Today at Noon PT, the final table of the 2010 World Series of Poker (WSOP) Main Event will begin. The Penn and Teller Theater at the Rio in Las Vegas is the setting and a colossal first place prize of $8.9 million is up for grabs. The nine players left standing in the tournament, affectionately dubbed the November Nine, include some of the top up-and-coming superstars of today’s internet world along with one established pro who has already won a bracelet this year, Michael “The Grinder” Mizrachi.
Here’s how the field will stack up when the “Shuffle up and deal” command is issued on Saturday in Sin City:
1. Jonathan Duhamel – 65,975,000
2. John Dolan – 46,250,000
3. Joseph Cheong – 23,525,000
4. John Racener – 19,050,000
5. Matthew Jarvis – 16,700,000
6. Filippo Candio – 16,400,000
7. Michael Mizrachi – 14,450,000
8. Soi Nguyen – 9,650,000
9. Jason Senti – 7,625,000
There is a little over an hour left in the current blind level, where the price of poker is a rich 250,000-500,000 with an ante of 50,000. Although many industry insiders believe that no one will be knocked out before the blinds go up, players like Senti and Nguyen are nursing short stacks of 15 big blinds and 19 big blinds, respectively. Whether they’ll feel obliged to push all-in early remains to be seen.
The line for spectators opens at 9:00am PT in front of the Penn and Teller Theater. Last year, the seating arrangement featured spectators armed with a potpourri of different colored wristbands, media wielding laminated credentials, and a general admission line that stretched far down the Rio convention center hallway. Friends and family seating begins at 11:30am PT and anyone holding a ticket must be seated by 12:30pm PT.
General admission seating will begin at 11:30am PT, with each of the nine players coming out to the stage accompanied by their own intro music a half-hour later. There are two breaks scheduled before the 90-minute dinner break, which will tentatively occur shortly after 6:00pm PT.
How long the process of shrinking the nine-man field to two will take is anyone’s guess. Last year, the sun was coming up over the Nevada desert when only Joe Cada and Darvin Moon were left. This year, a six-hour November Nine bubble in July may result in a truncated playing time. In fact, when Level 42 begins after 2:30am PT in Las Vegas, the blinds will be 1,000,000-2,000,000 with an ante of 300,000.
On Monday, the final two players will return to the Penn and Teller Theater to determine a champion. The festivities resume at 8:00pm and, if you’re planning to turn out for heads-up play, you’re in for a special treat. At 7:30pm PT, the Poker Hall of Fame Class of 2010 will be inducted. Dan Harrington and Full Tilt Poker pro Erik Seidel will become the new members of the Hall, whose inaugural class was enshrined in 1979. Last year, PartyPoker front man Mike Sexton was the Poker Hall of Fame’s lone inductee.
Play on Monday will continue until a champion is crowned. If you live in the United States, you can catch all of the action during the weekend without hole cards on ESPN3.com. On Tuesday, November 9th, the final table will air as part of ESPN’s coverage of the Main Event. The festivities will begin at 10:00pm ET and run for two hours, although additional time may be allotted depending upon how the event pans out.
In case you’re curious, because we were, here are the current odds offered for each member of the November Nine on the Mac-friendly online poker site Bodog:
Jonathan Duhamel – 5:2
John Dolan – 15:4
Joseph Cheong – 6:1
John Racener – 13:2
Matthew Jarvis – 10:1
Filippo Candio – 11:1
Michael Mizrachi – 6:1
Soi Nguyen – 16:1
Jason Senti – 18:1
Visit WSOP.com for full Main Event updates.
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