker as a teenager and took up no limit hold 'em six years ago. This is his best live result to date although he came ninth at the Irish Poker Championships in Galway last year for ?10,000. He has also won a seat to this year's Irish Poker Championships which takes place next weekend and is now the launch event for the new PokerStars.com UK and Ireland Poker Tour.

4 - Gustav Ekerot, 22, Stockholm, Sweden - 502,000


Gustav Ekerot first start playing poker with friends at school when he was 17. After watching the WPT on television, he started playing some free-rolls online and his success in these gave him the start of an online bankroll. He lives with his parents in Stockholm but is now a full time poker professional and makes his living by competing in online multi-table tournaments. He has also been successful in live events and came second in Master Classics of Poker in Amsterdam last year for ?430,000. When not playing poker, Ekerot likes playing indoor hockey.

5 - Sven Eichelbaum, 32, Dresden, Germany - 658,000

Sven Eichelbaum is a painter and decorator who runs his own company in Dresden. He has played poker for three years, both online and live, but the EPT final table in Prague is by far his biggest success so far. Two years ago he finished third at the Baltic Poker Championship for ?7,500. "It's just amazing to make the final table here in Prague," Eichelbaum said. "I had so many ups and downs." His girlfriend Stefani has travelled to Prague to cheer him on at the final, and Eichelbaum said: "We'll be celebrating tomorrow whatever happens in the tournament as it's also Stefani's birthday."

6 - Jan Skampa, 23, Prague, Czech Republic - 3,985,000


Local hero Jan Skampa has made back-to-back final tables - a feat that has not been achieved since season one when Ram Vaswani and Julian Thew both made the finals in Dublin and Copenhagen. Skampa, an economics student in Prague, came fourth two weeks ago in Vilamoura and now has a good chance of bettering that result in Prague. He is already by far the most successful Czech player on the EPT circuit and is third in the Czech all-time money list. Skampa is currently studying at Charles's University in Prague, his home city, but spends most of his time playing poker. He learned the game from friends and has been playing seriously for three years, scoring his first big result last August at WPT Slovakia, $24,508 for eighth place. He followed that with a win a month later, $24,881 at a WPT Cyprus side event, before eclipsing all previous results with a fourth place finish in Vilamoura worth ?117,128.

7 - Eyal Avitan, 34, Ashkelon, Israel - 2,627,000


After finishing day 1b in Prague with only 34,000 chips, Eyal Avitan slipped across the room to enter a $300 turbo side event - and finished second for $13,500. Avitan took up poker six years ago on a Caribbean cruise and, although he only played three live tournaments so far, he has already had reasonable results. In June, he finished seventh in a WPT Barcelona side event and he also came sixth in a $500 WPT Cyprus side event in September. The Israeli estate agent came to Prague with his friend Ran Azor who was runner-up at the WPT Championship in April, winning nearly $1.5 million. Azor has now gone home and Avitan's wife Karen is back in Israel caring for the couple's 11-month-old twins Noam and Shani.

8 - Luca Pagano, 31, Treviso, Italy - Team PokerStars Pro - 2,119,000


Luca Pagano has extended his own EPT records in Prague this week by making his sixth final table and his 13th cash. The 31-year-old former computer programming student from Treviso, Italy, kicked off his poker career using play money on PokerStars but soon progressed to real money and turned a modest deposit into a monster online bankroll. He is also hugely successful in live events putting together a small fortune in winnings. He has played dozens of EPTs since the tour started in 2004 and currently leads the EPT Tournament Leader Board. Pagano was nominated EPT Player of the Year in September 2007.

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EPT Prague: Jan Skampa's into final table lead

At times it was fast, other times slow, but at the end of play on day four of EPT Prague few were left in any doubt that tomorrow's final was likely to get a few pulses racing, be they Czech, Italian or neutral.

Jan Skampa, a student in Prague when not found at the poker table, makes his second consecutive EPT final table this weekend following his fourth place finish in Vilamoura just two weeks ago, a feat not achieved since season one. If his reputation hadn't already been cemented in Portugal, this performance will.

Arriving today with nearly 1.3 million chips he was firing from the off, quickly adding to a three-tiered stack, peaking after a three-way Goliath of a hand against Anthony Roux and Stefan Mattsson that shipped more than three million his way. By the close that figure was 3,935,000, with daylight between him and second placed Mattsson.

