When the World Series of Poker Main Event final table started yesterday- easily the most important final table of the year- on the stage of the Rio’s cavernous Penn & Teller theater, we knew two things: 1) We could be here for a longtime; and 2) we almost certainly still wont know who the new World Champion is when we leave.  This of course is because even though Saturday was one of the biggest days in poker, it still was just the penultimate day; the heads-up battle that determines who will win poker’s most prestigious bracelet, is scheduled for Monday.

By the end of the night, around what would have been about 3:00 am in the morning if not for daylight savings time, we had indeed discovered our final two, but who were they and what became of the other seven?  Here’s your Poker Brief recap.

Soi Nguyen, the only true amateur left of the original 7,319 person starting field, was the first elimination of the night, by the other short stack Jason Senti.

Senti, who at that point had increased his stack from 9th out of nine, to closing in on the middle of the pack, called a Nguyen button shove with ace-king off-suit.  Nguyen, who wouldn’t necessarily always have a big hand there, had one this time with Q Q, and it was a classic coin flip situation. 

The board ran out: Qh 3s 10c 9s Ks

And Soi, suddenly had real reason to get sauced.

Surrey, British Columbia’s Matt Jarvis, fifth in chips when the final table began, was the next one in peril.

Jarvis, after a Jon Duhamel raise and Michael Mizrachi call, went for what appeared at the time to be a classic squeeze all-in re-raise.  The apparent bold move, worked on Duhamel who quickly got out of the way, but “The Grinder,” built some real excitement when he started to seriously contemplate calling.  Once Mizrachi finally did call- for most of his chips as well- it was another flipish type situation, his ace-queen of diamonds versus Jarvis’ pocket nines.

The flop, a soul crusher, seemed to seal Matt’s fate when it came out Qs 8d Qc giving Mizrachi trips.

The turn though, well, turned things around, a 9 of spades that made Jarvis an improbable boat.  That amazing turn meant only an ace could now win it for Mizrachi, and amazingly that’s what came- a Barry Greenstein special- ace of spades on the river. 

The young pro from Surrey, was surely gone.

Jason Senti, the Minnesotan that soiled Nguyen’s chances earlier in the day, was the next to go out, though not for another 5 hours.

It was after the dinner break that a Senti bet in the cutoff, for about 1.85 million, was met with a Joseph Cheong re-raise on the button to nearly 5 million in chips.  Senti, got the crowd on its feet, when he then moved all-in.

The Hands

Cheong: 10c 10s

Senti:  Ad Ks

The flop, Kd Kh Qs, again brought an all-in player trips, and again that wouldn’t be the last major shift.

The rest of the board ran out: Jd 9d

A Cheong straight by the river with that final nine, and Senti was sent packing.

Not nearly as long after that, John Dolan from Florida, would follow him.

Dolan, short-stacked at the time, was another victim of an ill-timed shove all-in, in his case from the small blind.  Duahmel from the big blind, called.

The Hands

Dolan: Qd 5d

Duhamel: 4c 4d

The Board: Jh 7h 6h 9h 3c

And with no help by the river, Dolan best be rollin’.

It was another blind versus blind confrontation that would also spell the end to tournament favorite, Michael Mizrachi, after losing most of his chips earlier to Jonathan Duhamel, by being called all-in pre-flop with only pocket threes.

In Mizrachi's final hand, Duhamel, with significantly more chips than Mizrachi, just limped in on the small blind and “The Grinder,” seemed content to look at a cheap flop.

Flop: 5d 4s Qc

Duhamel, appearing disinterested, checked the flop, but Mizrachi bet 2 million.  Duhamel check-raised, allowing Mizrachi to then move all-in.

The Hands

Mizrachi: Qd 8d

Duhamel Ad Ac

The rest of the board came out Jd Kd, and with those slow played Aces, everyone’s favorite “Machine” found himself broken.

It would be just another few hands, before the next player fell, and no amount of singing would help him.

Short-stacked Filippo Candio, shoved from the small blind, apparently not learning the lesson from the night that the blinds can be trouble.  Joseph Cheong, at that point a full on table bully, called fast with A 3 of clubs- which all things considered wasn't a terrible situation for Candio’s Kd Qd.

The Flop: Ah 7d 2s

Cheong’s flopped ace, would prove to be all he would need to take out the Italian, and once the irrelevant 5h 4s came, Fillippo was forlorn.

The last elimination of the night: The Precursor

So far it’s been nothing but the elimination hands in this news brief- I mean we can’t spoil everything here- however this one non-elimination hand must be mentioned, as it might as well be considered the end of Cheong, as it left him circling the drain.

Cheong, the chip leader at the time and proven force, raised to nearly 3 million in last night’s trouble spot, the small blind.  Jon Duhamel, the second largest stack, despite being way ahead of third place’s John Racener, opted to get involved with Cheong and re-raised to 6.75 million.  That bet remarkably was followed by a 14.25 million four-bet from Cheong, and instead of going all-in, Duhamel five-bet to 22.75.

Cheong contemplated the unexpected five-bet, the pot, and his cards, and then amazingly- especially for Racener munching crazily on his gum- shoved the rest of his chips in the middle.

The Hands

Duhamel: Qc Qd

Cheong: As 7h

Cheong, clearly looking for an ace or a whole lot of sevens, saw the disappointing board run out 9h 3d 2c 6s 8s, and suddenly he was intensely short stacked- and the room was in awe.

Cheong, basically was forced to just start going all-in over and over again at that point, and was successful at it 3 times, even doubling up, but the fourth time he found himself out, when his Qs 10c failed to overcome Duhamel’s weak Ace.

Cheong, instead of playing for the title as nearly everyone assumed he would on Monday- after a dominating performance for most of the night- will now be watching from the sidelines, comforted “only” by a third place prize worth $4,130,049.

The final two players of the 2010 World Series of Poker Main Event are as follows:

Jonathan Duhamel- 188,95,000 in chips

John Racener- 30,750,000 in chips

For more details from the historic WSOP Main Event final table check out yesterday’s updates provided by PokerNews at www.pokernews.com.