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From the cutoff, Mark Radoja made it 43,000 to go. Scott Baumstein would have none of that, however, making it 118,000 from the button. Action folded around back to Radoja who released his cards into the muck. Baumstein scooped a nice pot to start off the tournament.
The Tournament Director has just completed his player introductions and the cards are now in the air!
Level: 21
Blinds: 10,000/20,000
Ante: 3,000
Hailing out of New York, New York, Scott Baumstein is a 27-year old former options trader who obtained his Master's of Finance degree from NYU.
Making his first WSOP final table appearance after besting Nicholas Mitchell heads-up, Baumstein has three previous WSOP cashes including two consecutive Main Event cashes; but this here will be his biggest WSOP score to date.
Baumstein however has tasted success previously with a win at the PCA $5,000 Heads-Up Championship earlier this year for $120,000, but as is the desire for everybody that ventures to Las Vegas, a shiny gold bracelet will be his preferred trophy cabinet highlight if he is to be victorious here.
Although living in Baltimore, Maryland but hailing from Ann Arbor, Michigan, Jeffrey Gross has amazed many people with the fact that he is roommates with Olympic Gold Medalist Michael Phelps.
Attending the University of South Carolina, like many college kids, Gross has taken the game of cards to his liking and has already logged six WSOP cashes - including one earlier in the series.
Having secured over $140,000 in WSOP lifetime earnings, Gross will need a fourth-place or better if he is to improve on his fifth-placing in the $1,000 No-Limit Hold'em in 2010 where he pocketed $109,621 for that deep run. And having nearly $275,000 in lifetime earning since 2006, Gross will go close to tripling that if he can continue his form of defeating his two shootout tables to take home the gold.
Daniel Smith is a 22-year-old professional poker player from Las Vegas, Nevada.
While Smith may be the youngest player at this final table, he still has several tournament poker accolades. Smith finished 2nd place in Full Tilt Poker's FTOPS IV Main Event for a prize of $203,193. Smith also has a WSOP cash under his belt already this year, making the money in Event #12: $1,500 Triple Chance No-Limit Hold’em.
Smith hopes that today he can add a gold WSOP bracelet to his collection of poker achievements.
Tom Marchese, also known in the online world as "Kingsofcards", absolutely smashed the tournament circuit in 2010, being awarded CardPlayer Player of the Year.
Among Marchese's many impressive tournament cashes last year include 3rd place in the WPT 2010 World Poker Finals Main Event ($211,759), 1st place in the 2010 NAPT Deep Stack Extravaganza ($827,648), and a 6th place finish at last years WSOP $10,000 Pot-Limit-Hold'em Championship ($123,264).
This year he hopes to repeat his success and grab a WSOP bracelet in order to add to that list of accomplishments.
One of the three international players at the final table, Nicolas Fierrogottner comes to Las Vegas from Santiago, Chile.
This isn't Fierrogottner's first venture to the World Series as he has secured two previous cashes last year in the Main Event and a $1,500 for a combined $36,000 in both WSOP and lifetime winnings.
Originally studying industrial engineering in Chile before becoming a professional poker player, the 29-year old Fierrogottner will be using this event as his justification of making the switch ever since taking the game up in 2006.
Nikita Levedev is a 24-year old former trader who is attending the WSOP for the first time.
His first visit has seen some success already with a cash in Event #4: $5,000 No-Limit Hold'em, but here at the final table, he is already guaranteed his biggest score to date besting his deep run in the European Poker Tour Kiev Main Event in 2009.
Arriving on these shores from Moscow, Russia, Lebedev earned his degree from the Higher School of Economics in Moscow, but if he can top this final table, it is likely that his switch to playing poker will pay off handsomely.
From Hoboken, New Jersey, Todd Terry is a 37-year-old former attorney turned professional poker player.
After earning his undergraduate degree from Harvard University, Terry went on to enroll in law school at NYU. Terry then found his way into poker and garnered much success from doing so. He has over $600,000 in WSOP tournament winnings, which includes two final tables and six cashes. His largest cash so far came back in 2007 when he finished 2nd in the WSOP $2,000 No Limit Hold'em event, earning him a prize of $353,875. He wishes to top that prize today by taking first place for over $400,000 and a WSOP bracelet.