Mattsson may sleep tonight dreaming of ace-queen, a hand that provided him relief not once but twice today, first against the ace-king of Juha Lauttamus, then again to bust Yann Brosolo, the latter's elimination in 13th place bequeathing Mattsson the chip lead.

The Frenchman Anthony Roux, who started his day with a gutsy call to cripple Bastian Trachte, finished today in third place with 2,839,000 chips ahead of Eyal Avitan, the chip leader this morning. Avitan doesn't smile much although he has reason to, bagging up 2,627,000 chips tonight.

While the efforts of Skampa make the headlines the romantic sub plot belongs to an iconic Italian.

In conversations last night the Team PokerStars Pro Luca Pagano hinted at recent changes in his game, tweaks to a system that had already netted him record setting cash finishes but that now propel him to his record extending sixth EPT final table.

Pagano bags up 2,119,000 tonight. Two events ago he held the chip lead four handed in Warsaw before an outdraw ruined his title chances. It was a bitter defeat. This week he showed he is over that and more determined than ever to snatch that first title.

"This is going to be the sixth try," said Pagano. "Let's see if six is going to be the lucky number."

Other notable performances included that of Juha Lauttamus, who recovered well from his earlier collision with Mattsson. He came close to a second Prague final, but was horse whipped by the poker gods when he least expected it.

Bad beats are plentiful but the Finn's departure was worth recalling. All-in with jacks, Anthony Roux called him with ace-king. The flop brought a king and crucially a pair of threes to put Roux ahead but the turn came a jack, swinging things back in Lauttamus's favour before a king landed on the river, poking Lauttamus in the eye and sending him to the rail in tenth.

What with that and the elimination of the last Englishman Priyan De Mel in ninth place the final table was set. When it starts at noon tomorrow it will look like this:

Seat 1 Anthony Roux - 2,839,000
Seat 2 Stefan Mattsson - 3,553,000
Seat 3 Laurence Ryan - 1,338,000
Seat 4 Gustav Ekerot - 502,000
Seat 5 Sven Eichelbaum - 658,000
Seat 6 Jan Skampa - 3,935,000
Seat 7 Eyal Avitan - 2,627,000
Seat 8 Luca Pagano - 2,119,000

An honourable mention goes to the heroics of one player not among those listed above. Antony Lellouche may feel a depressingly familiar sensation in his bones tonight after busting with three tables left for a third EPT event in succession. Earlier in the week we'd predicted a better score for the Frenchman. Apologies to Lellouche for this kiss of death.

As always, a good way to fill the time between now and noon tomorrow is to immerse yourself in today's coverage. Find out who departed in 24th place for instance, how long we played 16 handed and who got a smile out of Eyal Avitan in the links below:

Day 4 table draw
Levels 20 & 21
Level 22
Level 23
Level 24
Level 25

That's it for today then. Read all about day four on our foreign language blogs: German, Swedish and Italian. Our thanks to the video blog team and their tireless work getting Christmas videos up onto the internet. Find that and everything else over at PokerStars.tv. Thanks also for the photography of Neil Stoddart, who brought us this...

And this...

All being (c) him.

Until tomorrow. High noon. See you then.

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EPT Prague: Final table, level 27 updates

Updates from the final table, level 27 of EPT Prague, brought to you by Stephen Bartley, Marc "The Conv" Convey, Howard Swains and Simon Young.

Latest chip counts are on the chip count page. The EPT tournament structure can be found on the EPT tournament structure page. Full details of the payout structure and prizewinners so far are on the payout structure and prizewinners page.

Click through for full profiles of the final table players. And previous levels today: Level 25 | Level 26 |

Blinds:
Level 27: 30,000-60,000 (5,000 ante)

2.55pm: Don't forget these two
Eyal Avitan raised to 180,000 under-the-gun, which is also the cut-off, four-handed. Everyone folds, including Anthony Roux in the big blind. Roux then attacks Avitan's big blind with a raise of 150,000, but Avitan calls. The flop comes [6c][as][ac] and after Avitan checks, Roux bets 200,000. Avitan folds.

Eyal Avitan

2.50pm: Roux through Skampa
Jan Skampa opened for 135,000 before Anthony Roux moved all-in. Skampa called showing [ad][kc] to Roux's [kh][ks]. The board ran: [3d][4c][3h][3s][9c].

