Countdown to the November Nine

It is only a week away from the ESPN coverage of the main event final table. For what seems like an eternity we have known the identity of the final nine players, each taking away a minimum of $1.2 million and hoping for, not only lots of additional income from the interim advertising opportunities, but for a good run of cards that could see them win the first prize of just over $8 million. It must be a frightening, exciting and nervous time for all of the players.

Some of the players have hit the headlines in the interim period, whilst others have laid low and no doubt prepared hard in secret. The obvious preparation would be to play plenty of Sit and go poker tournaments online as these formats are the closest to the final table situation that they will find themselves in. It is impossible, however, for the players to fully replicate the nerves, the huge money jumps from one place to the next and the sheer magnitude of each hand.

The chip leader Darvin Moon has said that he is banking on a good run of cards when the tournament restarts and has gone on record saying that he simply returned to his logging business back home and has not played a hand of poker since making the final table. Some of the other players have taken an altogether different approach. UK hopeful James Akenhead, not content with a life changing appearance at the final table, went on to secure two more high profile final table placings. He has qualified for the final table of the Poker Million, and managed a final table appearance at the World Series of Poker Europe main event, going into the final table second in chips only to be disappointed with a 9th place finish. Going into the main event next week it looks like 9th place is also likely as he has a short stack. But with 30 big blinds, he has a little time to make some moves.

Jeff Shulman has reportedly called on the advice of Phil Hellmuth who has eleven No Limit Texas Hold’em bracelets to his name as his poker coach for the main event. There are also unconfirmed reports that a team of professionals with another four bracelets between them are also helping Jeff prepare for the main event. He is chasing a record that may never be matched. His father, Barry Shulman, managed to outlast Daniel Negreanu (with a little luck along the way) to become the 2009 WSOPE Main Event Champion. Should Jeff win, and he is certainly capable of doing so, he will complete a father and son main event victory that will probably never be matched. Barry will be able to give Jeff some great information on the playing style of Akenhead and Saout who also made the WSOPE main event final table.

Frenchman Antoine Saout, who I predicted would not win in a guide for the November nine I wrote some months ago, proved me wrong by also making the WSOPE final table and also cashing in another WPT event. The people from Everest Poker who have a piece of Saout will be hoping this talented player will have another great finish thus earning them even more than the $19,000 per person that have gotten so far. He may just be the dark horse of the competition and his excellent performances in the meantime have certainly shown he can play. Kevin Schaffel has also cashed in another event and most of the final table has shown that they deserve to be there if subsequent results are considered.

The star of the show, Phil Ivey, has prepared in his usual way. He has taken helicopter rides to Football matches, he has played high stakes poker and high stakes dice, and he made good on his promise to change his mobile telephone number in an effort to remain out of the public eye as much as possible. To dwindle the hours, he also played some golf with Michael Jordan. Ivey has made the front cover of ESPN magazine which gives poker a bigger audience. He is the biggest star at the final table and if he gets a stack few players would bet against him winning it all. For the poker purist, he may be the best player to win due to the inevitable poker boom that would ensue, but try telling that to the rest of the table who are all shooting for that big score. We all look forward to watching the show and seeing who can achieve their dream of becoming the World Series of Poker Main Event Champion.

By Malcolm Clarke

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Tags: james akenhead, november nine, Poker News, wsop main event