WSOP Update: Ivey Is One of the November Nine

The final table of the World Series of Poker main event has often lacked star power in recent years as amateurs have crowded the fields and outnumber the big names pros.

Not this year.

Phil Ivey because one of the “November Nine,” surviving Day 8 of the ME to become one of the players who will return in November to play for the biggest prize in poker.

Ivey came into the day in fourth place out of the remaining 27 players, but he found himself near the bottom of the chip counts after a rough start. But he persevered and will enter the final table in eighth place.

Here are the counts:
Darvin Moon - 58,930,000
James Akenhead - 6,800,000
Phil Ivey - 9,765,000
Kevin Schaffel - 12,390,000
Steven Begleiter - 29,885,000
Eric Buchman - 34,800,000
Joe Cada - 13,215,000
Antoine Saout - 9,500,000
Jeff Shulman - 19,580,000

Moon was the chip leader at the end of the day for the third straight day, although he dipped down the counts in the middle of the day. He was responsible for the bust of the 10th place player, taking out Jordan Smith with he flopped a set of 8s against Smith’s pocket aces.

Shulman made his second ME final table — he finished seventh in 2000.

Amazingly, play ended at 11 p.m. after starting at noon, despite the fact that most of the players were deep-stacked and levels were two hours long.

Antonio Esfandiari busted in 24th, winning about $350K for his finish.

The final table will start on Nov. 7 through Nov. 10. Check back at PTP then for coverage!