2.45pm: We're off again
After a short break, the four players are back for the start of level 27. The chips as they sat down again looked like this:

Anthony Roux, France, 1,165,000
Stefan Mattsson, Sweden, 6,775,000
Jan Skampa, Czech Republic, 5,545,000
Eyal Avitan, Israel, 4,085,000

Some happy dealers. Today.

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EPT Prague: Introducing the final table

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APPT Sydney: Final table, level 28 updates

Live updates from the final table, level 28 (blinds 50,000-100,000, ante 10,000) of the PokerStars.net APPT Grand Final brought to you by Sean Callander and Landon Blackhall from Star City Casino in Sydney, Australia. Click refresh to see the latest updates below, while the latest selected chip counts can be found by clicking here.

12.40pm: Arm-wrestle continues

There have only been a couple of pots that have gone to showdown in the early stages of this heads-up battle. Aaron Benton limped in before the flop and Ernst Hermans checked his option and both players checked the flop of [7s] [5d] [qc]. Hermans then check-called Benton's bet of 150,000 on the turn of the [ac], then both players checked the river [6c] and Benton's [qd] [9s] was good enough to take down the pot.

Picking his pot: Ernst Hermans is well placed in his heads-up battle with Aaron Benton

Hermans then wrestled those lost chips back on the next hand: Hermans raised to 250,000 from the button preflop and Benton called and they checked a flop and turn of [6s] [5s] [jd] [4s] before Benton led out for 325,000 on the river of the [5c]. Hermans snap-shoved and Benton didn't hesitate throwing his cards into the muck.

12.20am: Netherlands v Australia

We're struggling to come up with much sporting history between the Aussies and the Dutch - Ned Zelic's freak goal in the Olympics qualifier against the Dutch in 1992 is a lame attempt ... the first hand of heads-up saw Aaron Benton raise from the button pre-flop to 400,000 and Ernst Hermans call from the big blind, the Dutchman check-called Benton's bet of 500,000 on the flop of [5h] [kh] [qc]. Both players checked the turn of the [4c], then Hermans led out for 875,000 on the river of the [7d]. Benton quickly threw his hand into the muck.

12am: Leo Boxell eliminated in third place, AUD $213,840

Leo Boxell has shown there's plenty of fight in the old warhorse with a tremendous third-place finish in the 2009 PokerStars.net APPT Grand Final. Just as the clock ticked into Monday morning, Leo Boxell was sent to the rail in third place.

Aaron Benton raised to 450,000 from the button, Ernst Hermans folded on the small blind and Boxell called from the big blind to go to a flop of [8s] [10h] [7d]. Boxell open-shoved his last 1.8 million over the line and Benton snap-called, tabling [9d] [8d] for top pair and an open-ended straight draw, well ahead of Boxell's [8h] [6s].

Leo Boxell writes another chapter in a stellar poker career with third in the 2009 APPT Grand Final

The turn and river ran dry as they were snapped [3c], [10s], eliminating the Aussie poker legend and we are now about to start a heads-up battle between Australia's Aaron Benton and The Netherlands' Ernst Hermans.

11.45pm: Wayne Carlson eliminated in fourth place, AUD $166,320

It was a long time coming, but our fourth place elimination and it's Wayne Carlson off to the cage to collect his AUD $166,320 prize money.

Ernst Hermans raised to 245,000 under the gun pre-flop before Carlson reraised to 500,000 from the button. Leo Boxell and Aaron Benton folded on the small and big blinds and Carlson snap-called, revealing [as] [qc], dominating Carlson's [ad] [10h].

The board ran out [7s] [6s] [kh] [4h] [2s] to end Carlson's run, and it's now two Aussies up against the Dutchman as we go into three-handed play.

11.30pm: Benton flexes muscle

In a rare spot of action, play was folded to Aaron Benton who raised to 200,000 from the small blind, only for Ernst Hermans to call from the big blind. They saw a flop of [2c] [4c] [6h], which they both checked.

Benton then fired out 200,000 on the turn of the [7h], Hermans called and the players went to the river [ah], where Benton fired out a stack of blue 25,000 chips worth half a million. Hermans went deep into the tank and let his hand go - Benton flashed the [7d] before raking in his chips.

