Wednesday, July 15, 2015 4:15 AM Local Time
November Nine Set, Joe McKeehen Leads
Starting on July 5th, a total of 6,240 players took to the felt for the 2015 World Series of Poker Main Event. Now, after seven long days of poker played out over a week and a half, only nine of them remain. They’ll each be able to take a breather until November 8th, when the final table will be played and broadcast live on ESPN.
Day 7 began Tuesday with 27 hopefuls. Play had been halted early Monday night after the elimination of Andrew Moreno in 28th place, and the 27 remaining players returned at noon on Tuesday to play down to the final table. Play began where it left off Monday night, with 37 minutes remaining in Level 30 (60,000/120,000 blinds and a 15,000). At the end of that level, all 27 players still had chips in front of them.
That wouldn’t last long, though. Six players were eliminated during Level 31, and another six hit the rail during Level 32. At that point, play slowed considerably. During the next level only two players were eliminated. Thomas Kearney is a Las Vegas local who makes his living playing online poker under the screen name “Butters,” and is a regular on WSOP.com. He finished in 15th place ($411,453) and was soon followed by Justin Schwartz (14th place, $411,453).
At the end of Level 33, the 13 remaining players took a 90-minute dinner break. When they returned, there were two more bustouts in short order. Matt Guan finished in 13th place ($411,453), followed almost immediately by Scotland’s George McDonald in 12th place ($526,778)
Throughout all of this, one of the most famous faces in poker sat calmly at the table. Daniel Negreanu started Day 7 in ninth place out of the remaining 27 players. For most of the day, he stayed pretty well in the middle of the pack as his stack periodically grew and shrank as the tournament progressed. At dinner, though, Negreanu had been on a downswing, and he went to the break 12th in chips out of the remaining 13 players. He recovered after the dinner break, but eventually bowed out in 11th place, matching the best Main Event finish of his career. (He also finished in 11th place in 2001.)
Results so far are available in the “Results” tab, above.
And to see what the remaining players have at stake, click the “Prizepool” tab.
Here is the 2015 November Nine:
Joe McKeehen - 63,100,000 Chips
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Joe McKeehen
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Age: 24
Country: USA
Previous WSOP cashes: 8
Previous WSOP bracelets: 0
Joe McKeehen, a 24-year old professional poker player from Pennsylvania, has come painfully close to a WSOP bracelet before. He finished in second place in the inaugural Monster Stack tournament last year, earning over $820,000. Now, though, he’s guaranteed more than that for his performance here in the Main Event, and the most prestigious WSOP bracelet of all is within his reach.
Zvi Stern – 29,800,000 chips
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Zvi Stern
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Age: 36
Country: Israel
Previous WSOP cashes: 1
Previous WSOP bracelets: 0
Zvi Stern hails from Israel, and is the first Israeli November Niner since Amir Lehavot in 2013. Stern has only one previous WSOP cash, a 63rd place the $1,500 Limit Hold’em Shootout in 2008.
Neil Blumenfield - 22,000,000
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Neil Blumenfield
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Age: 61
Country: USA
Previous WSOP cashes: 2
Previous WSOP bracelets: 0
At 61 years old, Neil Blumenfield would be the eldest player in the November Nine most years. In fact, before this year, the record for oldest player ever to make the November Nine was 57, by Steve Gee in 2012. As it happens, Blumenfield is only the second oldest player at this year’s final table, behind 72-year old Pierre Neuville.
The former high-school debate champion has two WSOP cashes on his resume, and before today his best live tournament score was just over $38,000.
Pierre Neuville - 21,075,000 Chips
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Pierre Neuville
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Age: 72
Country: Belgium
Previous WSOP cashes: 19
Previous WSOP bracelets: 0
Pierre Neuville is the oldest remaining player at 72 years old. In fact, he’s the oldest November Niner in history, beating the previous record – Steve Gee was 57 when he made the Main Event final table in 2012 – by 15 years. He is also the first Belgian to make the November Nine since it’s inception in 2008. Neuville has a long history of success in European poker tournaments, and this is his 20th WSOP cash. He does not yet have a World Series bracelet; the closest he came was a second-place finish just last year. Winning this event would provide a capstone to Neuville’s already outstanding poker career.
Max Steinberg - 20,200,000 Chips
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Max Steinberg
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Age: 27
Country: USA
Previous WSOP cashes: 11
Previous WSOP bracelets: 1
Max Steinberg is the only player at this final table who already has a WSOP bracelet on his poker resume. He won a $1,000 No-Limit Hold’em event in 2012. He’s also made a name for himself in the world of daily fantasy sports, and actually won his Main Event entry on Draftkings, an official WSOP sponsor.
Thomas Cannuli - 12,250,000 Chips
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Thomas Cannuli
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Age: 23
Country: USA
Previous WSOP cashes: 2
Previous WSOP bracelets: 0
Thomas Cannuli is the youngest player in the 2015 November Nine at age 23. The New Jersey native has already assured himself of the biggest live tournament score of his career. Before this event, he had only about $50,000 in career tournament earnings, and is now guaranteed a seven-figure payout.
Josh Beckley - 11,800,000 Chips
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Josh Beckley
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Age: 24
Country: USA
Previous WSOP cashes: 4
Previous WSOP bracelets: 0
Josh Beckley’s four previous WSOP cashes have all come this year. This fifth cash, though, obviously tops them all, and he’s guaranteed a seven-figure payday. Prior to the Main Event, the New Jersey native had $219,000 in career earnings.
Patrick Chan - 6,225,000
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Patrick Chan
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Age: 26
Country: USA
Previous WSOP cashes: 4
Previous WSOP bracelets: 0
Patrick Chan has four previous WSOP cashes, including a 226th-place finish in the first ever Colossus tournament earlier this summer. Chan has just over half a million dollars in live tournament earnings in his career, and he’ll earn more than double that amount with his final table performance in November.
Federico Butteroni - 6,200,000
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Federico Butteroni
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Age: 25
Country: Italy
Previous WSOP cashes: 2
Previous WSOP bracelets: 0
Federico Butteroni has made a name of himself over the past few days with his emotional celebrations when winning key hands. That excitement is sure to carry over to November, as the stakes become ever higher.
The 25-year old Italian has only two previous WSOP cashes, both of which came this year. One of them was a 20th place finish in the Monster Stack event, and with his deep run in the Main, Butteroni is making quite the mark on the WSOP’s signature events.
Here are the seating assignments and chip counts. Play will resume on November 8th, and will be aired live on ESPN.
Seat 1: Zvi Stern - 29,800,000 (74 bb)
Seat 2: Pierre Neuville - 21,075,000 (52 bb)
Seat 3: Joshua Beckley - 11,800,000 (27 bb)
Seat 4: Max Steinberg - 20,200,000 (50 bb)
Seat 5: Thomas Cannuli - 12,250,000 (30 bb)
Seat 6: Joe McKeehen - 63,100,000 (160 bb)
Seat 7: Patrick Chan - 6,225,000 (15 bb)
Seat 8: Federico Butteroni - 6,200,000 (15 bb)
Seat 9: Neil Blumenfield - 22,000,000 (55 bb)