WSOP 2015 - Joe McKeehen leads the November Nine, Negreanu finishes in 11th place

27 players returned for Day 7 of the World Series of Poker Main Event, the goal for the day was to play down to the final table. Joe ''dude904'' McKeehen built a huge stack and Pierre Neuville and Max Steinberg also made the final table, while Daniel Negreanu barely missed it, finishing in 11th place.

The chipleader at the start of Day 7 was Thomas Kearney but Daniel Negreanu, Fedor ''CrownUpGuy'' Holz, Max Steinberg, Pierre Neuville and Justin ''Stealthmunk'' Schwartz were also in the hunt for the $7,680,021 first place prize.

The first elimination was James Magner, he was soon followed by Chad Power and 2014 WCOOP Main Event champion Fedor Holz. Holz was all-in preflop with A-9 against Matt Guan's 8-8 and he hit a nine on the flop, unfortunately for him Guan hit his gutshot straight on the river.

The next eliminations were Chris Brand, Blake Bohn, Anton Morgenstern, Mario Sequeira, John Allan Hinds and Erasmus Morfe, after this play continued on two tables.

Seat 1: Joshua Beckley - 8.375.000
Seat 2: David Peters - 4.985.000
Seat 3: Matt Guan - 20.310.000
Seat 4: Justin Schwartz - 12.070.000
Seat 5: Alexander Turyansky - 19.640.000
Seat 6: Joe McKeehen - 12.190.000
Seat 7: George McDonald - 3.770.000
Seat 8: Federico Butteroni - 8.600.000
Seat 9: Daniel Negreanu - 5.415.000

Seat 1: David Stefanski - 3.460.000
Seat 2: Neil Blumenfield - 8.455.000
Seat 3: Pierre Neuville - 26.025.000
Seat 4: Zvi Stern - 16.865.000
Seat 5: Kilian Kramer - 3.300.000
Seat 6: Thomas Kearney - 9.000.000
Seat 7: Thomas Cannuli - 6.750.000
Seat 8: Patrick Chan - 12.615.000
Seat 9: Max Steinberg - 11.965.000

The first elimination from the final two tables was Kilian Kramer, he raised then called all-in with roughly 20 big blinds and A-Q suited against Max Steinberg's A-K and failed to improve.

David Peters (not the EPT High Roller champ, but a player from California) finished in 17th place, he lost a coinflip with 7-7 against Daniel Negreanu's A-J, the Canadian pro hit an Ace on the river, increasing his stack to 13.4 million.

Dave Stefanski finished in 16th and was followed by Kearney, Justin Schwartz, Matt Guan and George McDonald.

During Level 34 (150,000/300,000-50,000 ante) Zvi Stern opened to 675,000 from the hijack, McDonald 3bet to 2.2 million from the cutoff and Stern shoved with 23.325 million. McDonald tought for a long time and eventually called all-in for 12.15 million.

Stern showed T-8 of spades while McDonald had Q-Q. The board ran out A-A-7-K-5 with three spades and Stern increased his stack to 36,275 million (121 big blinds).

On Level 35 (200,000/400,000-50,000 ante) McKeehen raised to 800,000 from the button and Daniel Negreanu defended his big blind. The flop came A-K-T with two diamonds and Negreanu check/raised all-in for 5.825 million after McKeehen bet 700,000. McKeehen called and showed J-3 of diamonds for a flushdraw and a gutshot while Daniel had A-4 for top pair.

The three of hearts on the turn gave McKeehen additional outs and a Queen on the river improved him to a straight and with that Negreanu was once again eliminated from the Main Event in 11th place (he came close to the final table in 2001, that score earned him $63,940).

Negreanu after the elimination

After Negreanu's elimination the remaining players continued on one table, but one player still had to be eliminated for the November Nine to be set and there was a huge money bubble in addition to the prestige of making the final table.

The 10th place finisher would take home $756,897 while the finalists would be guaranteed at least $1,001,020.

Seat 1: Alex Turyansky - 6.250.000 (15 bb)
Seat 2: Zvi Stern - 29.900.000 (74 bb)
Seat 3: Pierre Neuville - 16.420.000 (41 bb)
Seat 4: Josh Beckley - 6.125.000 (15 bb)
Seat 5: Max Steinberg - 19.050.000 (47 bb)
Seat 6: Thomas Cannuli - 14.150.000 (35 bb)
Seat 7: Joe McKeehen - 60.425.000 (151 bb)
Seat 8: Patrick Chan - 8.525.000 (21 bb)
Seat 9: Federico Butteroni - 8.500.000 (21 bb)
Seat 10: Neil Blumenfield - 23.300.000 (58 bb)

10-handed play lasted only 22 hands, in the last hand Alex Turyansky raised to 850,000 from middle position, McKeehen 3bet to 2.05 million from the big blind, Turyansky shoved for 8.8 million and McKeehen called.

McKeehen: Q-Q
Turyansky: A-K

Turyansky needed to improve to stay alive, but the 7-6-5-8-J board didn't help him, he finished as the Main Event final table bubble boy.

McKeehen celebrating, Turyansky devastated

Joe ''dude904'' McKeehen will start the finale with a huge chip lead, he has more than 63 million chips (160 big blinds) but Belgian poker legend Pierre Neuville and WSOP bracelet winner Max Steinberg will also return in November to play for the $7,680,021 first place prize.

2015 November Nine