This has been Peter Eastgate's hour.

Though the past 60 minutes was cut by one-third due to a break, Eastgate has used this time to pull out to a better than 3-1 chip lead over Ivan Demidov.

Though humble, Eastgate was confident coming into the match tonight. Just before he sat down, he spoke to our video blog team. Check out the interview below.

Watch WSOP Final Table: Peter Pre HU Interview on PokerStars.tv

Leaving the Penn and Teller Theater, even when players are on a break, is an uncomfortable proposition. One wrong turn in the Rio labyrinth can send a wanderer in the wrong direction for just long enough to miss one hand.

And one hand is all it takes.

Take for instance the last twenty minute break. The closest watering hole to this theater is the adjacent Starbucks. It's staying open eight hours longer than usual to accommodate the fatigued spectators and media. The line was 20 people deep and the barista was slinging caffeine with all speed.

As the stragglers checked their watches and got ready to make tracks for the heads-up match, the barista fired up one of his machines. To addled minds with questionable hearing, the steam machine sounded like a thousand-strong crowd in rapture.

No one wants to miss that one moment. With the blinds at 400,000/800,000/100,000, it could happen anytime. Now, the entire crowd has re-settled in for this last hour and watched Peter Eastgate go on a run to take him up over the 100,000,000 mark in chips.

Eastgate broke that psychological barrier when he took down a sizeable pot that played out as follows: Eastgate limped, Demidov raised 1.95 million and Eastgate called. The flop showed 9h-7s-6d and Demidov continuation bet 3.625, which Eastgate called. The turn was Js and both players checked, seeing a Qs on the river. Demidov found the bet and fired 7 million at it, but Eastgate was going nowhere, called, and showed J-8s for a pair of jacks. Demidov's A-10 was no good.

Apart from a small pot for the Russian when he made a seven-high straight, it's been a one-sided level so far. Eastgate has managed to strong-arm his way past Demidov in most pre-flop confrontations and even when they get all the way to the river, Eastgate is finding the better hand. In one such example, Demidov raised 2 million pre-flop, and Eastgate called. The flop came 10h-6h-Jh and both players checked all the way to showdown when turn and river came 7d-3s. Eastgate showed 5c-6c for a pair of sixes. And they were good.

And so it begins. It took nearly 120 days for this very moment.Two men from distant lands face-to-face in a battle for poker immortality.

Thirty minutes ago, Michael Buffer (yes, the Michael Buffer) introduced Ivan Demidov and Peter Easgate and belted, "Lets get rrrrrready to shuflllllllle and deal!" The crowd, as you might expect, went wild.

There were skeptics who didn't think this Penn and Teller Theater would fill. Those people were proven wrong yesterday when there was a line out the door all day. Then there were people who believed that once the first seven busted out and their fans went looking for a bar that the heads-up battle would be void of spectators. Wrong again. Tonight, this theater is once again filled to capacity with a line of people waiting to get in. As one person here noted, "These aren't people who are here to watch one player. These are fans of poker."

Perhaps we should've expected it. Millions of people watch "Deal or No Deal" on television every week and the contestants on that show employ basic strategy and a little gamble to compete for a piddly million bucks. The two players who remain tonight are fighting for a combined $15 million and they will be doing a lot more than picking a numbered suitcase from a half-dressed model.

And what has the action been like?

Well, any belief that the chips would be kept out of the pots as the opponents sized each other up were quickly dissolved by a couple of action flops in the first few hands. First up, Eastgate raised out of the small blind to 1.5 million, which Demidov called, an additional 900,000 on top of his 600,000 big blind. The flop was a perilous 10s-Kh-10h, which was checked by Demidov. Eastgate bet 1.75 million and Demidov called. The turn spiced it up even more -- it was the Kd -- and both players checked, only to see an even more frightening Kc on the river, making a full house on the board. Demidov was first to act, and act he did, sliding out 8 million and forcing a reluctant fold from Eastgate.

Demidov kept his foot on the gas through the opening few hands, picking up three in a row. But Eastgate found his own accelerator pedal soon enough, repopping Demidov pre-flop on one hand to take it down, then continuation betting a flop of 9h-As-8h to take down back-to-back pots of his own.

The tournament director Jack Effel soon announced that we'd entered level 38, where the blinds and antes had raised to 400,000-800,000 (100,000), and the "standard" opening raise went up to 2.25 million or thereabouts. There are millions of chips in every pot, but no huge swings just yet.

