The November Nine have been determined in the 2010 World Series of Poker (WSOP) Main Event. After eight grueling days of play spread out over two weeks, nine players are left standing in poker’s most prestigious tournament. Jonathan Duhamel leads the way entering the four-month break with a stack of 55,375,000.
Players busted at a rapid-fire pace early on Saturday and, as the group cleared the dinner break around 8:15pm PT, the short stacks moved all-in in earnest. In a major pot that brewed shortly after players had taken their seats after filling their bellies, Matt “mcmatto” Affleck hit the skids in 15th place for $500,000. On a flop of 10-9-7 rainbow, Jonathan Duhamel check-called a bet of five million from Affleck to see the queen of diamonds hit on the turn.
Duhamel checked and Affleck, perhaps sensing weakness, moved all-in for over 11 million. After a five-minute tanking with millions of dollars in real money potentially on the line, Duhamel called and flipped up pocket jacks for a pair and a straight draw. Affleck tabled pocket aces and, seeking a November Nine birth, watched in agony as an eight hit on the river, filling Duhamel’s straight.
Then, it was short stack Hasan Habib’s turn to go. Habib moved all-in pre-flop with A-9 of diamonds and received a call from John Racener, who turned over A-K of clubs. The flop came 10-9-3 with two clubs, improving Habib to a pair of nines and giving Racener a flush draw. Another ten hit on the turn, leaving Racener rooting for an ace or king on the river to send Habib home. Sure enough, the case ace hit (Brandon Steven claimed to have folded a bullet pre-flop) and Habib picked up the same $500,000 for his eight-day run in the 2010 WSOP Main Event.
John Dolan, also one of the short stacks, open-shoved all-in from the small blind with K-6 of diamonds, but Duy Le called all-in from the big blind with A-Q. A king on the flop ruined Le’s chances for a double up and running fives didn’t change the status quo. Le was bounced in 13th place and picked up the same $500,000 consolation prize.
UB.com pro Adam “Roothlus” Levy, who remained eerily quiet down the stretch in the Main Event, was bumped in 12th place and earned $635,000. Levy pushed all-in under-the-gun with K-Q offsuit and Duhamel, the chip leader at the time, woke up with pocket aces. Levy turned a king to give Duhamel a sweat, but a harmless deuce on the river ended his 2010 WSOP Main Event run.
Duhamel took a massive chip lead into the final 11 after serving as the executioner of Affleck and Levy. Then, Brandon Steven doubled up with A-K of clubs against Jason Senti’s K-10 at the feature table to move to 5.64 million in chips. However, he was still the short stack in the room with 11 players remaining.
Play ground to a screeching halt when two more eliminations were needed to determine the 2010 WSOP November Nine. Late arrivals to watch the action slim down to a final table included newly minted PokerStars pro David Williams, who announced that he was pulling for Michael “The Grinder” Mizrachi. Also rooting on “The Grinder” were his three brothers: Eric, Robert, and Danny.
Quebec’s Pascal LeFrancois was shown the door in 11th place, banking $635,000. Joseph “subiime” Cheong sent him packing with pocket kings against Q-J of spades. The elimination was not an easy one, however, as LeFrancois flopped a jack, but a king on the turn left the Canadian drawing dead to the river. ESPN.com’s Andrew Feldman Tweeted on LeFrancois’ exit: “No idea what happened, but he just stormed out, slammed the door.” A break ensued to set up the unofficial WSOP Main Event final table.
Steven came into the 10-handed final table on life support, nursing a 10 big blind stack before doubling up at the expense of Mizrachi. Steven flopped top pair with Q-J of clubs on a board of 8-J-6 and shoved all-in. Mizrachi, also on a short stack, made the call with A-8 for middle pair, which could not draw out on the turn or river. Mizrachi and Steven were nearly even in chips after the end.
The final hand involved Brandon Steven and Matthew Jarvis. Jonathan Duhamel originally raised to start the hand and Steven then moved all in for 4.475 million. Jarvis then called the all in and Duhamel then folded. Steven flipped over A-K offsuit while Jarvis showed Q-Q. The flop came 4-3-T which didn’t improve either player, and the 4 on the turn forced Steven to hit either an Ace or King for his tournament life. With the 5 on the river, the crowd erupted, Steven was sent to the rail in 10th place and the November Nine was set.
Here are the chip stacks of your 2010 November Nine:
1. Jonathan Duhamel – 65,975,000
2. John Dolan – 46,250,000
3. Joseph Cheong – 23,525,000
4. John Racener – 19,050,000
5. Matthew Jarvis – 16,700,000
6. Filippo Candio – 16,400,000
7. Michael Mizrachi – 14,450,000
8. Soi Nguyen – 9,650,000
9. Jason Senti – 7,625,000
Here are the payouts at stake for the members of the 2010 WSOP November Nine:
1st Place: $8,944,138
2nd Place: $5,545,855
3rd Place: $4,129,979
4th Place: $3,092,497
5th Place: $2,332,960
6th Place: $1,772,939
7th Place: $1,356,708
8th Place: $1,045,738
9th Place: $811,823
The Main Event will pick back up from November 6th to 9th at the Penn and Teller Theater at the Rio All-Suite Hotel and Casino in Las Vegas. The final table can be seen on ESPN on Tuesday, November 9th.
C U NEXT YEAR