WSOP Determines Final Nine for November Showdown

LAS VEGAS – After six intense rounds of poker action, the World Series of Poker 2008 Main Event is down to its nine remaining players last Tuesday morning. And everyone has to wait until November to find out who will take home the grand prize of US$9.12 million, not to mention, the bragging rights that come along with the cash.

At the end of a long and arduous 15-hour Day 7, it was Dennis Phillips, a commercial trucking company manager from St. Louis, who emerged chip leader with a total 26,295,000.

He will be joined at the WSOP Final Table on November 9 by a Russian, a couple of Canadians, a Dane, and four other fellow Americans when the 117-day break will be over and the competition for the top plum continues.

The final nine players and their respective chip counts are as follows:

Dennis Phillips, St. Louis, Missouri: 26,295,000
Ivan Demidov, Moscow, Russia: 24,400,000
Scott Montgomery, 26, Perth, Ontario, canada: 19,690,000
Peter Eastgate, 22, Odense, Denmark: 18,375,000
Ylon Schwartz, 38, Brooklyn, New York: 12,525,000
Darus Suharto, 39, Toronto, Canada: 12,520,000
David Rheem, 28, Los Angeles, California: 10,230,000
Craig Marquis, 23, Arlington, Texas: 10,210,000
Kelly Kim, 31, Whittier, California: 2,620,000

The final nine was decided at around 3:30am when eventual 10th placer, Dean Hamrick’s A-J didn’t hold up against Craig Marquis’ pocket Queens and he busted out of the tournament. Hamrick took home US$591,869 for the 10th place finish.