Earlier, the PokerStars Video Blog team asked Ivan what he thought of Peter's abilities. Here's what he had to say.

Watch WSOP Final Table: Ivan on Peter on PokerStars.tv

Every World Series final table has carried with it a sense of anticipation, but none quite like the one we watched today.

It was an historic final table four months in the making. Nine men from around the world reconvened after an extended poker vacation. They walked into the Rio Hotel and Casino Penn and Teller Theater this morning knowing that when they left tonight, they would know if they still had a chance at winning poker's most coveted prize and nine million bucks.

Tonight, we know who among those nine men have that shot.

Denmark's Peter Eastgate and Russia's Ivan Demidov will return to this theater Monday night to play heads up for the World Series bracelet.

Among the November 9 who started here today were six members of the PokerStars family. The Million Dollar Men were better known as Dennis "FordMan1954" Phillips, Darus "Dennis_TO" Sahurto, Ivan "hasuling" Demidov, Ylon "TenthPlanet" Schwartz, David "Chino" Rheem and Peter "Isser" Eastgate. They faced off against off against Craig Marquis, Scott Montgomery, and Kelly Kim.

Although the event started slowly, it quickly turned to a bloodbath. As chronicled in Thrills, spills and brainaches Marquis was the first to go after opening-shoving pocket sevens into Scott Montgomery's A-Q. Marquis loved the 7c-Ah-Td flop. Just to keep the audience engaged, 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, earning $900,670.

Kelly Kim and his short stack gave the Cinderella story lovers an opportunity to root for a comeback. After surviving well past when anybody thought he would, Kim finally gave up the ghost, getting pocket fours all-in against three players. He was out-flopped by Darus Suharto's 9c-Tc and Kim went out in eighth place for a $1,288,217 payday.

Still alive were all of the PokerStars Million Dollar Men. With six out of the seven left in the field, it was only a matter of time before one had to go. That man was David "Chino" Rheem. An early favorite among prognosticators, Rheem had a hard time finding consistent traction today. Finally, he got his short stack all-in, and got it in good. 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.

"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..."

While the stories of these eliminations were worth reporting, the big story of the day had been Dennis Phillips' epic fall from the chip lead. Starting with more than 25 million chips, he'd fallen below ten million and looked ripe to exit early. It took getting A-Q in against Ylon Schwartz' Q-Q and flopping an ace to get back in the game.

Chino Rheem's exit left PokerStars qualifier Darus Suharto as the short-stack in the event. 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. He earned $2,418,562.

After his exit, Suharto gave this exclusive interview to the PokerStars Video Blog team.

Watch WSOP FInal Table: Darus Exit Interview 6th Place on PokerStars.tv

Of all the things that happened today, and there were many, the most startling came next. In a raise, re-raise, all-in battle, Montgomery pushed 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 frightening 6d-4d-6c flop, Two diamonds and the three remaining aces remained for Montgomery.

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

Montgomery went out a few hands later, getting one-outered on the river by Peter Eastgate. He finished in fifth place for $3,096,768.

Four-handed, play slowed down dramatically before finishing the night in one-two-punch fashion.

First, Peter Eastgate raised pre-flop to the now-standard 1.5 million. Schwartz called from the small blind. Both players checked a flop of 2s-Kh-8h and after the Kd came on the turn, Schwartz checked but Eastgate bet another 1.75 million. Schwartz called.

The river was the 5d and again Schwartz checked, Eastgate bet 4.6 million and Schwartz moved all in, for 12.5 million more. Eastgate called and tabled pocket fives, hitting his full house on the river and beating Schwartz's A-10, for ace high. Schwartz's fourth place finish earned him $3,774,974.

Schwartz sat down with us for an interview after his exit.

Watch WSOP Final Table: Ylon Schwartz out in 4th place on PokerStars.tv

With three remaining, crowd favorite Dennis Phillips was the prohibitive short stack.

After Demidov folded his button, Eastgate raised from the small blind, called in the big by Phillips. The flop came Jc-4d-3s and Eastgate led out for 1.5 million. Phillips moved all in over the top, his entire stack worth 15,275,000 sliding into the middle. But it didn't even get there before Eastgate called and flipped pocket threes for the flopped set. Phillips showed 10-9 off-suit. "I couldn't keep on folding!" he declared.

