$$ Cash 4 Seat $$

Aaron Gustavson had the credentials to be here. There was no doubting that. Just a few months back, he won the PokerStars Sunday Warm-Up for $135,000. He’d done well in the World Championship of Online Poker. He’d won a tournament at the Borgata in Atlantic City. He didn’t doubt his own skills and nobody who had seen him play would ever question whether he had the ability to win the London stop of the European Poker Tour.

But who could have imagined that when when he sat down to play heads up for the title, it would be across from the 2008 World Series of Poker champion Peter Eastgate? And then beyond that, who would have predicted Gustavson would win the heads-up battle in fewer than ten hands?

Gustavson, a PokerStars qualifier, summed it up with just one word.

“Amazing,” he said.”I couldn’t ask for more. It’s what every poker player dreams to do.”

It happened at the biggest ever major poker tournament in the UK. Seven hundred thirty players put up £5,000 to build a prize pool worth £3,540,500 and a first prize of £850,000. For the first time in its history, EPT London had outgrown the confines of its five-year home at the Grosvenor Victoria Casino. PokerStars and The Vic teamed up and rented the giant Kings Suite at the Hilton Metropole on Edgware Road, and the EPT London Poker Festival grew to fit its bigger room.

Over a week of play we saw some of the world’s top players compete in the big one and a full festival of side events that were won by the likes of Joe Hachem, Jason Mercier, and William Thorson. It was a week that saw players win hundreds of thousands of pounds, the lion’s share of it going to our new EPT London champion, Aaron Gustavson.

To get to that point, though, we first had to bid goodbye to seven top players (about whom you can read on our EPT London final table player profiles).

Short-stacked coming into the final table, the blinds ate quickly into Karim Bannini’s stack. With a half-smile that belied what he knew was surely about to happen, Bannini put in his final 209,000 chips. In the big blind, Rui Milhomens had a moral obligation to call with his [Ks][Ts], well enough to beat Bannini’s [kd][3h].

The flop [Js][7d][3s] widened the smile on Bannini’s face, but the spade draw tempered any joy. The [4s] on the turn removed any doubt it was over, and Bannini exited in eighth place for £50,100.

Karim Bannini

Over the next hour, Team PokerStars Asia Pro Raymond Wu began to fall victim to the Bannini problem. Wu’s stack had been whittled down to 650,000, at the time worth about six big blinds. Once again, the short-stacked shove was met with a near-obligated call. Aaron Gustavson held [kc][6c] to Wu’s [Qc][Th].

Gustavson flopped a king. Wu couldn’t find any miracle runners and went out in seventh place for £87,000.

Raymond Wu

It only took one more shuffle before we lost the next player.

Rui Milhomens raised it up to 230,000 and Peter Eastgate surprised him with a quick shove, well enough to cover Milhomens’ last 2,175,000. Milhomens had a tough decision, but after some thought made the call. It turned out he was marginally ahead with [8s][8d] against Eastgate’s [Ad][Ts]. Milhomens maintained his lead all the way to the river when Eastgate hit his ten to send Milhomens out in sixth place for an impressive £124,000

Rui Milhomens

The next big pot changed the balance of the table in a very big way. Martin Gudvangen and Nikolai Senninger went heads up to a flop after Senninger raised and Gudvangen called. The two aggressive players looked at a flop of [Kc][Qd][Kh].

Gudvangen checked and Senninger came in for 275,000. That’s when things started to get exciting. Gudvangen raised to 735,000. Senninger, in a move we’d understand later, called. Both players checked on the [4s] turn. When the [5c] came on the river, Gudvangen checked, seemingly happy to show down his cards right then. Senninger wasn’t content to let that happen. He pushed out the remainder of his chips, more than 2 million.

That wasn’t what Gudvangen wanted. His hopes for an easy showdown were squashed. Worse for him, he couldn’t find a fold.

Senninger showed him pocket queens, the flopped boat. Gudvangen’s queen-jack had never been good. The hand knocked Gudvangen down below 1.5 million and put Senninger in third place, dangerously close to leaders Peter Eastgate and Aaron Gustavson.

It was Gustavson, the 23-year-old from the USA, who sent the next player on his way. In a hand reminiscent of the hand that sent Milhomens out, we next saw another [As][Ts] versus [8c][8h] showdown. This time it was Dominic Cullen with the overcards getting his final 1.5 million chips in pre-flop and getting called by Gustavson’s pair. The last time we saw the race, Eastgate hit his ten on the river. This time, the hand went differently. The first card in the door was an eight to give Gustavson a set. With barely anything to sweat, Cullen started packing up to collect his £173,000 prize. The fifth place finisher was the last Brit left standing, guaranteeing that EPT London would not have another hometown hero.

Dominic Cullen

Just moments later, Norway’s Martin Gudvangen found the best of the “any-two-cards” situations he could, in this case [Ad][3c]. He shoved his meager 1,100,000 stack into the middle. Senninger didn’t waste time and snap-called with his [Ah][Qc].

The board was irrelevant in the end. No three or draws appeared and Gudvangen headed out in fourth place for £227,000.

