The Main Event which began with a total of 6,683 players is now just down to 9 players. On Monday, the seventh day of the Main Event saw the remaining 27 players return to the Rio for the recommencement of the action with play to continue until the final table was set.
The field on Day 7 was well represented by the United States, with 17 of the 27 players from the US. But when all was said and done, history was made once again, as Mark Newhouse made the Main Event final table two years in a row. Last year, he entered the final table as the short stack and was eliminated in 9th place, however, Newhouse is in a much better position this time around being third in chips heading into the final table.
The chip leader going into the 2014 WSOP Main Event November Nine is Dutch pro Jorryt van Hoof. He will be one of the most experienced players at the final table with more than $350,000 in live tournament winnings to his name. Sitting in between Van Hoof and Newhouse on the chip leaderboard is Norway’s Felix Stephenson.
The final day before the November Nine was set wasn’t so lucky for some of the other notable names still left in the field. Day 7 saw American pros Bryan “Devo” Devonshire, Leif Force, and Dan “Danny98765” Smith all being resigned to the rail.
Perhaps not as devastating as busting out on the money bubble but hard to deal with all the same was the player that was to get knocked out in 10th place, since this would mean they just missed out on being one of the November Niners, and all the benefits that come from that.
During Level 35 with the blinds at 200k/400k and 50k ante, it was Bruno Politano who opened for 900k. Mark Newhouse made the call and Luis Velador replied by shoving all-in for 6.15 million chips in total from the small blind. Politano folded, but Newhouse made the call with pocket fives, which had Velador’s pocket fours dominated. The board was of no help to Velador, and he was eliminated on the November Nine bubble, collecting a $565,193 payday.
Here are the exact chip counts of the November Nine:
Seat 1: William Pappaconstantinou – 17,500,000
Seat 2: Felix Stephensen – 32,775,000
Seat 3: Jorryt van Hoof – 38,375,000
Seat 4: Mark Newhouse – 26,000,000
Seat 5: Andoni Larrabe – 22,550,000
Seat 6: William Tonking – 15,050,000
Seat 7: Dan Sindelar – 21,200,000
Seat 8: Martin Jacobson – 14,900,000
Seat 9: Bruno Politano – 12,125,000
Every player that has made it to the final table has secured themselves at the very minimum a $730,000 payday, but they will all have the chance to score a much bigger payday.
As is often the case whenever there are top-heavy payouts, players will be fighting for the first place prize money of a record setting $10 million dollars. The runner up will get a bit more than $5 million and $3.8 million will go to the third place finisher.
With the November Nine set, that brings about the conclusion of the World Series of Poker until November when the Main Event will play out back at the Rio until there is a champion. Before all nine players will return to the felt of the Amazon Room at the Rio we will get to know more about each of the November Niners, which will be published on the WSOP.com website.