Event #62: $10,000 No-Limit Hold'em Main Event Dia 8 | 2013 World Series of Poker

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2013-11-04 15:24 UTC-7

Seat 7: JC Tran, USA, 38 Million

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Prior to his run at the 2013 World Series of Poker Main Event, JC Tran amassed roughly $8.3 million in live tournament winnings with cashes dating back as far as 2003. A first-place finish at this year’s final table could almost exactly double that number.

Tran is the odds on favorite heading into the final table as he holds the chip lead with 38 million (95 blinds), which is a whopping 8.3 million ahead of Amir Lehavot, who sits in the second chip position.

“I’m in a very, very good spot with the chip lead,” Tran commented to PokerNews. “But as far as chip count wise, everyone is pretty close besides a couple of the short stacks, and everyone can play. So I can’t count myself as a huge favorite or anything, I just feel like I need to go out there and respect these guys and play some real, real serious poker and bring my best to have a shot of winning. “

Playing serious poker seems to be one of Tran’s strong suits, as he is clearly the most decorated player at the final table. Tran is a two-time WSOP bracelet winner, winning jewelry in both 2008 in Event #49: $1,500 No-Limit Hold'em and 2009 in Event #30: $2,500 Pot-Limit Omaha. Bracelets aren't the only piece of WSOP-related jewelry that he owns, though, as Tran also won a WSOP Circuit ring at the Rio Las Vegas Poker Festival back in 2005.

While Tran has scored much success at the WSOP, an even greater sum of his lifetime winnings come from his exploits on the World Poker Tour. Tran won his first WPT title at the World Poker Challenge in 2007. He also has two second-place finishes on his résumé, one of which accounts for $1.17 million of his lifetime tournament winnings.

In the time since the Main Event went on hiatus in July, Tran continued to make his dominating presence known in the poker world. In late August, Tran was one of the 21 entries into the inaugural WPT Alpha8 Florida, which is a $100,000 buy-in tournament that plays eight-handed. Tran battled through a stacked field of his peers and fell just short of adding another trophy to his name. Despite finishing runner-up to Steven Silverman, Tran was still able to pocket $526,890 for a very sound return on investment.

Other than his big splash at Alpha8, Tran spent a solid majority of his time after the summer with his family. Tran, the youngest of eight children in his own family, emphasized to PokerNews the importance of family in his life.

“The next few months for me is going to be all, all family time,” Tran said. “I want to go home. I want to be a father. I want to be a husband and just enjoy life and relax."

Despite his calm and relaxed demeanor toward the final table, Tran is a true competitor and desires nothing more than to win. He will approach the final table searching to solidify his position as one of the most successful tournament poker players in history.

“Everything that I’ve accomplished in the past decade for my poker career can have a nice exclamation mark right at the end of it with a win here. “

Tags: JC Tran

2013-11-04 15:22 UTC-7

Seat 6: Marc-Etienne McLaughlin, Canada, 26.525 Million

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Marc-Etienne McLaughlin arrives at the final table of the 2013 World Series of Poker Main Event third in chips with 26.525 million (66 big blinds) and hoping to carry even further his third deep WSOP Main Event run in the last five years. The 25-year-old finished 30th in the Main Event in 2009 for $253,941, then made it to 86th in 2011 for a $76,146 cash. His largest career tournament score also came at the 2011 WSOP when he earned $292,634 for finishing third in a $1,500 no-limit hold’em event.

McLaughlin's road to the final table began modestly after ending Day 1 with an average stack. But a surge on Day 3 carried him just outside the top 50 with 666 players left, then by the end of Day 5 he had catapulted close to the top of the counts to sit in second position with almost 7 million. A huge hand that day saw McLaughlin grab the lead for a time after using the to best the of Patrick Renkers to win a 5 million-plus chip pot and knock out Renkers in 114th.

After slipping back to below average on Day 6, Day 7 then saw McLaughlin climb up the chip count page once again, along the way claiming significant chips from Sergio Castelluccio (who finished 14th) and one-time chip leader Chris Lindh (who took 16th). A big hand that day saw McLaughlin earn a chunk of Lindh's stack after flopping trip fours with the , a hand on which we later learned from ESPN's broadcast Lindh was holding the .

