IVO DONEV

There were 143 entrants in the $1,500 Buy-In, Omaha for a total prize pool of $214,500. 2tables were paid, a total of 18 players.

The Final Table was set when Thor Hansen flopped a set against Jerry Atkins and rivered a higher straight.

Coming back Thursday afternoon, unlike yesterday, there were no decisive chip leaders. Our winner could come from any of the nine players. Whoever got hot could take the bracelet.

THE FINAL TABLE: 80 mins left of 80. The blinds are $800/$1,500

Player	Hometown	Chip Count
Seat 1 Ivo Donev	Bregenz Austria	$28,000
Seat 2 Ben Tang	Scottsdale AZ	$27,200
Seat 3 Charlie Brahmi	Ventnor NJ	$34,600
Seat 4 Hassan Igram	Reno NV	$13,800
Seat 5 Mark Scott	Las Vegas NV	$13,900
Seat 6 Barry Shulman	Las Vegas NV	$23,800
Seat 7 Thor Hansen	Oslo Norway	$26,600
Seat 8 Dan Heimiller	Tucson AZ	$25,800
Seat 9 Martin Oliveras	Madison NJ	$20,900

It seems Dan Heimiller is experimenting with his Final Table strategy. He certainly knows how to get here, now he wants to win more often. The player with more WSOP cashes than anyone the last three years still can't find the key to winning the big money here. Unable to win a hand, Dan tired a desperation semi-bluff against Mark Scott that failed. Scott with K J flopped Jacks. Not great, but enough to take the heat from Heimiller with only Ace high and a low wrap. Heimiller's cards didn't come as he went all-in and Scott's Jacks held up. Heimiller, in 9th, has yet another low finish at a WSOP Final Table.

One of the hottest players in tournament poker is Card Player Magazine CEO Barry Shulman. Today the heater wasn't working, however, as Shulman suffered a horrendous beat from Ben Tang when Ben caught a gutshot straight on the river to crack Barry's made hand. Now all-in with Jacks, Shulman was called by Mark Scott in the small blind with pocket Kings. Shulman is 8th may want to cancel a few player's subscriptions.

After getting healthy eliminating the first two players, Mark Scott seemed to be on his way up the pay ladder. But Mark got tentative at the wrong time. Twice in a brief period Scott couldn't bet the river when a made straight hit the board. Neither time did the other player in the hand have a better straight. In Omaha, unlike hold'em, the board doesn't play in that situation. The best hand wins. One bet either time might have given Scott the chips he needed to move up. Now all-in with A K, Scott left in 7th when Ben Tang flopped the nuts with the A J of Diamonds.

"I showed 'em," Charlie Brahmi said. Not wanting to go to his casino box for enough cash to buy into the event, Charlie Brahmi tried to borrow $70 from some of his 'friends' in the high stakes games. Brahmi was offering 5% of himself in return. After three refusals that stunned Charlie, someone came across with the spare change and more than tripled their money on the investment. "I predicted I'd make the final table," Charlie said. Unpredictable, though, were how bad his cards were while here. The beginning chip leader couldn't make a hand and went all-in with his last $1,000 on the flop with an A Q high. Martin Oliveras had A K high which was a pimple too good for Brahmi in 6th.

It wasn't Orange Juice, but the taste was bitter to Ben Tang. Ben was cruising along until the nightmare hand in Omaha arrived. Tang flopped an open-ended straight flush draw against Hassan Igram. Ben pounded the pot and didn't get there, giving most of his chips to Hassan. Now all-in from the button with A Q, Tang came in a watered down 5th when Thor Hansen made the nut flush.

Playing brilliantly all day, Hassan Igram could never fully overcome his low chip position at the start. Four handed, the blinds and a few unrealized hands cost Igram his stack. Hassan raised all-in with Kings only to have Thor Hansen showdown Aces again to give Igram 4th.

With three players left, Thor Hansen had a 2-1 chip lead on the other two. They made him an offer he couldn't refuse, all the money for 1st place less $17k. Thor's mother didn't raise no fool up there in Norway. With the money gone, Ivo Donev (we thought his name was Donev Ivo until he corrected us) went on a tidal wave rush to suck up every chip on the table. Ivo and Martin Oliveras saved $40k each and it's speculated that the chess master loosened up his play a little bit after the deal. Whatever the reason for the sea change, Ivo Donev won nearly all the pots from the deal onward to checkmate the field. Ivo's only been playing poker for two years after 20 as a chess pro. He said in his wonderfully fractured English that he read books and practiced on his computer to get better, so there is hope for the rest of us. Our bracelet may be waiting.