Nio spelare började dagen vid lunchtid på Empire Casino, för att ingå i World Series of Poker Europe Main Event, men tyvärr kunde bara en gå hem som WSOP Main Event vinnare. Sjutton timmar efter att spelet började, slutade det på ett sätt som för alltid kommer att bli ihågkommen i pokerhistorian med en Barry Shulman seger över Daniel Negreanu. Det betydde hans andra World Series of Poker guldarmband.

Dagens spel började ungefär som en tungviktsboxningsmatch med alla spelare som försökte slå sig igenom de första nivåerna, och känna varandra ömsesidigt. Chippledaren, PokerStars proffset Jason Mercier svingade sin stora stack med viss effektivitet, i ett läge tog han sina 3.1 milljoner till 3,7 miljoner.

Feeling-out fasen inte kunde vara för evigt, och den första som fick lämna bordet var lokala November Niner, James Akenhead som blev utslagen på 9:e plats av Daniel Negreanu. Spelarna gick all in innan floppen med Akenhead's som hade behövt allvarligt hjälp mot Negreanu's . Kungarna gjorde jobbet, och Akenhead fick gå hem med £66,533 för hans insatser.

Akenhead's eliminering måste ha bränt ut nåt slags av säkring, eftersom under den nästa timmen eller så fick publiken på Empire Casino massor av non-stop spänning. Matt Hawrilenko blev utslagen som 8:e, när han gick all in som short stack med korten . Barry Shulman synade med och floppen, turnen och rivern betydde ingen hjälp heller för Hawrilenko som fick £87,074 för den 8:e platsen.

Redan i nästa handen, bara sekunder efter att November Niner lämnade denna event, gick Antoine Saout all in med sina pocket femmor. Daniel Negreanu synade med hans , och även om Negreanu hittade inga äss eller damer på floppen, kom det upp en femte spade på floppen som gav Negreanu den oslagbara färgen. Det gav i sin tur en förstärkt stack för han, medan fransmannen slutade på 7:e platsen med £114,228 i prispengar.

With a quick two-hand break between knockouts, Chris Bjorin would be led to the exit next in sixth place, £150,267 richer. It was once again Daniel Negreanu who was the executioner, this time dominating Bjorin's with . The flop gave Bjorin a gut-shot straight draw, however the turn, and river would not cooperate for Bjorin, sending him off and giving Negreanu the chip lead with about 3.1 million.

With the chip lead in hand Negreanu seemed keen to keep the pressure on his opponents, and it was Markus Ristola who he picked on next. Opening to 100,000 from under the gun, Negreanu made a surprisingly quick call with when Ristola moved all in with from the big blind. When the turn brought the , the fans cheering on the rail for Negreanu called wildly for an ace. The poker gods were listening, dropping the on the felt, knocking Ristola out in fifth place and earning him £200,367.

The final four broke for dinner with Praz Bansi holding the chip lead with 2.9 million. Bansi was followed by Negreanu with 2.8 million, Mercier with 2.3 million and Shulman rounding out the bottom of the pack with 1.9 million.

Jason Mercier, fresh off the ninety-minute break,surged back into the chip lead before sliding back down in the counts after getting involved in an over 3 million chip pot with Daniel Negreanu. The players were all-in preflop, and when the cards went on their backs Mercier knew he'd need some help; his pocket sevens trailing Negreanu's pocket nines. One of two sevens did not materialize for the young PokerStars Pro, and Mercier was eliminated in 4th place, good for £267,267.

Normally a crowd favorite, the fans at the Empire were rooting against Negreanu when Praz Bansi found himself short-stacked and all-in against Negreanu after a prior confrontation with Barry Shulman left him crippled. The fans chanted for a deuce with Bansi's battling Negreanu's dominating . The cheering did no good for Bansi and he was eliminated in 3rd place, taking home £360,887.

With Negreanu knocking out six of the seven eliminated players, he had the momentum, the experience and a 6,180,000 to 3,855,000 lead when heads-up play began. Those factors made him a clear favorite and it actually looked like he would seal the deal early on in their match when both players saw a flop. Shulman led out and Negreanu announced he was all-in. Shulman snap-called flipping over for the nut-flush draw while Negreanu was ahead with two black aces. The turn card ruined Negreanu's celebration and Shulman took a commanding chip lead.

While Shulman landed the first staggering blow, Negreanu showed absolutely no quit. Many times his chip stack slid into dangerous territory with the crowd always feeling the match was close to an end. Without showing down many, if any significant hands Negreanu clawed back each time, never allowing himself to succumb to Shulman's attacks.

After a ten-minute bathroom break around 4 a.m., Daniel Negreanu made his surge. "Kid Poker" won small pot after small pot, closing the gap in a way nobody thought was possible. Negreanu, who had looked like the hunted the past two hours, had now become the hunter. And then, just like that, without any fanfare or huge all-in pots, Negreanu regained the chip lead. It was a small lead at first that over the course of about three to four hands grew to about 2 million over Shulman.

At right about 5 a.m. the hand that is sure to be replayed on television for years to come took place. The preflop action was unclear, but the flop came down and Shulman bet 300,000. Negreanu responded by raising to 900,000, and Shulman moved all-in, standing up to see Negreanu's response.

Negreanu turned to the rail, and in typical Daniel Negreanu fashion began to speak his mind saying "So you all wanna go home, right?" The responses were difficult to make out, but Negreanu retorted "ah, I shouldn't listen to the rail. I call," before flipping over the . Shulman triumphantly flipped over the and was in the lead, in great shape to double up.

With the crowd madly cheering for a queen, the entire room erupted when the hit the felt, prompting Negreanu to cover his mouth with his hand to conceal his awe at now being one card away from winning arguably the biggest event of his career.

The frenzied crowd was buzzing, cheering and ready for a celebration before Tournament Director Jack Effel instructed the dealer to deal the river card. Words can't quite describe the energy in the room when the hit the felt catapulting Barry Shulman to a commanding chip lead, and once again knocking the valiant Negreanu, who had just fought for hours, back down to 2 million in chips.

Although he had come back just an hour before from a similar deficit, this time Negreanu, who battled like a warrior all night would not be able to regain his footing. Just a few hands later Negreanu was all-in holding pocket fours, against Shulman's pocket tens. The on the flop was the final knock-out blow, sending Negreanu to the mat one last time. As badly as he wanted to continue, tonight, it truly was just not in the cards for him.

Daniel Negreanu, as always was dignified in defeat telling the crowd he was taught to never give up by his mother who is currently batting back from a stroke she suffered earlier this year. He then congratulated the new World Series of Poker Europe Main Event Champion, Barry Shulman.

Shulman, with a smile on his face and his wife at his side gladly accepted the WSOP bracelet from Commissioner Jeffrey Pollack who congratulated Shulman as well, stating it was a very special year for the Shulman family, with son Jeff also in contention for a title during November's WSOP Main Event final table. While time will only tell what happens on the felt when the November Nine reconvene, what happened tonight at the Empire Casino will surely go down as one of the most epic final tables in World Series of Poker history.

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