Hailing from Brossard in Quebec, Canada, McLaughlin hopes to follow the path taken by his friend and fellow Québécois Jonathan Duhamel, winner of the 2010 WSOP Main Event. McLaughlin was on hand at the Penn & Teller Theater then to rail Duhamel, and Duhamel will be returning the favor this time around.

As McLaughlin explained to PokerNews’ Rich Ryan while at the WSOP Europe a couple of weeks ago, Duhamel has offered some general advice to him regarding the long build-up to the November Nine.

“He told me to ‘just enjoy the ride,’” explained McLaughlin. “‘It’s a once-in-a-lifetime experience. You know what you'’e doing.’ It’s good advice.”

McLaughlin's girlfriend, Laurence Grondin, will also be in attendance to support him. She, too, has experienced WSOP success with several cashes including a third-place finish in a $2,000 no-limit hold’em event in 2009. She, Duhamel, and McLaughlin’s other friends will likely together fashion a fun rail for him, as he’s decided to host a costume contest in which the best-dressed among them will be winning a prize.

While McLaughlin has been playing poker for six years, he also considers himself an entrepreneur with business ventures in real estate and the stock market. He lists soccer and ping pong among other interests, as well as designing tattoos for others. That latter pursuit some find curious, as McLaughlin himself sports no tattoos.

“Maybe it’s weird that I don’t want any ink on me, but I want to put it on other people” he told Ryan with a laugh.

When asked, McLaughlin wouldn’t say whether or not he’d be getting a tattoo should he win the Main Event. In any case, McLaughlin definitely hopes to make an indelible mark on WSOP history by becoming the second French Canadian in four years to take the title.

The 2013 WSOP Main Event final table will take place starting Monday, Nov. 4 at 5 p.m. Las Vegas time, and you can follow all of the live, hand-for-hand coverage right here on PokerNews.com.

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Tags: Marc-Etienne McLaughlin

2013-11-04 15:21 UTC-7

Seat 5: Amir Lehavot, Israel, 29.7 Million

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Amir Lehavot enters the 2013 World Series of Poker Main Event final table second in chips with 29.7 million, leaving him trailing only J.C. Tran when the November Nine convenes on Monday, Nov. 4.

In a game filled with brash and confident twenty-somethings, Lehavot will bring a well-mannered and humble persona to the big stage at the Penn and Teller Theater. At 38 years old, Lehavot is the elder statesman of this year's November Nine. He's married and a proud father of one child, and happily balances his home life with a career as a professional poker player in Florida.

When Lehavot does travel to poker tournaments, he makes the most of it. He has two WSOP final tables already under his belt, including a victory in the 2011 $10,000 Pot-Limit Hold’em Championship for $573,456 and his first WSOP gold bracelet.

Other highlights from Lehavot’s poker career include a fourth-place finish in the 2011 World Poker Tour L.A. Poker Classic $10,000 Championship Event for $421,680; first in a $1,900 No Limit Hold’em event at the Bay 101 Shooting Star for $140,500; 15th in the 2011 WSOP Europe Main Event for $57,442; and 226th in the 2009 WSOP Main Event for $32,963. Lehavot has also put in his dues online where he won more than $500,000 playing multi-table tournaments on PokerStars under the moniker "AmirSF."

With a long list of impressive accomplishments, it's no surprise to see Lehavot make a deep run in poker's best-structured event. Lehavot also holds an engineering degree from the University of Texas at Austin and brings a highly analytical approach to the game.

It's his high-level thinking and focus that allowed him to ignore the glitz and glamour of the Main Event and simply play poker.

"My friends were telling me [on Day 7], 'come on smile a little, you're doing so good.' I was always so serious," Lehavot told PokerNews' Sarah Grant.

"I think I'm very good at staying focused and just playing the game. My mind was just focused on how many big blinds I have and the stacks and tendencies of my opponents. I really just stay focused on that. I wasn't thinking about how far I make it."

Lehavot made his big push during a single level on Day 7 when he increased his stack from 1.7 to 17 million. His rush began when he turned quads and doubled through James Alexander before finishing off Alexander a short time later. Lehavot then eliminated Sergio Castelluccio in 14th place to chip up to over 30 million. He coasted the rest of Day 7 to finish among the leaders of the November Nine.

