It’s finally time to start calling the World Series of Poker Main Event final table participants the November Two. That is correct the November Two, because after a lengthy layoff of Main Event action the participants were able to come back to the Rio Hotel & Casino in Las Vegas to continue there Main Event play at the final table which began yesterday November 9th. After hours of play we were finally down to our last remaining two players or the November Two. The conclusion of the final table will start back up tonight at 10 p.m. when the last two remaining players fight it out in a heads up match both having their eyes set on the $9 million dollar payday that each want. Who are the last two remaining players you ask. Well I will get to that.
When the final table first began everybody thought that the low stack Kelly Kim was going to have a short lived final table experience, but that was not the case. Kelly came into the final table with just about ten big blinds to go or $2.62 million in chips. The only problem though with Kelly finishing in last was Kelly was not going to let it happen and after waiting patiently and picking his right spots he actually held on long enough to not finish last. That accomplishment was actually taken by Craig Marquis who started the final table with over $10 million in chips but was knocked out when he shoved his remaining $4.925 into the pot with pocket sevens. It was then folded to tournament donkey Scott Montgomery who just cold called with A Q off suit with three players still left to act behind him. The flop was then dealt and Montgomery hit an ace on the flop as well as Marquis hit his set of sevens, but the tournament donkey then went runner, runner by hitting a jack on the turn and a king on the river for a straight which meant the end of the tournament for Craig Marquis. However Kelly Kim was basically forced to go all-in on the very next hand when most of his chip stack was put in due to blinds and he received two other callers and at the end of the hand Kelly was knockout out in eighth place without showing his cards.
It was now down to just seven players that remained and for a while it seemed as if it was just hand after hand after hand. It then came down to the player with the most poker experience at the table, David “Chino” Rheem, whom most pros think is going to win the Main Event because of his poker experience. Well that just wasn’t to be today. It was time to shove all-in for Rheem when he started getting lower on chips and he decided it was time to move in his last remaining $3.5 million with A K off suit. He was then called by Peter Eastgate with A Q off suit and unfortunately a Q came out on the flop which sent Chino Rheem home.
Later in the match after other players were eliminated and after which seemed like hundreds of hands dealt, it was finally down to the last remaining players in the tournament. They are Ivan Demidov who has $52,375,000 in chips, Dennis Phillips who has $19,925,000 in chips and Peter Eastgate who has $64,925,000. These three players only played a short amount of hands before the chip leader going into the final table Dennis Phillips found himself in a hand against Peter Eastgate. The hand goes like this, Demidov has the button and decides to fold and Eastgate puts in a raise to $1.5 million which Phillips decides to call. The flop comes J(c)4(d)3(s) and Eastgate fires out another $1.5 million which sends Phillips to think and then eventually goes all-in. It was then an insta-call by Eastgate who flips his hand over showing a flopped set of 3’s and Phillips showing only a 9/10 off suit. Phillips received no help making him the third place finisher.
That’s right its the November Two. Ivan Demidov who had the majority of people picking him to win because of the results he was putting in during tournaments that took place during the Main Events time off. Its also Peter Eastgate who is going into the heads up match the chip leader and the chance to break Phil Hellmuths record of the youngest player ever to win the World Series of Poker Main Event. The chip counts going into the final table are Demidov having $57.725 million in chips and Eastgate going in with $79.5 million in chips. Good luck to both players as it should be a very exciting heads up match and thank god it we are finally going to crown a winner of the 2008 World Series of Poker Main Event.
Below is a list of the results of players and how much they received for there play.
9. Craig Marquis – $900,670
8. Kelly Kim – $1,288,217
7. David “Chino” Rheem – $1,772,650
6. Darus Suharto – $2,418,562
5. Scott Montgomery – $3,096,768
4. Ylon Schwartz – $3,774,974
3. Dennis Phillips – $4,517,773
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