On Monday night at 10:00pm PT, heads-up play in the 2009 World Series of Poker (WSOP) Main Event will commence between Joe Cada and Darvin Moon. The former holds better than a 2:1 chip lead.
Even without heads-up play, the 2009 final table is already the longest in WSOP history at 14 hours and 55 minutes. By the time the dinner break rolled around six hours into play on Saturday, seven out of the original nine players remained in the hunt for the $8.5 million first place payday. The previous record for WSOP Main Event final table length was 14 hours and 30 minutes, which took place in 2005. The record for the longest WSOP final table ever belongs to the 19 hour 2008 WSOP Europe Main Event won by John Juanda.
A total of 276 hands were played on Saturday, two more than the entirety of last year’s final table. The action resumes at 10:00pm PT on Monday night in an effort to air the festivities on ESPN as close to real-time as possible. Cliff “JohnnyBax” Josephy, who has been railing Cada throughout the final table, told Poker News Daily, “When I saw Joe prior to the final table, he looked like it was any other day. He had a smile on his face and looked just like the kid I met in June. He’s fearless.”
Josephy revealed that Cada had fallen asleep by 10:00pm PT on Sunday after spending the day relaxing in his suite at the Rio in Las Vegas watching movies with friends. He has not been answering his phone, but remains upbeat and is looking forward to the event’s conclusion on Monday night. On the play of Moon, Josephy commented, “He looked very tired and it was confirmed by the way he played.” Josephy added that Cada had been playing sit and gos online all week to prepare for the Main Event final table, where he rallied despite being a 25:1 chip underdog at one point.
WSOP bracelet winner Justin Scott and 2008 Main Event Final Table Bubble Boy Dean Hamrick are two of the fans who are making their way to Sin City to watch the finale unfold on Monday. Cada had a rowdy cheering section throughout the day and will likely have the backing of the majority of the fans in attendance when heads-up play begins. Cada could become the youngest WSOP Main Event winner ever by 340 days over Peter Eastgate, who was 22 years, 10 months, and 28 days.
Released by WSOP officials on Sunday afternoon were quotes from Phil Ivey, a Full Tilt Poker pro who ducked the media after being sent home in seventh from the 2009 WSOP Main Event final table. Moon three-outed Ivey on the seven-time WSOP bracelet winner’s final hand. Ivey told WSOP Media Director Nolan Dalla upon leaving the Rio, “It was tough because I was handicapped by my chip count. So, I was kind of waiting for something good to happen. I mean, I bluffed a couple of hands. But there was nothing really I could do. The last hand, obviously, was a little unlucky.”
In the meantime, the poker community has begun to weigh in, with many pulling for Cada. World Poker Tour (WPT) Bellagio Cup III Champion Kevin “BeL0WaB0Ve” Saul told Poker News Daily, “I’d be playing small pots with Darvin if possible, but I don’t think it will be. He is probably going to have to play a big pot with a marginal image.” Christian “charder” Harder, fresh off a 17th place showing at the WPT Foxwoods World Poker Finals, also picked Cada. He reasoned, “He’s got the run good, the chip lead, and he’s much better, in my opinion.”
Here’s how the chip counts look headed into Monday night’s finale:
Joe Cada – 135,950,000
Darvin Moon – 58,850,000
The 2009 WSOP Main Event final table will air on ESPN on Tuesday beginning at 9:00pm ET.