Martin Gudvangen

That exit left Aaron Gustavon, Peter Eastgate, and Nikolai Senninger all within striking distance of each other. It took more than an hour of jousting and three-betting before the next big hand hit…and it was a big one.

Nikolai Senninger was on the button and raised to 275,000. As he’s been known to do before, Aaron Gustavson three-bet from the small blind. Eastgate fingered his chips, but passed from the big blind. Senniger looked as if he might be moving all-in. Then he looked as if he might fold. Ultimately, he decided to call.

The flop came [3d][7h][Qh]. Gustavson, who was rare to check after three-betting, didn’t surprise with a 1,140,000 bet. Senninger, for his part, called. On the [9c] turn, Gustavson wasted no time before moving all-in. He had Senninger well covered, and it took the German a long time to make his decision. Finally, he used both hands and pushed all his chips across the line.

Gustavson flashed his cards [Qs][Ts]. Senninger winced and turned over his [8h][8c]. The river gave Gustavson two pair with [tc]. Senninger was out in third place for £285,000.

Nikolai Senninger

Going into heads up play, Gustavson led 14,045,000 to 7,895,000. After a quick dinner break, it took just one hand for us to see a massive pot.

Gustavson and Eastgate saw a flop of [Qc][5s][2s] and then a turn of the [Kc]. Gustavson check-called a 725,000 bet from Eastgate. Gustavson checked the [5h] river and Eastgate put out 1,135,000. This time, Gustavson raised to 3,300,000. Eastgate struggled. The last time Gustavson had pulled the same move, Eastgate made the call and was ahead. This time, Eastgate made the tough laydown.

“Nice bluff,” he said with a smile.

It took just a few inconsequential hands before the one that crowned a champion

Eastgate came in for a raise to 350,000, and Gustavson raised to 900,000. The only thing that was quicker than Eastgate’s all-in move was Gustavson’s call. Gustavson held [As][Qd] to Eastgate [Ah][9d]. On no street did the board offer hope to the WSOP champ. It came [3s][4d][6h][Kc][Jh]. Gustavson, already standing, smiled and exhaled.

He was am EPT champion and £850,000 richer.

“I know Peter is very aggressive, so I knew it was going to be tough,” Gustavson said. “I wanted it to be quick.”

Quick it was, and so much so that Eastgate barely looked as if he knew it was over. Slowly, it started to sink in. He hadn’t won, but he had earned £530,000.

“When you lose heads up you’re always going to be a little disappointed,” he said, “but I’ll be happy tomorrow for sure.”

Peter Eastgate

Happy tonight, tomorrow, and probably for a very long time is the PokerStars qualifier from the United States, Aaron Gustavson, a man worthy of praise and congratulations tonight.

All week long, our correspondents from around the globe have been writing in German, Swedish or Italian for those people who haven’t been able to understand what we’re writing here (and to be fair, there are a good many English readers who struggled with the same problem–alas, there is no alternative for them). If reading isn’t your thing or the ADHD meds haven’t kicked in today, you can have a look at some pretty clever video blogs over at PokerStars.tv, including this overview of the final…

Watch EPT 6 London Day5: Aaron Gustavson wins EPT on PokerStars.tv

However, if you’d like to stick with us and get a feel for how this week played out, check out any of of the live blogging links at the end of this post or all of our day-end EPT London reports: Day 1a | Day 1b | Day 2 | Day 3 | Day 4

Level 28 updates | Level 29 updates | Level 30 updates | Level 31 updates | Level 32 updates

Thanks for joining us for the biggest ever EPT London. The next stop on the EPT comes in just a couple of weeks in Warsaw. Join us then for all the action from Poland.

All photography © Neil Stoddart

Live updates from day four, level 32 of the EPT London Main Event event brought to you by Stephen Bartley, Marc Convey, Howard Swains, Brad Willis and Simon Young.

Blinds: 60,000-120,000 (10,000 ante)

Aaron Gustavson, USA, PokerStars qualifier, winner of EPT London earning £850,000

7.05pm: Peter Eastgate, Denmark, out in second, earning £530,000
Well that didn’t last long. After the huge hand that went to Gustavson moments ago, he has now finished the job. Eastgate got things going, raising pre-flop to 350,000. Gustavson made it 900,000 and Eastgate insta-shoved all in. Gustavson insta-called.

Gustavson had [as][qd] and Eastgate had [ah][9d]. The board ran out [3s][4d][6h][kc][jh] and that was enough for Gustavson to wrap this one up.

Peter Eastgate, the Team PokerStars Pro from Denmark, and reigning World Champions missed out by the narrowest margin on his first EPT trophy.

A full wrap is on the way. Stand by.

6.54pm: From the off
First hand back and the action begins immediately. Our heads-up contenders get to a flop of [qc][5s][2s] and then a turn of [kc]. Gustavson check-calls Eastgate’s bet of 725,000 and they go to a [5h] river. Gustavson checks that too and Eastgate bets 1,135,000. Now Gustavson finds the check-raise and makes it 3,300,000.

