Towers of London: WSOPE ME Day 4!

World Series of Poker final tables are always important events, but on Thursday's final table at the Betfair Poker 2008 World Series of Poker Europe Main Event, one man has a chance to make real history.

For months, Ivan Demidov has been alleged to be a member of the so-called "November Nine," a shadowy group of largely unknown poker professionals who will battle for over $9 million during the final table of the WSOP Main Event in Las Vegas in just over a month marked cards.

Demidov, along with fellow finalists Scott Montgomery, Chino Rheem, Kelly Kim and Peter Eastgate (as well as, to a lesser extent, their four colleagues) has not been content to rest on the laurels he earned for himself on the evening of July 15, instead putting his new reputation as poker royalty on the line in a number of high-profile tournaments, most notably this one.

Mr. October/November.

The youngster from Moscow entered Day 4 action at the WSOPE's Main Event with an excellent chance to become the first player in the admittedly brief history of the European Series to final-table both the Las Vegas Main Event and its London-based equivalent.
To make matters even more impressive, a berth in Thursday's final table at the Empire would put Demidov in a WSOP Main Event final table in October and in November, making him the only person to make both final tables in the same year. That's heroic stuff.
That's why, at 1 a.m. on Thursday morning, Harrah's representatives sat glued to the TV screens on the tournament floor of the Empire as Demidov called Peter Neff's all-in with 10 players still alive, living and dying with every card the dealer peeled and openly cheering for a win for the Russian.

Clearly exhausted by the pressures of being awesome.

Exactly 12 hours earlier, the final 24 players in the second annual WSOPE Main Event had converged once more upon the increasingly crowded confines of the Casino at the Empire in Leicester Square, ready to play down to the final nine contestants in a no-holds-barred No-Limit Hold'em battle.
Among those still in contention for a space beneath the mood lighting were some of poker's most notable names, including Daniel Negreanu, John Juanda, Andy Bloch, Mike Matusow, Erik Seidel, Johnny Lodden, Brian Townsend, Scott Fischman and Mel Judah. Truly a star-studded affair.
The first hour of play would see Bloch eradicated, busted by fellow Full Tilt pro Juanda in something of a painful hand that saw the 2006 $50k H.O.R.S.E. runner-up get all-in on a J♦ 5♠ 3♦ flop while drawing to the nut flush with A♦ T♦. Juanda held 7♦ 6♦ for the lower flush draw and the gut-shot straight draw, but would only need the rivered 6♠ to take down the pot and send Bloch home in the 23rd spot (get payout information for all finalists here).

And you will know I am the Lord when I lay my trick cards vengeance upon you!

Another hour passed and another red pro hit the road, as a short-stacked Erik Seidel did his best Tom Dwan impression, getting all-in with 7-3 offsuit against Soren Kongsgaard's pocket aces. The board brought no help for the big guy, ending his tournament with a 19th-place finish.
Juanda was cruising, building his stack above the $1 million mark before anyone else had cracked $700k. His fellow FTP pros wouldn't be so lucky - Matusow went broke at the hands of Johnny Lodden in 18th place and Brandon Adams found himself consigned to the rail in 17th place, the victim of Team PokerStars pro Negreanu, who himself had a pretty good day at the tables.
Negreanu would send perennial Main Event chip leader Justin "BoostedJ" Smith to the rail an hour or so later in a brutal hand that saw Smith commit the last of his stack on a 7♥ 6♠ 3♣ flop while holding pocket sevens for top set, only to see Kid Poker table 5♥ 4♥ for the nut straight. The board failed to pair and Smith was a goner, your 16th-place finisher.

Just doing his part.

Scott Fischman would then take it upon himself to execute the next two eliminations, sending Brian Townsend and Philippe Rouas home just before the dinner break. Fischman, who had doubled up Townsend in a bizarre hand the previous night with T-2 against sgrugby's pocket kings, burned Townsend down with tens against A-8 and then roasted Rouas with nines against A-J.
That left only 13 players surviving as the field returned from the WSOPE-trademark two-hour dinner break, and within the span of a few minutes only 11 remained. Talal Shakerchi and Soren Kongsgaard finished 13th and 12th, respectively, and after Johnny Lodden failed to win a race with big slick against Neff's pocket nines, the field was down to one final table and one elimination remaining before the end of the day.

One card from salvation!

It almost happened on the first hand 10-handed, when Chris Elliott rivered an ace to double through Neff with A-K versus pocket tens.  The hand would cripple Neff, however, and within a few minutes of action's resuming for Level 20 he was all-in holding pocket kings to Demidov's A♥ T♥.
All signs pointed to an easy double and the continuation of play, but the flop came T♠ 5♥ 3♥ and the Russian suddenly picked up a ton of outs. The 2♥ on the turn was one of said outs, given Demidov the nut flush and the check mark. Neff was eliminated in 10th place, taking home £81,450 and the loneliness of that TV-table bubble.
With that, the Harrah's people had their story and Demidov his second final table. He'll enter play on Thursday with $1,006,000 in chips, good for third behind Juanda and Stanislav Alekhin and just $4k ahead of Negreanu.
Action will resume at 1 p.m. London time and continue until a winner is crowned. PokerListings.com will have all of the gory details from every minute of play at that final table, so keep it locked where you rest at and we'll do the rest.
Here are the final-table seating positions and chip counts:

Seat 1	Robin Keston	$849,000
Seat 2	Daniel Negreanu	$1,002,000
Seat 3	Chris Elliott	$281,000
Seat 4	Bengt Sonnert	$385,000
Seat5	John Juanda	$1,349,000
Seat 6	Ivan Demidov	$1,006,000
Seat 7	Toni Hiltunen	$386,000
Seat 8	Scott Fischman	$732,000
Seat 9	Stanislav Alekhin	$1,278,000