2015 WSOP November Nine Set with Neuville, McKeehen, and Steinberg; Negreanu 11th
The 2015 World Series of Poker began with 6,420 players — which created a prize pool of $60,348,000 — and on Tuesday the final 27 returned to battle for a spot in the coveted November Nine. A spot would guarantee them a $1,001,020 payday while giving them a shot at the $7,680,021 first-place prize.
On the last day of play before the four-month hiatus, 18 players had their dreams crushed. When the dust settled, the 2015 WSOP November Nine was comprised of an eclectic mix of players including circuit regular and chip leader Joseph McKeehen; 72-year-old Pierre Neuville, who is fresh off winning a Lifetime Achievement Award at the European Poker Awards; and WSOP bracelet winner Max Steinberg.
Joining them are Americans Thomas Cannuli, Neil Blumenfield, Josh Beckley, and Patrick Chan; Israel's Zvi Stern; and Italy's Federico Butteroni.
Falling agonizingly short of making this year's final table was arguably the most popular poker player in the world, Daniel Negreanu. "Kid Poker" fought hard, but ultimately fell in 11th place, the same spot he took back in the 2001 WSOP Main Event. More on Negreanu's elimination below, but for now, here's a look at who made it:
2015 WSOP November Nine
| Seat | Name | Country | Chips | Big Blinds |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Zvi Stern | Israel | 29,800,000 | 74.5 |
| 2 | Pierre Neuville | Belgium | 21,075,000 | 53 |
| 3 | Josh Beckley | USA | 11,800,000 | 29 |
| 4 | Max Steinberg | USA | 20,200,000 | 50.5 |
| 5 | Thomas Cannuli | USA | 12,250,000 | 31 |
| 6 | Joseph McKeehen | USA | 63,100,000 | 158 |
| 7 | Patrick Chan | USA | 6,225,000 | 16 |
| 8 | Federico Butteroni | Italy | 6,200,000 | 15.5 |
| 9 | Neil Blumenfield | USA | 22,000,000 | 55 |
Day 7 began with two quick eliminations as James Magner and Chad Power hit the rail in 27th and 26th place, respectively. Soon after, European superstar Fedor Holz, who was playing in his first-ever WSOP Main Event, followed them out the door in 25th place. It happened on Hand #14 when Holz, who had just doubled up [Removed:172], shoved his last 1.15 million from the hijack and Matt Guan called from the cutoff.
Guan: 8♠8♣
Holz: A♦9♥
It was a flip, and Holz managed to take the lead on the 10♥9♦6♦ flop. The Q♦ turn gave Holz an added flush draw, but disaster struck when the 7♠ spiked on the river to give Guan the gutshot. Holz took home $262,574 for his 25th-place finish.
From there, Chris Brand (24th - $262,574), Blake Bohn (23rd - $262,574), Anton Morgenstern (22nd - $262,574), Mario Sequeira (21st - $262,574), John Hinds (20th - $262,574), Erasmus Morfe (19th - $262,574), and Kramer (18th - $325,034) all met their end.
After David Peters (17th - $325,034), Dave Stefanski (16th - $325,034), and start-of-the-day chip leader Tom "Butters" Kearny (15th - $411,453) were felled, Justin "Stealthmunk" Schwartz suffered a cooler to bust. It happened when he limped from the hijack and Germany's Alexander Turyansky raised to 650,000 from the cutoff. McKeehen called from the button, Schwartz came along, and three players saw a flop of 6♥3♦2♦.
Schwartz checked, Turyansky bet 700,000, and McKeehen called. Schwartz then shoved all in for 9.51 million, Turyansky folded, and McKeehen snap-called with the 6♣6♠ for top set. Schwartz then revealed he was on the bad end of a set-over-set situation with the 3♣3♠. Neither the 7♣ turn nor 5♣ river helped Schwartz, and he was eliminated in 14th place for $411,453 while McKeehen began to pull away from the pack.
After the dinner break, Guan (13th - $411,453) and George McDonald (12th - $526,778) took their leave, and then the poker world was rocked by the elimination of Negreanu. It happened when McKeehen raised to 800,000 from the button and Negreanu defended his big blind to see a flop of A♦K♣10♦. Negreanu checked, McKeehen bet 700,000, and Negreanu check-raised all in for 5.825 million. McKeehen called.
Negreanu: A♠4♦
McKeehen: J♦3♦
Negreanu got it in good with a pair of aces, but McKeehen was drawing to both a flush and gutshot straight draw. The massive crowd surrounding the feature table was on their feet as the dealer burned and turned the 3♥, a card that didn't immediately hurt Negreanu, but gave McKeehen added outs.
With everyone in the room holding their collective breath, the dealer burned one last time and delivered the Q♥, a card that literally sent Negreanu crumbling to the ground. McKeehen made his straight, and Negreanu was out in 11th place for the second time in 15 years. For an in-depth look at Negreanu's run, check out PokerNews dedicated blog.
Once the final 10 combined to the unofficial, just one more needed to fall for play to come to an end. Unfortunately for Turyansky, he ended up as the bubble boy after he got his short stack all in preflop with the A♣K♥ against the Q♥Q♣ of McKeehen. It was a coin flip, but not one that would come down in Turyansky's favor as the board ran out a lowly 7♥6♣5♥8♦J♦. Turyansky took home $756,897 for his 10th-place finish.
The final nine players will now be on hiatus until November 8-10, which is when they'll return to the Rio All-Suite Hotel & Casino to play down to a winner. In the meantime, expect many of them to compete in other tournaments across the world as they look to take advantage of being a part of poker's most prestigious final table.
Also, be sure to keep an eye open for PokerNews' comprehensive look at this year's November Nine, as well as dedicated player profiles and interviews.
*Photo Credit: JOE GIRON/WSOP.
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