This Year’s WSOP Main Event Final Table Kicks Off

Today is the day! They shuffle up and deal at the single most important final table of the year today. Who will be the poker world champion of 2013?

WSOP 2013 has broken a list of records, most notably that of the number of entrants: the 62 events saw a total of 79,471 players. The festival has now a field of only nine players: the finalists of the Main Event, aka the November Nine. They start playing today, on 4 November, for the most coveted title of the poker world. On Monday, they play down to the best three and on Tuesday the fate of the bracelet is decided.

The cards are in the air at 17:00 local time in the Penn and Teller room of the Rio in Las Vegas, Nevada. You can follow the game live at the official WSOP website.

Members of the November Nine 2013 are the following:

Seat 1: Sylvain Loosli (France), stack: 19,600,000 (49 BBs)

Loosli is 26 years old poker pro from Toulon, France. He is attending business school and makes a living from online poker. Most of all a cash game player, he goes by the screen name ‘Patrick8313’. His only recorded live tournament result so far has been a 24th finish in the EPT Deauville 2011 €2,000 NLHE for $3,198. In September, he added a 2nd finish to that in the Winamax Poker Open Dublin for $80,966. In his free time, he likes playing tennis, surfing, snowboarding and travelling.

Seat 2: Michiel Brummelhuis (The Netherlands), stack: 11,275,000 (28 BBs)

The 32-year-old Brummelhuis comes from Amsterdam, The Netherlands. He can be found playing under the screen name ‘utreg’ and he has SCOOP, Super Tuesday as well as Sunday 500 championship titles. His best live score has been a 4th finish in the PCA 2011 $25,000 NLHE High Roller event for $154,350. Brummelhuis is the first Dutchman to play in the WSOP Main Event finale and this is his fourth shot at the event in his career.

Seat 3: Mark Newhouse (USA), stack: 7,350,000 (18 BBs)

Based on his qualities, Newhouse could be one of the favourites to win the Main Event but his stack size can be a major obstacle in his way. The American player grinds online as ‘newhizzle’ and he is a winner of the Sunday Million series, among other results. He has also been known at the high stakes cash game tables and he has a live score large enough not to make his run in the Main Event an automatic best result in his career: he won the WPT Borgata 2006 main event for $1,519,020. He first participated in the Main Event in 2006 and has been entering the event each year ever since. In October, he scored two ITMs: he finished 54th in the EPT London Main Event for $18,525 and 12th in the WSOPE Mixed Max for $20,147.

Seat 4: Ryan Riess (USA), stack: 25,875,000 (65 BBs)

The 23 years old Riess is the youngest player in the 2013 November Nine; if he wins, he will be the first WSOP Main Event champion to have born in the 1990s. His explosive nature and youth becomes apparent if you read CardPlayer's interview with him, where he made some eyebrows raise in the poker community by his statements. Among others, the young gun from Michigan claimed to be the best player in the finale and he did not hide his contempt for money, either. His main hunting field is the WSOPC series and his best result is a runner-up finish in last year’s Horseshoe Chicago $1,675 NLHE Main Event for $239,063.

Seat 5: Amir Lehavot (Israel), stack: 29,700,000 (74 BBs)

Officially representing Israel, 38 years old Lehavot lives in Florida, USA. He has a degree in engineering, holds a WSOP title for his victory in the 2011 $10,000 PLO Championship ($573,456) and has collected three ITM finishes in this year’s World Series before the Main Event. After summer session of the World Series, he finished 16th in the Seminole Hard Rock Poker Open for $69,810. He is definitely one of the favourites to take down the tournament and he is also the senior of the field.

Seat 6: Marc McLaughlin (Canada), stack: 26,525,000 (66 BBs)

25-year-old McLaughlin lives in Montreal, Canada. Since his first appearance in the WSOP in 2009, he has been busy collecting in the money finishes, with one ITM in 2009, another in 2010, three in 2011 and yet another in 2012. While he has not yet collected a paying finish this year, making it to the November Nine should be more than enough compensation. In his “civil” life, he is a tattoo artist, even though he himself has no body paint. In October, he entered the WSOPE and marched right to the 16th finish in the NLHE Mixed Max event for $20,147. He spends his free time playing football and table tennis.

Seat 7: JC Tran (USA), stack: 38,000,000 (95 BBs)

US pro JC Tran is the chipleader of the 2013 WSOP Final Table and he is also the ultimate favourite to win the tournament. He has accumulated impressive results both online and live; he has two WSOP victories, he is a WPT champion and has scooped in the WPT Player of the Year title. Going online by the name of 'area23JC', he won the WCOOP 2006 Main Event, which makes him a candidate to be the first player ever to win both the WSOP and the WCOOP Main Events. Late summer, he scored big by finishing second in the WPT Alpha 8 Hollywood for $526,890.

Seat 8: David Benefield (USA), stack: 6,375,000 (16 BBs)

Benefield was born in Fort Worth, Texas and is currently residing in New York, studying political science. He used to be a respected online high stakes cash game player, going by the screen name ‘Raptor’, but recently he has been focusing on his studies instead. He has been participating in live tournaments since 2007 and he has booked some impressive results lately, finishing 5th in the EPT Barcelona Super High Roller for $278,439 and 7th in the EPT London Super Hroller for $226,348. He likes reading and is a die-hard basketball fan.

Seat 9: Jay Farber (USA), stack: 25,975,000 (65 BBs)

Farber comes from Pennsylvania, USA. The 28 years old nightclub owner had had no recorded live tournament result prior to the WSOP Main Event but did finish 34th in the WSOPE Main Event for $27,371. His favourite occupations are sports and driving, his weakness are beautiful rides.

Prizes for the final nine finishes are as follows:

1st: $8,359,531
2nd: $5,173,170
3rd: $3,727,023
4th: $2,791,983
5th: $2,106,526
6th: $1,600,792
7th: $1,225,224
8th: $944,593
9th: $733,224