After what has seemed to be an eternity, the World Series of Poker’s Championship Event will resume action on Sunday. The 2016 “November Nine” will be reseated on the stage at the Penn & Teller Theater in the Rio All-Suites Hotel and Casino in Las Vegas just over three months after they all became millionaires and they will now battle it out for the $8 million first place prize. But how did we get here and what can we expect when the tournament restarts. In this three-part look, we’ll examine all the pertinent information and perhaps even sneak in a prediction on the outcome.
How Did We Get Here?
Way back on July 18, there were 27 contenders that were in position to make poker history. At the start of Day 7 action back then, Vojtech Ruzika of the Czech Republic was at the head of the field, closely followed by Michael Ruane and veteran poker professional Cliff Josephy. In going from three tables to the “November Nine,” there was plenty of drama.
Other pros such as former “November Niner” Antoine Saout, Tom Marchese, James Obst, Valentin Vornicu, Gordon Vayo and Kenny Hallaert were all in the mix, but much of the attention was focused on William Kassouf and not in a respectable manner. Pushing the boundaries of table discussion to levels previously unseen in a major poker tournament, Kassouf had achieved the seemingly impossible – motivating an entire table to despise your actions AND get support from the tournament officials. Throughout the previous six days, Kassouf’s actions divided the poker community (and, after the broadcasts on ESPN of the tournament, still do), but they had pushed him into a sizeable stack of chips as the day’s action began.
It wasn’t necessarily the talk from Kassouf that had riled players – a never-ending stream of drivel that was at once allowed by the rules but continually pushed the boundaries to see what he could get away with – but it was the extreme length of time it took for him to play that bothered many. Kassouf’s “tanking” was constantly for several minutes, even for the seemingly innocuous task of mucking his cards pre-flop. Putting the two together, Kassouf boiled a recipe that made his stay at the tables – albeit a deep run – one that people won’t forget and could affect him in the future.
Josephy would move into the lead in the early action but, by the end of the first level of the day, Ruane had emerged as the chip leader after chopping 20 million chips away from ‘JohnnyBax’ (Josephy’s online moniker). Saout’s run at a second “November Nine” would be squashed in a double elimination at the hand of Kakwan Lau, who sent Saout and Adam Krach to the rail in 24th and 25th places, respectively. While this was going on, Kassouf continued talking, tanking…and winning.
After starting the day with over six million chips, within a couple of levels of action Kassouf was sitting on a stack of 15.83 million and contending for the lead. He would eventually work his way up to more than 31 million chips, pushing a resilient Josephy who had returned to the lead. Things may have been looking good for Kassouf at this point, but the wheels were about to come off in an explosive and stunning manner.
In what has been a staple of sports sites that don’t normally focus on poker, the tournament had reached the final two tables when undoubtedly its most dramatic moment occurred. Under the gun, Griffin Benger upped the action to 875K and was three bet by Kassouf on the hijack to 2.3 million. As the remaining players got out of the way, Benger repopped Kassouf’s bet to 5.6 million and the “William Kassouf Show” was off and running.
For several minutes, Kassouf attempted to “table talk” information out of Benger, asking him his stack size and whether he wanted a call or not. As Kassouf droned on about what he was going to do with the hands, Benger suddenly snapped and called Kassouf a “bully” and chastised him for his actions on the felt. Benger’s fiery comments back at Kassouf seemed to stun Kassouf, who ultimately declared all in and a defiant Benger called and slapped his cards on their backs.
“It’s what Kassouf has been waiting for this entire tournament – having a hand and getting action – but this time it’s going to cost him potentially his stack,” commentator Norman Chad remarked on the ESPN broadcast. With the editing of the WSOP broadcasts, the fans saw what Chad saw – that Benger held the cooler, pocket Aces, to Kassouf’s pocket Kings and was an overwhelming favorite to win the hand. After five cards came – none bigger than a ten – Benger rocketed into contention as Kassouf left in 17th place.
It was anti-climactic after the Benger/Kassouf clash. Benger would ride that hand to a seat in the “November Nine” and Josephy would continue as the chip leader in the event. By the time that Ruane took down Josh Weiss in tenth place (the most unfortunate place to be…the WSOP Championship Event final table “bubble boy”), the field was set for more action…that had to be delayed until this Sunday.
So how do they line up for the action on Sunday? In our next part, we’ll break down the table lineup and offer some insights into the player’s. On Sunday, we’ll offer some predictions as to who might walk away as poker’s next World Champion and ambassador for the game.
