Time to nail my national colors to the mast. Ah hell, let's get this right: time to nail my national coloUrs to the mast: I'm British, very much a part of Europe, and right now there exists the very real possibility that two Europeans could go heads up for the World Series title tomorrow afternoon.

That's never happened before, and it would be one great story for us Europeans to come over here and take the title in what is the undisputed home of poker. And even the Americans in the audience couldn't begrudge either Peter Eastgate or Ivan Demidov, with the latter in particular impressing everyone watching. Those include David "Chino" Rheem and Darus Suharto, both of whom named Demidov as their pick from the remaining players. And the Team PokerStars Pro Hevad Khan, watching from the stands, was also impressed by the Russian. "Undoubtedly," Khan said when it was put to him that Demidov was the man to beat.

Right now, though, there are still four in with a legitimate shot at this one, and only a fool would write off either Ylon Schwartz or Dennis Phillips. The former had a great opening level before getting on the wrong end of that massive hand when his queens lost to Phillips, all in pre-flop. And that only served to underline Phillips' staying power. He's bounced back very well from the bludgeoning he took early on, where he was looking like being the second chip leader in successive Main Event final tables to be the first to hit the rail. Not so, and Phillips--and his mass of supporters--are all still alive.

Now the minimum anyone can go home with is $3,774,974, which is a lot of dollars, kroner or roubles.

Here were the chip counts as we started the current level.

Watch WSOP Final Table: Chip Count Lvl. 37 (22:10) on PokerStars.tv

As you might have gathered by the lack of hard hand history coverage in this post, there wasn't much in the way of action in the last hour. We expect that to change after this 20 minute break.

Eliminations aplenty

In all of poker, there are few stories more heart-warming than the online qualifier made good. Players investing less than about $100 who then go on to make millions are usually some of the most humble folk involved in these huge events.

Few fit that bill more comfortably than Darus Suharto, the PokerStars qualifier from Canada, whose fairytale has just come to a halt here in the Rio. Suharto found himself in a position in which he had to start looking for good opportunities. When Scott Montgomery opened for a standard raise at the 250,000/500,000/50,000 level, Suharto shoved all in for a little more than 8 million. He held Ah-8c.

Though he sat with a Terminator look behind his shades, a close up camera highlighed his heavy breathing. To the outside observer, it was impossible to say whether he was putting it on or in fact nervous. Montgomery decided it was time to look up Suharto. He made the call with a half smile, turning over As-Qd. Suharto winced. He knew he was in trouble.

Though neither player paired on the flop, it was soul-crushing anyway: K-J-2, all spades. Montgomery's ace of spades was just begging for one more of its kind. It came on the turn. The 4s gave Montgomery the nuts. Suharto's magnificent run at the 2008 World Series of Poker was finished.

For his sixth place performance, Suharto earned $2,418,562, which is exceptional enough without the additional information that it only cost him $80 to qualify, a fact he pointed out in his post-game interview.

"No, absolutely not," he said when asked if he ever imagined that he'd be here when he first fired up PokerStars to join the satellite. "Eighty dollars is my whole investment, so I never expected to go this far."

And how about that humility? Well, Suharto is an accountant in Toronto and was one of the few players to claim that he wouldn't be quitting his job in the wake of this success. And with effortless charm, he just reassured his company that he'll not be running away from his desk just yet. "I promised my boss that I'd go back to work, and if I'm going to quit I'm going to make sure that the office will be OK, that he has someone to replace me."

Whoever gets Suharto to keep--be it his existing boss or his new friends in the poker world--they're getting a gem.

In other tournament news, Ivan Demidov has just propelled himself back into the chip lead - and then some.

"Uh, we've got a big pot here."

That was the signal from tournament director Jack Effel as he looked down at a rapidly developing pot. Because Effel missed the betting action, we in the field missed it as well. Suffice it to say, after some raising and re-raising, Montgomery moved all-in and got snap-called by Demidov.

In what would become the biggest pot of the tournament yet (worth around 50 million by our count), Montgomery turned over a startling Ad-9d. Not as surprising was Demidov's Ks-Kd. Montgomery had Demidov's 24,435,000 covered. The crowd called for their man's ace or their man's king as the dealer laid out a perfectly fightening 6d-4d-6c flop, Two diamonds and the three remaining aces remained for Montgomery.

He missed twice, sending Demidov into an uncharacteric dance around the stage. At once, he was the new chip leader.

Montgomery was left with less than six million chips which he moved in just a few hands later with Ad-3d. Peter Eastgate looked him up with a pair of sixes.

"Can he catch an ace?" Jack Effel asked the crowd.

The question was answered one second later when one ace fell on the flop and then another on the turn.

"There is one out left in the deck," Effel told the crowd, which corrected him presently, saying there should be two sixes left in the deck.

"Dennis said he folded a six, so there is one left in the deck. Let's see the river!"

Boom shacka-lacka. There it was. A one outer on the river for the win.

Montgomery exited in fifth place earning more than $3 million.

Moments before the players returned from their dinner break, the World Series tournament officials introduced a man named Doyle, one of those rare stars whose first name is instantly recognisable and renders the addition of a last name utterly redundant.

