From where I am sitting right now I can literally see the end in sight. The light at the end of the tunnel is getting brighter and brighter by the minute. What could I possibly be talking about you ask? Well I am talking about the World Series of Poker Main Event final table which began last night November 9th early in the morning at the Rio Hotel & Casino in Las Vegas, NV. The day brought many friends and family members to watch the ups and the downs of the nine players that played at the World Series of Poker Main Event final table. They were also there to see if the chip leader heading into the final table could withstand all his opponents and get himself a bracelet. The player I am talking about is Dennis Phillips who has become very popular since the break of play in mid-July.
Well when play actually began people were waiting to see the all-in plays from the short stack Kelly Kim, but that wasn’t the case. Kelly actually took his small stack and rode it all the way to an 8th place finish which was due to Craig Marquis going all-in with a pocket pair of sevens and getting called by Scott Montgomery’s A/Q off suit. However it was the very next hand of the tournament when Kelly was literally forced all-in due to the size of the blinds.
The final table played for hours, playing over 160 hands knocking off every final table participant except for the remaining two who have to wait until 10 p.m. on November 10th which is today. With the two players that are still left comes two huge stories. The first one is that one of the remaining players has the opportunity to break Phil Hellmuths record as being the youngest player to win the World Series of Poker Main Event. The other story is the player that made the World Series of Poker Main Event final table and then turned around and made the World Series of Poker Europe Main Event final table which he finished third in. The players I am talking about our Peter Eastgate who has the chance to beat Phil Hellmuths record and Ivan Demidov who has had one of the greatest runs in WSOP and WSOPE history. The chip stacks on both players are as follows. Peter Eastgate is heading into heads up play with the chip lead at $79.5 million and Ivan Demidov is set at $57.7 million. Good luck to both player and the money you receive will be life changing, but whatever happens we are sure to hear from the both of you more often.
Below is a complete list of the final table participants who did not make it to heads up play.
3) Dennis Phillips – $4,517,773
4) Ylon Schwartz – $3,774,974
5) Scott Montgomery – $3,096,768
6) Darus Suharto – $2,418,562
7) Chino Rheem – $1,772,650
8) Kelly Kim – $1,288,217
9) Craig Marquis – $900,670