Reaching poker's most prestigious final table was a historic milestone in itself for Lehavot. He became the first Israeli citizen to make it to the November Nine, and told the WSOP's Nolan Dalla that he took a lot of pride in that accomplishment.

"I was born near Tel Aviv, but I have dual citizenship, both Israel and the U.S.," he said.

For more on Lehavot, be sure to watch the interview he did with PokerNews in July:

The 2013 WSOP Main Event final table will take place starting Monday, Nov. 4 at 5 p.m. Las Vegas time, and you can follow all of the live, hand-for-hand coverage right here at PokerNews.com.

Get all the latest PokerNews updates on your social media outlets. Follow us on Twitter and find us on both Facebook and Google+!

Tags: Amir Lehavot

2013-11-04 15:18 UTC-7

Seat 4: Ryan Riess, USA, 25.875 Million

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Twenty-three-year-old Las Vegas resident Ryan Riess starts the 2013 World Series of Poker Main Event final table armed with 25,875,000 in chips, enough to place him fifth, but that only tells half of the story because there are less than 4,000,000 chips separating Riess and the three players above him. One big pot early into proceedings and Riess will find himself up there with the chip leaders.

Riess burst onto the live poker scene in October 2012 when he finished second to Joshua Williams in the $1,675 buy-in WSOP Circuit Main Event at the Horseshoe Hammond. That result netted the Michigan State University graduate — Riess has a degree in business — a massive payout of $239,063 and gave Riess a bankroll with which to grind the WSOP Circuit events.

Three cashes at the WSOP Circuit in Los Angeles, all in the first week of 2013, boosted Riess’ confidence and bankroll further so it was not surprising at all to see him cash an additional five times during January 2013, all at various events in L.A. The largest of those cashes came in at $7,650, Riess’ reward for finishing fifth in a $340 buy-in event at the 2013 L.A. Poker Classic.

In the run up to the 2013 WSOP, Riess cashed eight more times and entered the Series full of confidence, although his quiet and unimposing demeanor does not often reflect the confident and fearless young man that Riess is.

A deep run in the $1,500 Millionaire Maker ($110th- $7,278) was followed by an 11th-place finish in a $1,000 event ($20,015) and a 139th-place finish in a $1,500 buy-in tournament ($3,276). Then, Riess decided to take a shot at his biggest buy-in tournament, the $10,000 WSOP Main Event, and what a decision that turned out to be.

Riess chose Day 1a to start his Main Event quest, a day that saw him turn his 30,000 starting stack into a healthy 72,250. Day 2a was not as kind to Riess as his previous outing, although he did bag up more chips than he started with — 73,400 was his end-of-day total. The subsequent days saw Riess get back on track and start to build his stack, with Day 7 being his best day in the Main Event as it saw him turn a relatively short stack into one more than seven times its size.

Since the WSOP Main Event final table went on its hiatus, Riess seems to have also taken a break. He has only cashed once since the WSOP Main Event, a 68th-place finish in the World Poker Tour Borgata Poker Open for $8,828.

When the WSOP Main Event resumes, Riess has to contend with having one of the worse seats at the final table. To Riess’ left are three big stacks who are likely to play back at any move Riess makes, while on his right are three shorter-stacked players who will be looking to move their stacks into the middle in an attempt to claw their way back into contention. The seat draw may not be favorable to Riess, but he will be well supported on the rail by the likes of fellow WSOP Circuit grinder and WSOP bracelet winner Loni Harwood.

The 2013 WSOP Main Event final table will take place starting Monday, Nov. 4 at 5 p.m. Las Vegas time, and you can follow all of the live, hand-for-hand coverage right here on PokerNews.com.

Get all the latest PokerNews updates on your social media outlets. Follow us on Twitter and find us on both Facebook and Google+!

Tags: Ryan Riess

2013-11-04 15:17 UTC-7

Seat 3: Mark Newhouse, USA, 7.35 Million

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Mark Newhouse from Chapel Hill, NC will begin the 2013 World Series of Poker Main Event final table with 7.35 million in chips. The 28-year-old poker pro, who now resides in Los Angeles, CA, has been playing in the WSOP Main Event every year since 2006, but prior to this year had only cashed once in the tournament — 182nd in 2011 for $47,107. Newhouse has six total WSOP cashes for $152,725, which means the minimum of $733,224 he’s guaranteed as a part of this year’s November Nine will swell those earnings greatly.

