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The crew has reunited in Las Vegas, Nevada for the 2013 World Series of Poker Main Event. In this episode they look at all nine members of the final table and give their predictions.
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Jay Farber started the hand with the button. The action folded to JC Tran, who opened to 850,000 in the hijack seat. Both blinds released, and Tran picked up the pot.
Short stack David Benefield had the button in Seat 8.
Action folded to him, and he moved all in for 5.625 million. Everyone folded, and Benefield scooped up the blinds and antes.
| Player | Chips | Progress |
|---|---|---|
|
35,550,000
-2,450,000
|
-2,450,000 |
|
||
|
30,650,000
950,000
|
950,000 |
|
||
|
29,625,000
3,100,000
|
3,100,000 |
|
25,775,000
-100,000
|
-100,000 |
|
||
|
25,475,000
-500,000
|
-500,000 |
|
19,500,000
-100,000
|
-100,000 |
|
||
|
11,175,000
-100,000
|
-100,000 |
|
7,250,000
-100,000
|
-100,000 |
|
5,675,000
-700,000
|
-700,000 |
Chip leader JC Tran started the hand with the button, and the action folded to Marc-Etienne McLaughlin, who raised to 850,000 in the cutoff. Tran tanked for a bit before three-betting to 2.15 million, both blinds released, and McLaughlin four-bet to 5.4 million, prompting his rail to explode with chants of "RE-TAR-DO, NO-FOL-DO!"
Tran tank-folded, and the French-Canadian contingent exploded.
Marc-Etienne McLaughlin started the final table with the button in Seat 6.
Action folded to the elder statesman of the final table, Amir Lehavot, and he raised to 850,000 to kick things off from the cutoff seat. Everyone folded, and Lehavot won the first pot of this year's final table.
Level: 35
Blinds: 200,000/400,000
Ante: 50,000
2012 World Series of Poker Main Event champion Greg Merson just uttered the four most important words in poker, and the cards are in the air!
As the only amateur at the 2013 World Series of Poker Main Event final table, 28-year-old Las Vegas nightclub promoter Jay Farber will play the underdog role when November Nine convenes next week.
Unlike the rest of his final table opponents, Farber has very little tournament experience, especially in major live events. The $733,224 he’s guaranteed for making the November Nine marks his first-ever WSOP cash. In fact, going into July's Main Event he had accumulated only $2,155 in live tournament cashes. That's one-fifth of the WSOP Main Event buy-in.
But whatever edge Farber lacks in experience, he'll make up for in crowd support when the action kicks off at the Penn and Teller Theater on Monday.
Similar to the Vegas nightlife scene, achieving success in poker can be about who you know. And Farber seems to know just about everyone in Sin City, giving him a home-field advantage of sorts at the final table. He's prepared to turn the Penn and Teller Theater into his own Las Vegas nightclub.
"This is probably going to be the loudest and most crazy rail that there's ever been at the World Series," Farber told the PokerNews Podcast crew this week. "I know that half of my friends are planning on getting kicked out."
Farber also happens to be very close to several high-stakes poker pros who have helped guide him through his Main Event journey. Former November Niners Ben Lamb and Jesse Sylvia, as well as Vanessa Selbst and many others, have been in Farber's corner since the beginning of his own November Nine run. They've all provided invaluable knowledge that could help make Farber the game's next ambassador.
"I'm very, very fortunate to have some of the best poker players in the world as some of my very good friends," said Farber. "They've all pledged their support to me and offered me anything I need. So there will be a lot of research and practice going on for the final table. I'm excited."
Farber will enter the final table fourth in chips with 25,975,000 after enjoying one of the easier paths to the November Nine. He was the only finalist to finish his starting flight with a six-figure stack (104,400), and he told PokerNews that he was only in semi-danger of busting on Day 2 — and he wasn't even all in.
"I sort of cruised through every day of the tournament with well over 100 big blinds," Farber said.
While he could still be considered a tournament novice, Farber has been a regular at the mid-stakes cash games at the Bellagio and other Las Vegas poker rooms for years. He credits his cash-game background and the deep structure of the WSOP Main Event to his success so far.
"The Main Event, more than most tournaments, plays a lot like a deepstack cash game in that you have so many chips and so much room to work for so long," Farber said. "You don't necessarily find yourself in shove-or-fold situations or need to be at risk for your tournament life until a lot of later stages. It's a comfortable feeling for a lot of cash game players to have a ton of chips in front of them."
Farber will be in his comfort zone with 65 big blinds when play resumes on Monday. He says he won't be intimidated by the previous success of his opponents, so it's safe to say Farber is a stong contender to become the next world champion of poker. Whether or not he wins, he'll certainly bring some excitement to the final table.
For more on Farber, be sure to watch the interview he did with our very own Sarah Grant:
The 2013 WSOP Main Event final table will take place starting Monday, Nov. 4 at 5 p.m. Las Vegas time, and you can follow all of the live, hand-for-hand coverage right here at PokerNews.com.
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David Benefield, known better in the online poker community as "Raptor," will be sitting on the shortest stack heading into the November Nine with 6.375 (16 blinds) million in chips. Despite this fact, Benefield's experience on both the virtual and live felt will make him a worthy adversary to the other eight competitors who are looking to be crowned world champion.
In fact, Benefield's quest from Day 7 up through the November Nine was one that was filled with picking spots and playing the short stack to his benefit.
“I just kept winning hands and staying alive,” said Benefield. “I was the short stack going into Day 7 and I’m the short stack going into the final table. I’ve just kind of progressively been staying alive each level.”
Perhaps his success has come from the fact that this is territory that he’s explored before. Benefield made a solid run at the Main Event in 2008 where he ultimately finished in 73rd place for $77,200.
"My deep run was, I guess, about five years ago, and I got 72nd? 73rd? Something like that,
Benefield said. "I was pretty certain that was the deepest I’d ever get. There’s just so many people that play you have to get so lucky to get this far."
Benefield hails from Forth Worth, Texas and began playing online poker during his senior year of high school. After finding much of his freshman year of college consumed with grinding online as well as underground live cash games, Benefield opted to drop out of school after just one semester. Despite successfully grinding his bankroll up, he ultimately found himself nearly broke and longing for a social life. Benefield then enrolled back in school but found himself doing more partying than studying. Eventually, he returned to the game he knew so well and began grinding once again.
Although he was not old enough to participate, Benefield took to the 2006 World Series of Poker where he spent the summer living in the "Ship It Holla Balla Mansion," a place rented by some of the best online young guns around. Benefield used his time this summer to increase his bankroll and solidify his place as one of the best Internet players around.
Prior to his finish in the November Nine, Benefield racked up a total of 12 cashes at the WSOP including his 2008 Main Event run and an eighth-place finish in the €50,000 No Limit Hold'em — Majestic Roller at the 2012 WSOP Europe.
Benefield has been active post-2013 WSOP as well, making numerous final tables at high roller events around the world. Benefield had a successful trip to the EPT Barcelona where he finished fifth place in the €50,000 Super High Roller for €208,150 ($278,439). He immediately followed that up with a 110th-place cash in the Main Event and he capped off his trip with an eighth-place finish in the €10,000 High Roller for €47,850 ($64,008). Benefield continued his high-roller consistency at EPT London where a seventh-place finish in the £50,000 High Roller earned him a payday of £139,600 ($226,348).
The 2013 WSOP Main Event final table will take place starting Monday, Nov. 4 at 5 p.m. Las Vegas time, and you can follow all of the live, hand-for-hand coverage right here at PokerNews.com.
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