This is it. Today is the day that the November Nine of the 2015 World Series of Poker Main Event will be determined. Just 27 players remain at three tables all trying to position themselves for both the climb up the payout ladder and the opportunity to be in the poker spotlight for the next four months. And of course, the chance to become the newest Main Event Champion. The player with the best odds right now is Thomas Kearney, who leads the field with 14.4 million chips. Close on his heels, though, is Mozheng Guan with 14.23 million.
Kearney is an online poker grinder who makes a living playing on WSOP.com in Nevada. Using the screen name “Butters,” taken from one of the characters on “South Park,” Kearney has earned over $150,000 in online tournaments on WSOP.com, according to PocketFives.com.
Looking to expand his brand and his poker horizons, Kearney recently jumped on the Twitch train, streaming his cash game and tourney sessions for all the world to see. On his Twitch page, he details his game preferences, writing, “I normally play 1-2 to 5-10 plo and nl holdem online. I am new to streaming and just giving this a shot. I will be putting up my sessions of me playing everything from .5-1 to 5-10 plo and nl holdem. I will also have lots of limit holdem cash as well as heads up sit and goes and mtts.”
So far, his Twitch page (twitch.tv/butterspoker) has received almost 227,000 and gained over 2,800 followers.
Kearney’s biggest hand of Day 6 and one of the most dramatic of the day, period, occurred fairly late, well after the dinner break. He, Randall Clinger, and Joaquim Hein raised and re-raised each other pre-flop until the latter two were all-in, called and covered by Kearney. Clinger had pocket Queens and Hein and A-K suited, hands which you can definitely go to war with if you need to take a chance, but Kearney had them dead to rights with pocket Aces. There was some drama, though, as the turn produced a third club and Clinger held a club, giving him a bunch more outs. But the river bricked and both Clinger and Hein were eliminated from the competition. Kearney saw his stack rise to 10.1 million chips.
Elsewhere in the field, the man everyone is watching is still alive. 2014 Poker Hall of Fame inductee and one of the most popular players of all time, Daniel Negreanu, is ninth in chips going into Day 7. Though he has won six bracelets and has cashed in the WSOP 81 times, this is by far the best he has done in the Main Event since way back in 2001 when he finished 11th for $63,940. For comparison, the 2015 WSOP Main Event had 10.5 times more players and 11th place pays over half a million dollars.
In another fun story, two roommates, Chad Power and Christoph Brand, are both still in the field. Power is in 16th place with 5.3 million chips, while Brand is in 21st place with 4.12 million.
And there will be no female member of the November Nine yet again, as Kelly Minkin was eliminated in 29th place, just two spots short of Day 7.
The 2015 WSOP Main Event will pick back up at noon Pacific time for the last day of the tourney this summer. When the chips are bagged and tagged at the end of the night, we will know the composition of the 2015 November Nine.
2015 World Series of Poker Main Event – Day 6 Chip Leaders
1. Thomas Kearney – 14,400,000
2. Mozheng Guan – 14,230,000
3. Erasmus Morfe – 12,085,000
4. Joseph McKeehen – 11,975,000
5. Mario Sequeira – 11,685,000
6. David Stefanski – 11,485,000
7. Alexander Turyansky – 10,785,000
8. Zvi Stern – 9,940,000
9. Daniel Negreanu – 8,495,000
10. Justin Schwartz – 7,510,000
Lead photo credit: Melissa Haereiti/ WSOP