November Nine – 2009 WSOP Final Table

July 30, 2009

After 12 days of intense play at the World Series of Poker between some of the most profound poker players of our time, an immense WSOP field of 6,494 has finally been whittle down to the final 9 participants, the historic “November Nine”. These elite finishers in the 2009 World Series of Poker Main Event will reconvene on November 7, 2009, to play out the final table.

It was long road for all of the final tablists, some more so than others, but certainly none had an easy ride of it. From the chip leader Darvin Moon to the short stack James Akenhead, it will be most interesting to see who walks away with the $8.5 million WSOP Championship.

Here is the WSOP 2009 Final Table November Nine, in order of current chip leads …

Darvin Moon – 58,930,000
Eric Buchman – 34,800,000
Steven Begleiter – 29,885,000
Jeff Shulman – 19,580,000
Joseph Cada – 13,215,000
Kevin Schaffel – 12,390,000
Phil Ivey – 9,765,000
Antoine Saout – 9,500,000
James Akenhead – 6,800,000

Darvin Moon – Darvin has to be feeling rather comfortable in his current chip-lead position. Owner of his own logging company, he is certainly no professional poker player. In fact, he reminds us much of last years chip leader going into the final table, Dennis Phillips. A 45 year old working man from Oakland, Maryland, Darvin Moon had no idea he would win a seat in the most prestigious live poker tournament in the world, much less find himself awaiting the re-convergence of the final table.

Eric Buchman – Buchman is a professional poker player hailing from Valley Stream, New York. He has seen a good number f successful cashes in live poker tournaments, earning nearly $1 million over 22 cashes. At 29 years of age, Eric Buchman is now guaranteed to take home the biggest cash of his life. Will it be the minimum $1.2 million, the maximum $8.5 million, or somewhere in between?

Steven Begleiter – A financial businessman by trade, Steven Begleiter is another member of the November Nine with no real past experience in live poker tournaments. He has never cashed in an event, and suddenly he stands to walk away with no less than $1.2 million. Steven plays regular home games, where a league win brought him the $10k necessary to buy into the 2009 WSOP Main Event. It would seem he made the best decision f his life by doing so!

Jeff Shulman – The second most experienced player to make the November Nine, Jeff Shulman is the editor of Card Player Magazine and a professional poker payer wit nearly $1.4 million in career live tournament earnings. At 34 years of age, Shulman resides in Las Vegas, Nevada, where he works under his father, Barry Shulman – also a professional poker player who taught Jeff the ropes – the CEO of Card Player.

Joseph Cada – Joseph is the youngest member off the November Nine at only 21 years of age. Should this young prodigy go on to win the 2009 WSOP Main Event, he would still be 21 years of age, making him the youngest player in history to take down the championship. Just lat year, Peter Eastgate set the record at the ripe age of 22. After playing online poker for a few years, and live poker at the Windsor, the Michigan native dropped out of college to pursue a career as a professional poker player. Even his mother now agrees, after some reluctance in the beginning, it was most definitely the right decision!

Kevin Schaffel – the oldest member of the November Nine at 51 years, Kevin Schaffel has been playing live cash games for quite some time now. His live tournament exploits have resulted in 6 cashes worth $168k. The first and most significant cash of his career came in the 2004 World Series of Poker Main Event where he diligently fought his way into 42nd position to finish with $60,000 in his pocket. He also managed a 324th position finish in the 2008 WSOP Main Event for $32,166. No matter what position Schaffel finishes in this November, his poker-related fortunes will receive a phenomenal boost.

Phil Ivey – By far the most decorate professional poker player to make the November Nine, Phil Ivey is a 7 time WSOP bracelet winner with nearly $10 million in live cashes. He is a member of the Full Tilt Pros, where he’s earned countless in high-stakes cash games. Though he will stat the 2009 WSOP Main Event final table with the 3rd smallest stack, he has the most experience to overcome. A WSOP Championship is about the only title Phil Ivey lacks, so we can just imagine how bad he wants this victory come November.

Antoine Saout – At 25 years old, hailing from Saint Martin des Champs, France, Antoine Saout has absolutely no recorded experience playing live poker tournaments. He just started playing poker about 18 months ago, and won a seat in the 2009 WSOP Main Event through a $50 satellite from the online poker room Everest Poker. He may be the second shortest stack going into the final table, but Lady Luck has certainly been on his side thus far.

James Akenhead – A rather famous professional poker player in the UK, James Akenhead is no stranger to live tournament play, or the World Series of Poker. A member of the Hit Squad, Akenhead has 20 live cashes under his belt, including 3 first place finishes and just under $700k in career earnings. Sitting precariously in the lowest chip stack position, Akenhead will surely be looking to make an early move when the November Nine reconvenes.

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