Freddy Deeb - 1,345,000

Level 24: 80,000-160,000, 20,000 ante

Men "The Master" Nguyen - 729,000

Level 24: 80,000-160,000, 20,000 ante

Hoyt Corkins - 395,000

Level 24: 80,000-160,000, 20,000 ante

Brett Faustman - 1,282,000

Level 24: 80,000-160,000, 20,000 ante

Gabe Costner - 1,181,000

Level 24: 80,000-160,000, 20,000 ante

John Spadavecchi - 256,000

Level 24: 80,000-160,000, 20,000 ante

Day 3 at the World Poker Open

Level 24: 80,000-160,000, 20,000 ante

Freddy Deeb, Hoyt Corkins, and Men "The Master" Nguyen Storm the Final Table Tomorrow in Tunica By Ryan Lucchesi The field was still stacked with big-name pros at the start of day 3 at the 2007 World Poker Open: Freddy Deeb, Men "The Master" Nguyen, Barry Greenstein, T.J. Cloutier, Hoyt Corkins, and John “The Razor” Phan still remained in the tournament and a crowd of local fans had come to support their favorites. This popular stop on the World Poker Tour had also attracted several local news outlets and Mike Sexton became a favorite target for television interviews. Amongst the exciting atmosphere play began and the early afternoon saw a flurry of quick eliminations: 27: Brandon Steven 26: David Tran 25: Jonathan Tare Erick Lindgren had started the day with the chip lead, but all of that changed on a flop of Q43; Lindgren bet 55,000 from the big blind, and Men Nguyen raised to 135,000 on the cutoff. Boyd got out of the way in the small blind and Lindgren went into the tank. He eventually moved all in and Nguyen made the call. Lindgren flipped over A10and Nguyen turned up pocket queens. The turn and river brought the 10 and J, which gave Nguyen the pot. Nguyen erupted from the table and celebrated profusely, screaming, "Yes!" After a minute of this Lindgren said to Nguyen, "Act like you've been there before." To which, Freddy Deeb followed with, "We're not on TV yet." Lindgren had taken a huge hit and he now held only 80,000. He got that amount all in soon after against none other than Nguyen. In this second encounter Lindgren held A-7 to Nguyen’s A-9, and when the board hit the table K93A10, Lindgren’s day was over, he had been eliminated in 24th place. Brian Taylor followed Lindgren in 23rd place and then John “The Razor” Phan became the next big name to fall when his A-K lost to the pocket kings of Brian Faustman. Phan held only 4,000 after the hand and he folded three hands after that, which shrank his stack to 1,000. He moved that final chip all in against John Spadavecchia. Spadavecchia prevailed with a jack-high flush and Phan was sent home in 22nd place. Phan was promptly followed to the rail by another familiar face when T.J. Cloutier was eliminated in 21st place. Cloutier got his final 36,000 in with some hope, in the form of K-Q, but Faustman one upped him with an ace-high that held. Two more players needed to fall before the final two tables were reached, and they were: 20: Gary Gibbs 19: Gary Flur The tournament was now down to the final two tables, and Men the Master had been busy during the first part of the day. He emerged as the chip leader, riding the momentum from his victory over Lindgren, and now held 987,000. Once the players took their new seats at the final two tables, Barry Greenstein joined the handful of professionals who continued to have a rough day 3. It was pro vs. pro when Greenstein and Deeb got involved in a pot that had Greenstein’s tournament life on the line. Greenstein showed down pocket queens, but he winced when Deeb showed pocket kings. The board came 1095J2 and Deeb took the pot to increase his stack to about 765,000. Deeb shaked Greenstein's hand and said, "I finally got your book. I couldn't afford to buy it." And on cue, Greenstein began signing over a copy of, "Ace on the River," to Deeb as a bounty for busting him out in 18th place. Two more players quickly followed the Bear to the rail after this hand, they were: 17: Neal Hensarling 16: James Rumptz It looked like Dutch Boyd might have been the next to fall in 15th place, but he managed to double up with A-K against A-Q and survive. So, that fate befell another professional when Jimmy Tran was knocked out of the tournament by Hoyt Corkins. Corkins made a pair of nines on the river against Tran’s ace-high. Tran made his exit in the 15th place and then the next four eliminations came in a rush to get down to the final table: 14: Greg Boe 13: Ken Christopher 12: Johnny Price 11: William McMahon There was a break in the action and the players took their seats together at the final table. Here is how things looked at the start of play: Seat 1: Freddy Deeb – 560,000 Seat 2: Brett Faustman – 885,000 Seat 3: Sean Burstein – 429,000 Seat 4: Men "The Master" Nguyen – 1,200,000 Seat 5: Gabe Costner – 530,000 Seat 6: Hoyt Corkins – 737,000 Seat 7: Dutch Boyd – 232,000 Seat 8: Jose Rosenkrantz – 142,000 Seat 9: Michael Baas – 370,000 Seat 10: John Spadavecchia – 265,000 Eleven hands in to this final countdown, Jose Rosenkrantz moved all in under the gun for 108,000, and Faustman moved all in over the top from middle position. Everyone else folded, and the two showed down their cards. Rosenkrantz held J2, but he was dominated by Faustman's pocket kings. The board came Q105610 and Faustman's kings held. Rosenkrantz was eliminated in 10th place, earning $24,119. Four hands later, Sean Burstein raised under the gun to 50,000, and Deeb reraised from the small blind to 150,000. Burstein made the call and the flop came A74, Deeb bet 50,000, Burstein moved all in, and Deeb called instantly with pocket aces for top set. Burstein held pocket sixes, and the turn card paired the board with the 4, clinching the hand for Deeb with a full house. The meaningless river card was the Q, and Burstein was eliminated in ninth place, earning $28,943. After Burstein busted, Boyd was put in a perilous position: he raised under the gun to 40,000, and Faustman called from the cutoff. The flop came J32, Boyd bet 48,000, and Faustman made the call. The turn card was the 9, Boyd bet 90,000, and Faustman went into the tank for about three minutes before he raised to 200,000. Boyd then went in to the tank for quite some time. He thought for about two or three minutes before he made the call, leaving himself just 59,000 behind. The river card was the 3, Boyd checked, and Faustman thought for a while before he put Boyd all in. Boyd went into the tank again, this time for about four minutes, before he mucked. Boyd held only 59,000 at this point, and sure enough he got all of those chips into the middle of the table soon after the laydown. On Boyd’s final hand, Nguyen raised from late position to 46,000, Boyd moved all in from the small blind for 34,000, and Baas moved all in over the top from the big blind for about 190,000. Nguyen mucked and Boyd showed down pocket aces, which dominated Baas's AQ. But, the board ran out KJ1083, and Baas won the pot with a Broadway straight. Boyd was eliminated in eighth place, earning $48,239. One more player stood in the way of the other six making the final table, but before the final elimination came down, the most entertaining hand of the tournament took place: Nguyen raised under the gun to 46,000, and Faustman called from the big blind before he immediately checked in the dark. The flop came J103, and Nguyen commented about how weird it was for Faustman to check in the dark. Nguyen then checked behind him. The turn card was the 2, Faustman checked, and Nguyen asked if Faustman was trying to trap him like he trapped Dutch. Nguyen said, "I'm not Dutch," and checked. The river card was the Q, and this is where it gets interesting. Faustman bet 200,000, Nguyen raised to 500,000, and Faustman moved all in. Nguyen relaxed and thought for about two minutes, while saying things like, "What do you have, king-nine?" Nguyen finally called, and Faustman flipped over AK for the nuts, an ace-high straight. Faustman's friends started celebrating, assuming that Nguyen was eliminated, and the WPT final table was set. But…Nguyen wasn't finished. He said, "You don't think I've got a hand that can beat that hand?" Nguyen turned over AK, he also had the nuts! The pot was chopped up and the day continued. After all the excitement of this hand died down it took another 20 minutes of card play to reach the final table. On the final hand Deeb raised from early position to 60,000, Nguyen called from the cutoff, and Baas also called from the big blind. The flop came 852, and Baas moved all in for 334,000. Deeb counted out his chips, and he had about 650,000. He made the call, and Nguyen got out of the way. Deeb showed 109 for a spade flush draw, and Baas showed down 98 for a pair of eights. The turn and river came J9, which gave Deeb the pot. Baas was eliminated in seventh place, earning $72,358. With the elimination of Baas, day 3 came to a close, and action is scheduled to start at the final table at 4 p.m. CT tomorrow. Here is a look at the final table seating chart and chip counts: Seat 1: Freddy Deeb – 1,345,000 Seat 2: Brett Faustman –1,282,000 Seat 3: Men "The Master" Nguyen – 729,000 Seat 4: Gabe Costner – 1,181,000 Seat 5: Hoyt Corkins – 395,000 Seat 6: John Spadavecchia – 256,000 Check back in to CardPlayer.com and WorldPokerTour.com tomorrow to catch all the action from the final table hand-for-hand as the final six play down to a champion.