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EPT Prague: Final table, level 26 updates

Updates from the final table, level 26 of EPT Prague, brought to you by Stephen Bartley, Marc "The Conv" Convey, Howard Swains and Simon Young.

Latest chip counts are on the chip count page. The EPT tournament structure can be found on the EPT tournament structure page. Full details of the payout structure and prizewinners so far are on the payout structure and prizewinners page.

Click through for full profiles of the final table players.

Blinds:
Level 26: 25,000-50,000 (5,000 ante)

1.52pm: Mattsson tangles with Skampa
Jan Skampa raised to 120,000 from the cut off. We've seen this before. Stefan Mattsson re-raised to 330,000 from the big blind. We've seen this before too. Skampa called. The flop came [3h][kc][10c] and Mattsson fired 440,000. Skampa folded.

In addition to this being quick in terms of eliminations, the actual play during the hands is exceptionally rapid, particularly Mattson and Skampa. That hand took about one minute, start to finish.

1.50pm: An moving picture introduction to the final day

Watch EPT 6 Prague: Final Table Intro on PokerStars.tv

1.45pm: Yes, I am lying
After busting two players in quick succession, Stefan Mattsson opens again, this time for 115,000.

"I am on a rush," he said.
"Aces again?" asks Skampa.
"Just one ace," responds the Swede.

Skampa gives no respect to that statement and, from the small blind, pushes out a mountain of orange 25,000 chips - around 400,000. Insta fold from Mattsson.

"So you were lying," Skampa laughed.
"I was."

1.40pm: Avitan's pot
Jan Skampa opens on the button for 120,000 and only Eyal Avitan calls from the small blind. Both check the [ks][jc][js] flop, but Avitan wakes up on the [9h] turn and bets 225,000. Skampa loses interest and folds.

1.36pm: Larry Ryan out in fifth place winning ?135,000
On the hand after Luca Pagano busted Stefan Mattsson was back into raising mode. He made it 145,000 to go from the small blind before Larry Ryan three-bet him to 390,000 from the big blind. Mattsson peered left at his opponent and announced "all-in", getting an instant call from the Irishman. Yet another showdown:

Mattsson: [ad][ac]
Ryan: [jd][jc]

The board came [ks][8s][6d][5h][3s] to confirm that we lose Larry Ryan in 5th place for ?135,000. Are we really four handed already?

1.35pm: Luca Pagano out in sixth winning ?100,000
It's all over for Luca Pagano for another EPT main event. Another cash, another final table, but another near miss when it comes to the title. Jan Skampa set the tone, raising two pots in succession from late position and picking up blinds and antes. When it was folded to Pagano on the button, he made it 125,000 and Stefan Mattson, in the big blind, asked for a count. "Three-point-five more," said Pagano.

Mattsson re-raised to 320,000, and Pagano moved all in. "I call," said Mattsson, in a heartbeat. On their backs:

Pagano: [ac][jd]
Mattsson: [qc][qh]

Pagano was in trouble and the board came [6d][kh][4c], which didn't offer much help. The turn [qd] actually gave him more outs as he was drawing to a straight. But the [6c] on the end filled Mattsson's boat and sent Pagano out.

1.30pm: Roux raising
Anthony Roux opened for 120,000 from the cut off. Jan Skampa called in the small blind for a flop of [kc][5d][3h]. Both checked for a [7c], then checked that for a [5s] river card. Skampa then fired out 170,000 and Roux called showing [ad][js] to Skampa's [8s][9s].

1.26pm: Nice pot for Pagano
Luca Pagano opens for 125,000, and gets a call from Anthony Roux on his left. Stefan Mattson folds his button, but Larry Ryan also call from the small blind. The three of them see a [6d][5h][8s] flop, Ryan checks, Pagano bets 275,000 and gets a call from only Roux. The [10c] turn sees another bet from the Italian, this time for 425,000, and now Roux decides it's best to let this one go. That hand puts Pagano up to 2.6million, And Roux down to 1.7million.

1.25pm: Nice value bet
Jan Skampa raised to 120,000 from under-the-gun and was called by Larry Ryan in the big blind. The flop came [3s][5s][ks] and Ryan check-called a 165,000 bet from Skampa to see the [2s] turn. Both players checked before Ryan led out for 245,000 on the [7c] river. Skampa called quickly and mucked even quicker when Ryan revealed [ac][7s] for a flush.

1.20pm: Counts
Approximate chip counts are available on the chip count page throughout the level. These are the official counts at the break:

Anthony Roux - 2,285,000
Stefan Mattsson - 3,485,000
Larry Ryan - 1,805,000
Jan Skampa - 4,425,000
Eyal Avitan - 3,445,000
Luca Pagano - 2,125,000

1.15pm: New level
With the 1,000 denomination chips now out of circulation, players are ante-ing 5,000. The full, official six-handed counts are on their way.

Here's how the tournament area looks in Prague today:

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APPT Sydney: Final table, level 27 updates

Live updates from the final table, level 14 (blinds 40,000-80,000, ante 5000) of the PokerStars.net APPT Grand Final brought to you by Sean Callander and Landon Blackhall from Star City Casino in Sydney, Australia. Click refresh to see the latest updates below, while the latest selected chip counts can be found by clicking here.

10.45pm: Opportunities few and far between

There have been a few small pots pushed around, including our first family pot of the evening. All four players limped in to see a flop of [5s] [4h] [kc]. Aaron Benton and Ernst Hermans and Wayne Carlson all checked to Leo Boxell who fired 250,000 from the button.
Carlson then raised 200,000 before the flop on the next hand.

Benton called and both players checked down a board of [ad] [6c] [kh] [8h] [9s]. Benton tabled [4s] [4h] and was good against Carlson's [jh] [7d]. Carlson did manage to take a couple of pots after that but the money is just being pushed around between all four players with barely a flop seen.

10.30pm: Support arrives for Carlson

Ernst Hermans raised before the flop to 145,000 under the gun, only to see Wayne Carlson call from the button as Leo Boxell and Aaron Benton got out of the way from the blinds to go heads-up to a flop of [kh] [2h] [8d].

Hermans opened for 185,000 and then called Carlson's raise of 425,000 before check-folding to the Sydneysider's bet of 425,000 on turn of the turn of the[8c].

The "Wayne Train" have been here supporting Carlson all day, with his daughter Ashley and son Nick proud of their father's efforts.

Wayne Carlson has plenty of support in Star City's Star Theatre tonight

"He deserves it, he hasn't cashed in many big tournies but for him it's all about the experience," Nick said. According to the Carlson clan, should he win the APPT his first task will be to pay the mortgage and hopefully for Ashley, she'll get a new car.

However Nick knows his father's main goal: "Dad's been playing for years but he's always wanted to go in the Aussie Millions. I know he probably won't do much after this but he's definitely got his sights set on Melbourne."

10.15pm: Boxell & Carlson chop it up

It appears the 2009 PokerStars.net APPT Grand Final title is Aaron Benton's to lose. He holds half of the chips in play (six million), has plenty of support from the rail, was just served a fresh schooner of beer and is supremely confident of going all the way.

Not quite Aaron ... the chip leader watches two of his rivals chop a big pot

And Benton is happy to see his tablemates butting heads. We just witnessed Leo Boxell and Wayne Carlson with all their money in the middle on a board that read [ad] [5c] [kd] [4s] [3h], but when the cards were tabled the crowd thought Boxell had Carlson eliminated with the 2003 Aussie Millions runner-up showing [7h] [6s] for the nut straight. However Carlson rolled up his nut straight with [7c] [6c], chopping the pot and keeping both alive.

10pm: Benton the man to catch

Leo Boxell has clawed back to 2.5 million in chips after dipping below one million after the dinner break. He still trails Aaron Benton on 5.6 million, while Wayne Carlson holds 2.2 million and Ernst Hermans 1.4 million. They're chasing a first prize of AUD $594,000, with the runner-up set to collect AUD $381 348, third AUD $213,840 and fourth AUD $166,320.

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EPT Prague: Final table, level 25 updates

Updates from the final table, level 25 of EPT Prague, brought to you by Stephen Bartley, Marc "The Conv" Convey, Howard Swains and Simon Young.

Latest selected chip counts are on the chip count page. The EPT tournament structure can be found on the EPT tournament structure page. Full details of the payout structure and prizewinners is on the payout structure and prizewinners page.

Click through for full profiles of the final table players.

