Strike the Set -- We're Out of Here

Players are racking up their chips; the game is over. Tom Dwan did an excellent job of digging himself out of what started out as a $550,000 hole from his heads-up match against Patrik Antonius. I don't know if he made it all the way back, but he certainly made progress once Phil Laak, Andrew Robl, Jamie Pickering, Chris Ferguson and Niki Jedlicka joined the game.

Ferguson didn't have much impact on the ring game. Laak was the big loser after being stacked by Niki Jedlicka for $200,000 and then losing another $75,000 to Dwan on the last hand of the night. Robl gets the "Runs Better than God" award for beating Antonius (see what I did there?) four times on the same PLO board despite being a two-to-one underdog after the flop. Pickering looked nervous at the start of play, but his hands held up when he needed them to hold up. He finished ahead for the night by at least $100,000.

That about does it from the River Room. Thanks so much for following the coverage. Covering a high-stakes cash game was a first for me. I hope you found the reporting interesting and entertaining. I certainly enjoyed being here.

There's one more day of the 2009 Aussie Millions. We'll be bringing coverage tomorrow of the 2-Card Manila championship, but that really is my day off so I have no intention of being anywhere near the Crown Poker Room. Later in the week the action shifts to Manila for the Asian Poker Tour. I'll see you there.

Have a great night!