Gustavson has check-raised the river against Eastgate once before, and that the river against Eastgate once before, and that time it was a bluff. Eastgate will clearly have remembered that and he takes a good long while to think over the decision. Eventually he folds, losing a significant chunk of his stack, and saying: “Nice bluff.” We will need to watch the TV to find out.

“I’ve chopped off one leg,” Eastgate adds as he is now staring at a huge stack opposite him.

6.50pm: Gustavson v Eastgate
The heads up battle has just started following the dinner break. The chip stacks look like this…

Peter Eastgate — 7,895,000
Aaron Gustavson — 14,045,000

Live updates from day four, level 31 of the EPT London Main Event event brought to you by Stephen Bartley, Marc Convey, Howard Swains, Brad Willis and Simon Young.

Blinds: 60,000-120,000 (10,000 ante)

5.50pm: Cor blimey, guvnor
You may not know it (especially if you’re reading this from abroad) but those cheeky folk in East London have their own dialect, known as Cockney Rhyming Slang. We put our Team Pros to the test to see if they knew what on earth this Cockney was talking about…

Watch Ept6_LondonDay5_Cockneyslangchallenge on PokerStars.tv

5.45pm: Dinner break
Before the heads up play, we’re taking a one-hour dinner break. The counts are:

Aaron Gustavson: 1,404,500
Peter Eastgate: 7,895,000

5.40pm: Nikolai Senninger out in third, earning £285,000
We have a huge pot and we have lost a player. Nikolai Senninger raises to 275,000 from the button and Aaron Gustavson re-raised from the small blind. It looks for a moment as though Peter Eastgate wants to come along too, but he folds, Senninger calls, and it’s heads up to a [3d][7h][qh] flop. On that, Gustavson bets 1,140,000 and Senninger calls. The turn is [9c] and Gustavson moves all in, which covers Senninger. We were all expecting a fold, but Senninger surprises everyone with a call. He instantly winces, though, as his [8h][8c] are behind to Gustavson’s [qd][10s]. The river is [10c] and that’s not good enough. Senninger is gone.

5.35pm: Chips
Follow the red link to the chip counts, updated every minute. Or something.

CLICK HERE FOR CHIP COUNTS

5.34pm: To the river
On a flop of [9d][kh][3h] Gustavson bet 150,000 which Senninger raised to 490,000 before Gustavson called. The turn came [kc] and both players checked. It was the same again on the [as] river card. Gustavson showed [td][9c] to take it down.

5.20pm: Another video
Rui Milhomes was also grabbed by the video blog team after he was eliminated. He said this:

Watch EPT 6 London Day 5: Rui Milhomens 6th on PokerStars.tv

5.17pm: More re-raising
Gustavson opens for 240,000. Eastgate emerges re-raising again, up to 795,000. Senninger asks how much Eastgate has, gets a rough estimate and calls. They both check the [js][qc][5c] flop for a [ts] turn. Eastgate bet another 825,000 and Senninger folded.

5.10pm: Family pot
Peter Eastgate, under-the-gun and on the button, raises to 275,000 and both blinds come along. The flop is [8c][7h][kh] and after Nikolai Senninger checks, Aaron Gustavson bets 575,000. That’s good enough.

5pm: Big hand brewing
Nikolai Senninger opened for 275,000 which Peter Eastgate re-raised to 795,000. Senninger called for a [8h][2c][8s] flop. Now Eastgate added another 835,000 to things and Senninger called that too. Now a [td] on the turn. With 3,350,000 in the middle already Eastgate checked, while Senninger bet a smallish looking 775,000. Eastgate thought about it, leaned over to get a better look at his opponent, but passed and now trails Senninger and Gustavson.

4.55pm: Wu speaks
We lost Raymond Wu earlier, making a final table on his debut on the EPT. Here’s what he had to say.

Watch EPT 6 London Day 5: Raymond Wu busts on PokerStars.tv

4.50pm: Three-handed chip counts

Aaron Gustavson, USA, 9,165,000
Peter Eastgate, Denmark, 7,650,000
Nikolai Senninger, Germany, 5,115,000

4.45pm: Martin Gudvangen out in fourth, earning £227,000
Nikolai Senninger finishes off what he started and ousts Martin Gudvangen from the tournament. The Norwegian moves his final 1,100,000 in pre-flop and Senninger instantly calls. No wonder: Senninger has [ah][qc] and Gudvangen has [ad][3c]. The flop comes [ks][9h][6h] and Gudvangen is down to only two outs when the turn is [2h]. He misses on the river and that’s that.

Martin Gudvangen

4.40pm: Five million dollar man
Aaron Gustavson raises to 275,000 and Nikolai Senninger reraises to 600,000, which Gustavson calls. It’s already a sizeable pot when the flop comes [9s][3d][10s]. Senninger checks, Gustavson bets 775,000 and Senninger calls again. The turn is [4c] and after Senninger checks, Gustavson now bets 2 million. Phew. Senninger dwells but folds and gives up the five million chip pot.

Aaron Gustavson

Gustavson goes into the chip lead with more than 9,000,000.

