WSOPE Final Table Today

The WSOPE Main Event final table has been set and it looks like being one of the most exciting in years. Here’s the rundown on the nine players remaining;

Seat 1: Barry Shulman, USA, 1,090,000 chips

Barry Shulman is the publisher of an American poker magazine and the father of November Nine member Jeff Shulman. He already has a WSOP bracelet in Seven-card Stud Eight-or-Better won in 2001.

Seat 2: Jason Mercier, USA, 3,198,000 chips

Jason Mercier has been on an absolute tear throughout the tournament poker world in the last two years. He won the EPT San Remo in April 2008 for $1.3m, followed that up in October by winning the EPT London High Roller for £516,000 and then captured his first WSOP bracelet in the $1,500 PLO event this summer.

The laid back Floridian is now the monster chip leader in one of poker’s most prestigious tournaments. Mercier has to be considered the heavy favourite to win, a result that would place him right up there with the world’s greatest tournament players.

Seat 3: Praz Bansi, UK, 1,160,000

The first of two HitSquad members at the final table, Bansi has been among the chip leaders all week and comes to the final table with a wealth of experience and in great form. Praz is currently the runaway leader for UK player of the year and this result will surely cement that. In fact, the only player who can catch him is good friend James Akenhead – both of whom must be hoping for a historic heads-up showdown with the other.

Seat 4: Markus Ristola, Finland, 784,000

Finland’s Markus Ristola is the unknown quantity at the final table. Only 22, he is a student and part-time poker pro. Despite his young age, he already has over $100k worth of winnings to his name and will be sure to smash that figure now that he has made the WSOPE final table.

Seat 5: Chris Bjorin, Sweden, 518,000

Professional poker player and sports bettor Chris Bjorin is one of the game’s most respected and experienced players. The Swede has 51 WSOP cashes but has yet to win a bracelet. He currently lives in London.

Seat 6: James Akenhead, UK, 1,398,000

So much has been written about James Akenhead this year, it’s hard to know where to start. The HitSquad pro is a member of the November Nine, coming in as the short stack in a few month’s time. However, his result in reaching the final table here is arguably just as impressive. Placed 2nd in chips, if anyone can catch Jason Mercier it’s probably the fearless Akenhead.

Seat 7: Daniel Negreanu, Canada, 438,000

Team PokerStars Pro Daniel Negreanu is one of the world’s most famous players. Remarkably, he also final tabled this tournament last year, eventually finishing in 5th. Kid Poker enters the final table as the short stack with just over twenty big blinds and will have a hard task on his hands to better last year’s result.

Seat 8: Antoine Saout, France, 701,000

Antoine Saout is the second November Nine member to make the final table. Remarkably though, not much is known about the talented Frenchman. However, he is clearly a very capable player having made the final table of the world’s two most prestigious No Limit Hold’em tournaments. It will be interesting to see if Saout and Akenhead clash much ahead of their WSOP Vegas final table.

Seat 9: Matt Hawrilenko, USA, 674,000

Matt ‘Hoss_TBF’ Hawrilenko is generally acclaimed as the world’s leading online Limit Hold’em cash game player. He also has some impressive results in the No Limit variant however and won his first bracelet this summer in the $5,000 Six Handed No Limit Hold’em event.