WSOP Blog

Anyway, onto some predictions and opinions about the November Nine ... bear in mind that I haven't watched all of the available ESPN footage, so I may be missing some info about players' tendencies and capabilities.

First, I don't think Phil Ivey has nearly as good of a shot as most people seem to think (since 90% of people seem to be sure he'll win it seems).

Yes, Ivey is at least one of the best, and probably the best player in the entire world. He's clearly the best player at the final table. But with blinds soon going to 150/300k (40k) and the average stack at nearly 22 million, Phil only has 9.8 million.

He's not in panic mode or desperately shortstacked, but he doesn't have as much room to maneuver as he'd like to.

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Despite the fact that I've played played 4,327,981 tournaments at Foxwoods and cashed in exactly one, I decided to make the trek across country to grind out one more stupid donkament.

After my run in such a tough field at Bellagio and being so close to my first WPT main event final table that I could taste it, I just couldn't talk myself out of playing one of the softest WPT events of the season.

The structure of the event is pretty good when it matters, even though it's a bit fast early on. We start with 30k chips at 50/100 and it's 200/400 (50) by level four, but they don't skip the 2400, 5k, or 10k big blind levels.

My table draw for day one wasn't exactly what I was hoping for in a Foxwoods tournament. It would be a great draw at Bellagio, don't get me wrong, but the field is a LOT different here.

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With one World Series (baseball) drawing to a close and the final table of another (poker) set to kick off Friday, we thought we'd bring you a not-so-useful cross-genre analogy just for shits and giggles.

Welcome to the first ever World Series of Poker November Nine baseball team.

Players: The nine dudes at the final table, silly.
Manager: Me
Team Name: The Niners

Although this blog may not have any value or pertinent relevance, at the very least let it be an exercise in thinking outside of the (batter's) box. B'doom ching!

So as GM of this unique squad it is my duty to delegate positional defense as well as arrange the most effective offensive line up. The assignment is as challenging as it is pointless. I look forward to it.

So without further adieu, I present to you The Niners.

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Yesterday was Day 1 of the WPT Foxwoods Main Event. I finished the day well above average stack with 84,750 chips. The average is around 51k.

I had a fairly interesting table draw, with Kathy Liebert, who I really enjoyed talking to all day. She was very entertaining and funny.

She even made a bet against the guy next to her who was saying that Miami John is a really good player. She took me vs Miami John, but only if one of us wins the tournament. Obviously, I would be the favorite in this bet.

I think she was also really impressed with the way I played, as I pretty much played perfect all day. Not to mention the fact, I called her hand about 5 times.

I just looked at my table draw for day 2 and it seems to be a fairly tough one. I have Adam Levy, Tommy Vedes, John Hennigan, and Isaac Baron all at my table, who are all pretty solid players from what I've seen.

Isaac is the only one with position on me and I have the whole table covered, so it's not a terrible draw.

Hopefully I can get off to a good start and make my first day 3 on the WPT, then day 4, 5, final table, shippage. WPT title yesssir! You can follow my personal updates on either my twitter page or on www.jasonmercier.com

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In the past when we've done a feature interview with a high-stakes player we run the entire transcript here in the blog. Because this one is Phil Ivey we did you one better and videotaped the entire interview for you to watch.

This is 13 minutes of pure and uncut Ivey and it's worth watching. Ivey is one bad dude and anything he says is worth listening to. This is our very own Martin Derbyshire kicking it with Ivey and talking about a ton of different stuff.

Ivey opens up and has a frank discussion which is great to see. There are some epic quotes in there so check out the video below. Click through here for the feature news story.

If you're on the main blog page click through to the post page to see the embedded video.

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Darvin Moon is a man of few words. If he was writing this article it's likely that's where it would end.

He absolutely bulldozed the playdown to the final table back in July, building an enormous chip lead he'll carry into the final table.

58,930,000 represents about 30 per cent of the chips in play and they're all sitting on the patch of felt in front of the logger from Maryland.

Considering Eric Buchman is second with just 34.8 million, Moon has a distinct advantage in the chip department.