4.37pm: Dominic Cullen out in fifth, earning £173,000
The last Englishman in EPT London has fallen. Dominic Cullen had been running out of time and several all-ins later he got a call from Aaron Gustavson, after 240,000 pre-flop bet. Cullen showed [as][ts] to Gustavson’s familiar looking [8c][8h]. But Cullen’s hopes crashed on the [4s][5h][8d] flop. No miracle draw came on the [qh][ks] turn and river and Cullen busts in fifth place.

Dominic Cullen

4.30pm: Cullen and Eastgate
Cullen opens for 240,000 which Peter Eastgate calls. The flop comes [5d][9d][qd] which Cullen checks before Eastgate bets 325,000. Cullen folds.

4.25pm: Cullen’s one move, twice
Cullen shoves but gets no takers so tries it again on the next hand. Same result. Up to 1,810,000 though.

4.15pm: Senninger
That was a terrific last level for Nikolai Senninger. Well might he smile:

Nikolai Senninger

4.15pm: Five players left
Here we come, then, waving and drowning into level 31. Five players remain, one of them will be the winner, you can find out who that will be right here.

These are the stacks.

Peter Eastgate, 7,610,000
Nikolai Senninger, 5,180,000
Martin Gudvangen, 1,480,000
Aaron Gustavson, 6,230,000
Dominic Cullen 1,440,000

Live updates from day four, level 30 of the EPT London Main Event event brought to you by Stephen Bartley, Marc Convey, Howard Swains, Brad Willis and Simon Young.

Blinds: 50,000-100,000 (10,000 ante)

4pm: That’s the break
That’s it for another level. The next, level 31, will begin after a 15 minute break.

3.55pm: Massive pot, massive hands, double up for Senninger
Martin Gudvangen and Nikolai Senninger get heads up to a flop, Senninger having raised and Gudvangen calling. The flop comes [kc][qd][kh] and after Gudvangen checks, Senninger bets 275,000. The Norwegian now finds a check-raise and makes it 735,000 and Senninger calls, which seems suspicious, at least to us in idiots’ row the media room.

Anyhow, the turn is [4s] and both players check and the river is [5c], which Gudvangen checks again. Senninger moves all in for his last 2m and change and Gudvangen makes a reluctant call. Senninger show pocket queens, for the flopped house, and Gudvangen has pain etched across his face as he shows Q-J and is beaten.

3.50pm: Mercier on the whole London experience

Watch EPT 6 London Day 5: Jason Mercier on PokerStars.tv

3.45pm: Senninger doubles
After Dominic Cullen moves all in pre-flop and takes the blinds, the other short stack Nikolai Senninger also gets involved. It’s folded to Martin Gudvangen in the small blind and he moves all in, instantly called by Senninger. It’s the German who’s under threat: he only has 1,235,000, which is a mere nibble from Gudvangen’s stack. Senninger has [ac][8s] and Gudvangen has [6d][10h]. Senninger is made to sweat on the river, when Gudvangen has picked up a straight draw. But it misses and he doubles to about 2,500,000.

3.40pm: Four bet!
Gus and Gud — that’s Aaron Gustavson and Martin Gudvangen — go to war pre-flop. Gudvangen raises to 230,000 and Gustavson reraises to 590,000. Gudvangen simply four-bets to 915,000 and that’s the end of that.

3.35pm: Eastgate in the lead
Peter Eastgate (Denmark) Team PokerStars PRO Nordics — 7,460,000
Aaron Gustavson (USA) PokerStars qualifier — 6,760,000
Martin Gudvangen (Norway) PokerStars qualifier — 4,895,000
Nikolai Senninger (Germany) — 1,570,000
Dominic Cullen (UK) PokerStars player — 1,570,000

3.30pm: Rui Milhomens out in sixth, earning £124,000
On the very next hand after Wu’s elimination, we lose another player. It’s Rui Milhomens, and he becomes the latest victim of Peter Eastgate, who assumes the chip lead. Here’s how it played out: Milhomens raised to 230,000 and Eastgate shoved all in, covering Milhomens. The Portuguese dwelled for a while but eventually called all in, for a while but eventually called all in, for his last 2,175,000. They showed their hands: Eastgate had [ad][10s] and Milhomens [8s][8d]. Eastgate waited until the final furlong to win the race, spiking a ten on the river. Milhomes is gone.

3.25pm: Raymond Wu out in seventh, earning £87,000
The Team PokerStars Asi Pro Raymond Wu had allowed himself to get mighty short and shoved pre-flop for his last 650,000, about six big blinds. Aaron Gustavson called from his vast stack and he was ahead. Wu showed [qc][10h] and Gustavson had [kc][6c] and he was further ahead when the board came [kh][8h][5d]. It was all over by the [5c] turn.

3.15pm: Eastgate again
Eastgate bet a flop of [9c][ad][4d] which Milhomens called. They both checked the [6s] turn before a [jc] river card. Milhomens made it 240,000, which Eastgate passed pretty fast.

3.10pm: All pre-flop
Gustavson opens for 200,000. Eastage re-raises to 630,000, good for the pot.

3.05pm: Many faces of Eastgate
Eastgate makes it 240,000 pre-flop. Dominic Cullen moves all-in for 1,490,000, making it 1,250,000 to call. Eastgate pulls all sorts of faces for a while but eventually folds.

2.55pm: More blind on blind action
Rui Milhomens raises 230,000 from the small blind and Martin Gudvangen calls in the big. The flop comes [2c][5s][10c] and both players check. The turn is the [7h] and Milhomens checked. Gudvangen bets 305,000 and Milhomens calls. The river is the [kc] and again Milhomes checks, prompting a 620,000 bet. Milhomens calls again and Gudvangen shows 10-8 for second pair. It’s good for the 2,380,000 pot.

CLICK HERE FOR CHIP COUNTS

2.50pm: Eastgate given taste of his own medicine
In a battle of the blinds, Peter Eastgate and Rui Milhomens see a flop of [qc][6h][10c]. Eastgate bets 140,000 but Milhomens reraises and Eastgate gives it up, tail between his legs.

2.41pm: Chips at the break
Aaron Gustavson (USA) PokerStars qualifier — 7140000
Peter Eastgate (Denmark) Team PokerStars PRO Nordics — 3970000
Martin Gudvangen (Norway) PokerStars qualifier — 3955000
Rui Milhomens (Portugal) — 2740000
Nikolai Senninger (Germany) — 1485000
Dominic Cullen (UK) PokerStars player — 1450000
Raymond Wu (Taiwan) Team Pokerstars PRO Asia — 1430000

2.40pm: Break time
Players are on their 15 minute break and we’re gathering chip counts, which will appear here imminently.

Team PokerStars Pro players are continuing to take the EPT London side events by storm. First Joe Hachem won the £2,000 European 8 Game Championships, then Jason Mercier took down the £2,500 No Limit, and now Team PokerStars Pro: Nordics William Thorson has bagged the £2,000 PLO.

Despite being the short stack early in the day with just 15,000 chips, he was able to work his way back and had a healthy 215,000 at dinner. When they returned, he took just 35 minutes to win the whole thing, collecting £52,400.

Honest as ever, he said afterwards: “Yeah, that was sick!”

It’s Thorson’s third big cash of the year so far: He came seventh at EPT Dortmund in March for $150,000, and then a few weeks later he came sixth in the EPT Monte Carlo High Roller for another $130,000.

Congratulations, William, on a fine performance, and also to Team Pro Florian Langmann for his third-place finish.

£2,000 PLO (74 players)

1. William Thorson, Team PokerStars Pro, Sweden, £52,400
2. Martin Davis, UK, £31,600
3. Florian Langmann, Team PokerStars Pro, Germany, £18,600
4. David Ulliott, UK, £13,600
5. Johan Sundell, Sweden, £10,110
6. Yadin Shemmer, UK, £7,200
7. Michael Duerr, USA, £5,750
8. Ville Haavisto, Finland, £4,300

Click here for all EPT London Poker Festival side event results.

* * *

Also, congratulations to new Team PokerStars Pro: France player Arnaud Mattern for finishing third in the £1,000 No Limit side event, winning £21,000.

Live updates from day four, level 27 of the EPT London Main Event event brought to you by Stephen Bartley, Marc Convey, Howard Swains, Brad Willis and Simon Young.

Blinds: 40,000-80,000 (5,000 ante)

2.33pm: Break
That’s the end of that level and players are now on a break.

2:32pm: Eastgate scoops monster
Peter Eastgate came in for a raise to 190,000 and got a call from Aaron Gustavson in the big blind. The flop came down [Ac][7h][3c]. Both players checked the flop. On the [6h] turn, Gustavson checked, Eastgate bet, and Gustavson called.  

The river is where things got really interesting. The [8h] came down and Gustavson checked. Eastgate set out 400,000. Within just a few seconds, Gustavson had pushed out two stacks of orange worth one million in total. With straight and flush possibilities out there, Eastgate took a little bit, but not too long…because he had rivered a set. Even though Gustavson was the last aggressor, we never got to see his hand.

2.27pm: All in!
Nikolai Senninger moved all-in for 1,385,000 from the small blind. No takers though.

2.24pm: To the turn
Dominic Cullen opened for 185,000 which Peter Eastgate called from the button. The blinds folded and we got a flop of [8h][6s][3d]. Both checked for a [kh] turn card. Another Cullen bet, this time 200,000, enough to force Eastgate to fold.

2.20pm: Wu woes
Raymond Wu opens, making it 185,000 pre-flop. It’s folded to Rui Milhomens who re-raises all in, 2,735,000 in total. Wu thinks. Wu folds.

Raymond Wu

2.05pm: Video
It’s slowed down again at the final table, giving us all time to check out the latest offering from the video blog team:

1.56pm: Nice try, Martin
Rui Milhomens came in for a raise to 180,000 and Martin Gudvangen re-raised to 480,000 total. Milhomens took just five seconds to announce all-in for about 1.5 million more. Gudvangen insta-mucked.

1.55pm: Raise and take it. Watch it!
There’s been a lot of pre-flop shoving, particularly from the shorter stacked Raymond Wu, Nikolai Senninger and Dominic Cullen. Don’t forget, you can join the fun and watch all this on EPT Live.

