The WSOP Main Event November 9 Are Set

The 2014 WSOP summer series has come to a close, with the Main Event final table set and the players due to return in November. Known as the November Nine, the players battled through 10 days of intense competition and a field of 6,683 entrants to reach poker’s biggest stage. One of the most notable stories is Mark Newhouse of North Carolina, who has made the final table for the second year in a row. He is the first player to do so since Dan Harrington in 2003 and 2004. The difference is that Newhouse made it through a much larger field than Harrington, who faced 839 players in 2003 and 2,576 in 2004. Whatever happens when the players return to Las Vegas, Newhouse is hoping to improve on last year’s ninth-place finish. “I’m looking forward to not finishing ninth. Ninth is brutal, man. Coming back four months later and getting no money. I told myself I wouldn’t be disappointed, and whatever happens, happens, but it was very, very disappointing. ... Anything but ninth.” This time, Newhouse will return in third place rather than with a short stack.

Jorryt van Hoof will lead the field in November with more than 38 million chips. The Dutchman is a cash-game specialist, but he has shown he can navigate a huge tournament field. He has played online poker for years, has been a professional for a decade, and runs his own poker training site. He entered the Main Event on a last-minute whim, arriving just a few days before it began—and it turned out to be a good decision.

Felix Stephensen, a 23-year-old Norwegian, will return with more than 32 million chips. He is also an online poker player, with pot-limit Omaha cash games as his preferred format. Stephensen has played relatively few live tournaments, and his live earnings of about $22,118 are set to rise sharply. Next is Spanish professional Andoni Larrabe, who won the PokerStars Caribbean Adventure in 2013. Like several of the finalists, Larrabe is primarily an online player, having learned the game through sit-and-go and multi-table tournaments.

Dan Sindelar will also return in November. The only Las Vegas regular at the table, the Nebraska-born player has 18 WSOP cashes and says he plans to cherish the moment. Billy Pappas, a world champion foosball player, is the only amateur remaining. “I’m in shock. I never thought I’d play in this event. It’s been my dream, and I’ve been saying ‘this year’ or ‘next year’ for like 10 years, just to play in an event, period. Now I get to play this, and I never expected this at all.”

Will Tonking of New Jersey also made the cut, getting through after a late double-up. He will be joined by Swedish professional Martin Jacobson, who already has $5.5 million in career earnings. Rounding out the final table is Bruno Politano, the first Brazilian ever to make it, who is expected to have a large crowd cheering him on back home. The players can now take a well-deserved break, though they may have a few sleepless nights thinking about the $10 million first-place prize.