Despite his commanding lead few people see Darvin Moon winning this tournament. Moon himself, funnily enough, can be counted among the skeptics.

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The E:60 Episode featuring Phil Ivey aired on ESPN and we've got it right here for you to watch.

The media attention is really ramping up with the November Nine final table just a few days away and this is a great addition to the array of Ivey-oriented content on offer.

And goddam is Ivey a baller. ESPN gets access that is unheard of in the poker media. On the jet, in the suite, at the high-stakes pit games. Check this video out. You won't be disappointed.



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21 years old and already a successful online pro, Joe Cada has a chance at becoming the youngest Main Event winner this weekend in Las Vegas.

He's got 13,215,000, good for fifth in chips, and with blinds of 120k/240k when the November Nine return he'll have a bit of room to maneuver.

Cada has stacked over half a million dollars in tournament earnings but describes himself as a cash game player.

His biggest MTT result was almost $150,000 courtesy of taking down the $750k guarantee on Full Tilt.

He's won some money before but we'll see how comfortable he is in front of the TV cameras with millions of dollars on the line.

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One of the most well known of the 2009 November Nine, Jeff Shulman has one distinct advantage over the other eight players: This is his second time at the final table of a WSOP Main Event.

This year Shulman enters the finale fourth in chips but back in the year 2000 he held a commanding lead over the rest of the table, which included one Chris "Jesus" Ferguson.

One bad beat set the stage for Shulman's elimination in seventh and paved the way for Jesus to become a world champion.

Now, just nine years later, Shulman has another chance at winning the biggest tournament in poker.

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Another classic WSOP Photoshop. Darvin Moon and Creedence, a match made in heaven.

The 2009 WSOP Main Event final table is just days away and PokerListings.com will be in Vegas to bring you all the action live.

Check out our Live 2009 WSOP Coverage starting November 7th to follow it all.

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The players at the final table of the 2009 Main Event have a serious problem: Millions of dollars and nothing to blow it on.

Sure, they'll be in Las Vegas and they could burn it up in a haze of pit games and luxury suites, but they'll want something to remember their extravagance with.

We're going to suggest that they do what we do every time we come into a large sum of money, spend it all in once place!

You've probably been told repeatedly to do exactly the opposite and NOT spend it all in one place but that shit doesn't play in this day and age.

Here's our one-stop shopping list to help the November Nine get rid of those pesky millions.

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Entering the 2009 WSOP November Nine final table third in chips and guaranteed $1.26 million, Steven Begleiter has been forced to take poker a little more seriously than he has in the past.

The Chappaqua, N.Y. native enjoys poker recreationally, mainly on the East Coast, and won his seat to the 2009 WSOP Main Event through an amateur league he plays in with his friends.

Their home games run in unison with the school year, September to June, and a portion of each tournament they play is put towards one $10,000 entry to the World Series Main Event.

His buddies can't be too disappointed that Begleiter is representing them in Vegas, since they all have a piece of his action.

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Things have changed for Kevin Schaffel since he made the WSOP 2009 Main Event final table. After a tough start to his pro career almost two years ago he's managed to turn things around in a big way over the last four months.

At the beginning of 2008 Schaffel pulled the plug on his family direct mailing and printing business, turning to poker to pay the bills.

A profitable cash game player in the years leading up to going pro Schaffel was nonetheless challenged by the daily grind of playing for a living. He posted small cashes on the EPT and the WPT before playing the 2009 Main Event.

Schaffel already had some Main Event experience, having cashed twice before with a 42nd place finish all the way back in 2004 being his best result. This year he broke through and now finds himself numbered among the nine players with a shot at this year's world championship.

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If you're anything like us you're going to be enjoying a few adult beverages as you watch this year's ESPN broadcast of the WSOP Main Event final table.

To help you make the drinking part a bit more entertaining we've developed a drinking game based around televised poker.

The game will work with any televised poker but for best results use it for final tables, since they show all full hands.

The rules are simple and, if followed to the letter, will guarantee a drunkening to remember (or not remember).

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The 2009 WSOP Main Event final table is less than a week away and before we do the deed we wanted to get you in the mood with a fresh series of profiles. The first choice was obvious: Phil Ivey.

