WSOP: And Then There Were Nine...

Well, the final "November Nine" table has been set for play on 4-5 November later this year. It was a long slug fest for the remaining players, with the clock ticking past 3am before the final table was finally set. And what a brutal ending for my one remaining horse in the race, Carlos Mortensen, who ended up bubbling the final table in 10th place. Carlos turned middle pair with the nut flush draw on a relatively dry board, but JC Tran had turned a disguised straight and the river didn't improve El Matador. To play seven long days of poker, work your way deep into the morning, get to the ultimate bubble... and then lose? Ouch. I can't imagine the disappointment. In some ways, it's worse than busting on something like Day 2, far from the money....

...Okay, maybe not. Carlos still walked away with more than half million bucks, but you have to admit it's gotta be very, very painful to know you fought to just this close to another ME final table, but came up wanting. Ouch, ouch, ouch.

Anyway, here be the chip counts of the chosen Nine:

1. JC Tran. T38M. Tran is the clear the favorite to win it all. He has the stack, obviously, and is also perhaps the most accomplished tournament player of the bunch. He's also been at or near the top of the leaderboard for days now, so he's clearly playing very good poker and not just relying on heaters and cards.
2. Amir Lehavot. T29.7M. Lehavot has a previous WSOP bracelet to his name, so he clearly belongs at this table. Very solid player.
3. Marc LcLaughlin. T26.5M. I don't know really anything about this guy's background.
4. Jay Farber. T25.9M. I watched some of this guy's play throughout the last few tables and he seems like just a solid player.
5. Ryan Riess. T25.9M. Again, don't know much about this player, but he comes off as very solid, too.
6. Sylvain Loosli. T19.6M. Loosli got a lot of attention over the last few days with his big run up the leader board. And his name seems to fit his style: loose and aggressive. Viva la France.
7. Michiel Brummelhuis. T11.3M. This Nederlander was just a chip accumulating machine during the last few days of play. Very impressive, but with a stack this short it's gonna be a tough uphill fight.
8. Mark Newhouse. T7.4M. Short stacked, but very skilled. Newhouse reportedly won a WPT title a few years ago, so he clearly has the chops to be at this table. But like I said: short stacked.
9. David Benefield. T6.4M. The shortest of the short, Benefield is an online cash game specialist who recently hasn't been playing much as he focuses on finishing school. He went from essentially last place on Day 6 to the final table. If I had to pick a dark horse, Benefield is my guy.

Unlike the last few years, where we've had 1-2 lucky amateurs squeak into the final table, this time around we have nine very solid, very, very good players in the hunt. The favorite clearly has to be JC Tran, as stated above, so that's who my brain is picking to win it all. My emotions, however, tell me to go with the shorty at the table, Benefield. Maybe it's the fact that he's a fellow cash game guy swimming with the tournament sharks? Maybe it's just the underdog rooter in me? Who knows. Benefield is short, but he's on JC Tran's immediate left, and all he really needs is one double through to be back in the hunt. Can't wait.

Ya gotta luv dis time of da year...

All-in for now...
-Bug

And then there were 27...

They're down to three tables in the ME in Vegas. The last woman in the field, Jackie Glazier, went out in 31st place, which was a big disappointment... but not really unexpected; she was up and down all day yesterday, and just the basic odds of one specific person making it to the November Nine with a less-than average chip stack are mighty long. Well, here's to Y-chromosomes in next year's event*.

My two remaining favorites (Carlos and Yevgeniy, see here) are still in it, with stacks of T10.8M and T5.3M, respectively. Carlos in particular looks super strong, and I'm now picking him to win the whole shootin' match.

Other notable "names" in the top 27 are JC Tran (sitting at 4th place with just under T12M), Steve Gee (last year's November Ninth amateur, now in 23rd at T3.2M), and David Benefield (in dead last 27th place with T1.8M).

Today's the day they get down to the final nine. It sucks that my workplace blocks all web sites with the word "poker" in them, but where there's a will there's a way (read: data plan on cell phone). Stay tuned for the biggest bubble of them all...

All-in for now...
-Bug

*A reader asked me why I care so much about whether a female makes the final table or not. The answer is simple: A woman winning would be a HUGE boost to the game. She'd be on every news and interview show on TV, which would have the effect of bringing more attention to our game, which in turn would help propel us toward federal legalization. Said short: a woman winning the ME would be a great thing for the rest of us that want to play legally online. Oh, and plus it would just be damn cool to see a woman take down the $8M and the bracelet. 'Nuff said.

WSOP Main Event

As usual this time of year, I start watching more and more poker news feed sites during the day for chip counts and status of the big name players in the ME. They're currently deep into the money starting Day 5 today, with a little more than 200 players still active (out of 6,300 starters). The remaining players I'm watching/rooting-for this year are as follows:

1. Annette Obrestad. What can I say? I'm a sucker for stone-killer women players, and I still am in total and complete awe of her blind tournament win from way back when. She has a WSOP-Europe title to her name, too, so she definitely has the chops to go even deeper. She's also cute as a button. At last count, she had around T1.2M in chips, which is well above average. It's time not only for a woman to final table, but to win the big prize, too. Go Annette!
2. Greg Merson. Again, what can I say? A back-to-back repeat would go down as one of the all-time great poker accomplishments ever. His personal story is also incredibly compelling, and he seems like a genuinely nice guy, too. Oh, and he's an amazingly solid poker player. His stack is a little under average at ~T635K, but last year he came back from a near chip-and-a-chair situation to win it all.
3. Carlos Mortensen. I've always liked this guy's play, and he's a past ME winner as well. Stack size is currently a relatively small ~T300K, but Mortensen is so incredibly gutsy/ballsy that you can't rule him out. Do not underestimate this guy.
4. Kristy Gazes. As I said, I would love to see a woman make the final table this year, and while my money/heart is on my hero Annette O., I think Gazes has the technical chops to also pull it off. Unfortunately, she's pretty short at~T290K, so she has a looong way to climb.
5. Yevgeniy Timoshenko. I personally think Timoshenko is one of the best analytic-thinking tournament players ever to sit at a poker table. He also has that baby face demeanor that is so deceptive and seems to lure his victims in so effectively. Oh, and he always seems to have a smoking hot girl on his arm, too. (Maybe it's that baby face thing?) In any case, Yevgeniy has perhaps the best actual shot at making the final table because of both his skill and his stack, which currently sits north of T1.5M.

If I were a betting man (and I am!) I'd put my money on Timoshenko. But my heart tells me to back Annette. Maybe both will make it to the November Nine? Regardless, it's going to be a fun day as the titans start pounding each other on the felt this afternoon. Stay tuned...

All-in for now...
-Bug
PS. Passed my big certification exam yesterday, so I've got at least a couple more free hours per day to spend on stuff like this blog, my life, poker, fun stuff, etc... Feels like a huge weight has been lifted off my shoulders. Woooooot!