1.40pm: Senn(inger) caught stealin’
Nikolai Senninger raised to 185,000 from the button. Raymond Wu sat in the small blind and after a second of thought for 1,140,000. It would be 955,000 to call. Senninger sat with his stuffed lion beside his chips and pondered for a couple of seconds. And then he folded.

Nikolai Senninger

1.35pm: Level/blind confusion
It doesn’t take much, but we’re confused. We’ve been playing for about 90 minutes today, which means we must have gone into a new level, but we don’t know when it actually happened. The players took a 15 minute break, but that didn’t seem to coincide with the end of a level, and the blinds haven’t been raised from 40,000-80,000. Ours is not to reason why, and you haven’t actually missed any hands or anything. But we’re not actually sure which numbered level we’re in. It’s either 28 or 29.

1.30pm: Karim Bannini out in eight, earning £50,100
With the blinds to 50,000-100,000, there wasn’t much question what our short-stack had to do. All-in pre-flop with his last 209,000, Karim Bannini had his [Kd][3h] up against Rui Milhomens’ [ks][ts]. Bannini hit his three on the [Js][7d][3s] but the spade draw got there with a [4s] on the turn. Bannini has been eliminated in eighth place for £50,100.

Karim Bannini

1.30pm: Counts
Here are those counts:

Seat 1: Martin Gudvangen - 4,105,000
Seat 2: Nikolai Senninger - 2,205,000
Seat 3: Karim Bennani - 306,000
Seat 4: Raymond Wu - 1,255,000
Seat 5: Aaron Gustavson -  6,500,000
Seat 6: Dominic Cullen - 1,385,000
Seat 7: Peter Eastgate - 3,880,000
Seat 8: Rui Milhomens - 2,305,000

1.25pm: Continues
Eight players started the day, eight players remain. The chip counts are on the chip count page as we continue into level 29.

The final table of EPT London has been decided. The following eight will play down to a winner today, taking £850,000 for first place.

The full details of prizewinners so far can be found on the prizewinners page and results will be updated there throughout the day.

The chip counts page will have the latest updated chip counts.

The final eight are as follows:

Seat 1: Martin Gudvangen, 21, Bergen, Norway - PokerStars qualifier - 3,510,000

In only his second EPT event, following Barcelona this season, Michael Gudvangen has already secured the biggest cash of his career. The 21-year-old from Bergen, Norway, has been playing poker for three years, the last as a professional, with his best result being his victory in a $100 re-buy on PokerStars for $70,000. A regular on PokerStars, Gudvangen plays $5-$10 cash games as well as tournaments. “This is just a dream for me,” he said, adding that from the first day things had gone his way. “Today I ran very good and got paid off every hand.”

Seat 2: Nikolai Senninger, 19, Lindau (Lake Constance) Germany - 2,165,000

Nikolai Senninger started playing poker last year at the age of 18 and, in the same year, qualified for the first event on the Latin America Poker Tour in Rio, where he finished third for more than $86,000. He said: “After this success I thought I’m the best and I threw away a lot of money online in the following month.” He managed to fight back and last month took down the Bodensee Poker Championship in Bregenz for more than €40,000. The Austrian player Ivo Donev told him that he was on a run and advised him to play the London EPT. He took the chip lead on day 1b and since then has never looked back. Senninger’s mother Sabine and his brother Sascha have made a surprise visit to London to support him for the past two days.

Seat 3: Karim “kbs28″ Bennani, 43, French/Moroccan, Casablanca, Morocco - 845,000

Bennani started playing five card draw as a 12-year-old in home games with friends. It wasn’t until he went to San Diego to study Business Administration that he discovered Texas hold ‘em. But his interest in poker had to take a back seat when he returned to Casablanca while he focused on building up his two manufacturing businesses. Now working as a real estate developer, Bennani has had some decent live and online results. His best result so far - aside from making the EPT London final table - was winning a $600 freezeout in Marrakech for $25,000. Bennani is being cheered on by his wife Omarine but the couple’s four children are back home in Casablanca. Bennani has played four EPTs but this is his first cash. Only three Moroccans have ever cashed at an EPT before - the biggest was Mehdi Ouakhir who took $346,289 in Warsaw in season four.

Seat 4: Raymond “booshiet” Wu, 24, Taipei, PokerStars Team Asia - 1,535,000

Raymond Wu was born in Taipei but studied psychology at the University of California, Irvine. He started playing poker with friends and during his time in college starting playing online for side income, grinding the micro stakes. In less than three years, he had built his bankroll sufficiently up to play at $25-$50 limits on PokerStars. He is a Supernova and hopes to buy a Porsche using his Frequent Player Points. Wu came third in the $50,000 HKD High Roller One-Table Challenge during the 2009 July Macau Poker Cup cashing for $10,256 USD. Wu is being supported in London by his mother, girlfriend, team mates - including Celina Lin - and his manager. He runs a poker school at home and all his students and staff are following his progress on EPTLive. Outside of poker, Ray likes fashion, sports video games and recently took up boxing.

