The World Poker Tour Finals, appearing halfway through the WPT 2009 season's schedule, marked the return of Mike Matusow to the World Poker Tour final table arena.

Though Mike had come close many times, even finishing 2nd in the Bellagio Cup III, he had yet to claim a World Poker Tour title. Would this be the one? It wouldn't be easy, as tough pros Jonathan Little and David "The Dragon" Pham, not to mention a collection of talented amateurs, stood in between him and the trophy.

WPT 2009 in Retrospect: World Poker Finals

The day began with Matusow on the short stack and online specialist Jonathan Jaffe holding the lion's share of the chips. Unfortunately, the Matusow saga was quickly put to an end, as he pushed his short stack in with AJ and was called by Jonathan Little's pocket nines. The board brought a king and four rages, and Matusow would have to wait another day.

Jack Schanbacher wouldn't last much longer, as he got caught making a move with 98 suited when Little woke up with pocket queens and sent him home. This allowed Little to take the lead on Jaffe with only four players remaining.

David Pham was next to go, his pocket deuces could not hold up against Charles Marchese's KJ when a jack hit the flop. However, Marchese was the next out when he also ran into the pocket queens of Jonathan Little.

WPT 2009 in Retrospect: World Poker Finals Heads-Up War

This set up a fairly even heads up battle with Jaffe holding about 6.6 million chips to Little's 5.7 million. This created a great one-on-one contest where the chip lead changed several times. Little had managed to build a substantial chip lead when his JT was coolered by Jaffe's J9 after a flop of J 9 6, allowing Jaffe to double up and retake the lead.

However, Little later managed to get it all in on the river with his own two pair and doubled back into contention. Again, Jaffe would beat him down, winning a significant pot when he flopped quads on an 8 2 2 board.

WPT 2009 in Retrospect: Jonathan Little World Poker Finals Champion

Eventually though, luck was on Jonathan Little's side. He made a move with Kh 5s and was insta-called by Jaffe's pocket eights. However when the board brought four spades, it was Little who was back on top.

When Little finally got Jaffe all in with AQ against Jaffe's AT, it was finally over. No ten came to save Jaffe and Little was the Foxwoods champion.