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  Phil Hellmuth had probably spent the night before the Event #51 final table working out the choreography for the touchdown dance he was going to perform after accepting his 12th bracelet and working on how to get just the right inflection in his voice when taunting the second place finisher. Alas, it was not to be.



  The day started with twenty players, and the final table did not get started until after the dinner break. Phil started off the final seating number two in the chip count, and he never would overcome the chip leader Tommy Hang. Unfortunately for Tommy, he would eventually be overtaken by somebody working on their first bracelet, not a player trying to make an even dozen.



  James Schaaf started the day with a modest stack of chips that placed him squarely in the middle of the group. Considering how the WSOP has gone this year, being in the middle seems to be working out just fine for a lot of players.

  Tommy Hang was responsible for the table's first elimination. Matt Grapenthien began the final table as the shortest stack, and thanks to a K-K-K-A-A full house and an uncooperative board, Matt was gone in eighth place.



  Holdem during this H.O.R.S.E. event was the bane of Sam Silverman. His pocket threes were squashed by Jason Dollinger's pocket sevens. The board gave both players a ten high two-pair, and lower threes were ushered out in seventh place. Silverman's chips were not enough to keep Dollinger off the chopping block.



  During stud, Tommy Hang's set of sevens overpowered Dollinger's King high two-pair. Jason was sprung in sixth place. The Dollinger elimination seemed to have spooked the table, because play became slow and tight after that. The blinds eventually escalated to the point where play loosened up, and Hellmuth took the opportunity to start making an impact at the table.



  Phil was all-in pre-flop against Esther Rossi. Phil was holding Ks-8h, and Esther had a Jh-9h. Initially the flop looked good for Rossi, offering up two more hearts, but that was the last of the gifts it had for either player. Hellmuth's King held, and Esther Rossi was out in fourth place.



  There is an old saying that applies to sled dogs and how if you are not the lead dog, the view never changes. Well Phil was following Tommy Hang all day, and the view would only change when Hang's Queen high two-pair in Omaha Hi/Lo would dominate Hellmuth's much weaker two-pair, and send the 11 time bracelet winner away in third place, still in search of a 12th piece of jewelry.



  Tommy Hang had twice as many chips as James Schaaf, but couldn't pin his slippery opponent down. Instead Schaaf patiently and methodically eroded Hang's stack over the next sixty hands until he finally had the chip lead. Schaaf delivered the killing blow to Hang's bracelet hopes during stud hi/lo. Hang was all-in and hoping his trip sevens would right the ship. It was close, but he just missed as James revealed a triplet of eights.



  Tommy Hang was done in second place and James Schaaf had won the Event #51 championship. Congratulations to James!