2009 November nine | Poker Blog

November Nine 2009

July 17th, 2009

After 12 days of poker, a field of 6,494 has been reduced to the November Nine. After a “brief” eleven hour day on Wednesday, the final table of the WSOP Main Event has been set with one of the more talented final tables in recent memory. Let’s take a brief look at the players making up the final nine.

Heading into the final table with the chip lead is Darvin Moon with 58,930,000 chips. Moon is a self-employed businessman, owning a logging company in Maryland. He won his entry into the Main Event in a satellite at Wheeling Island in West Virginia. This is his first trip to the WSOP and his first live tournament cash. Moon has admitted that he has been blessed with cards during the Main Event. He stated, “I told them as soon as I go card dead you guys will eat me alive. I’m humble. I know where I stand among the class of people I’m against. I’m outclassed by so far.” Moon says that the money will not change him much and that he will use part of the money he wins from this event to improve his parent’s quality of life.

Eric Buchman Photo

Eric Buchman is 2nd in chips with 34,800,000. From Valley Stream, NY, Buchman had built quite a name for himself prior to the WSOP, with nearly a Million in tournament earnings, including 9 WSOP cashes. He finished runner-up in Event #4 of the 2006 WSOP, the $1,500 Limit Holdem Event. Buchman’s experience and chip stack make him the early favorite to take this event down.

Steven Begleiter is 3rd in chips with 29,885,000. He is a recreational player that won his entry to the Main Event via a home game league. Twenty percent of Begleiter’s winnings will be chopped amongst his league members. The former Bear Stearnes employee feels very fortunate to have made it as far as he has. According to Begleiter, “‘I’m dancing between raindrops in the middle of a minefield and somehow I’m still standing.”

Jeff Shulman enters the final table with 19,580,000 in chips. Shulman is no stranger to the Main Event final table. He made the final of the 2000 Main Event, eventually finishing in 7th. He looks to improve on his 2000 finish and win his first WSOP bracelet. Shulman is perhaps best known as the COO of Card Player Media LLC.

At just 21 years of age, Joseph Cada stands to try and break Peter Eastgate’s record as the youngest player to win the WSOP Main Event. He starts the final table with 13,215,000 in chips. This is his 3rd cash of the 2009 WSOP. Known as jcada99 online, Cada has amassed over $500,000 in tournament earnings. The Main Event will be his largest cash to date.

Kevin Schaffel starts the final with 12,319,000 in chips. This is his third WSOP cash, with all of his cashes coming in the Main Event. He finished 42nd in 2004 and 324th last year. His dream is to win the Main Event and retire in order to play more poker. He lists his hobbies as golf, gin rummy, and racquetball. With only $168,000 in lifetime cashes, this is easily his biggest tournament cash to date.

Phil Ivey really needs no introduction heading into the final table. The eight-time bracelet winner starts the final table with 9,765,000 in chips. He started Day 8 fourth in chips but dropped a good portion of his stack before rebounding slightly. Playing a short stack is not really an issue for Phil Ivey. He was the 2nd shortest stack heading into the final table of the ½ Omaha 8 ½ Stud 8 event. In the course of two pots, he went from short stack to chip leader, and could very easily do it here. Ivey has the experience and ability to make a strong comeback, and everyone at ESPN and across the poker world is hoping he does just that.

Antoine Saout enters the final table with just 9,500,000 chips. Known as Tonio292 on Everest Poker, he is known online as a dominant MTT player. Saout has only one other live tournament cash prior to this event and looks to try and build some chips early on to try and make a run at the title.

The short stack of the final table is English poke pro James Akenhead. He will start the final table with 6,800,000 in chips. He told a friend in January that he expected that the only WSOP event that he would do well in this year was the Main Event. Akenhead has a runner-up finish at the WSOP, finishing 2nd in a $1,500 NL Event in the 2008 WSOP. Regardless of his finish, this will be his biggest tournament cash to date. Akenhead has a long road to hoe if he hopes to make any additional money at the final table.

The November Nine is set and now the buildup begins. Over the next 2 and a half month, expect ESPN and Harrah’s to really push this event, especially with Phil Ivey at the table. With several strong players at the final table, this will be one of the most anticipated tables in recent history. Will Darvin Moon become this decade’s Chris Moneymaker? Will Eric Buchman finally take down a major event? Can Phil Ivey finally get the Main Event monkey off his back and resume his friendship with Norman Chad? We will find out in November when the November Nine returns to play out the final table of the Main Event of the World Series of Poker.

On Sunday July 19th don’t forget to register for the Guinness world record largest online poker tournament at Full Tilt Poker.