Seat 1: Dennis Phillips (Cottage Hills, Illinois, US) - 26,295,000 chips
Seat 2: Craig Marquis (Arlington, Texas, US) - 10,210,000 chips
Seat 3: Ylon Schwartz (Brooklyn, New York, US) - 12,525,000 chips
Seat 4: Scott Montgomery (Perth, Ontario, Canada) - 19,690,000 chips
Seat 5: Darus Suharto (Toronto, Ontario, Canada) - 12,520,000 chips
Seat 6: David Rheem (Miami, Florida, US) - 10,230,000 chips
Seat 7: Ivan Demidov (Moscow, Russia) - 24,400,000 chips
Seat 8: Kelly Kim (Whitter, California, US) - 2,620,000 chips
Seat 9: Peter Eastgate (Odense, Denmark) - 18,375,000 chips

Dennis Philips: It only makes sense to start our list with the overall chip leader at this point in Dennis Philips. At 53 years old, Philips is the oldest person in the field and is an account manager for a St. Louis trucking company. Dennis can easily be identified by his St. Louis Cardinals ball cap he always wears which now bears his sponsor’s name (PokerStars) on the side. Philips is widely considered an amateur even though he cashed at two WSOP Circuit events in Tunica which netted him $4,578.

Advertisement

Ivan Demidov: Moving on to the second place person in terms of chips, Ivan Demidov is one of the favorites to take home the first place prize. Once considered a semi-professional player, this Russian definitely shed that distinction last month when he placed 3rd in the World Series of Poker Europe Main Event. Demidov earned $664,781 for the finish and made history by becoming the first person to make the final table of the WSOPE and the WSOP in the same year.

Scott Montgomery: Scott Montgomery is another favorite to win it all since he’s third in chips and has burst onto the professional scene as of late. He took 5th place at the L.A. Poker Classic and made almost $300,000 for that finish. Over his short career, Montgomery has been able to earn $405,585 in lifetime winnings and the Canadian will definitely be adding to that total after the final table is over with.

Peter Eastgate: Like Demidov, Peter Eastgate is the only other player without a country mate at the final table. The Denmark player would make history as being the youngest ever to win the WSOP if he takes home the title (he’s 22 and Phil Hellmuth holds the record at 24 years of age). Unlike some of the previously mentioned players, Eastgate hasn’t cashed in any major events but he has won plenty of money playing middle and high stakes cash game online.

Ylon Schwartz: Ylon Schwartz has been one of the most talked about players heading into the WSOP final table because of his extensive chess background. Schwartz is a chess champion who used to hustle people for money in New York parks. Eventually, Schwartz switched over to poker and has nickel and dimed his way to earnings of $302,950 over the past 4 years. Schwartz has also cashed in a couple of smaller WSOP events too.

Darus Suharto: Cashing in the WSOP Main Event won’t be anything new to Suharto since he placed 448th in 2006 and won $26,289 for that finish. But cashing at the final table will be a new experience for Darius as the stakes have increased significantly. This 39 year-old accountant is something of a semi-professional player who’s been getting really serious over the last 3 years. He sits just 5,000 chips behind Schwartz in 6th place.

David Rheem: As evidenced by the fact that he has a nickname in “Chino”, David Rheem is the most popular player going into the final table. Rheem has had to overcome plenty of legal troubles in his past to get to the point where he is today. Over his career, Chino has cashed in several WSOP events with his biggest being a 2nd place finish that netted him $327,981. He is considered to have the most experience of anybody at the final table.

Craig Marquis: Marquis is by far the most inexperienced player at the last table since he didn’t start playing poker until 2007. However, he’s been a very quick learning since he has already cashed in several WSOP events including his biggest one ($16,133) in a No Limit Hold’em event last year. He’ll have to turn his game up though if he wants to place in the top half of the table since he’s currently in eight.

Kelly Kim: With the shortest stack by far at 2,620,000 chips, Kelly Kim definitely has some work cut out for him to avoid going out first. But if he does end up going out first it definitely won’t be due to lack of experience since he has been involved with poker for the last 13 years and has been a professional for the last five years. Throughout his career, Kim has earned $282,657 and has cashed in a couple of WSOP events.

Here’s what the November Nine will be playing for on November 9th and 10th:

1st place - $9,119,338
2nd place - $5,790,024
3rd place - $4,503,352
4th place - $3,763,516
5th place - $3,088,013
6th place - $2,412,510
7th place - $1,769,177
8th place - $1,286,672
9th place - $900,670

WSOP Odds – From the Bodog Sportsbook

In being a leading worldwide sportsbook, Bodog consistently offers some of the best bets on major events. The 2008 WSOP is no different since Bodog will be offering bets on which country is most likely to have the top finisher and who is most likely to bust out first. Here’s a look at the odds on both bets going from top to bottom:

Country that will have the top finisher

United States – 5/7
Canada – 2/1
Russia – 7/2
Denmark – 9/2

Most Likely to Bust Out First

Kelly Kim – 5/2
Chino Rheem – 7/2
Craig Marquis – 4/1
Darus Suharto – 5/1
Ylon Schwartz – 5/1
Peter Eastgate – 13/2
Scott Montgomery – 13/2
Ivan Demidov – 10/1
Dennis Phillips – 13/1

Anybody can be a Poker Millionaire – the Jason Mercier Story

One of the common misconceptions about the game of poker is that it takes years of dedication and study to become a poker millionaire. People think that only players like Doyle Brunson – with his 50 years of professional poker experience – can become rich stars in the game. But anyone who thinks this is definitely wrong as more and more young people are proving everyday that they have what it takes to earn millions in the game of poker.

21 year-old Jason Merier is definitely one of those people since he earned $2.6 million in just his first year of playing poker. Mercier not has not only become a very rich man from playing poker but he is also becoming a star in the process. And his story is as interesting as they come.

Mercier was just a freshman at Florida Atlantic University when he started playing poker online. But he didn’t just play poker; he became immersed in it and hit the cyber tables whenever he got the chance. Eventually, he just quit school and moved back home where he continued to play poker until his parents kicked him out of the house. His parents let him move back to the house, although he had to agree to go to community college and stop playing so much poker.

However, it was hard to put away the skills he had acquired from playing online while in college and Mercier kept playing the game. He quickly accumulated a $90,000 bankroll and decided to try his hand at live poker in the San Remo, Italy European Poker Tour event. His online days paid off as Mercier won San Remo and the $1.3 million that came with it. Mercier would return to Europe this past summer to the London Showdown where he would win $900,000 playing at the final table of 3 different events.

At just 21 years of age and already a multi-millionaire, Jason Mercier proves that anyone can make it playing the game of poker.