27 players became nine yesterday at the Rio, with the 2009 Main Event playing down to the final table nearly two weeks after play began. Below are the final nine players alive in the 2009 WSOP Main Event, who will return to Vegas in November to battle it out to see who will reign as champion:
Seat 1: Darvin Moon – 58,930,000
Seat 2: James Akenhead – 6,800,000
Seat 3: Phil Ivey – 9,765,000
Seat 4: Kevin Schaffel – 12,390,000
Seat 5: Steven Begleiter – 29,885,000
Seat 6: Eric Buchman – 34,800,000
Seat 7: Joe Cada – 13,215,000
Seat 8: Antoine Saout – 9,500,000
Seat 9: Jeff Shulman – 19,580,000
Phil Ivey is the obvious notable name in that list, as he’s one of the world’s best poker players (if not THE best) and he did what many thought unthinkable for a top pro: survive a huge Main Event field to make the final table. While Ivey may be well behind chip leader Darvin Moon when play resumes in November, he’ll still be considered by many to be the favorite to win it all.
As far as other final tablers, both James Akenhead and Jeff Shulman have plenty of experience and cashes to their names, with Shulman making a return trip to the final table after final tabling the Main Event in 2000 as well.
