The final table of the 2014 World Series of Poker (WSOP) Main Event finally gets underway tonight with the first of two days of action. The broadcast will begin on ESPN2 at 8:00pm ET semi-live with just a 30-minute delay and will continue until just two players remain. Those two will return to the Rio on Tuesday to determine a champion; the competition will be broadcast on ESPN beginning at 9:00pm ET. But who are the November Nine? Who is involved in this group from which will come the next poker champion of the world? Let’s take a brief look at each of the players we will see Monday night.
Seat 1 – William Pappaconstantinou – 17,500,000 chips
Better known as Billy Pappas, Pappconstantinou is an interesting cat. Should he win the WSOP Main Event, he will be one of the few people, probably ever, to be able to claim a world championship in two different disciplines. Pappas is a professional foosball player (yes, foosball) and has won five U.S. foosball championships and seven world championships. This is the first year he has played in the WSOP Main Event and he almost didn’t; a friend convinced him to give it a shot, so he flew into Las Vegas from a foosball competition in Europe to try to make a run at the title. Wise decision.
Seat 2 – Felix Stephensen – 32,775,000 chips
Stephensen, second in chips at the final table, is more of an online cash game player than a live tournament player, though that is not at all unusual in today’s game. According to HighStakesDB.com, he has won about $300,000 in the last three years in online cash games, though that only takes into account games at stakes $25/$50 No-Limit and higher, so he may have won more at lower stakes. The Norwegian who now lives in London obtained his $10,000 buy-in after winning a $1,000 bet in which he got 60-1 odds on the Netherlands beating Australia in the World Cup by a score of 3-2.
Seat 3 – Jorryt van Hoof – 38,375,000 chips
The chip leader going into the final table, Jorryt van Hoof is more of a high stakes cash game player (he prefers Pot-Limit Omaha) than tournament player, but nonetheless, he is the man to beat right now. In addition to his professional poker playing, he owns two businesses: an online poker training site called “nederpoker.com” and a company that provides personal trainers and yoga instructors to clients. He is the second Dutch player to make the November Nine in consecutive years; his good friend, Michiel Brummelhuis finished seventh last year.
Seat 4 – Mark Newhouse – 26,000,000 chips
Newhouse is arguably the most recognizable player at a table with no real “big name” stars. He has already accomplished what may be the greatest feat in the history of the WSOP: he has made the WSOP Main Event final table in back-to-back years. Dan Harrington did it a decade ago and of course Johnny Chan actually won back-to-back titles, but making the final nine two times in a row in a field of over 6,000 might trump both of them. Newhouse finished ninth last year, but is in good position to better that this time around, as he is sitting in third place.
Seat 5 – Andoni Larrabe – 22,550,000 chips
The youngest member of the November Nine, 22-year old Andoni Larrabe is the first player from Spain to make the WSOP Main Event final table since Carlos Mortensen did it 13 years ago. With this Main Event run, his only cash at the 2014 WSOP (good timing), he is now guaranteed to have at least a million dollars in lifetime live tournament earnings. Prior to making the switch to live tournaments, Larrabe was an online tourney specialist, competing under the screen name “pollopopeye.” He won two PokerStars Spring Championship of Online Poker (SCOOP) titles, one in 2012 and one in 2013.
Seat 6 – William Tonking – 15,050,000 chips
Tonking, despite not being too flush in chips, is good advertising for the New Jersey online poker market. He plays on both the Party Borgata Network and WSOP.com and just before the WSOP, won $50,000 on WSOP.com. He is more of a cash game player than a tournament player and, in fact, told PokerNews.com that the Main Event is only the third tourney he played in 2014.
Seat 7 – Dan Sindelar – 21,200,000 chips
A Las Vegas resident and formerly of Omaha (fitting), Sindelar will probably have quite the cheering section. Like many of the guys at the final table, he does not have many large cashes aside from this one, though he does have a rather lengthy live tournament resume. Now guaranteed at least one million dollars in live tournament earnings, this is the first time Sindelar has cashed in the Main Event. He does have sixteen previous WSOP cashes, though, including three this year.
Seat 8 – Martin Jacobson – 14,900,000 chips
Though Mark Newhouse takes the headlines for his back-to-back final tables, Jacobson is the most decorated live tournament player of the November Nine. The Swede has over $5.5 million in live tournament winnings and is currently ranked thirteenth in the Global Poker Index. He has a large number of six-figure cashes, the largest of which came last year, when he placed sixth in the WSOP One Drop High Roller Event for $807,427. Amongst his other poker achievements include final table finishes in both high roller events at the 2014 Aussie Millions (over $560,000 in total), a fourth place finish in the 2011 European Poker Tour (EPT) Berlin Main Event ($327,337), a second place finish in the 2011 EPT Deauville Main Event ($762,185), a second place finish in the 2010 EPT Vilamoura Main Event ($378,706), and a runner-up finish in the 2009 World Poker Tour (WPT) Venice Main Event ($319,518).
Seat 9 – Bruno Politano – 12,125,000 chips
Ok, maybe it will be Bruno Politano who will have the largest cheering section, trumping the Vegas resident. He is the first Brazilian to make the WSOP Main Event final table and says he will have a cheering section that is about 200 people strong. He only has $110,000 in live tournament earnings, but has certainly caught the WSOP fever, as he was the only member of the November Nine to compete at the WSOP Asia Pacific, where he finished sixth in the AUD$2,200 Six-Handed No-Limit Hold’em event.