Gary Friendlander raised to 12,500 in middle position and Allie Prescott called from the small blind.
The flop came down and Prescott led 14,500 at the pot. Friedlander raised to 42,000, but that did not deter Prescott who re-popped it to 110,000. After about two minutes, Friedlander kicked in his hand and gave up the pot to Prescott.
Jeremy Gaubert raised to 12,000 from the hijack and Kunal Patel popped it to 29,000 from the button. Action folded around to Gaubert and he shoved for about 100,000. Patel called immediately, but that's where the drama ended.
While you wait, check it out. With this final table set, the list of the 100 National Championship qualifiers is set. These 100 players were the top performers on the Circuit this season, and they'll be rewarded with a $1 million freeroll at Caesars Palace in Las Vegas from May 27th-29th.
The prizepool has been adjusted as per the players' request. Ninth place will pay out $12,000 instead of zero now, and $1,500 was taken from each of the top eight spots to facilitate the save.
We've got just one day left before the World Series of Poker Circuit heads home to Las Vegas for the National Championship. Today is the final table of the Southern Regional Championship at Harrah's New Orleans, the last of the four $10,000 big-ticket events. Here's how our table looks this afternoon.
Seat
Player
Chips
1
Allie Prescott
353,000
2
Harry Cullen
164,500
3
Allen Kessler
85,000
4
Jeremy Gaubert
121,500
5
Gary Friedlander
469,000
6
Kunal Patel
160,000
7
Matt Waxman
171,000
8
AJ Jejelowo
489,000
9
Scott Lipshutz
237,500
Eight of those players have won entry into the National Championship by virtue of their appearance at this final table. One of them didn't need it. Matt Waxman won the $1,600 Main Event in Atlantic City back in December to get his qualification out of the way early on. Allen Kessler has been trying all season to earn his golden ticket, and he's finally done so here on his final chance. Perhaps nobody is more deservedly here than Allie Prescott, though. On Day 2, Prescott was crippled all the way down to just 1,300 chips (2 big blinds) during the first level of the day. He doubled and tripled his way back into contention, though, and two days of grinding later, he finds himself at the final table with enough chips to wage warfare.
Everyone's chasing AJ Jejelowo, he and Gary Friedlander each holding more than 20% of the chips in play. It figures to be an entertaining day of poker with a good mix of newcomers and established pros.
The final table gets rolling in just about twenty minutes, and we'll be back from the rail as soon as the cards go live.