Most notably, Newhouse earned over $1.5 million when he won the World Poker Tour Borgata Poker Open in September 2009, but admitted that he wasn't the smartest person with his money following the big win, as you can see from what he told PokerNews' Where Are They Now? from last year.

"I made a lot of very poor decisions over the next couple of years," Newhouse said. “Right now I am a totally different person than I was then, and I am on the right track. I'm sort of in a rebuilding mode. I have made nearly every mistake you can make in this business and learned from all of them. I am doing my best to do the right things these days and things are going pretty well for me now. The road to rebuilding is a much longer and slower one than the road of destruction, but with a healthy lifestyle, a hard work ethic, a little discipline, and the experience of past mistakes my goals don't seem all that far away.”

As the second shortest stack to begin, Newhouse will have some early work to do if he wants to move up the leader board and eventually the payout scale. On his direct left are four of the five largest stacks in the field, so Newhouse could very well have a tough time picking up chips. If Newhouse's play on Day 7 is any sign, Newhouse as ability to maneuver the short stack very well and not panic. Whether or not that will all change come Monday evening under the bright lights and cameras is left to be determined, but one would assume that Newhouse's experience will give him an advantage.

With swagger and experience, Newhouse could very well rub some of the audience the wrong way, while others will love to see him come from behind top run his stack up and get right back into the mix of things. If Newhouse is able to go with the "back against the wall" attitude as he works to correct the mistakes he made in the past, it could definitely be the motivating factor that pushes him on to victory.

The 2013 WSOP Main Event final table will take place starting Monday, Nov. 4 at 5 p.m. Las Vegas time, and you can follow all of the live, hand-for-hand coverage right here at PokerNews.com.

Get all the latest PokerNews updates on your social media outlets. Follow us on Twitter and find us on both Facebook and Google+!

Tags: Mark Newhouse

2013-11-04 15:16 UTC-7

Seat 2: Michiel Brummelhuis, The Netherlands, 11.275 Million

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Michiel Brummelhuis, 32, enters the final table of the 2013 World Series of Poker Main Event seventh in chips with 11.275 million. Brummelhuis, the father of a newborn boy, is the first Dutch player to reach final table of the Main Event — Marcel Luske finished 10th in the 2004 Main Event.

Although Brummelhuis will begin the final table in the bottom half of the counts, his spot isn’t too bad. Mark Newhouse, who is eighth in chips, is to his immediate left and shouldn’t pose too much of a threat due to his stack size. Likewise, Ryan Riess and Amir Lehavot are the next two players to his left. While they both have big stacks, they played fairly snug heading into the November Nine. If they come in with the same mentality, Brummelhuis should have some opportunities to swipe the blinds and antes.

Brummelhuis told ESPN that putting in volume online at a young age in the Netherlands was difficult, because his parents didn't have Internet.

"Back then, we did not have Internet at home," he said. "There were a lot of Internet cafes. So I sat down there, installed the program and started playing. The first day, I got aces three times and won some money. I just fell in love with the game right away."

With a minimum cash in the Main Event, the largest score of his career, Brunmelhuis has over $1.4 million in career tournament earnings. The Dutchman's previous largest score came in 2010, when he finished fourth in the $25,000 High Roller at the PokerStars Caribbean Adventure for $154,350.

During the four-month break, Brummelhuis traveled to the European Poker Tour London and the WSOP Europe, but was unable to record a cash at either event. The 32-year-old was able to enjoy the birth of his son Thijmen in September, however.

"I definitely feel different now," he told ESPN. "The responsibility and love you feel for such a special new person in your life is really great. It gives me extra motivation to provide for the future and make as much money possible. You don't want to gamble with your bankroll anymore like I used to because there are more people depending on me than just me."

It’s going to be hard not to cheer for Brummelhuis at the final table. Combining the likable idea of becoming a new father with his laid-back and humble demeanor, Brummelhuis will surely be one of the more adoring personalities at the final table. If he manages to win, Brummelhuis will become the fourth-ever bracelet winner from the Netherlands and secure his family’s financial future in the process.