Unlike the vast majority of the poker world Phil Ivey didn't have to make the November Nine to get a spot in the limelight. The limelight follows Ivey wherever he goes.

Entering the final table seventh in chips with 9.765 million he's got his work cut out for him.

Ivey is a mythical figure that walks among us. Even before this year's World Series of Poker, he was regarded by most as the best all-around player in the game.

He crushes online. He crushes live. He treats tournaments, cash games, prop bets and high stakes pit games as his personal ATM.

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Well first of all, I'd like to thank my New York Yankees for taking a little bit of the sweat out of the equation for me. I have $4,500 riding on the Yankees to win the World Series, and here's why:

1) The Yankees were nearly a 2:1 favorite to win the Series according to Vegas bookies (who seem to know how things will play out with scary/suspicious accuracy)

2) I have a ton of friends from South NJ and PA area who, for whatever reason, have decided to put themselves through the torture of being Phillies fans

3) I <3 $$$

The combination of these facts led to me doing the first significant sports betting of my life. Normally I bet sports very rarely, and when I do it's $20-$100 between friends just for shits and giggles.

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With the final table of the main event of the WSOP coming up, I wanted to make a prediction. My prediction is not about who is going to win, but about who I think is going to make a run at the win.

I'm predicting James Akenhead to go on a rush, early, and finish in the top 4, possibly even win it. I had the chance of playing against James in the WSOPE main event for a ton of hours, and let me tell you, the kid's game is SOLID.

Also, he's a super nice guy, and I would like for him to take that shortstack and run it up.

As for an update on me, I played the 5k at Caesars a few days ago, and that obviously didn't go so well. Played pretty well, just had aces cracked twice for big pots near the end of day 1 to bust.

I played on Stars a ton in the last week, making the final two tables of seven online MTTs with zero final tables. 11th, 13th, 14th, 13th, 13th, 14th, and 18th, UGH, it hurts so bad.

I'm going to play MTTs on Stars all day today, and then tomorrow I'm off to Foxwoods to play the last prelim (5k) and the main event.

I will probably be going home after that and then heading to Portugal for the next EPT.

Big Sunday coming up, then my WPT title. One time?

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78% of people who filled out an online poll on www.wsop.com believe Phil Ivey will win the 2009 WSOP Main Event.

This confirms to us that people are generally dumb and that online polls are in no way accurate.

Ivey is the greatest, no question, but he's still fallible and it's not like he's won every final table he's ever been at.

Lest we forget, he made seven WPT final tables before winning his eighth. There are only six players at WPT final tables.

The funny thing is, part of me can't argue with backing Ivey in something as big as the Main Event. This is the biggest opportunity in Phil Ivey's life and he has a way of pulling it out when he needs to.

Anyway, the rest of the November Nine can't be too happy seeing how low they're rated by the public (or at least that part of the public that votes in online polls about poker).

Here's how the rest stack up.

- Phil Ivey 78.05%

- Darvin Moon 6.57%

- Jeff Shulman 5.62%

- Eric Buchman 2.34%

- Joe Cada 2.18%

- James Akenhead 2.1%

- Antoine Saout 1.11 %

- Steven Begleiter 1.1%

- Kevin Schaffel 0.75%

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With the latest two Main Event episodes airing last night, we're now down to the final two tables.

This week we saw Ivey looking ridiculously human mucking a flush with no action on the river (late night at Bobby's Room anyone?) and Nick Maimone looking Moneymakeresque, getting in bad and hitting every time.

We were also forced to suffer through more of Norman Chad's stupid jokes and awful poker commentary.

Side note: If I have to listen to Norman Chad tell one more person to "bet to see where he's at" I'm going to kill a kitten.

But I digress. This week's snapshot comes not from this week's broadcast but from last week's. It was a hand too good to pass up and we really didn't see any hands played to the river on the latest broadcasts.

Without further ado.

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ESPN's Inside Deal is running through the November Nine crew, well, the ones wearing PokerStars patches. This week they have Kevin Schaffel and we've got it embedded right here for you to watch.