Brunson--for it is he--was brought here to induct the latest additions to the Poker Hall of Fame. This year they are Dewey Tomko, himself the holder of three World Series bracelets, and Henry Orenstein, a notable-enough player but most famous as the inventor of the hole cam, which set the whole poker television bandwagon in motion, and brought us a huge step closer to where we are today.

As the players take their seats again, there are six hole cams still in operation, in front of Ivan Demidov, Dennis Phillips, Peter Eastgate, Ylon Schwartz, Darus Suharto and Scott Montgomery. Take a quick look back at what's happened so far by clicking on any of the links from our coverage so far.

Final table set to start
Shuffled up and dealing has begun
First hour in the books
Have we seen this before?
Late night a-comin'?
Thrills, spills and brainaches
Short-stacked and smiling, but gone
Phillips find a reason to be cheerful, Rheem not so much
The moment everyone dreads

And you can also see all the video blogs over at PokerStars.tv

Here's a look at one video blog with update chip counts from the dinner break.

Watch WSOP Final Table: Chip Count Lvl. 36 (18:00) on PokerStars.tv

But there's a load more action still to come, so stay tuned right here.

It's never a great time for a poker player. In fact, there's probably no worse time than moments after the bust out, especially in a tournament of this magnitude, with this much attention focused on one table, with this much money at stake. And it was a bitterly disappointed David "Chino" Rheem who just walked away from the final table, busted in seventh place.

"This is the one to win," Rheem said, speaking candidly in his post-game interview. "This one meant a lot. I really wanted to win this, not just for me but for all my friends and family."

Rheem had been many commentators' pick to take this down. He was the only player with World Series final table experience, and had been making all the right moves and the right plays for those highly-charged days in July. And there were two hands that broke him here: one a mandatory call with jacks against the then short-stacked Dennis Phillips' queens ("I would have folded jacks if he'd have had more chips," Rheem admitted), and then he got his last couple of million in with A-K against Peter Eastgate's A-Q. The queen flopped and Chino was done.

"I would have changed the last hand," Rheem offered, when asked if he would have done anything different. "One hand I got unlucky and that cost me my bracelet. But that's poker."

That, of course, is poker, and now Rheem returns to the cash games and tournament circuit with a reputation only enhanced by this World Series experience. "I'll try to stay positive and say there's always next year," he said. "But the odds, you know..."

Meanwhile, Phillips has just won a massive hand against Ivan Demidov. Phillips raised to 1.3 million and Demidov called out of the big blind. The flop came down K-3-3. Demidov checked and Phillips bet out 2.5 million. Demidov has a trance-like look he takes on when thinking. He fell into thought. When he emerged, he called. Phillips nodded silently and watched the 7c fall on the turn. This time, both players checked.

When the Ks fell on the river, the crowd oooohed and ahhhhed. When Demidov checked, Phillips bet 5 million. The crowd hummed as Demidov's lips pursed tught. It was clear he was having a hard time believing Phillips, but couldn't convince himself he had a winner in front of him. He nodded his head, then shook it side to side. He mouthed several words no one could decipher.Finally, he made the call.

Phillips turned over KhQs for kings full. His face had been stuck on one position for so long, he seemed like he wasn't happy about the massive 17 million pot. Finally, his mouth cracked into a smile, he pumped both fists, and raked in his pot.

Players are now on a 75- minute dinner break.

Rheem eliminated, Phillips doubles

There are a lot of trite phrases that come to mind when watching somebody lose with A-K vs A-Q. They are trite because it happens often enough to inspire such phrases. It doesn't happen so often, however, to take the sting away.

That's what's just happened to David "Chino" Rheem.

Rheem open-shoved with As-Kc and got a call from Peter Eastgate in the small blind. Eastgate held Ah-Qd. As always, everything looked fine until the flop: Qs-5s-7d. Rheem bricked twice and was eliminated in seventh place $1,7772,650.

This is what Rheem had to say about today's event before it began.

Watch WSOP Final Table: Chino's Feelings on PokerStars.tv

Meanwhile, Dennis Phillips is trucking again. In earlier action, he doubled up in a huge hand and, let's be honest, a huge outdraw against Ylon Schwartz. The hand played out like this: David Rheem raised to 1 million. Phillips called out of the small blind. Schwartz, sitting in the big blind, made it more than 4 million additional to play.

Rheem looked pained, but folded after thinking for a good minute. Action moved back to Phillips in the small blind. Maybe he put Schwartz on a squeeze play. Maybe he was frustrated by Schwartz's earlier big moves. He moved all-in and got a snap-call from Schwartz for more than 5 million more. Phillips tabled Ac-Qh. Schwartz flipped up two black queens.

The flop came down 4d-As-Jc and the crowd, heavily peppered with Phillips supporters, nearly brought down the Penn and Teller Theater roof. The 6s turn left Schwartz with one out, the Qd. Sicker things had happened today. This time, however, fate would not be so cruel. A red three fell and Phillips' fans screamed so loud, one man was seen plugging his ears to prevent hearing loss.

For the first time in many hours, Dennis Phillips smiled.