In his exit interview, Phillips said, "We've had a real blast. Who would've ever thunk it? Now I get to play golf tomorrow. McFadden's everybody!" and off to the bar they went.

Here's what Phillips told us after he left the theater tonight.

Watch WSOP Final Table: Dennis Phillips Takes 3rd Place on PokerStars.tv

Peter Eastgate returns tomorrow with 79,500,000 to Ivan Demidov's 57,725,000.

For a complete look at all the day's coverage, see any of the links below.

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
Looking forward and looking back
Food coma?
Suharto bids a fond farewell, Demidov is here to stay
Ivan and winding road
The European invasion
Ylon's road runs out, Phillips trucking no more

We've posted tons of great videos from the PokerStars video blogging team today. We couldn't post all of them, though, so be sure to check all of them at PokerStars.tv.

Live coverage from the final table of the World Series of Poker will resume at 10pm local time Monday. Join us here as we watch history as it happens.

All photography by Joe Giron/IMPDI

And in a sudden flurry of activity, we are down to our two players who will contest tomorrow's heads-up dual for the 2008 World Series of Poker. First things first, let's name them. They are Peter Eastgate and Ivan Demidov; Denmark versus Russia for the big, big bucks in Vegas.

How it happened will take a little longer. We lost two players--Ylon Schwartz and Dennis Phillips--in less than an hour. We were writing as we went, so here's what was on the notebooks about those two bust-outs, starting with Schwartz, who went in third.

It went like this: In an ideal world, there would have been a post on this blog sometime tomorrow night entitled "I played $3-$6 limit poker with the World Champion". It would be referring to this story from the early days of this year's World Series Main Event, where I remembered my first meeting with Ylon Schwartz, killing time before his day one by playing some gentle hold 'em in the Golden Nugget.

The ideal post won't be written, because Schwartz is out of this tournament, the latest casualty to fall victim to Peter Eastgate. The Danish player had Schwartz well covered at the start of a hand that played out like this: Eastgate raised pre-flop to the now-standard 1.5 million. Schwartz called from the small blind. Both players checked a flop of 2s-Kh-8h and after the Kd came on the turn, Schwartz checked but Eastgate bet another 1.75 million. Schwartz called.

The river was the 5d and again Schwartz checked, Eastgate bet 4.6 million and Schwartz moved all in, for 12.5 million more. Eastgate called and tabled pocket fives, hitting his full house on the river and beating Schwartz's A-10, for ace high.

In his post-game interview, Schwartz was remarkably upbeat about his World Series experience, looking at close to four million dollars and a huge party with his friends in South America. He made reference to the hand much earlier today, when Dennis Phillips' A-Q beat Schwartz's Q-Q, and he also said that his elimination hand was pretty unlucky too. He reckoned, not unreasonably, that Eastgate would have had to let his small pocket pair go had he not rivered the full boat.

But there was soon a beer in his hand; there was instantly a smile on his face; and there was one happy man heading back to Brooklyn. Whenever he gets there.

We then found ourselves writing about the "three players remaining" a number including Phillips, the hero from St Louis, Missouri, who has kitted out half the Rio in his trademark red hat and white shirt. But Phillips couldn't quite bring it home and he was vanquished by Eastgate again, setting our final, final table.

After Demidov folded his button, Eastgate raised from the small blind, called in the big by Phillips. The flop came Jc-4d-3s and Eastgate led out for 1.5 million. Phillips um-ed and er-ed for a while before moving all in over the top, his entire stack worth 15,275,000 sliding into the middle. But it didn't even get there before Eastgate called and flipped pocket threes for the flopped set. Phillips showed 10-9 off-suit. "I couldn't keep on folding!" he declared.

He was dead to two running straight cards, but this time there were no miracles. Phillips was as gracious in defeat as he had been on his charge to the final table chip lead. He has played his heart out over all those days to get here, and there won't be a sinlge disappointed fan among his many hundreds. That'll be another spectacular party. "Now I can golf tomorrow," he said.

While we put together all the admin at the end of the day, not least a full wrap up from the final table, which will appear here shortly, why not take a look at some of our peerless video blogs. Here Peter Eastgate discusses Ylon Schwartz, the player he recently defeated. And below, there's some more about Dennis Phillips, our third placed finisher.

Watch WSOP Final Table: Peter on Ylon on PokerStars.tv

Watch WSOP Final Table: Dennis Phillips Player Profile on PokerStars.tv