The 2013 WSOP Main Event final table will take place starting Monday, Nov. 4 at 5 p.m. Las Vegas time, and you can follow all of the live, hand-for-hand coverage right here at PokerNews.com.

Get all the latest PokerNews updates on your social media outlets. Follow us on Twitter and find us on both Facebook and Google+!

Tags: Michiel Brummelhuis

2013-11-04 15:15 UTC-7

Seat 1: Sylvain Loosli, France, 19.6 Million

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Sylvain Loosli, 26, enters the final table of the 2013 World Series of Poker Main Event sixth in chips with 19.6 million (49 big blinds). A French online cash-game player, Loosli rarely plays in live tournaments, and prior to the Main Event he only had one cash for $3,198, which came in a side event at Season 8 European Poker Tour Deauville. On the virtual felt, he has more than $1 million in lifetime earnings and is a regular at the $25/$50 limits.

Loosli, who can be found on Twitter at @SylvainLoosli has a Masters in Business and resides in London due to online gambling restrictions in France. His roommate is fellow countryman Bertrand “ElkY” Grospellier, who leads the French all-time money list on Hendon Mob with over $10.6 million in earnings.

In an interview with ESPN’s Bernard Lee, Loosli admits that the success of French players in the Main Event piqued his interest in the tournament.

“Obviously, when you see Antoine [Saout] getting such a tremendous result, you think you can do it myself,” Loosli told ESPN. “It was magic to see him achieve such a great result... Last year, I was sweating Gaelle Baumann. Unfortunately she finished 10th, but it feels really great to be at the final table. For me, for my friends, for France, for French poker. It’s great.”

Saout finished third in the 2009 Main Event, earning $3,479,670. During the four-month break Loosli joined forces with Baumann, signing with Team Winamax. In September, he traveled to the Winamax Poker Open in Dublin, Ireland, where he finished runner-up in the six-handed, €550 buy-in main event for €60,000.

Loosli also traveled to Enghien-les-Bains for the 2013 World Series of Poker Europe, but failed to cash in any of the seven open bracelet events.

Prior to the Main Event, Loosli played in a few $1,500 and $5,000 buy-in bracelet events, but never got anything going. On Day 1 of the Main Event, it appeared to be more of the same for the Frenchman, who fell to 15,000 chips, but he was able to rally back and bag 46,000. From there, his stack continued to grow, and at the end of Day 6, he cracked Danard Petit’s pocket aces in a massive, 14-million chip pot.

With the blinds at 50,000/100,000/10,000, Marc McLaughlin raised to 200,000 in early position, Petit three-bet to 425,000 out of the small blind, and Loosli cold four-bet to 975,000 from the big blind. Petit was the only caller, and he checked on a flop of . Loosli continued for 950,000, Petit check-raised to two million, and Loosli called. The turn brought the , Petit checked again, and Loosli moved all in for 4.045 million. Petit called with the , which was well ahead of Loosli’s . The spiked on the river, however, and Loosli shipped the pot with a miracle straight.

During Day 7, Loosli climbed into the chip lead for a short while, but American pro JC Tran shot past him and the rest of the November Niners. Loosli says that Tran and Ryan Riess were his toughest competition during Day 7, and luckily for him he has position on Tran at the table. Riess, however, is three spots to the Frenchman’s right.

The 2013 WSOP Main Event final table will take place starting Monday, Nov. 4 at 5 p.m. Las Vegas time, and you can follow all of the live, hand-for-hand coverage right here on PokerNews.com.

Get all the latest PokerNews updates on your social media outlets. Follow us on Twitter and find us on both Facebook and Google+!

Tags: Sylvain Loosli

2013-11-04 14:14 UTC-7

The Wait is Over

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Finally, the time has come. After 111 long days of anticipation, sleepless nights, and visions of glory, the 2013 November Nine has returned to the Rio All-Suite Hotel & Casino for the final table of the World Series of Poker Main Event.

The remaining nine players, led by American professional JC Tran (38 million) are all guaranteed a minimum of $733,224, while the winner will walk away with $8,361,570, the gold bracelet, and a place in poker history. Joining Tran at the table, in order of chip counts, are Israeli Amir Lehavot (29.7 million), Canadian Marc-Etienne McLaughlin (26.525 million), American Jay Farber (25.975 million), American Ryan Riess (25.875 million), Frenchman Sylvain Loosli (19.6 million), Dutchman Michiel Brummelhuis (11.275 million), American Mark Newhouse (7.35 million), and American David Benefield (6.375 million).