This has been a long run for the oldest man at this year's final table. He told us earlier how to survive.

Watch WSOP Final Table: Dennis's Top Tips On Stamina on PokerStars.tv

It's easy to forget when you're eyeing a $9 million first prize that all of the players who sat down today are already huge winners. Craig Marquis took close to a million for busting first; a disappointment for him on the one hand, but there were more than 6,700 players who would happily have swapped places. Kelly Kim, who busted next, doesn't seem to have forgotten though. During the recent break, he was out in the Rio meeting his public, wrapping his arms around the shoulders of spectators and posing in front of the World Series backdrops for photographs. And the biggest smile is without question on Kim's face.

It's a slightly different state of affairs for the seven still around the table, where game faces are most definitely in place. Every now and again, even before that double up, Phillips had been obliging his huge number of fans with a wave and a smile, prompting that horn to sound. And as you might expect, the place just erupted when he hit the ace against Schwartz.

For the big stacks--Ivan Demidov and Schwartz in particular--there's been no real time yet to let the guard down.

Both of those two Million Dollar Men are exceptionally friendly both on and off the table: Demidov belies the ice-cold Russian stereotype and is one of the most open guys you'll meet. Schwartz is always impeccably composed and relaxed, and even during that massive pot, which cut him right down to the pack, he merely allowed himself a slight grimace and counted out the chips.

No question, though, that was a massive hand for the dynamics of this final table. Schwartz will need all that composure, while Phillips will try to ride the wave. This is really hotting up.

Craig Marquis eliminated in sickest fashion

With less than five million chips and an M of less than 5, Craig Marquis just open-shoved for 4,925,000. His 7h-7d looked pretty good against Scott Montgomery's Ad-Qs. It looked much, much better on the 7c-Ah-Td flop. The tournament director went through the long recitation of ways Montgomery could suck out.

"He could catch running aces. He could catch running queens," etc, etc.

He failed to mention the possibility of running jack-king.

He should've mentioned that.

Sure enough, the Jd on the turn and Ks on the river and Craig Marquis went from overwhelming favorite to the ninth place finisher in the 2008 World Series of Poker.

It was like magic. Black magic.

The stage of the Penn and Teller theater at the Rio most commonly hosts, you guessed it, Penn and Teller, a daredevil comedy/magic show whose finale involves the shorter, quieter of the duo (Teller) catching a bullet in his teeth. The drama is no less death-defying here today, where these guys are playing for that $9 million first prize, and during the last level we saw something very similar: bullets were flying but ultimately they too were caught and nobody perished.

Kelly Kim, still the short-stack, has been all in for his tournament life twice but doubled up only once. In another hand to the one reported below (K-10 v K-K), both he and Chino Rheem got it in with the same hand A-K off-suit. But Kim was soon staring down the barrel of Rheem's gun when three hearts flopped and only Chino had one in his hand. Another and Kim was a goner.

But it never came through turn and river, meaning Kim took his seat again and left Dennis Phillips to play for his continued participation. But, again as reported below, his queens held up against Rheem's jacks.

That left Rheem with a huge dent in his own stack, but knowing Rheem he's unlikely to stay quiet and there could be further fluctuations in front of the Californian Million Dollar Man very soon.

This is what Phillps had to say about Rheem in our recent interview with him.

Watch WSOP Final Table: Dennis on Chino on PokerStars.tv

During the break, it was a brave man who ventured into the lobby of the theater here as the place remains abuzz. But Ivan Demidov is such a player and he was seen moving among the supporters lining up to buy drinks, souvenirs and grab a slice of the action. At least one of the railbirds noticed the quiet Russian sauntering among them and chased him down for an autograph.

Ever since Dennis Phillips began gathering autographs on his now-famous red baseball cap, it seems the fashion among poker spectators is to gather as many scribbles on head-gear as possible. So it was that Demidov found a felt pen in one hand and a hat in the other, and he duly added his own signature. Then with a smile he was back to the table.

After a raucous opening among the crowd, where excitement bubbled over into some poorly-timed shouts from spectators while players were making tough decisions, the atmosphere is now cathedral quiet as players make up their minds whether to call hefty bets. Phillips' supporters have brought a truck horn along, which they sound in support of the account manager at, yes, a trucking company.

It's poker mixed with showbiz mixed with a truck rally. And it's as tense, thrilling and boisterous as you'd imagine from all those things.

As you might imagine by the lack of action in this entry (apart from Marquis' elimination), there hasn't been a ton of big play in the past hour. In the second biggest hand of the past 60 minutes, Ivan Demidov came in for a raise and got a call from Ylon Schwartz in the blinds. The flop came out 5h-7h-Jh and both players checked. On the 9h turn, Schwartz led for more than 1 million. Demidov countered with a raise to 1.6 million more. Schwartz called and saw the 5s on the river. Schwartz checked and Demidov put out 4,325,000. Schwartz tanked, closing his eyes and rubbing them with his fingers. He spent all of five minutes thinking before grimacing and folding.

Here's a look at the chip counts form Level 34.

Watch WSOP Final Table: Chip Count Lvl. 35 (14:25) on PokerStars.tv