We’re now down to the November Nine here at the 2011 World Series of Poker Main Event. This is the moment that everyone has been waiting for– the final table is set, and there will be, in four long months, a new WSOP champion. Because the action of the day has been so intense and every elimination counts as we moved from 22 remaining players to just nine, we’re going to give you a play-by-play of eliminations.
Lars Bonding was the first man out today, as the pocket aces he was holding met with the trip fours (two in the pocket and one on the flop) from Konstantinos Mamaliadis. He’ll go home with $302,005. Chris Moore, who started Day 8 short-stacked, was the next to hit the rail. He held pocket kings on his final hand against Makievskyi, but the flop gave the Russian a pair of aces, and the turn and river didn’t help Moore out any, sending him home with $302,005.
Mamaliadis made his second elimination of the day off Gionni Demers, who seemed simply to be tired of playing after losing some big pots early in the day. Demers went all-in on Ac5d against the South African’s pocket kings, and the 10c10h8d flop, 6s turn, and 7h river were of no use to him at all, sending him packing with $302,005. Meanwhile, one table over, another elimination was about to take place. Only two minutes after Demers fell, Aleksandr Mozhnyakov gave all his remaining chips to Sam Barnhart, who captured the pot with Ace high. Mozhnyakov, like the three players before him, went home with $302,005.
John Hewitt was responsible for the next man out– Kenny Shih failed to make a hand better than Hewitt’s once Hewitt made his flush draw, and Shih became the first person to hit the rail and take home the second prize level of $378,796. Sam Barnhart, who had already had a dazzling WSOP year as the winner of the WSOP circuit national championship as well as the Harrah’s Tunica Main Event, added another $378,796 to his wins this year as he exited the table in 17th place. Two minutes later, Ryan Lenaghan would head home with the same amount after Samuel Holden drew a flush that blew Lenaghan’s two pair out of the water.
Play began to slow after the break, with only the elimination of Andrey Pateychuk happening before ESPN called another break. With Pateychuk out, only 14 players remained, and Pius Heinz helped him on his way out with $478,174 when the German’s Jacks bested Pateychuk’s pocket AcQs when nothing useful came up on the board for either of them.
A little over an hour after the players returned, Scott Schwalich took a hit when Bryan Devonshire doubled off him (on a flop that came down as trip fours, no less), and it would cost him when he went head-to-head with chip leader O’Dea, whose Ace kicker took the pot (and the rest of Schwalich’s chips) when both players only came up with a pair of 10s. Schwalich goes home with $478,174.
O’Dea would go on to show the reason for his healthy chip lead again about an hour later, when he went up against Konstantinos Mamaliadis, who went all in with about 4 million chips with just an 8h2c in his hand. O’Dea held a pair of 7s, and when the board came up 5hJc9d6c8c, O’Dea got the straight that Mamaliadis wanted, sending the South African player home with $478,174 in 13th place. O’Dea was on a roll, though, and next, he sent Bryan Devonshire out in 12th place with $607,882, bringing his total chips up to over 39 million.
Forty minutes later, Khoa Nguyen would be the next player to hit the rail, as Martin Staszko was clearly tired of O’Dea monopolizing the eliminations. Staszko held pocket Kings while Nguyen held pocket 10s, and when the board came down with nothing to help either of them, Staszko went up to 30 million and Nguyen went home with $607,882.
It would be another five hours before the final table was determined, and it was once again O’Dea who was the determining factor at the table. John Hewitt had lost most of his chips to Badih Bounahra, and the Costa Rican, desperate to double up, went all in against O’Dea with just a pair of pocket threes. O’Dea managed to pull Broadway out of his hat, and with that, Hewitt was eliminated and went home with $607,882 and the final table was set.
The official chip counts for the November Nine are as follows:
- Martin Staszko – 40,175,000
- Eoghan O’Dea – 33,925,000
- Matt Giannetti – 24,750,000
- Phil Collins – 23,875,000
- Ben Lamb – 20,875,000
- Badih Bounahra – 19,700,000
- Pius Heinz – 16,425,000
- Anton Makievskyi – 13,825,000
- Samuel Holden – 12,375,000
Stay tuned to Max Poker Bonus for more November Nine information!