November Nine Day 1 | 2008 WSOP Main Event - The Final Table

11-09-2008 11:29 UTC-7

FinalTable Bios: Seat 6, David "Chino" Rheem (10,230,000)

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There's no question which of the November Nine has enjoyed the most tournament success to this point in his career. Ylon Schwartz may have the most previous WSOP cashes, but players keep score in poker using money. In just three years of tournament play, 28-year-old David "Chino" Rheem has won the most money -- over $700,000 in prize money. Included in that figure are two previous WSOP final tables. In 2006, Rheem finished second to Allen Cunningham in $1,000 No-Limit Hold'em (with rebuys), winning almost $328,000. Earlier this summer, Rheem came in fifth in Event 4, $5,000 Mixed Limit / No-Limit Hold'em, an event with a final table that was a roster of excellent poker players: Erick Lindgren, David Williams, Howard Lederer, Roland de Wolfe and Justin Bonomo.

Rheem first cut his poker chops in Florida at casinos like the Seminole Hollywood Casino, taking tips from then dealers Robert and Michael Mizrachi. A few years later he returned to the city of his birth, Los Angeles, to continue the advancement of his poker career in the crazy-action games of the Los Angeles card barns. He continues trying to advance it to this day, citing lessons learned about gambling responsibly and bankroll management.

Rheem's philosophy about tournament poker is never to surrender, no matter how short on chips he gets. As long as a player is still in it, he can still win it. His life experiences probably helped refine that philosophy. Eight years ago, a few brushes with the long arm of Florida law enforcement landed Rheem in jail for four months and on probation for 30 months after being convicted of dealing in stolen property, burglary, larceny and possession of marijuana.

Despite his criminal past, anyone who meets Rheem today comes away with nothing but good things to say about him. His manner, both at the poker table and away from it, belies a certain calmness, intelligence and respect for players and people around him. He is not the type to berate an opponent, although he has acknowledged that like most poker players, a beat can still put him on tilt. It is something that he is striving to improve.

With eighteen previous cashes in major poker tournaments, Rheem is used to pressure, although the WSOP Main Event final table will certainly be the biggest stage he's been on to this point of his life. Rheem said that he has been easily able to shrug off that pressure and the added pressure that comes from being the most recognizable face at the Main Event final table because he doesn't play poker for fame -- he plays it for money. More problematic for Rheem is that he will start play with 10,230,000 chips, well below par. He's not the type of player to try fold his way up the payout ladder. Look for him to try to make some very aggressive moves to chip up early.

Tags: David "Chino" Rheem

11-09-2008 11:28 UTC-7

Final Table Bios: Seat 5, Darus Suharto (12,520,000)

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Self-proclaimed amateur poker player Darus Suharto appears to be following in the footsteps of 2003 WSOP Main Event Champ Chris Moneymaker. Both Suharto and Moneymaker are accountants by trade and both earned entry into the big one via satellites on PokerStars. Strangely enough, when Suharto began playing poker in 2005, he had no idea who Moneymaker was:

“I've got to be honest with you… When I began playing in 2005, I didn't know anything about the WSOP. I didn't know anything about Moneymaker. I joined PokerStars, and saw this "WSOP.” I asked, "What is this WSOP?" So I researched the WSOP, and saw it was, like, the biggest tournament. I just tried to satellite and I won the seat, and people said stuff about this Chris Moneymaker. So I looked up this Chris Moneymaker, and I went "Oh my gosh, he turned $39 into $2.5 million."

The ‘seat’ Suharto refers to in the preceding snippet from a recent PokerNews interview was a buy-in to the 2006 WSOP Main Event in which he finished 448th place, scoring a $26,389 payday. No doubt a commendable accomplishment, though it pales in comparison to the $900,670 he’s already guaranteed to win in 2008. What’s more impressive is that Suharto earned his seat to this year’s Main Event via an $80 satellite on PokerStars and could potentially turn it into $9,152,416 – Chris who?

Whilst not playing poker, Suharto’s favorite hobby, the 39-year-old works as an accountant in Toronto, Canada. Suharto completed his undergraduate work at both York University and the University of Central Arkansas and then went on to earn an MBA from Indiana University. Were he to win the nine-million-dollar grand prize, Suharto said he would likely continue his career as an accountant, though he admits he’d upgrade his apartment in Vancouver. “Let's see what happens and I'll make up mind later on.”

