History on the Line for Scotty Nguyen, Others, at the WPT World Championship

Level 26: 60,000-120,000, 15,000 ante

The final table is set for the WPT World Championship: 

Seat 1  -  Elky Grospellier  -  5,955,000
Seat 2  -  Scotty Nguyen  -  3,275,000
Seat 3  -  Shannon Shorr  -  1,330,000
Seat 4  -  Yevgeniy Timoshenko  -  13,300,000
Seat 5  -  Christian Harder  -  7,425,000
Seat 6  -  Ran Azor  -  2,525,000

Scott Nguyen has a below-average chip stack, but he is going for history tomorrow. If he wins this event, he'll be the second player in history (after Carlos Mortensen) to win the two most prestigious events (the WSOP Main Event and the WPT World Championship). Nguyen would also be the first to win those two, plus the WSOP $50,000 H.O.R.S.E. Championship. Nguyen is also getting a head start on his public proclamation that he would retire from poker if he didn't earn $4 million by the end of the WSOP. (Yes, he changed the wording a bit, but he's definitely counting this event.) 

Oh, one more thing. If Scotty Nguyen wins this event, he will pass Jamie Gold on the all-time money list with more than $12.5 million. (Even a worst-case scenario -- sixth place -- would move Nguyen into fourth place on the all-time list.)

Meanwhile, Elky Grospellier just needs to outlast one more player to tie John "The Razor" Phan in the Season VII WPT Player of the Year race. A fourth-place finish for Grospellier would clinch the title outright. 

Both Nguyen and Grospellier have a shot at tying another record if they can finish second or higher. To this point, Carlos Mortensen and Dan Harrington are the only two players in history with three million-dollar cashes on their resume. Nguyen and Grospellier currently have two apiece. (Second place in this tournament is worth $1.44 million.) 

Want another storyline? How's this -- Shannon Shorr wasn't invited to the NBC National Heads-Up Poker Championship, and blogged that his results warranted serious consideration. If he wins this event, it'll definitely increase his profile and his chances, but the WPT World Champion does not get an automatic invite to that event. The WPT Player of the Year (which will be either Phan or Grospellier) does get an automatic invite to the NBC invitational. 

There is plenty to watch for, so be sure to return to WorldPokerTour.com tomorrow (Saturday) at 4:00 pm PT for complete hand-by-hand coverage, with updated chip counts for every hand.