Despite entering the final table with the shortest stack, Benefield, known by many as “Raptor” because of his online handles, certainly has momentum. Since 2001 Main Event champion Carlos Mortensen was eliminated in 10th place and the November Nine was set, Benefield has cashed in five events and reached three final tables. He finished fifth in the EPT Barcelona €50,000 Super High Roller for $278,439, eighth in the EPT Barcelona €10,000 High Roller for $64,008, and seventh in the EPT London £50,000 Super High Roller for $226,348. Benefield also has a bit of history on his side – since the inception of the November Nine, only one short stack entering the final table of the Main Event has finished in ninth place. In 2009, James Akenhead was the first to bust, earning $1,263,602.

The past two years, Jeremy Ausmus (2012) and Phil Collins (2011) both laddered from last in chips to fifth place, earning $2,155,313 and $2,269,599 respectively.

There are three fathers at the final table, Tran, Lehavot, and Brummelhuis. Brummelhuis, who is the first Dutch player to ever reach a Main Event final table (Marcel Luske finished 10th in 2004), welcomed his newborn son Thijmen to the world on Sept. 13. He told ESPN during the break that the birth of his son made him “definitely feel different,” and that it gives him “extra motivation to provide for the future and make as much money as possible.”

Tran and Lehavot are the only two previous bracelet winners at the final table, and Lehavot also referenced his own fatherhood when he announced on the popular poker forum TwoPlusTwo that he was selling shares of himself at ICM value. He told PokerNews that he always thought he would sell pieces if he made the final table, and that his investors were getting a good value.

“I think my accomplishments speak for themselves,” said Lehavot, who won his bracelet in 2011. "I'm an experienced, accomplished MTT player and believe I have an edge over the table."

If Tran is able to win the event, he would only be the second chip leader to do so during the November Nine era – Jonathan Duhamel entered the 2010 WSOP Main Event final table as the chip leader, and exited with the glory, bracelet, and over $8.9 million.

Like Duhamel, McLaughlin will look to bring poker’s most prized trophy back up north to Canada. McLaughlin, who runs several small businesses and draws tattoos for fun, nearly captured gold in 2011 when he finished third in a $1,500 bracelet event.

Loosli is the first French player to reach the WSOP Main Event final table since Antoine Saout finished third for $3,479,670 in 2009. Loosli is a high-stakes online cash grinder that lives with bracelet winner Bertrand “ElkY” Grospellier in London.

As for the three other Americans at the final table, Farber, Riess, and Newhouse, they are looking to make a big splash on their home turf. Farber admitted on the PokerNews Podcast that he isn’t a consummate pro, Newhouse said during the ESPN broadcast that this is all about money and not fame, while Riess, the youngest player at the table, may be the most confident one of the bunch.

“I’m gonna win it,” he told PokerNews in August. “That’s about it.”

Here's a look at the final table in seat order:

Seat	Player	Country	Chips	Odds to Win
1	Sylvain Loosli	France	19,600,000	6/1
2	Michiel Brummelhuis	Netherlands	11,275,000	6/1
3	Mark Newhouse	USA	7,350,000	14/1
4	Ryan Riess	USA	25,875,000	7/2
5	Amir Lehavot	Israel	29,700,000	3/1
6	Marc-Etienne McLaughlin	Canada	26,525,000	4/1
7	JC Tran	USA	38,000,000	9/5
8	David Benefield	USA	6,375,000	8/1
9	Jay Farber	USA	25,975,000	5/1

Odds are courtesy of the Rio Sports Book, and are accurate as of 11:00 a.m. PST

The final table will begin at 4:45 p.m. PST in the Penn & Teller Theatre. The action will be broadcast on ESPN 2 on a 15-minute delay with hole cards beginning at 8:00 p.m. EST.

Tags: Amir Lehavot Antoine Saout David Benefield Jay Farber JC Tran Marc McLaughlin Mark Newhouse Michiel Brummelhuis Ryan Riess Sylvain Loosli

Event #62: $10,000 No-Limit Hold'em Main Event

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