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As the six men who made the final table of the Mirage Poker Showdown sat down yesterday, it was obvious to all that Phil Ivey, seated in fourth position with 1,395,000 chips, had the advantage. Not only did the Full Tilt Poker pro have the chip lead, but he was the most well known player at the table. Ivey, who is much beloved by fans and pros alike, has a reputation of being the world's best at NLHE. His aggressive style is intimidating to say the least.

Things got off to a fast start. On hand two, Amnon Filippi sang his swan song. He went all-in against recent World Series of Poker Circuit winner, Cory Carroll, with his Ac,Qc. Things looked good for a double-up as Filippi snagged a Broadway straight on the flop.

Unfortunately, the river would be unkind to him. Carroll, with his Ah,7h, also flopped a nut-flush draw. He completed that on the river with the deuce of the suit. Filippi received $100,865 for his sixth place finish.

At this point, the remaining players tightened up and played very aggressive poker. For the next hour or so, most of the hands were decided pre-flop. Ivey was on the losing end of quite a few of these. After the first break, he saw his chip lead dwindle. The Tiger Woods of Poker went from first to worst, holding a smidge over 650k remaining chips.

Ouch!

Then, it happened. Ivey called Jonathan Little's bet of $120,000 with his raggy Qc,2c. The flop gave Phil oodles of hope with two more clubs. Unfortunately, his opponent hit trip eights. On the turn, the jack of clubs spiked, giving Ivey his flush. Little bet 150,000. Ivey went over the top and all-in.

The river sunk our man, Phil, with an ace. His opponent, who had A,8 in the hole, caught a three-outer to make that full house. Ivey would again be denied a major title. The talented dude hasn't won the WSOP Main Event or a WPT championship yet. We know it's coming, but...how long does our man have to wait?

Just a few hands later, Richard Kirsch would follow Ivey out the door. He moved all-in with As,10d. Little, a blogger/featured player at sngicons.com under the monikers FieryJustice and Jcardshark, called Kirsch with the dominant Ad,Jc. The board came down Kc,9d,2c,3d,9h so the kickers played. This eliminated Kirsch in fourth place, with $172,912.

Darrell Dicken, who made a great run at the 2006 World Series of Poker Tournament of Champions, finishing in sixth place, was at or near the top of the chip heap from Day Two on of the Mirage Poker Showdown. Unfortunately, poker doesn't take into account past successes when predicting future ones. Dicken found himself hitting the rail hard after losing a battle of the blinds on hand #91 against Cory Carroll.

When heads-up play began Carroll had a slight lead over Little. He held 3,125,000 to Little's 3,050,000. Although the blinds were rising quickly (the next level would be 50,000 - 100,000 with 10,000 ante), the remaining players didn't make many hasty decisions.

Carroll increased his lead with some savvy play over the first 25 hands or so. He brought his chip stack up to 4,005,000 to Little's 2,170,000. However, as we all know, the chip lead can change literally on a dime. Little doubled up with pocket fives. At this point, the tide began to turn. Jonathan became aggressive, raising up the majority of the pots or going all-in while his opponent quietly folded.

That is until Cory called Jon's all-in with an Ah,7d. He had the best of it pre-flop as Jon held an As,2s. The flop brought Jonathan a two and the turn gave him a set of ducks for the tournament title, the first of the WPT's sixth season, and over one million dollars in cash.

Here are the final standings in case you're curious:

1) Jonathan Little - $1,091,795
2) Cory Carroll - $561,966
3) Darrell Dicken - $259,369
4) Richard Kirsch - $172,912
5) Phil Ivey - $129,684
6) Amnon Filippi - $100,865

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