Following a week and a half of 12-hour days of poker play while battling through a field of 6,420 entrants, the 2015 WSOP Main Event November Nine has emerged. Each remaining player is guaranteed a payday of $1 million, which has already been paid out. This year’s eventual Main Event champion will take home $7,680,021.
When play resumes at the Rio All Suites Hotel & Casino in November, the blinds will be 200k/400k with a 50,000 ante. Six of the remaining nine players are from the United States. The other three countries with players still in the Main Event are Israel, Belgium, and Italy. Here is a quick look at each 2015 WSOP Main Event November Nine player.
Joseph McKeehen – 63.1m chips – Pennsylvania USA – (Seat #6)
The North Wales, PA native has over 30 percent of all the chips in play. He is a well-known professional poker player even at 24 years of age, and already has valuable WSOP final table experience. In 2014, McKeehen finished second in the Monster Stack event for $820,863. His goes by the name “dude904” online, and has amassed more than $1 million in career online tournament cashes.
McKeehen will likely be looking to put the pressure on early once play resumes in November. The two shortest chip stacks are seated to his immediate left.
Zvi Stern – 29.8m chips – Israel – (Seat #1)
A native of Israel, Stern is second in chips despite having less than half the stack of the overall chip leader. Although he has only one previous WSOP cash, he can potentially be a major force in November since he’s just one double-up away from being within strking distance of the chip lead.
Neil Blumenfield – 22m chips – California USA – (Seat #9)
Any other year, Blumenfield — at 61 years of age — would be the oldest player to ever become a WSOP November Nine participant. That is not the case this year though, as he is more than 10 years the junior of the eldest player remaining. The San Francisco native has a total of two previous WSOP cashes.
Pierre Neuville – 21.075m chips – Belgium – (Seat #2)
Neuville is 72 years old, and will be a major focus of attention once play resumes in November. He is the oldest player and only Belgian to reach the WSOP November Nine since the format was implemented in 2008. Aside from weathering eight grueling days of actual live poker competition, he has managed to come in to the final table with a very respectable chip stack.
Max Steinberg – 20.2m chips – California USA – (Seat #4)
Steinberg is a serious poker and fantasy sports player who already owns a WSOP bracelet from his 2012 victory in the $1,000 buy-in NLHE event for $293,490. With this year’s Main Event final table appearance, he has nearly $3 million in career live poker tournament cashes.
Thomas Cannuli – 12.25m chips – New Jersey USA – (Seat #5)
Cannuli is the youngest player to reach the 2015 WSOP November Nine at 23 years of age. This is his third WSOP event cash in his young career. He will be seated to the immediate right of McKeehen and will be forced to play out of position against the current chip leader..
Joshua Beckley – 11.8m chips – New Jersey USA – (Seat #3)
Beckley of New Jersey has been busy this year, racking-up five cashes in WSOP events over the past month and a half. Beckley — who goes by the name “asdf26” online — has more than $20,000 in online cashes on licensed New Jersey sites.
Patrick Chan – 6.225m chips – New York USA – (Seat #7)
Besides having one of the lowest chip stacks among the November Nine, Chan will also have to contend with being seated to the immediate left of the current chip leader. The New York resident is 26 years old and will be looking to chip-up quickly to make a run at the Main Event bracelet.
Federico Butteroni – 6.2m chips – Italy – (Seat #8)
A 25-year old from italy, Butteroni will also be looking to make a move early when November Nine final table play commences in four months. He has two other WSOP event cashes this year, including a deep run in the 2015 Monster Stack tournament.
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The 2015 WSOP November Nine will continue play in November, with the action televised live on ESPN. Stay up to date on the latest poker tournament news at TournamentPokerEdge.com.
Image: ©Joe Giron