Seat 5: Aaron ‘Aguskb’ Gustavson,23, Las Vegas, USA - PokerStars qualifier - 7,140,000

Gustavson is an accomplished online player who has had some good results on PokerStars. In July he won a Sunday Warm Up for $135,010 and finished 12th in a WCOOP event this year. Prior to winning big, he claims to have been a student although when asked about his major, he said: “It’s not important, I never went to class.” His best live tournament result to date was a win worth $53,592 at the Borgata in Atlantic City. This will be his best result regardless of where he finishes. As to what he does in his spare time, he said: “basketball, mostly basketball.”

Seat 6: Dominic Cullen, 42, Nottingham, UK - PokerStars player - 2,115,000

Cullen’s first game of poker was six years ago but he only started playing regularly in 2006. His mainly plays online tournaments but has played live a few times, without major success. EPT London is the first time he has played in an international live event after having qualified online at PokerStars. Even so he is not nervous and feels delighted for making it to the final table on his first major live event. Dominic is married with five children.

Seat 7: Peter Eastgate, 23, Odense, Denmark - Team PokerStars Pro, World Champion - 3,535,000

Peter Eastgate grew up in Odense but currently lives in London. He made his first impact on the live tournament scene at The Irish Open in 2007 - making the final table for $46,714. Then came two cash finishes on the European Poker Tour. He picked up $16,610 for a 32nd place finish at the Copenhagen event in season four, which was followed later in the season by an 18th place finish at the London leg of the tour - good for another $29,871. By some measure his greatest poker achievement was defeating 6,844 players at the World Series of Poker Main Event in 2008 making him the youngest ever champion at 22. Eastgate is a member of Team PokerStars Pro and is now an EPT regular. He plays on PokerStars as “PeteEastgate”. Outside of poker, Peter is a huge football fan.

Seat 8: Rui Milhomens, 21, Ovar, near Oporto, Portugal - 1,095,000

Milhomens started playing poker two years ago while studying psychology at college. He quit university in November 2008 to concentrate on playing poker full-time. His preferred games are online no limit hold ‘em cash games and he has already won a tournament at the Solverde Poker Season in Portugal - a monthly poker tournament sponsored by PokerStars. He also came 13th at a tournament in Budapest in March for €7,560. Before taking up poker, Milhomens was one of the top five players in the world at the video game Age of Empires 3. He is good friends with Portugal’s top poker player João Barbosa.

Live updates from day four, level 27 of the EPT London Main Event event brought to you by Stephen Bartley, Marc Convey, Howard Swains, Brad Willis and Simon Young.

Blinds: 40,000-80,000 (10,000 ante)

1.11pm: Players on break
We are now taking a ten-minute break and will be back with a new level all eight players who started.

1.05pm: A raise, a call, a bet, a fold
Martin Gudvangen opens to 190,000 and Nikolai Senninger calls. The flop comes [7d][jd][js] and Gudvangen fires 320,000 at it. That’s good enough.

1.02pm: Milhomens muscle
Dominic Cullen raised to 190,000 from under the gun and Rui Milhomens, two to his left, reraised all in. It was folded back to the short-stacked Englishman who decided to fold and will fight another day.

1pm: Eastgate again
Aaron Gustavson and Peter Eastgate see a flop of [ah][8h][4c] and Gustavson bets 170,000. Eastgate is unimpressed and reraises to …. well, too much. Gustavson folds.

12.50pm: Eastgate finds the re-raise
Dominic Cullen opened the pot with a raise from the cut-off, making it 140,000. Peter Eastgate was having none of it, reraising to 335,000 and taking it.

12.45pm: And now the Gustavson and Gudvangen Show

Expect this to happen several times this afternoon. Aaron Gustavson and Micheal Gudvangen both checked a flop of [Jc][Qh][8c]. On the [5s] turn, Gustavson bet 165,000 and Gudvangen called. The river was where we saw the Law & Order (bump-bum!) twist.

It was the [7d] and drew a rare check from Gustavson. Now, Gudvangen came a’betting for 415,000. Gustavson didn’t dwell long before calling to hear Gudvangen declare two pair with queens and fives.

After the hand Gudvangen was up to 4,370,000 while Gustavson fell to 6,670,000.

12.36pm: Gustavson again
Aaron Gustavson opened for 160,000 which Milhomens called for a [kd][5d][3c] flop. Both checked that for an [8s] turn. Gustavson made it another 160,000, good to take it down.

12.36pm: Aaron found a razor
After several days of playing here and looking like he’d forgotten to pack a razor, Aaron Gustavson is looking decidedly less like a lumberjack and more like someone who is appearing on television. His mom would be very proud.

12.30pm: On the flop
Rui Milhomens opened with a standard raise pre-flop and Karim Bennani called for a flop of [6d][4s][8d]. With 520,000 in the middle Milhomens made it another 250,000 to go. Bennani thought about it, thought some more, then folded.

12.30pm: Presenting, your final table players

12.25pm: A Wu raise
Raymond Wu makes it 140,000 from the button. Aaron Gustavson is in the small blind and re-raises to 380,000. Dominic Cullen folded the big blind and when the action returned to Wu he folded too.

12.15pm: First hand action
On the very first hand of play, we had an all-in.

