November Nine decided in 2009 Main Event
This year’s WSOP Main Event will no doubt be a very memorable one since it was marked by quite a bit of controversy before the first round of eliminations were even over with. But once the smoke cleared, everyone was treated to another fine Main Event which featured millions of dollars in prize money and plenty of celebrities in attendance. Here’s a look at what transpired throughout the Main Event leading up to the November Nine.
Day 1
As usual, the WSOP Main Event was split into two groups to accommodate the large field of players who entered. 1,116 players entered Day 1a while only 607 of these people would make it on to Day 2. Some of the notable eliminations from this day included Julian Powell, Graeme “Kiwi G” Putt, and Craig Bergeron while Chris Chronis grabbed the chip lead here.
Day 1b featured only 873 players which had many people wondering if the Main Event would even reach 6,000 entrants. Chris Moneymaker, Doyle Brunson, Vickey Coren, and David Pham had other things to worry about like how they hit the rail early on this day. Brandon Demes pulled out to an early lead on Day 1b.
Harrah Entertainment’s fear that this Main Event wouldn’t reach 6,000 was eased somewhat when 1,697 people bought into Day 1c. The large numbers didn’t help Daniel Negreanu, Evelyn Ng, and Brandon Cantu though as they were all eliminated. Joe Cada was the leader at the end of the day.
Day 1d is when the big controversy began since it seemed as if everyone waited until Sunday to play. 2,809 players signed up which meant that over 500 people were shut out when Harrah’s closed down the signup. Among those that did get to sign up and wished they didn’t were Ray Ramano, Ivan Demidov, Scott Montgomery, and Scott Clements since they all busted out. Troy Weber won this day, and was the overall chip leader for Day 1.
Day 2
With the field whittled down considerably, Day 2 was broken into two flights with 1,476 people playing in Day 2a. Among those who didn’t make it to Day 3 were Gus Hansen, Jennifer Tilly, Johnny Chan, and Phil Laak. Eric Cloutier was able to position himself at the top by the close of Day 2a.
Day 2b was much larger than the previous day since 2,924 players took part in this leg of the tournament. Amir Lehavot jumped out to a commanding overall chip lead at the close of Day 2b while Erick Lindgren, Scotty Nguyen, Marlon Wayans, Kathy Leibert, and Vanessa Rousso were all eliminated.
Day 3
Finally the entire WSOP Main Event field would be combined with 2,044 players making it to this day. Even some celebrities managed to survive the first two days with Los Angeles Lakers player Jordan Farmar, Lou Diamond Philips, former “Seinfeld” star Jason Alexander, and cricketer legend Shane Warne all in the field. But only Farmar and Philips would survive the day. Carlos Mortensen, Greg Raymer, Jennifer Harman, and 2009 WSOP Player of the Year Jeffrey Lisandro all busted out too. Bertrand “ElkY” Grospellier was the leader of the 789 remaining players at the end of the day.
Day 4
The fourth day of the WSOP would see the field cut down to 407 players with these players all guaranteeing themselves a cash. Matt Affleck was the leader at the end of this day with 1,819,000 chips while Phil Ivey positioned himself near the top as well. Chris “Jesus” Ferguson, Phil Hellmuth, and Justin Bonomo were not as lucky as they all hit the rail.
Day 5
Warren Zachey made his presence felt on Day 5 as he came out of nowhere to grab the chip lead while players like Phil Ivey and Antonio Esfandiari stayed near the top of the leaderboard. Former Main Event champions Peter Eastgate and Joe Hachem also managed to survive in contrast to Lou Diamond Philips, Kara Scott, and Nick Binger who were all knocked out on this day.
Day 6
With the field shrinking from 185 players to 64, people started to get a clearer picture of what the November Nine could look like. Darvin Moon, Ivey, and Esfandiari were all potentially part of this picture as they finished near the top. Hachem, Eastgate, and Grospellier were not a part of this picture though as they all busted out on Day 6.
Day 7
With 99 percent of the field gone from the Main Event, 64 players returned to see who would be among the final 27 players who would move on to Day 8. Darvin Moon was able to maintain his chip lead while Phil Ivey moved his way up to fourth place by the day’s end. Dennis Phillips, Tom Schneider, Joe Seebok, and Blair Rodman were some of the most notable people to be eliminated on Day 7.
Day 8
After 8 days of grueling play for the remaining 27 players, the November Nine would finally be decided on Day 8. Esfandiari’s great run came to an end here when he busted out in 24th place ($352,832). Day 5 chip leader Warren Zachey didn’t last much longer as he went out in 22nd place while Nick Maimone was the last elimination before dinner in 15th place ($633,022).
When the 14 players returned, the pots started getting much larger which was much to the liking of Darvin Moon. Moon was able to take a giant 20,000 million chip pot off of Billy Kopp who was eliminated in 12th place ($896,730). Jordan Smith was the final elimination as he went out in 10th place making the November Nine. Darvin Moon holds a commanding chip lead going into play on November 7th while noted pros Phil Ivey and Jeff Shulman are still alive too.
Here is the November Nine and their chip counts:
Seat 1: Darvin Moon - 58,930,000
Seat 2: James Akenhead - 6,800,000
Seat 3: Phil Ivey - 9,765,000
Seat 4: Kevin Schaffel - 12,390,000
Seat 5: Steven Begleiter - 29,885,000
Seat 6: Eric Buchman - 34,800,000
Seat 7: Joe Cada - 13,215,000
Seat 8: Antoine Saout - 9,500,000
Seat 9: Jeff Shulman - 19,580,000
