Actually, they are already here.  And at the rate they are going they will be the only ones left before long.  Ivan Demidov and Stanislav Alekhin are atop the chip counts, and the 4 eliminations today have all came at the hands of the Russians.  Scott “emptyseat88″ Fischman (right), Toni Hiltunen and Robin Keston have all now joined Chris Elliott on the sidelines.

Alekhin took out Hiltunen in 8th place when the two ended up all in preflop and Alekhin’s pocket queens held up against Toni’s pocket jacks.  8th place for Toni Hiltunen brings £108,600. 

Next up was Ivan Demidov’s turn at being the executioner, eliminating Robin Keston in 7th place for £135,750. Demidov had opened for 38k and Keston moved all in.  Ivan called with pocket nines and was well ahead of the A-8 for Keston.  Robin picked up a flush draw on the 9 turn which made a set for Ivan.  The river was a blank though, ending the day for Keston and puting more chips in the hands of November Niner.

 Not to be outdone, Alekhin (below) got right back to work and has sent two time bracelet winner Scott “emptyseat88″ Fischman off to collect his £171,950 for 7th place.  Ivan had started the action with a raise and both Fischman and Alekhin called.  On the AJT flop Ivan checked, Fischman bet 45k and then Stanislav took over control of the pot by raising to 135k.  Ivan got out of the way leaving the action to Fischman who moved the rest of his stack into the middle.  Stanislav was sitting on the nuts and couldn’t call quick enough.

The KQ for the Russian gave him a flopped straight while Fischman only had the AQ for top pair and a straight draw in hopes of chopping the pot.  The possibility of running cards for a full house went out the door with a 4 on the turn leaving Fischman looking for a king to split the pot and continue on.  It didn’t happen and Alekhin added another notch on his belt from this final table.

Play is now 5 handed with the two Russians leading the way.  Daniel Negreanu, John Juanda and Bengt Sonnert will have to find some way to slow the Russians down before the steamroll of this final table is complete.

• October 2, 2008 -- Elite Eight
• October 2, 2008 -- Turned Upside Down, But Still Evenish
• October 2, 2008 -- Bengt Bounced, Juanda Gains Ground
• October 2, 2008 -- Kid Poker Felted

The final eight players in the World Series of Poker Europe, presented by Betfair, have finished up the first round of the day and after a brief pause will be back at the table to play out the 8k / 16k blind level witha 2k ante.  The first level saw only one elimination, but plenty of chips moving around with Ivan Demidov jumping to the top of the chip counts at the expense of John Juanda.The largest pot between Demidov and Juanda came when Juanda opened for 36k and Ivan made it 99k.  Juanda called and on the JJ6 flop Juanda check raised Ivan’s 125k bet to 314k.  Demidov called and on the 8 turn Juanda again checked over to Ivan.  This time Demidov (left) bet 277k and before the bet was out Juanda had already mucked his hand giving Ivan the pot and the chip lead.

Scott “emptyseat88″ Fischman was able to win a pot at showdown with pocket fives and pick up an unexpected pot on the board showing in no particular order A-K-Q-J-9.  That and a few other small pots brought fishman up to 560k by levels end.

A quiet Daniel Negreanu lost a little ground the first level, but seems content to bide his time and get a feel for how the table will play out.  In his blog on PokerRoad.com Daniel predicts the final table will take at least 15 hours to play out, so he is settling in for the long haul. 

Here are how they stack up going into the second level of the day:

Ivan Demidov - 2,050,000
Stanislav Alekhin - 1,880,000
John Juanda - 905,000
Daniel Negreanu - 730,000
Scott “emptyseat88″ Fischman - 560,000
Bengt Sonnert - 430,000
Toni Hiltunen - 395,000
Robin Keston - 310,000

• October 2, 2008 -- The Russians Are Coming!
• October 1, 2008 -- Neff Bubbles Final Table, Nine Left
• October 1, 2008 -- Neff Busts Lodden, Down To 10
• October 2, 2008 -- Turned Upside Down, But Still Evenish

After a night of anticipation the players are back at the table, ready to play down to a champion.  John Juanda and Stanislov Alekhin come in as the chip leaders with Daniel Negreanu and Ivan Demidov nipping at their heels.

Negreanu won the first pot of the day with a raise preflop that was only called by Scott “emptyseat88″ Fischman.  On the flop Scott led for a small bet and folded when Daniel raised.  Negreanu showed pocket aces for his first holding of the day.

While Daniel won the first pot, the first large pot went to Bengt Sonnert who doubled through Robin Keston in the classic race situation.  Keston opened the pot and after Negreanu called the 40k Sonnert raised from the blinds.  Keston reraised making it 300k and after Daniel folded Sonnert moved in and was quickly called.  Keston’s AK was up against pocket queens for Sonnert, and with a queen on the flop Bengt was way out in front and stayed there to double his 409k and build his stack to 850k chips.