Dominic Cullen came in for a raise to 140,000. Peter Eastgate called, and so did Rui Milhomens. They went three-way to the flop of [3c][6h][Ac]. Cullen checked to see Eatgate bet 185,000. That led Milhomens to push all-in for 950,000 total. It didn’t take long for Eastgate to fold.

12.00pm: Final table play about to begin
Players are taking their seats and getting ready to go to work. So are we. Here are the final table chip counts.

Aaron Gustavson (USA) PokerStars qualifier — 7140000
Peter Eastgate (Denmark) Team PokerStars Pro) — 3535000
Martin Gudvangen (Norway ) PokerStars qualifier — 3510000
Nikolai Senninger (Germany) – 2165000
Dominic Cullen (UK) PokerStars player — 2115000
Raymond Wu (Taiwan) Team Pokerstars Pro Asia — 1535000
Rui Milhomens (Portugal) — 1095000
Karim Bennani (France) — 845000

Take a trot down the Edgware Road in London, or even just a walk, and you’re likely to pass by people originating in a hundred countries across the globe. This is a cosmopolitan hub unrivalled on the planet and if tomorrow you were to stop by the Hilton Metropole Hotel, at the north end of the aforementioned street, you’d see all that multi-culture represented in microcosm around the EPT final table.

Today we successfully sliced our overnight field of 24 to the required eight for a final showdown. They represent eight countries from four continents, further indication of the game’s enduring global appeal. We welcome our first Taiwanese to an EPT final; likewise our first Moroccan. And from the country named “World Champion”, we have the Team PokerStars Pro Peter Eastgate. What a year this guy has had.

Peter Eastgate

So yes, we are at our final table. The eight players listed below will appear tomorrow to play down to another new EPT champion — what they’re playing for (and who has won what to date) is over at the prizewinners page.

As you can see, top of the tree is Aaron Gustavson, from the United States. He’s been ruthless today and richly deserving of his overnight leader’s billing, which is about twice as much as anyone else. Americans, huh. Sure, they can play too.

Aaron Gustavson

Those final eight:
Aaron Gustavson, USA, 7,140,000
Peter Eastgate, Denmark, Team PokerStars Pro, 3,535,000
Martin Gudvangen, PokerStars Qualifier, Norway, 3,510,000
Nikolai Senninger, Germany, 2,165,000
Dominic Cullen, UK, 2,115,000
Raymond Wu, Taiwan, Team Pokerstars Pro, 1,535,000
Rui Milhomens, Portugal, 1,095,000
Karim Bennani, Morocco, 845,000

Although there are some big names in that list, today we bade farewell to a who’s who of European, international and internet poker: Annette Obrestad, Theo Tran, Kenneth Hicks, Adam York, Andrew Lichtenberger and Ivo Donev couldn’t make it to the final reckoning.

Bye bye Annette Obrestad

Bye bye Theo Tran

A word too about the November Niner Kevin Schaffel and our free-rolling friend Michael Berry. Schaffel won £17,000 on his EPT debut, and high fives all round for that. But he could be forgiven for keeping a lid on his excitement: next month he’ll return to Las Vegas in his PokerStars livery and play for $8m.

Kevin Schaffel

Berry’s spin up is mathematically even more impressive. He won a free-roll tournament, run by PokerStars in conjunction with the Daily Mirror newspaper, and took his zero pounds zero pence investment to the overnight chip lead. He was furious with himself for busting today in 15th spot, but 19,000 reasons says he shouldn’t be.

Michael Berry

That, though, is all she wrote for today. It’s around this time tomorrow that the trophy engraver shall be getting his chisel out. Gustavson is the favourite, if only for that chip lead, but this is poker, and poker is anyone’s game — wherever you’re from.

Look back on today with any of the following level-by-level reports:

Level 23
Level 24
Level 25
Level 26
Level 27
Level 28

Or bash your head off a keyboard and come up with something like our German, Swedish or Italian colleagues have been agonising over all day. Televisual delights can be found at PokerStars.tv (like the interview with Kevin Schaffel at the end of this post) and when Mr and Mrs Stoddart gave their son the first name “(c)”, he was always going to grow into (c) Neil Stoddart with the photos.

Out.

* * * * *

Kevin Schaffel on his bust out from EPT London:

Live updates from day four, level 27 of the EPT London Main Event event brought to you by Stephen Bartley, Marc Convey, Howard Swains, Brad Willis and Simon Young.

Blinds: 40,000-80,000 (10,000 ante)

10.04pm–Rajkumar eliminated, final table set

Two hands after the break it was all-in between

Dominic Cullen ’s [Ah][Qd] and Vivek Rajkumar’s call king-jack offsuit. The board ran out [Ac][5c][Td][8d][Ad].

We now have our final table. A full wrap-up of the day’s action and a full chip count coming in moments.

10.00pm: New level, new chips

We’re now playing higher.

Aaron Gustavson — 6,950,000
Martin Gudvangen — 3,650,000
Peter Eastgate — 3,545,000
Nikolai Senninge — 1,850,000
Raymond Wu — 1,555,000
Rui Milhomens — 1,230,000
Dominic Cullen — 1,200,000
Vivek Rajkumar — 925,000
Karim Bennani — 860,000