This “quiet assassin” enters the final table sixth in chips with 12,520,000.

Tags: Darus Suharto

11-09-2008 11:28 UTC-7

Final Table Bios: Seat 4, Scott Montgomery (19,690,000)

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26-year old professional poker player Scott Montgomery is one of two Canadians at the final table, his fellow countryman and opponent being Toronto’s Darus Suharto. Hailing from Perth, Ontario, Montgomery attended college at the University of Waterloo—a school that has produced so many of poker’s top emerging players, including Mike “Timex” McDonald, Steve Paul-Ambrose, and WSOP bracelet winner Nenad Medic. Montgomery, though, attributes the Waterloo phenomenon to coincidence, confessing that he knows none of the aforementioned pros personally.

Montgomery made his first major tournament splash at the 2008 L.A. Poker Classic, where he finished 5th in the $10,000 buy-in Main Event for a $296,860 score. The money he earned from his win enabled him to continue playing the high buy-in tournament circuit and he relocated to Las Vegas for the duration of the 2008 World Series of Poker. Montgomery played in a number of events, notching a 29th place finish in the $1,500 No-Limit Hold’em event and 17th place in the $2,000 No-Limit Hold’em event. Immediately following his final table finish at the WSOP Main Event, he headed across the Strip to Bellagio, where he played in the Bellagio Cup, and finished 4th in the $3,000 No-Limit Hold’em event for $36,025. Montgomery has also traveled to Europe since making the November Nine, playing in both the EPT Barcelona and the WSOP-E in London.

Montgomery did not retain any coaching services prior to the Main Event final table. He has, however vowed publicly (just after eliminating Chris Klodnicki in 12th place) to get his winning hand tattooed on his body should he take the whole thing down. He goes into play today third in chips, with 19,690,000.

Tags: Scott Montgomery

11-09-2008 11:26 UTC-7

Final Table Bios: Seat 3, Ylon Schwartz (12,525,000)

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Thirty-eight-year-old Ylon Schwartz, like many poker players who have come before him, got his start in the world of competitive gaming away from the poker table. He is a highly ranked chess master from Brooklyn, NY who made a living for years by playing chess on the streets of New York City before moving on to ranked chess matches, backgammon and darts. Schwartz was drawn to those games after dropping out of the Borough of Manhattan Community College and feeling unfulfilled working a series of day jobs.

Schwartz has repeatedly drawn two parallels between chess and poker. The first is the memorization that's required to compete at a high level. In chess, players memorize openings, endgames, and sometimes entire playing histories of opponents, hoping to divine an opponent's plan five moves ahead of time so that an effective counter can be designed. In poker, obviously, memorizing how a player has previously acted, reacted or not acted in a particular situation can inform how to proceed in a future hand.

The second parallel between chess and poker is what Schwartz has called their "geometrical aspects". Schwartz believes that you have to think of a poker table like a pie, and then make bets and pot size properly to carve out an angle to a weak player. Similar principles are in play in chess, where taking control of board territory occupied by one's opponent can lead to victory.

Schwartz hasn't played much chess recently -- his last tournament was played in Zurich in 2005 -- but he still retains his passion for the game. Given his poker results, however, it wouldn't be surprising if Schwartz were in no rush to return to the world of competitive chess. He has cashed in eleven previous WSOP events since 2005, racking up almost $125,000 in prize money. His two previous best finishes were both 15th place finishes: in Event 22 at the 2005 WSOP ($1,500 No-Limit Hold'em) and in Event 20 at the 2008 WSOP ($2,000 Limit Hold'em). He also has one WPT cash to his credit along with a score of cashes since 2004 in smaller buy-in tournaments in Atlantic City.

Overall, Schwartz credits patience in abundant supply as a foundation of his success in poker. Sitting at a table for long hours and staying focused to make proper decisions isn't easy without patience, Schwartz has said. To help develop this aspect of his game, Schwartz practices Bikram yoga, also known as "hot yoga" (because it usually takes place in heated rooms), a style of yoga that is used primarily to develop the ability to control one's mind.

