The game is over and while poker is always a game of variance where anything can happen, it was always pretty likely Alex Liu would have all the chips at the end of this one, at least once he made the final day with half the chips in play and five players still alive. He used the big stack very well today, raising relentlessly to steal pots in places where players had huge ICM considerations.

The final hand saw Liu call off a shove from runner-up Aleksei Ponomarev with a slightly better hand, but the for Liu and the for Ponomarev were nearly racing. If the money hadn't gone in before the flop, it was destined to go in when Liu flopped top pair with the king while Ponomarev flopped the spade draw. Ponomarev turned more outs with the turn, but the river bricked for him to send the final pot to Liu.

Liu's Hendon Mob page does not reflect his true results. He's been running deep here in Calgary regularly for many years, but for a time, he asked to have DNR reported for his results and to have no pictures taken. That has recently changed so his Hendon is filling up again, but it's worth noting that someone checking him out there won't get the full picture. That said, regardless of the DNR year, I'm still pretty certain this will be his best lifetime score.

It was always going to be tough going for the other players in the final five today as Alex Liu started with half the chips in play and never looked back. Ponamarev played a bit of a waiting game, holding onto the second stack for most of the final table to get heads-up. By that point, Liu was about 4:1 up and the two-way game didn't take long.

In the end, it came down to suited hands. Alex Liu limped the button, then asked for a count with Ponamarev shoved. Liu had the best of with against . If the money wasn't in pre, it would have gone in on the flop when Liu hit top pair and Ponamarev flopped a spade draw. Ponamarev hit his kicker on the turn, opening up a few more outs for him, but the bricked for him leaving Liu in the lead.

Ponamarev is living in Surrey, BC now, but he originally hails from Ukraine with about $57k USD on his Hendon Mob earnings prior to this, this result will not only be his biggest score ever, but will be bigger than his previous lifetime earnings by quite a long way.

They are heads up now in the Main Event with Alex Liu holding a huge lead. Chris Klementis has been short for the last level or so, and while he;s been able to pick up some small pots to stay alive, and doubled once, Liu's aggression has been bleeding him a bit. It was blind on blind when he decided to shove king-three but Liu woke up with pocket sevens and called it off for 2.3 million. The sevens held and Klementis earned just under $100k for his efforts.

It looked like it might be a huge spot for one player, but after limping preflop and checking the flop, big blind Chris Klementis check-called for 300k the tuen. He checked again on the river, then called quickly when Liu shoved the covering stack. Both players had a nine to chop it with a straight.

Technically, only two players will get six-figure scores today, but 3rd may as well be six figures. 3rd place gets $99,636, less the $400 off the $100k mark, so all three players remaining are guaranteed ~$100k.

Alex Liu has been relentless playing the big stack, raising nearly every hand. Mostly he's been getting the through with minimal resistance, but Chris Klementis has shoved the last two times Liu has raised his big. The first shove got a fold from Liu, but he called it down the second time.

Chris Klementis:
Alex Liu:

The board missed both players so Klementis' ace-high won the hand for a much-needed double.

Alex Liu raised to 400k and Chris Klementis called from the big blind. He check-called for 350k on the flop, but then check-folded to 1 million on the turn.

Alex Liu has been opening nearly every hand so far and mostly he's been picking up chips as a result. In this case, he raised his button to 300k and Chris Klementis called from the big blind. Klementis checked the flop then raised Liu's 275k to 700k. Liu called and they checked turn. Kelemntis slid out two plaques for 1 million on the river and Liu mucked his hand.

There haven't been a lot of showdowns so far this level, but Chris Klementis just grabbed a few chips back. He limped the small blind, then called when Alex Liu raised the big to 400k. Klementis check-called for 250k on the flop, and they both checked the turn and river. Liu mucked after Klementis showed ace0seven for the flopped top.

Liu still has a huge lead, with the other two very close to each other for second.

Ashkan Razavi had a pretty good run here in the Main. He was the second stack to start Day 2 but had a rollercoaster of a day that saw him as low as 2 big blinds late in the day. He managed to survive into the final five today and ladder one more time to 4th place. The final hand cam blind on blind against chip leader Alex Liu. Razavi shoved the small blind for 900k, but Liu woke up with ace-king and called it off. Two aces on the flop sealed the deal and Razavi was out in 4th. That means he laddered by about $50k from the time he was coolered down to 2 bigs late in Day 2, so it was a pretty nice ladder climb for Razavi in the endgame.

Ashkan Razavi has already laddered up again after Dave S hit the rail in 5th. He just doubled through Aleksei Ponomarev when he raised to 360k, then called after Ponomarev reraised enough to put him in. Razavi had king-queen against and it was a dripping flop of The clubs bricked the urn and river though and Razavi's flopped queen held for the double.

They are down to 4 left now after Dave S ran into it on his button. He shoved and small blind Chris Klementis got a count of 1.89m and then called. Dave was in trouble with Klementis tabling kings. The board ran clean for the kings and they were down to 4.

The other players are tiptoeing around Alex Liu's big stack so far today. In the first orbit, Liu won every hand with folds until his small blind, when he raised to 360k and took it down when big blind Aleksei Ponomarev elected to lay it down.

Alex Liu has a massive stack for the final five in this Main Event. He bagged more than 16 million chips at the end of Day 2 and the next biggest stack is less than 7 million. There are only 33 million in play, so he's going to be a tough nut for the other players to crack on Day 3.

Aleksei Ponomarev is the player with just under 7m, while Chris Klementis and Divjot Chhabra have in the 4 million range. Ashkan Razavi had a wild ride today starting the day second in chips, and then going up and down all day. At one point late in the day he was coolered down to 2 big blinds, but he doubled back twice to stay alive and ladder a few times. He's now guaranteed at least $50k and shouldn't be counted out to keep staying alive.

Full stacks are under the Chip Counts tab. The action gets going Monday at noon in the Sundance room  and they'll play until someone has a ring. In theory, they are still very deep with about 60 big blinds average, but most of the chips are sitting with Liu and only one other player has even close to the average. Unless Liu runs into the wrong side of the deck, it could be a shorter day than might otherwise be expected.