November Nine Final Table Day 1 | 2009 WSOP Main Event - The Final Table

11-07-2009 12:44 UTC-12

Hand #61 - Antoine Saout

[user75032]

Joe Cada has the button. Everyone folds to Antoine Saout in the small blind. He puts in a raise and gets big blind Jeff Shulman to fold.

Tags: Antoine Saout

11-07-2009 12:43 UTC-12

Hand #60 - Jeff Shulman

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[user66118]

Eric Buchman has the button. The action was unclear, but it appears that Jeff Shulman took down the pot with a single preflop raise.

11-07-2009 12:41 UTC-12

James Akenhead Eliminated in 9th Place ($1,263,602)

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[user75032]

Hand No. 59 -

Steve Begleiter has the button. Action passes to James Akenhead in middle position. He's back in shove-or-fold mode and picks this hand to shove for 4.45 million. Kevin Schaffel calls from the cutoff seat. Once Begleiter and the blinds get out of the way we get a look at the hands, and boy it doesn't look good for Akenhead.

Akenhead: {3-Diamonds}

Schaffel:

There's a slight murmur on the flop, as it comes with one no-sided card -- but it's a deuce and not a trey, {10-Clubs}

. Everyone gets another thrill when a second deuce hits the turn, {2-Spades}

. Akenhead is down to one two-outer. He doesn't get it. The river comes {9-Diamonds}

to give Schaffel a full house.

Akenhead is eliminated, the first player to leave the final table. He looks understandably disappointed. He shakes Phil Ivey's hand first, then Darvin Moon's hand before working his way around the table.

Schaffel has now climbed to 19,250,000 in chips.

Tags: James Akenhead Kevin Schaffel

11-07-2009 12:36 UTC-12

A Rollercoaster Day for James Akenhead

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[user122394]

As we reported earlier, James Akenhead hit a miracle queen to save his tournament life against Eric Buchman's ace-king. He had gone from short stack to doubling to the middle of the pack and seemed to have momentum on his side before running into the aces of Kevin Schaffel. Sitting again as the short stack you can see the pain on Akenhead's face. He tried to regain some chips a few hands later, only to face an all-in move by Phil Ivey. When he folded his hand, you could see the pain in his eyes. Everybody knows the swings of a no-limit hold'em tournament, but it's difficult to imagine the emotional rollercoaster Akenhead has ridden for the past four hours.

11-07-2009 12:35 UTC-12

Hand #58 - Antoine Saout

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[user66118]

Kevin Schaffel has the button. Antoine Saout starts with a raise to 1,025,000 from early position. And that's where it ends; the table folds and he'll take the blinds and antes.

Tags: Antoine Saout

11-07-2009 12:34 UTC-12

Updated Chip Counts

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donpeters

Darvin Moon - 59,225,000
Eric Buchman - 34,325,000
Steven Begleiter - 23,975,000
Antoine Saout - 22,900,000
Jeff Shulman - 17,025,000
Kevin Schaffel - 14,300,000
Phil Ivey - 11,850,000
Joseph Cada - 6,600,000
James Akenhead - 4,600,000

11-07-2009 12:33 UTC-12

Hand #57 - Steve Begleiter

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[user75032]

Phil Ivey has the button. Action passes to Kevin Schaffel in the small blind. He completes before big blind Steve Begleiter raises to 1,650,000. Schaffel quickly folds.

Tags: Kevin Schaffel Steve Begleiter

11-07-2009 12:31 UTC-12

Hand #56 - Eric Buchman

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[user66118]

James Akenhead has the button. Eric Buchman raises to 1,050,000, and he picks up the blinds and antes.

Tags: Eric Buchman

11-07-2009 12:29 UTC-12

Hand #55 - Ivey Squeezes Akenhead

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[user75032]

Darvin Moon has the button. Actions passes to short-stacked James Akenhead, who is in the unenviable position of being to the right of Phil Ivey. Akenhead makes it 1.2 million to go. Ivey squeezes his cards and then asks Akenhead for a count (about 5.9 million). Ivey tanks for thirty seconds and then moves all in, having Akenhead covered 2-to-1.

Now it's Akenhead's turn in the tank. He started play as the short stack, tripled up in a wild hand against Eric Buchman, and then got coolered with pocket kings against Kevin Schaffel's pocket aces. He seems pained but folds to Ivey's pressure.

Tags: James Akenhead Phil Ivey

11-07-2009 12:29 UTC-12

Who's Negreanu Rooting For?

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donpeters

The hallways here at the Rio All-Suite Hotel & Casino are scattered with big name professionals checking out the action. Our very own Gloria Balding caught up with Daniel Negreanu and finds out who he's rooting for. She even gets him to reveal some information on all the prop bets he's got running. Check out the video!

Tags: Daniel Negreanu Gloria Balding