To close out hour five, we are now down to 6 players.

The ante is now 10,000, blinds 120,000 and 240,000.

37:23 into hour five and the final table is down to 7 players.

All in had Jack/8 the other Queen/9. Cards: 2/A/Queen on the flop/5/King on the river. Pair of Queens takes the hand and stays in the game.

Player prize: 200,000 bonus miles.

Average chip stack 1,600,000.

Factoid: The next level, level 20, was the highest level of the software that Golden Nugget uses. Most tournaments can use $5-6 million of chips but with the high buy-in to start, 50,000, and the number of players, the software used to track the level of play for the blinds was not able to proceed. But, they were able to override the system in real time and create several new levels for this tournament – a first for poker at the Golden Nugget (the richest tournament ever in terms of the value of the chips, and yes, normal security was in play with guards and the security cameras going full time).

20:17 into hour five and the final table is down to 8 players with an average chip stack of 1,400,000.

Player Prize: 150,000 bonus miles.

At 12:16 into the fifth hour the table is down to 9 players. In the first hand of this hour, this player was all in with another player and lost – but was left with a single chip (which covered only half the next bet). You just can’t go far with only one chip, no matter the game!

Player prize: 100,000 bonus miles.

At 5:27 into the fifth hour of play, the tables were narrowed down to the final 10 players – all winners with prizes of at least 100,000 bonus miles.

The 11th player was out to a thunderous round of applause lead primarily by those 10 remaining players with an exhaustive grin on their faces.

If you’ve never watched live, the final round and hands of a tournament like this, it is very, very dramatic with spectators all jockeying for the closest possible look at the cards when the river card is dealt.

The ante for the start of the final table is 10,000, the two blinds are 60,000 and 120,000.

And in case you want to know:

• 2 players wearing baseball caps.
• 5 players wearing sunglasses.
• 1 player listening to his iPod.

At approximately 33 minutes into the final round, there are 11 players left with an average chip count of 1,018,181.

“Hand-To-Hand” is where the two remaining tables (six at one, five the other) are dealt and completed at the exact same time as they get down the the final table of 10. By dealing together, it allows the tables to be even without giving disadvantage to the table playing faster.

Entering the 4th hour of play for 21 million frequent flyer miles there are 13 players left with an average chip stack of 861,538.

• And if you must know:
• 5 players wearing sunglasses left.
• 3 players wearing baseball caps.
• 1 player listening to his iPod.
• 5 players with a bottle of water in front of them and one player with a Diet Coke.
• 2 players with lucky charms (Texas A&M logo chip and a OnePass 21 Anniversary chip).

20 players start the afternoon session which has an average chip stack of 560,000. The game is at level 18 with the ante being 5,000 and the blinds being 30,000/60,000.

1:21 (one minute and twenty-one seconds) into the afternoon session brought about the first casualty – 19 players left.

AND DRAMA? First deal at one of the tables goes ante in at 100,000. Pot grows to 290,000, next bet is 200,000 and bluffs off everyone to take it all in. Whether miles or money – that’s a lot to look at.

Two hours into the final day of this tournament finds 21 players left for the 21st anniversary of OnePass. 

Average chip stack: 533,333.

As we watched the action in the finals, we noticed that one of the leading players seems to rely on a great training table to prepare himself for this game. In this picture, notice in the bottom lower right, the box of Krispy Kreme donuts underneath his chair. Whatever it takes to win!