27 REMAIN, NINE WILL SURVIVE: DAY 7 COVERAGE TONIGHT ON ESPN
On the seventh day, God rested, so the story goes. In the World Series of Poker Main Event though, if you are resting on the seventh day, it is not a good thing. It is crunch time tonight at 9pm ET on ESPN as the final 27 begin the long trek to the November Nine. Only one out of every three of these remaining players will be back in November with a shot at the bracelet. Most of them will rest at some point today, but they won’t be happy about it.

Anton Morgenstern leads the field when Day 7 coverage begins, but we can all recall how big stacks and chip leaders on this day have fared in the past. Steve Gee is one of the short stacks coming into today, but we can also all recall how Gee managed to ride his short stack into a final table appearance in last year’s event.

Gee and Carlos Mortensen knows what it takes to get to the final table. Marc-Etienne McLaughlin, on the other hand, knows what it feels like to get to this point only to come up short. Then there are the players like Jay Farber, who are just happy to be here. Yes, there are plenty of pros in the field like bracelet winners JC Tran, Rep Porter, and Amir Lehavot or notable names like Mark Newhouse and Yevgeniy Timoshenko, but there are also a couple of amateurs who have defied the odds to make a run at the title.

Farber and James Alexander of Texas will likely agree they are outmatched when it comes to poker knowledge, but the beauty of the Main Event is that they stand a chance to win poker’s world title. Last year, Michael Esposito was the amateur who battled the pros, but even Jake Balsiger and Russell Thomas had jobs aside from poker before they made the November Nine. Others like Steve Begleiter, Dennis Phillips, Soi Nguyen, and Darvin Moon have all challenged for the crown. And, of course, the amateur who ten years ago inspired many of these players to pursue their Main Event dreams, Chris Moneymaker, also bears mentioning.

One thing Farber does have going for him is home field advantage. He may not be a poker pro, but Farber is a Las Vegas resident. He’s worked in the nightlife scene in Vegas for a good five years and, as he puts it, parties for a living. While it may not be logging hours at the tables, Farber has certainly befriended some poker players over the years and picked up some tips along the way.

Can those tips translate into chips though? You’ll have to tune in at 9pm ET tonight to find out if Farber can make it through Day 7 without heading to the rail for some rest. Until then, check out just how glamorous Farber’s Sin city life can be: