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The $5,000 No Limit Hold Em Shootout at the World Series of Poker saw 280 players take part in a series of effectively single table satellites. The winner of their first table made the money. Making it through the 1st round were Jennifer Harman, David Pham, Neil Channing, and Phil Ivey. In order to make the official final table, however, you had to best a table of 6 in the 2nd round. Five players did so and the final table was comprised of the following (all players started each round with the same amount of chips):

Seat 1: Maxim Lykov
Seat 2: Danny Wong
Seat 3: Andrew Lichtenberger
Seat 4: Peter Traply
Seat 5: Nasr El Nasr

The first really big pot of the day took place when Andrew Lichtenberger opened on the button for 60K and Nasr El Nasr re-raised from the big blind to 175K. Lichtenberger three bet shoved and El Nasr snap called him with pocket aces. Lichtenberger had been making a move with 10-9 of diamonds and was going to need a miracle to survive. It was a miracle that he got as the flop came 9-7-6 with two diamonds to give him top pair, an inside straight draw, and a flush draw. El Nasr was still in the lead but mathematically speaking Lichtenberger was the favorite. The ten on the turn moved Lichtenberger firmly into the lead and now El Nasr would need a non diamond ace, a 7, or a 6, to avoid being crippled. The river was a jack and the lucky Lichtenberger doubled up. El Nasr would three bet the last of his chips in soon after with pocket 3's only to run into the pocket 8's of Peter Traply. No help arrived and Nasr El Nasr finished in 5th place winning $82,697.

Danny Wong was the next player to hit the rail when he opened the action with a raise to 72K from the button and was called by Lichtenberger from the small blind. The flop came 10-2-2 and Lichtenberger check called a 220K bet from Wong. The turn was a 7 and Lichtenberger again checked. This time Wong moved all in and Lichtenberger quickly called. This time it was Lichtenberger with the aces and he was ahead of the A-10 of Wong. No suck out for Wong and Lichtenberger added to his chip lead. Danny Wong finished in 4th place winning $105,609.

The remaining three players danced back and forth with one another but Maxim Lykov found himself getting short and decided to make a stand by moving all in from the small blind with A-10. Lichtenberger called quickly from the big blind with jacks and the hooks held up. Maxim Lykov finished in 3rd place winning $145,063.

The fireworks ensued when Traply opened for 100K and faced a 330K reraise from Lichtenberger. Traply put in a second raise to 775K and Lichtenberger shipped the rest of his chips into the middle. Traply made the call and they were off to the races with Traply holding 6's and Lichtenberger having A-Q. A queen on the flop had the Lichtenberger contingent going nuts and Traply's friends could only hope for a miracle 6. The poker Gods were listening as the turn was a 6 and Lichtenberger was now drawing dead. Traply's friends mobbed him thinking the tournament was over but as it turns out Lichtenberger had 250K in chips left, not much considering the blinds were at 20K/40K.

Then began an incredible comeback from Lichtenberger. First, he doubled up with K-7 against 6-5. Then he hit a straight on the river with A-Q against pocket 9's to double up again. He doubled a 3rd time when he was facing an all in raise from Traply and made the call with pocket 3's which were ahead of the 2's Traply held. After winning a small pot from Traply, Lichtenberger now had regained the chip lead.

Traply regained the lead when he won a large pot with the nut flush, giving him approximately a 3:1 chip lead over Lichtenberger. The final hand saw all the chips go in the middle pre-flop with Lichtenberger having A-J. Traply was ahead with A-K. The board came A-5-3-Q-Q and Traply's king kicker played giving him the title. Andrew Lichtenberger finished in 2nd place winning $215,403.

Peter Traply hails from Hungary and despite giving up a sizable chip lead was able to maintain his composure, recover, and win his first WSOP bracelet. Peter Traply finished in 1st place winning $348,728. Congratulations Peter!