The heads up battle came down to a simple coinflip.  After Gavin Smith had limped from the small blind Glen Witmer raised to 500k.  Gavin then moved all in for around 4 million and Witmer called.

Gavin had pocket fives - the 55 and was a slight favorite over the AK of Whitmer.  The flop was no help for Whitmer’s overcards, but with the turn he picked up a few more outs on a board that showed QJ2J.  The river was the A and with the turn of the card Gavin saw his dreams of a title in the North American Poker Championship disappear.

Smith graciously congratulated Witmer on his victory before making his exit from the tournament area.  The 2nd place finish earns Gavin $612,427 CAD.

For Witmer the victory brings $1,254,152 CAD and the accolades that go along with being a World Poker Tour Champion.  Witmer also won a seat into the $25,000 buy in WPT Championship at the Bellagio in April.

• October 16, 2008 -- Chipping Away
• October 16, 2008 -- Liebert Doubles Smith, Then Eliminated 3rd
• October 16, 2008 -- Fizzled: Fisler Out 4th
• October 16, 2008 -- Trenholm First Out

In the battle of the pro and the amateur, Gavin Smith is chipping away at Glen Witmer. The two are in a heads up battle for the North American Poker Championship title, with Witmer holding a chip lead of almost 2 to 1, but a confident and poised Gavin Smith is more than confident that his skill edge will be the deciding factor in heads up play.

Gavin (right) has been amicably referring to Witmer as “Gramps” since the start of the day. After Witmer busted Ryan “Gotskillz” Fisler earlier to claim over half the chips in play Gavin commented “You’ve gotta lot of chips there Gramps,” but followed up by letting Witmer know he was going to do his best to take them away from him.

Gavin is up a little from the start of heads up play and has around 4.1 million chips, still less than half of Witmer’s 9.5 million. As long as Witmer is willing to play small ball style with Smith though the blinds won’t be forcing the action for a while. For now they are playing at the 30k / 60k level with a 10k ante, giving Gavin over 65 big blinds to work with.

• October 16, 2008 -- Witmer Wins! Gavin Left With 2nd
• October 16, 2008 -- Liebert Doubles Smith, Then Eliminated 3rd
• October 16, 2008 -- Fizzled: Fisler Out 4th
• October 16, 2008 -- Trenholm First Out

For Kathy Liebert another World Poker Tour final table has ended without a title. Liebert was down to 3 handed play with Gavin Smith and Glen Witmer, and had Smith all in with a chance to go heads up against Witmer but the cards didn’t pan out for her.

Kathy had raised to 150k from the small blind and Gavin called from the big blind. On the AJ3 flop Liebert bet 200k and Smith raised to 670k. Libert then moved in and Gavin took a brief pause before calling.

Kathy had middle pair and a flush draw with the QJ but Gavin had top pair with the A9. The board filled out with the 2 and the 3 and Gavin was able to double up to just under 4 million chips while Liebert was left with less than 4 big blinds as her stack fell to under 200k.

A few hands later the last of Kathy’s chips were all in against Glen Witmer. Glen had the QJ and had raised to 200k preflop. Kathy called her last 165k from the big blind and after that it was up to the cards. Liebert had the 87 and was live, but after the KQ3 flop her chances dropped tremendously and with the 5 on the turn there was no way for her to win the hand.

An emotional looking Kathy Liebert saw her 5th WPT final table appearance yet again come up a little short of the elusive victory. Liebert’s 3rd place brings $319,377 CAD and leaves Gavin Smith heads up against Glen Witmer.

Here are the chip counts to start heads up play:

Glen Witmer - 9,800,000
Gavin Smith - 3,850,000

• October 16, 2008 -- Witmer Wins! Gavin Left With 2nd
• October 16, 2008 -- Chipping Away
• October 16, 2008 -- Fizzled: Fisler Out 4th
• October 16, 2008 -- Fun Table

The unexpected domination of Glen Witmer continues. At the start of the day Witmer was so quiet it looked like he was asleep. He played few hands early on, but then picked up the pace and has jumped out to a large chip lead.

Most recently Witmer was able to eliminate Ryan “Gotskillz” Fisler. With the blinds at 25k / 50k and a 5k ante Witmer opened for 200k and Ryan raised to 755,000. Glen called and the flop came down J92. Fisler then moved all in for just under 2 million and as soon as the all in was announced Witmer said “Call.” Glen had flopped top pair with his AJ and Fisler’s AK had been outflopped leaving Fisler in bad shape.

“No king,” Witmer said, only to have Liebert tell him he should go about it the other way and pull for a positive such as a jack. Witmer did, and sure enough there was the J on the turn locking the hand up for Witmer and spelling the end of the road for Ryan Fisler (right) in 4th place for $262,469 CAD.

Here are how the other three stack up after Ryan’s elimination:

Glen Witmer - 8,560,000
Gavin Smith - 3,115,000
Kathy Liebert - 1,970,000

• October 16, 2008 -- Fun Table
• October 16, 2008 -- Witmer Wins! Gavin Left With 2nd
• October 16, 2008 -- Chipping Away
• October 16, 2008 -- Liebert Doubles Smith, Then Eliminated 3rd

At the start of the day Glen Witmer held the chip lead, but wasn’t getting a lot of respect as people around the tournament made predictions of the likely final table outcome.  With pros Gavin Smith, Marc “Myst” Karam, Ryan “Gotskillz” Fisler, and Kathy Liebert all in the field of 6, Witmer was assumed to be a sitting duck, waiting to give away chips.

A few hours into play Witmer has shown no weakness, and after eliminating Karam has continued to grab chips.  At last count Witmer had over half the chips in play and more than twice Smith’s second place stack.

Glen Witmer - 7,135,000
Gavin Smith - 3,365,000
Ryan “Gotskillz” Fisler - 2,315,000
Kathy Liebert - 830,000

• October 16, 2008 -- Smith Takes The Lead
• October 16, 2008 -- Fun Table
• October 15, 2008 -- Fisler and Karam Make Final Table
• October 15, 2008 -- One Down