2014 WSOP ME Final Table Gets Underway In Las Vegas

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Tuesday, November 11th, 2014 | Written by Stephen Smith

The 2014 World Series of Poker Main Event has been on a four month break since July 14th when the final table was reached. Now the waiting is over for the nine remaining players and today they return to the Rio All-Suite Hotel & Casino in Las Vegas hoping to claim the $10 million top prize, and secure a coveted WSOP gold bracelet.

On Monday, November 10th the WSOP Final Table is scheduled to get underway at 8 p.m. (ET) in the Penn & Teller Theater, before on Tuesday, November 11th, starting at 9 p.m. (ET) the final three competitors play down to an eventual winner. While each player is currently guaranteed at least $730,725 for their efforts, all eyes will be fixed on securing a spot for themselves in poker tournament history’s record books.

The Road To The Final

When the 2014 WSOP Main Event got started in July, a total of 6,683 players had put up $10,000 a piece to create a prize pool worth $62,820,200. In order to reach the Main Event’s final table, each of the remaining finalists then had to endure seven days of intense action playing for more than 10 hours each day, but now the November Nine will be playing for a cut of the remaining $28,480,121 prize pool.

A Truly International Affair

Unlike previous years, this year’s WSOP Main Event has a distinctive international flavour with just three of the November Nine hailing from the USA. The other players are mostly from Europe, while the remaining finalists is from Brazil. When the Main Event first started each player started of with 30,000 in tournament chips, but when play resumes later today the blinds will be at 200k/400k with a 50k ante.

Here is how the players will line-up in order of chip count:

1. Jorryt van Hoof (Holland) 38.375m
2. Felix Stephensen (Norway) 32.775m
3. Mark Newhouse (USA)        26.000m
4. Andoni Larrabe (Spain)     22.550m
5. Dan Sindelar (USA)         21.200m
6. W. Pappaconstantinou (USA) 17.500m
7. William Tonking (USA)      15.050m
8. Martin Jacobson (Sweden)   14.900m
9. Bruno Politano (Brazil)   12.125m

While this years WSOP Main Event may not have the big name draws seen in previous years, it is noticeable for having a 5-times US world foosball champion in the guise of William Pappaconstantinou. In addition, Bruno Politano is the first Brazilian player to appear at a WSOP main event final table, while Mark Newhouse, a 29-year-old pro from Las Vegas, has accomplished the incredible feat of making back to back WSOP Main Event final table, after finishing in 9th place last year for $733,224.

Meet The November Nine

Jorryt van Hoof, aka “TheCleaner11” is a 31 year-old Dutch cash-game specialist who has been earning a living from the game since 2003, while Norweigan Felix “FallAtyourFeet” Stephensen, too, is a 23 year-old online cash games specialist.

Mark Newhouse is originally from North Carolina, and whilst primarily a cash game pro, the 29 year-old also has an enviable live tournament record with $2,776,172 in winnings, not including the $730,725 he has already locked up for making the final table. By making back-to-back WSOP Main Event final tables, Newhouse now finds himself in an exclusive club which includes Dan Harrington, Johnny Chan, Doyle Brunson, and Stu Ungar.

Spain’s Andoni Larrabe, 22, is the first Spaniard to make the Main Event final table since Carlos Mortensen won the tournament in 2001. Originally an online pro, Larrabe now mostly plays on the live circuit, and commenting on his remarkable accomplishment, this year’s youngest finalist said:

“I feel pretty excited. It’s a sensation between confusion, because I think I don’t realize what I have just done, and excitement and happiness. It’s a lot of sensation all at the same time.”

US pro Dan Sindelar, 30, plays mostly live cash games, although he has still $335,962 in live tournament winnings to his name, while fellow US player Will Tonking, 27, is a New Jersey online cash game specialist, who recently made the headline after winning $50,000 on WSOP.com. Rounding off this year’s US contingent is William “Billy Pappas” Pappaconstantinou, 29, the son of a professional golfer, but also a world foosball champion in his own right. This year was the first time Pappas ever played in the WSOP Main Event, and commenting on reaching the final table, said:

“I’m in shock. I never thought I’d play in this event. It’s been my dream, and I’ve been saying ‘this year’ or ‘next year’ for like 10 years, just to play in an event, period. Now I get to play this, and I’ve never expected this at all.”

Finally, Sweden’s Martin Jacobson, 27, is a tournament pro with $4,807,316 in tournament winnings not including the money he’ll receive from his deep run in the main event, while Brazil’s Bruno Politano, 31, is good friends with Brazillian pros Andre Akkari, Maria Mayrinck, and Thiago Decano, and is likely to enjoy the most vocal rail at the 2014 ME final table.

“I’m very excited. My dream has come true. My rail is very, very important to me. Without this, I wouldn’t be there. For me, it’s everything. It gives me support in that moment. I promise more than 200 people [in November].”

Final Table Payouts

The 2014 WSOP Main Event final table payouts are as follows:

1. $10,000,000
2. $5,145,968
3. $3,806,402
4. $2,848,833
5. $2,143,174
6. $1,622,080
7. $1,235,862
8. $947,077
9. $730,725