Seat 4: Kevin Schaffel (12,390,000)
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You may not have been familiar with his name until now, but it's no fluke to find Kevin Schaffel at this final table. Schaffel has played the Main Event for the last five years running, and he's three-for-five in cashes. Before this year, though, his biggest achievment was a 42nd-place score in 2004. He's done a bit better this time around, sitting with about 50 big blinds with just nine players separating him and a bracelet.
Schaffel tells us he started playing poker when he was just 12. And that was 40 years ago. He's now semi-retired from his own printing business, and he's quickly finding major tournament success. Just after picking up his final table check in July, Schaffel had another big six-figure win at the Legends of Poker in L.A. the following month. Only Prahlad Friedman could put the brakes on his bid for a WPT title in the interim, but he was rewarded with nearly a half-million dollars as runner up.
Riding a hot streak, Schaffel has experience and a favorable table position working for him. He might well be the dark horse that charges from the middle of the pack today.