And then there were four.
The 2010 World Series of Poker Main Event final table -- otherwise known as the “November Nine” -- has crossed the midway point. There are now more players out on the rail watching and wishing, than still remain seated in poker’s richest game.
The latest player to bust out was Michael "the Grinder" Mizrachi, from Miami, FL. He was the most well-known and most highly-accomplished player of this year's finalists. Mizrachi busted out when his top pair (queens) fell to Jonathan Duhamel's pocket aces.
The Grinder unwillingly joined former fellow finalists Soi Nguyen (9th), Matthew Jarvis (8th), Jason Senti (7th), and John Dolan (6th) as outsiders all looking in – along with a capacity crowd packed inside the Penn and Teller Theatre and a worldwide audience following all the action from Las Vegas.
The last 90 minutes has included a flurry of action, resulting in three chip-lead changes. Mizrachi lost a huge pot when he came out on the wrong end of a coin flip holding pocket threes versus Jonathan Duhamel’s A-9.
Two nines hit the board, giving Duhamel more than 50 million in chips for the first time in several hours. He had been the chip leader coming into the final table, then went south the last several hours. Duhamel’s good fortune catapulted him into second place, behind Joseph Cheong, who regained his chip lead at Mizrachi’s expense.
With four players remaining, the chip leader is Joseph Cheong, from La Mirada, CA.
Play will continue all night until only two players remain. Last year’s final table (first day) followed a similar pattern and concluded at 5:00 am.
Heads-up play will resume on Monday, November 8th at 8 pm PST when the final two will play down to a winner. Coverage of the final table will air in a two-hour telecast on Tuesday at 10 pm ET on ESPN.
The winner of this year’s Main Event, the second largest in the 40-year history of the WSOP with 7,319 entrants, will take home $8,944,310 in prize money. He will also be presented with the most coveted achievement in all of poker -- the World Series of Poker Main Event Championship gold bracelet.
So, who will become the 2010 world poker champion? Keep it here at WSOP.COM for all the latest news, chip counts, and photos from the grand finale to find out. Be sure to tune in to ESPN’s telecast on Tuesday at 10 PM EST, to see how it all unfolded.