Official Chip Counts

Level 24: 80,000-160,000, 20,000 ante

Here are the official chip counts for tomorrow's WPT Final Table: 1. Freddy Deeb - 1,345,000 2. Brett Faustman - 1,282,000 3. Men "The Master" Nguyen - 729,000 4. Gabe Costner - 1,181,000 5. Hoyt Corkins - 395,000 6. John Spadavecchia - 256,000

Hands #45-48: Michael Baas Eliminated in 7th Place ($72,358)

Level 24: 80,000-160,000, 20,000 ante

Hand #45 - Freddy Deeb has the button in seat 1, and Spadavecchia raises from the cutoff to 120,000, winning the blinds and antes. Hand #46 - Brett Faustman has the button in seat 2, Baas raises from early position to 80,000, and Faustman calls from the button. The flop comes 1053, and Baas moves all in for about 130,000. Faustman folds, and Baas shows A7, for ace high. Faustman says he couldn't even beat the bluff. Hand #47 - Men "The Master" Nguyen has the button in seat 4, and everyone folds to Corkins, giving him a walk in the big blind. Hand #48 - Gabe Costner has the button in seat 5, Deeb raises from early position to 60,000, Nguyen calls from the cutoff, and Baas calls from the big blind. The flop comes 852, and Baas moves all in for 334,000. Deeb counts out his chips, and he has about 650,000. He calls, and Nguyen folds. Deeb shows 109 for a spade flush draw, and Baas shows 98 for a pair of eights. Deeb has the flush draw and one live overcard. The turn card is the J, clinching the pot for Deeb with a flush. (The meaningless river card is the 9.) Michael Baas is eliminated in seventh place, earning $72,358. The remaining six players are counting and verifying their chips before they are tagged and bagged for tomorrow's televised WPT Final Table. Action is scheduled to start at 4:00 pm CT. Stay tuned for official chip counts.

Hands #39-44

Level 24: 80,000-160,000, 20,000 ante

Hand #39 - Brett Faustman has the button in seat 2, Deeb limps from the cutoff for 20,000, Nguyen completes from the small blind, and Costner checks his option in the big blind. The flop comes Q86, Nguyen checks, Costner bets 55,000, and the others fold. Gabe Costner takes the pot. Hand #40 - Men "The Master" Nguyen has the button in seat 4, and everyone folds to Corkins, giving him a walk in the big blind. Hand #41 - Gabe Costner has the button in seat 5, and Nguyen raises from the cutoff to 60,000, winning the blinds and antes. Hand #42 - Hoyt Corkins has the button in seat 6, and Costner raises from the cutoff to 55,000, winning the blinds and antes. Hand #43 - Michael Baas has the button in seat 9, and everyone folds to Deeb, giving him a walk in the big blind. Hand #44 - John Spadavecchia has the button in seat 10, and Costner raises from early position to 55,000, winning the blinds and antes.