The 2014 World Series of Poker Main Event Final Table Begins Tonight!
Follow hand-for-hand action from the 2014 World Series of Poker Main Event here at PokerNews.
Back in July, nine players navigated a field of 6,683 to reach the most prestigious final table in all of poker, the 2014 World Series of Poker Main Event. Tonight, those nine players — the November Nine — will return to the Rio All-Suite Hotel and Casino to compete for the $10 million top prize, as well as the honor of joining Greg Merson, Phil Hellmuth, Doyle Brunson, Scotty Nguyen, Ryan Riess, and others as a WSOP Main Event champion.
After 119 days of anticipation, the November Nine, who are guaranteed at least $730,725, will play down to the final three tonight. Then, tomorrow on Tuesday, Nov. 11, the final three players will return to play down to a winner. A smooth $10 million awaits the champ, which dwarfs the the average salaries from other pro sports such as the NBA ($5.15 million), MLB ($3.2 million), NHL ($2.4 million), NHL ($1.9 million), PGA ($628,079), and MLS ($160,000).
The man best positioned to make a run at the top prize is Dutchman Jorryt van Hoof, who will take the lead into this year's final table. Although tournament poker is not his bread and butter, van Hoof cashed three times at the WSOP back 2007 and 2008.
But there will be some stiff competition in van Hoof’s way, including 22-year-old Spanish pro Andoni Larrabe, New Jersey resident William Tonking, Nebraskan Dan Sindelar, Swedish pro Martin Jacobson, Norwegian Felix Stephensen, foosball champion William Pappaconstantinou, also known as Billy Pappas.
For bios on all of the November Niners, click here.
The biggest story to shed light on this year’s November Nine is the extraordinary tale of Mark Newhouse, who reached the final table in back-to-back years. Newhouse started the 2013 Main Event as the short stack, but will have some fighting power this year as he sits third in chips and is primed to improve his ninth-place finish in in 2013.
The underdog going into the final table will be 31-year-old Bruno Politano, who will without a doubt have the loudest rail in the Penn & Teller Theater. As Brazil’s pride and joy, he will start as the short stack with 12.125 million in chips.
Here's a look at look at the seat draw for the final table:
| Seat | Name | Country | Chips |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Billy Pappas | USA | 17,500,000 |
| 2 | Felix Stephensen | Norway | 32,775,000 |
| 3 | Jorryt van Hoof | Netherlands | 38,375,000 |
| 4 | Mark Newhouse | USA | 26,000,000 |
| 5 | Andoni Larrabe | Spain | 22,550,000 |
| 6 | William Tonking | USA | 15,050,000 |
| 7 | Dan Sindelar | USA | 21,200,000 |
| 8 | Martin Jacobson | Sweden | 14,900,000 |
| 9 | Bruno Politano | Brazil | 12,125,000 |
The festivities will commence at 4:30 p.m. PT. Then at 5 p.m. PT, the action will get underway on ESPN2 on a 30-minute delay, with hole cards shown at the end of each hand. Monday's action will come to a close when the final three players remain. Those three players will return Tuesday evening to play down to a champion. Those customers of cable providers that offer WatchESPN can watch the November Nine of espn.go.com.
For those located outside the United States, the WSOP has released information on International Coverage here.
In preparation of tonight's November Nine, Rich Ryan and Donnie Peters were joined by the legendary Mickey Doft on the PokerNews Podcast Brought to You by 888poker to break down the 2014 World Series of Poker Main Event final table in a massive NJOY November Nine Preview.
Of course, PokerNews will be providing hand-for-hand coverage of the final table, as well as videos and interviews from inside the Rio. Be sure to keep your browsers locked to PokerNews.com!
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