Like we've said before, Inside Deal is doing a good job of legitimizing the poker news show format. They have a real set, real hosts and they cover pretty much everything of note, at least topically.

What's not so great are the intros. I know they're just supposed to be fun, quick little gags but for the most part they come off pretty labored.

In today's Laura Lane has her hands tied behind her back so that's something at least.

Watch the video below and tell us what you think in the comment section at the bottom.



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Judging by the amount of time railbirds spend begging for $5 we assume there are some low-stakes players out there desperate for a bit of that online cake.

We've decided to do something about it by putting up not $5 but $20, just for picking the top three WSOP Main Event finishers in the correct order.

There's not much more to it. Pick the 2009 November Nine trifecta and you've got yourself $20 to do with what you will.

I will personally ship it to you online. The thing is, I'm putting up my own monies and if through some freak occurrence like 100 people pick it right I'm not putting myself on the hook for $2k. The $20 will be split between everyone who picks correctly.

The Rules:

• You may only vote once.
• You MUST leave a valid email on the comment form. To claim the cash you will have to respond to an email sent to that address.
• You must leave your picks in this format:
  
  1-Ivey,2-Shulman,3-Buchman

Good luck and be sure to tell your friends to come and give it a shot.

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We began day four of the $15k WPT Festa al Lago main event at Bellagio with 37 players remaining and 27 spots to be paid. I had ~500k going to 5/10k, which put me 14th in chips and slightly above average.

My table for the money bubble of the tournament included Chau Giang, Prahlad Friedman, Brandon Cantu, Mark Seif, Matt Glantz, and Tommy Vedes.

Another table with several million in combined winnings, and definitely a table that wasn't going to nit it up and be scared bubbling the tournament.

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With the WSOP 2010 Main Event final table coming up fast, promotion is starting to gear up. Joe Cada was on ESPN's Inside Deal this week doing his part and we've got it embedded here for you to watch.

If Cada ends up winning he'll become the youngest world champion in history - pretty impressive since the current record was set just one year ago by Peter Eastgate.

Cada was put into the Main Event by Sheets and Bax but with a PokerStars sponsorship, and his piece of the cash come November, Cada's days of being backed are over.

Check out the video and tell us what you think of Cada's chances in the comments below.



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I don't know what it is about WPTs, but somehow in almost every single one I play, I bust on day 2 playing a hand in a way that I normally would not.

I have had countless brain farts, if you will, early in WPTs. I still have not even sniffed the money of a WPT. Granted I have only played like 10-12 of them, but still it has been frustrating.

I busted WPT Festa al Lago on the 5th hand of Day 2. I put basically 100 bbs in on the river on a massive bluff, risking my tourney life. It was atrocious, and I was very disappointed with myself and my play, and it was a tough one to swallow.

I have no problem when I bust a tourney losing a flip or get cooled off, or take a bad beat, but when it's something that I know that I could have changed and know that I shouldn't have done, that's the most difficult thing to deal with.

I decided I was going to wait until Saturday before I played anything online. Yesterday, I played all the big MTTs and sattys on Stars during the day.

I had an extrememly frustrating day in which I got 11th in the 162, and 11th in the 100 cubed turbo. I also came close and should have won 2 packages. I got 14th in a satty to EPT Portugal which was awarding 6 seats, my AQ crushed by AJ all in pre for a top 3 stack.

I also got 4th in a PCA satty in which I lost QQ vs KJ all in pre for 70% of the chips 5 handed. J turn J river… MEH! It was an all around rough day, looking for much better results today. I will be playing all day today, tons of big MTTs and sattys on Pokerstars.

Weeeeeeeeeeeeee!

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I began the third day of the $15k WPT Festa al Lago main event at Bellagio with 205k at 1500/3k. I started the day at a table with Barry Greenstein, Corwin Cole, Justin Bonomo, and Bob Safai.

I was picking up a ton of big hands but was taking most down with raises and re-raises before the flop.

But just when I was getting comfortable (and it's hard not to when you have a big pair every fourth hand or so), they came to break the table.

Here was the lineup at the new table, who I believe have about $974,206,239,234 in combined earnings.

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