Danny Wong and Brandon Wong have been eliminated from the $1,500 Limit Hold’em Shootout final table in 5th and 4th place, respectively, and Jean-Robert Bellande is still drinking beer and stacking chips. Not much has changed, except Bellande’s charm has turned on now that he’s the chip leader with three players remaining. ”I just hit my second wind,” said Bellande just before players went on a 10-minute break following Round 17.

Bellande currently has 1.75 million chips while Joe De Niro is at 625K and Matt “mattg1983″ Graham 350K. Jean Robert is attempting to get the other two to make a $5K last-longer bet, to which he’ll add $2K to the pool. Graham seemed eager to jump on it, but De Niro commented “the money doesn’t matter to me.”

For those still awake and those now just waking up, we’ll be following Graham’s progress until he is knocked out — or until he wins his first gold bracelet!

• July 3, 2008 -- Sitron Takes 2nd
• July 3, 2008 -- A Champion is Born
• July 3, 2008 -- Spencer None the Richer
• July 3, 2008 -- A Graham Adventure

Scott “ssitron” Sitron came into the heads-up match against David Daneshgar with nearly a 2 to 1 chip advantage but his aggressive opponent was able to knock Sitron down and eventually out in only 50 hands.

Daneshgar caught some very big hands during the heads-up match including aces (twice) and kings but Sitron was able to avoid most of Daneshgar’s monster hands. In one crucial hand Sitron raised to 320k and Daneshgar re-raised to 895k total. Sitron made the call and they saw the flop come A62. Daneshgar led out with a bet of 610k and Sitron called. When the 6 fell on the turn Daneshgar checked over to Sitron who bet 800k and Daneshgar instantly pushed all in prompting Sitron to fold, giving Daneshgar the chip lead.

Sitron was able to take a few small pots after that hand to try to start building his stack back up, but then on one hand where Daneshgar raised to 400k, Sitron pushed all-in for 2.9 million and Daneshgar very quickly called with his TT. Sitron was in need of some help with his A8 but the board ran out 6649J and Daneshgar eliminated Sitron in 2nd place.

After coming to the final table 8th out of 9 in chips Sitron made an amazing run and played some great cards and nets a hefty $385,974. Congrats Scott!

Matt “mattg1983″ Graham is still battling at the final table of the LHE shootout and we’re all thinking that it might be a very long night. The blinds are still relatively small in relation to the chip stacks so no one has been eliminated yet although Danny Wong is down to around 75k of the 300k everyone started with. Graham has around 200k and Spencer “spankybabes” Lawrence is sitting close to the starting stack with around 270k. Not too much action going on yet but as the blinds continue to rise we expect play to speed up.

• July 3, 2008 -- So Close He Can Taste It!
• July 2, 2008 -- Graham 3-Handed in 1.5k Shootout
• July 2, 2008 -- ‘SirWatts’ Runs Out of Power
• July 2, 2008 -- Hold Your Fire

Aaron “gotcha55″ Kanter was just eliminated from the final table of event #36, the $1.5k NLHE in a heartbreaking manner. Jesper Hougaard, the dominating chip leader at the table has been raising and betting at numerous pots pushing his opponents around. He knocked out 4th place finisher Danny Wong when Wong’s pocket kings couldn’t beat the A5 of Hougaard who flopped the nut flush.

After a little more than 10 hands passed, Hougaard raised and Kanter pushed all in with his QQ and Hougaard made the call with the KJ. The flop and turn ran out safely for Kanter showing the A437 but then the devastating K came on the river to knock Kanter out. Hougaard and his buddies jumped up and down and celebrated at his enormous luck. Kanter takes home $258,862 for his efforts today.

Cody “thugmoneymkr” Slaubaugh is now the lone P5er left to battle Hougaard in a heads up battle that judging from Hougaards play thusfar, may end up being rather short. Slaubaugh (pictured right) just doubled up when his AT held against Hougaard’s QT. After the hand Slaubaugh had 1.6 million to Hougaards 5.9 million in chips.

• June 22, 2008 -- Slaubaugh Takes 2nd
• June 21, 2008 -- That’s the Way You Need It
• June 21, 2008 -- He’s a Shaniac!
• June 21, 2008 -- Slaubaugh Not Afraid to Gamble

Down to the final two tables in the 1.5k NL WSOP Event #36, Cody “thugmoneymkr” Slaubaugh (pictured left) came across a tournament defining moment on the final hand before the break.

Facing a 70k bet from his opponent in the big blind on a 965 flop in a hand Slaubaugh raised to 35k preflop, Slaubaugh faced a dilemma that a lot of players would probably be split on holding 77.

With about 350k behind on an incredibly drawy board for his pair, Slaubaugh could either play a big pot for his tournament or fold and try to chip up without being all-in when he was likely a small favorite at best if called.

After tanking for about a minute, Slaubaugh made it 270k, effectively putting his opponent all-in, having him covered by 10k.

Slaubaugh’s opponent went all-in and flipped up the AJ, putting Slaubaugh in a coin-flip for his tournament.

After the 4 and the T peeled off, Slaubaugh effectively doubled up, moving his chip stack to 787k.

Minutes earlier at another table, Tom “titantom32″ Braband bricked out on a gamble that would have placed him with one of the bigger stacks in the tournament when his open-end straight draw missed, leaving him with a short stack of 130k instead of 710k.

Such are the breaks that often determine a player’s fate deep in tournaments.

Danny Wong continues to steamroll the field and is the chipleader with 1.1 million. After opening a pot from early position to 35k, Wong faced an all-in from his opponent for an additional 112k.

Wong called and his T9 ran down his opponents 77 when he clipped a ten on the turn.

Duncan “pumper” Bell, winner of the 2.5k NL WSOP Event #13, was eliminated when his pocket eights ran into pocket tens, finishing in 20th place.

Here’s a list of notable chip counts with 15 players left.

Bryan Micon - 230k

Aaron Kanter - 350k

Bryan “bparis” Paris - 160k

Owen  “ocrowe” Crowe - 130k

• June 21, 2008 -- Braband Wakes Up with Aces
• June 21, 2008 -- He’s a Shaniac!
• June 21, 2008 -- Back from the Break
• June 22, 2008 -- Slaubaugh Takes 2nd

On the final hand before players went on a 25 minute break in the 1.5k NL WSOP Event #36, Tom “titantom32″ Braband didn’t need to do much thinking when a player moved all-in for 70k and he looked down at AA.

Braband’s aces held up against his opponents queens capping off what he coined as a “rollercoaster” day thus far as he talked with Cody “thugmoneymakr” Slaubaugh during the break right outside the Amazon Room.

Slaubaugh was also the beneficiary of an all-in preflop confrontation when he busted an opponents AK with his 77 when his opponent moved all-in preflop for 67k.

Braband’s stack is at 350k with Slaubaugh just beneath him at 300k with the average stack at 230k with 32 players left.

Danny Wong is the chip boss with 720k in a field with a handful of notable live and online players left including Owen “ocrowe” Crowe (pictured left), who has a slightly above average stack at 285k.

Here’s a list of notable chip stacks.

Bryan Micon - 310k

Duncan “pumper” Bell - 200k

Brian “bparis” Paris - 200k

Can Kim Hua - 115k

• June 21, 2008 -- Slaubaugh Not Afraid to Gamble
• June 21, 2008 -- He’s a Shaniac!
• June 21, 2008 -- Back from the Break
• June 22, 2008 -- Slaubaugh Takes 2nd