Blinds:
Level 25: 20,000-40,000 (4,000 ante)

12.50pm: Sven Eichelbaum out in eighth, winning ?55,500
Sven Eichelbaum opened for his first raise of the day from second position. He made it 90,000 before facing a three-bet to 365,000 from Laurence Ryan in the big blind. It was also the first time the Irishman had raised and that might've been going through Eichelbaum's mind as he thought for a few minutes, then shrugged his shoulders and moved all in. Ryan snap called with [ah][ac] and was in great shape against the German's [ad][jd]. The board ran [6d][9c][qs][qd][5c] to eliminate Eichelbaum in eighth place for ?55,500.

12.40pm: Pot to Pagano
The first flop for a while. Luca Pagano opened for 100,000 from under the gun. Stefan Mattsson called from two seats along. The two went heads up to a flop of [jh][jc][4d]. Both checked for a [qh] on the turn. Pagano bet 175,000, getting a quick fold out of Mattsson.

12.30pm: Ekerot moves in
The short stack Gustav Ekerot moves all in when it's folded to him. Larry Ryan is the only player who seems interested in calling and asks for a count. But eventually thinks better of it and folds. Ekerot takes blinds and antes.

12.25pm: First hand
When Priyian de Mel was eliminated on the final hand last night, he was in the big blind seat, meaning there was no small blind in play on today's first hand. Stefan Mattsson raised to 90,000 from first position, attacking the solitary big blind. Eyal Avitan re-raised to 240,000, which Mattsson called. The aggression tailed off after that and every street was checked leaving us with a [5c][kh][8c][4h][2c] board. Avitan revealed [qh][qs] and took the first pot as Mattsson mucked

12.22pm: Shuffle up and deal
The formalities have been completed and the cards are in the air.

12.05pm: Twit-to-who?
It's competition time on PokerStars twitter. Get your own piece of the action by selecting who you think will win EPT Prague today for a chance to win a bundle of Frequent Player Points. Simply tweet (twit?) your selection to @PokerStars_com before the first elimination and if your pick wins then you're into the draw for the loot. If you lose, well, try next weekend's competition instead. Get all the details on PokerStars Twitter.

Pick your man from this little lot

12pm: Ready for the off
The eight finalists are returning to the tournament room to begin the final stretch of their quest for the championship. There were 39 minutes of level 25 left when a final table was reached last night, and they will play the remainder of that level, then go straight into level 26, this afternoon.

A reminder of our finalists:

Seat one - Anthony Roux, France, 2,839,000
Seat two - Stefan Mattsson, Sweden, 3,553,000
Seat three - Laurence Ryan, Ireland, 1,338,000
Seat four - Gustav Ekerot, Sweden, 502,000
Seat five - Sven Eichelbaum, Germany, 658,000
Seat six - Jan Skampa, Czech Republic, 3,935,000
Seat seven - Eyal Avitan, Israel, 2,627,000
Seat eight - Luca Pagano, Italy, 2,119,000

And here's what they are playing for:

1 - ?682,000
2 - ?454,000
3 - ?255,000
4 - ?171,000
5 - ?135,000
6 - ?100,000
7 - ?71,000
8 - ?55,500

The formalities of photographs, handshakes and nervous chatter are currently under way. We'll be here with all the action imminently.

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APPT Sydney: Final table, level 26 updates

Live updates from the final table, level 26 (blinds 30,000-60,000, ante 5000) of the PokerStars.net APPT Grand Final brought to you by Sean Callander and Landon Blackhall from Star City Casino in Sydney, Australia. Click refresh to see the latest updates below, while the latest selected chip counts can be found by clicking here.

8.45pm: Benton the man to catch

The four remaining players are back at the final table after a one-hour dinner break. They're cashed up, but a free feed at the Garden Buffet was the meal of choice for our 'Fab Four'. Meanwhile, many are partaking in a lazy beverage or two in the bar adjacent to the Sports Theatre as the two-week APPT Sydney festival of poker winds down.

Heading into level 26, with blinds up to 30,000/60,000 with a 5000 ante, Aaron Benton is the chip leader with 5,200,000, ahead of Leo Boxell (2,800,000), Ernst Hermans (2,250,000) and Wayne Carlson (1,450,000). There's a one-in-four chance that the APPT Grand Final trophy will be staying on home soil for the third year in-a-row.

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