2010 World Series of Poker: Meet Your November Nine
The 2010 World Series of Poker Main Event Final Table is set. Of the 7,319 players who took seats in the Pavilion and Amazon Rooms inside the Rio Convention Center over the course of four Day 1 starts, only nine have survived, thus bringing us the coveted November Nine. On the final day of play, 27 players took their seats, and after 18 hours, some head-scratching beats, and a little luck, Jason Senti, Joseph Cheong, John Dolan, Jonathan Duhamel, Michael Mizrachi, Matthew Jarvis, John Racener, Filippo Candio, and Soi Nguyen remained under the bright lights of the ESPN feature table in the Amazon Room.
The final nine will all go home with ninth-place money, $811,823 and a little more time to strategize their Final Table plans and what it's going to take to outlast their opponents for a place in poker history by becoming the 2010 World Series of Poker Main Event Champion and taking home the almost $9 million prize and that one piece of hardware everyone's eyes are set on — the WSOP Main Event bracelet.
A press conference was held on Sunday, July 18, to introduce the world to the 2010 WSOP November Nine. PokerNews' Lynn Gilmartin, Kristy Arnett, and Gloria Balding were there to catch up with them and get their thoughts on this life-changing experience.
Balding caught up with Racener, Dolan, and Candio to get a little insight on their backgrounds in poker and thoughts about playing for this prestigious title. Candio makes history as the first Italian player to make the WSOP Main Event Final Table. "I'm so happy. I started my career three or four years ago. I won an Italian Championship in 2009. I worked hard for this career and I think it's important for my mission. Young guys try to become professional poker players, they say all is possible, if I do it, they can do it," Candio said.
Arnett spoke with Jarvis, Duhamel, and Mizrachi. Duhamel is the overwhelming chip leader going into November, and Jarvis is sitting in the middle of the pack. "Every time when I don't have any chips, I end up winning the tournament, and it seems like it's going to go this way again," said Mizrachi, who has had an amazing summer so far after winning the $50,000 Player's Championship and making his mark in the Main Event.
Gilmartin grabbed the two short stacks, Senti and Nguyen, as well as Cheong who will come into November with a chip stack good enough to put him in third place on the leaderboard. Nguyen has only played three live tournaments before this one and says that it was watching poker on TV that got him in the game. "I saw it on ESPN and Chris Moneymaker, figured, if he can do it, why can't I."
PokerNews will be there in November to bring you all the action as the 2010 WSOP Main Event Champion is crowned. Follow us on Twitter for up-to-the-minute news.