Sonnert won the first big pot and a few hands later Stanislov Alekhin busted Chris Elliott (right) to send the first player home from the final table.  Elliott was all in on the turn with two pair, but Alekhin’s flush draw got there with the K on the river.  The 9th place finish for Chris Elliott is worth £81,450.

• October 2, 2008 -- The Russians Are Coming!
• October 2, 2008 -- Elite Eight
• October 1, 2008 -- Neff Bubbles Final Table, Nine Left
• October 1, 2008 -- Neff Busts Lodden, Down To 10

Peter “#1Pen” Neff has been eliminated in 10th place, just missing the final table of the World Series of Poker Europe, presented by Betfair. Peter had almost eliminated Chris Elliott earlier to end the day, but Chris hit on the river to win the pot. After losing that pot Neff found himself among the short stacks in imminent danger of elimination.

He was able to win a small pot against John Juanda with pocket tens on a pot in which Neff (right) called a preflop raise and then check called the flop. Both players checked the turn and river on the low board and Neff’s tens were good enough to take the pot.

In more comfortable shape, Neff then tangled with Scott “emptyseat88″ Fischman. The two went back and forth on the flop with Peter leading, Scott raising and Neff then moving in. Fischman called with pocket fives on a rainbow flop of 9-7-5 for bottom set. Neff had outs with his T-8 for an open ended straight draw. There was no help on the turn for Neff and the river ended up making quad fives for Fischman to double through Peter. After the hand Neff was left with just over 60k and in critical condition.

A super short stacked Neff thought he had a fighting chance to get back in it when he looked down at pocket kings, but it was not to be. Neff moved all in preflop and was called by November Niner Ivan Demidov. His kings were up against the AT but a flop with 2 hearts was followed up with a heart on the turn leaving Neff drawing dead against Ivan’s made flush.

The 10th place finish has to be disappointing for Neff, but he does walk away with £54,300 to go along with his thoughts of what might have been.

At the end of the day the final nine for tomorrow’s final table has to make the ESPN producers ecstatic. A pro as known as John Juanda or Scott Fischman (left) making the final table would be good, both of them making it together would be even better. A final table with Daniel Negreanu would be amazing for TV, no matter who the other 8 were. Let’s throw those 3 in for starters and then try to find a storyline to compete. Oh yeah, he is the quiet kid over in the 6 seat who is using this final table as a warm up for WSOP Main Event final table in November where he is going in as one of the chip leaders. Ivan Demidov has set an unprecedented standard, final tabling both World Series of Poker Main Events in 2008 and going into the final table of both among the chip leaders and with a realistic shot at winning not one, but both tournaments.

This final table couldn’t have been much better from a television and marketing perspective had it been written in a movie script. Here’s how the final 9 stack up in chips going into the final table:

John Juanda - 1,349,000
Stanislav Alekhin - 1,278,000
Ivan Demidov - 1,006,000
Daniel Negreanu - 1,006,000 (right)
Robin Keston - 849,000
Scott “emptyseat88″ Fischman - 732,000
Toni Hiltunen - 386,000
Bengt Sonnert - 385,000
Chris Elliott - 281,000

• October 1, 2008 -- Neff Busts Lodden, Down To 10
• October 1, 2008 -- Boosted Busted, Townsend Gone Too
• October 2, 2008 -- The Russians Are Coming!
• October 2, 2008 -- Elite Eight

All the players left in the World Series of Poker Europe, presented by Betfair, are now seated at one table.  Peter “#1Pen” Neff eliminated Johnny Lodden in 11th place, and after a brief pause the players are all now seated at the feature table and back in action to play on until one more player is eliminated.

Lodden was all in with AK against Neff who held pocket nines.  The nines held up and fan favorite Johnny Lodden was out in 11th place for £54,300 while the other players saw their hopes of a final table appearance get all that much closer. 

For Ivan Demidov an appearance at both WSOP Main Event final tables this year seems to be all but a foregone conclusion.  He has comfortable chips and seems content to sit back and bide his time.  In No Limit poker situations can drastically change in a hurry and anything can happen.

John Juanda, Stanislov Alekhin and Daniel Negreanu are at the top of the pack to start the 10 handed table, all with over 1 million in chips.  After that Demidov and Robin Deston are just under a million and then the field falls off a little bit.  Neff, Scott “emptyseat88″ Fischman, Toni Hiltunen, and Bengt Sonnert are all in the 400k’s with Chris Elliott the decided short stack at 150k.

• October 1, 2008 -- Neff Bubbles Final Table, Nine Left
• October 1, 2008 -- Boosted Busted, Townsend Gone Too
• October 2, 2008 -- The Russians Are Coming!
• October 2, 2008 -- Elite Eight