The action in the WSOP is ready to start up again November 7th and the poker world is abuzz with speculation about who will win it this year. Will it be the legendary Phil Ivey who, in spite of his sorry excuse for a chip stack, will perform a poker miracle and rise to the very top? Or will it be Darvin Moon who, at this stage of the game, has already amassed a record breaking 58,930,000 in chips? Or will it be someone else entirely? Either way, the atmosphere for the WSOP Main Event will certainly be sizzling once the contestants sit down at the final table.
Who are the Top Players?
The roster of players who will come together for the final table of the WSOP Main Event 2009 is no doubt star-studded. But it is Phil Ivey’s presence that makes things so interesting and – need I say – intriguing. After all the drama behind that fateful 8 of spades, all eyes are on Phil who is on the 7th place with a chip stack of 9,770,000. But though his chip stack is far from impressive, there are two others who are still below him. There’s Antoine Saout following closely with a chip stack of 9,500,000. And then there’s James Akenhead who is just barely hanging on with 6,800,000.
At sixth place is Kevin Schaffel with 12,390,000 in chips and in fifth place is Joe Cada with 13,220,000. Jeff Shulman is fairly comfortable in his fourth place seat with a chip stack of 19,580,000. But even that is nothing compared to the very impressive chip stacks of the big three. Steven Begleiter, in third place, has a stack of 29,890,000 while Eric Buchman has 34,800,000. Their chip stacks, though, fade in comparison to Darvin Moon’s 58,930,000 – a record breaking value, the highest ever chip stack recorded for the WSOP.
Where’s the Action at?
This match will certainly go down in poker history. It’s the classic case of amateur with the advantage vs. pro with a handicap. Darvin Moon, despite his massive chip lead, is a self-confessed amateur. He says that he’s mostly riding on luck. However, amateur or no, he’ll certainly be hard to topple with that chip stack of his. Even if he makes the biggest mistakes, he will still have lots of room with which to move. Phil Ivey, on the other hand, has been having a not-so-great run in the tournament. Lady luck just seemed to have abandoned him on that fateful day of the eight of spades. But his sheer amount of skill probably can compensate for the lack of luck. He is, after all, Phil Ivey. Jeff Shulman and Eric Buchman aren’t to be underestimated either. These guys have it all – chips and talent. Both pros can comfortably ride it to the top if they can just manage to stay away from those huge pitfalls. But if there’s anything one can really say about poker, it’s that the ball can land in anyone’s court in any part of the game with the right cards and the right moves. And right now, who the victor will be is anyone’s guess.
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