During Day 6 and Day 7, because of the value of making the final table, Schwartz felt grinding out small pots and shutting hands down on the flop when he knew he had them locked up made more sense than trying to extract maximum value for his hand. It's a strategy that allowed him to amass 12,525,000 chips coming into the final table. That puts him in fifth place, just slightly under the average stack of 15,207,222 but with a very playable 52 big blinds.

Tags: Ylon Schwartz

11-09-2008 11:24 UTC-7

Keeping the Crowd Entertained

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2007 World Series of Poker Main Event champion Jerry Yang just addressed the crowd with an enthusiastic "Hello, poker players!" Flanked by four Las Vegas showgirls in powder blue costumes, Yang thanked everyone in the audience for turning out today to support the nine players who made the final table.

It's organized chaos on the stage right now. Still photographers are wandering around, taking shots of the table and the players; close friends and family of the November Nine are taking their seats in the gallery around the table; print and online media members are furiously tapping out stories; and a phalanx of Harrah's employees are trying to keep things simultaneously under control and moving on towards the actual poker.

11-09-2008 11:24 UTC-7

Final Table Bios: Seat 2, Craig Marquis (10,210,000)

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23-year-old Craig Marquis seems to have figured out the formula for success: If you want to be a successful poker player, hang out with one… or in his case, a few. Over the summer, Marquis roomed with David Benefield and Joe Commisso – each of whom experienced tremendous WSOP success. Benefield cashed three times this summer, including a deep run in the Main Event (73rd place - $77,200). Commisso had just one cash but it was a whopper; Joe took down Event 46 – a $5,000 buy-in no limit hold’em tournament – earning over $900,000. Perhaps the least experienced of his poker crew, Marquis upstaged them all by reaching the Main Event final table.

Marquis only started playing poker a couple a years ago under the tutelage of Benefield. He plays predominantly online and started grinding it out at the $2/$4 tables. Before long he progressed to $200/$400 and has earned the respect of his online peers as a formidable opponent. Marquis said he prefers the speedy pace of online play over the sluggish grind of live play in which he admits he often becomes distracted. We have a feeling he’ll have little trouble maintaining focus today, however, with over nine million dollars on the line.

Marquis is currently enrolled at the University of Texas, Arlington where he studies finance. At 23, were Marquis to win, he would eclipse Phil Hellmuth’s mark as the youngest player ever to win the Main Event. Hellmuth was 24 years old when he won the title in 1989.

“Getting this far is like winning the lottery,” Marquis said. Never afraid to speak his mind, Marquis garnered some extra attention for his televised squabbles with Tiffany Michelle. When this now-infamous episode aired, the Marquis-Michelle beef found its way to the forums and has been a hot topic since. Suffice it to say we doubt Marquis will be calling the clock on anyone over the next two days.

Marquis enters the final table ranked eighth in chips with 10,210,000.

Tags: Craig Marquis

11-09-2008 11:22 UTC-7

Final Table Bios: Seat 1, Dennis Phillips (26,295,000)

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Often cast as this year’s “everyman” at the final table, 53-year old Dennis Phillips won his entry to the WSOP Main Event via a $200 satellite at the Harrah’s Casino in his hometown of St. Louis, Missouri. He grew up one state over, on a dairy farm in Quincy, IL and attended public high school, where he lettered in three sports. From there he went on to Blackburn College and graduated with a degree in Political Science and minors in both Economics and Mathematics. After running his own dairy farm, working as a travel agent and selling books for a publisher, Phillips took up the job he still holds today, as an account manager for Broadway Trucking in St. Louis.

Phillips’ St. Louis roots are strong— not only does he still plan on wearing his lucky Cardinals hat (adorned in signatures from dozens of poker pros) at the final table, he’s reserved a rumored 59 rooms at the Rio for his friends and family that are flying out to Las Vegas to watch him play. Since making the November Nine, he’s done a slew of local press in his hometown, the highlight of which came when he was invited to throw out the first pitch at a St. Louis Cardinals game. Phillips has also appeared at and played in a number of charity tournaments during his 117-day break from the Main Event. He’ll also be donating 1% of his total Main Event winnings to Put a Bad Beat on Cancer, the charity initiative spearheaded by poker pros Phil Gordon and Rafe Furst.

Prior to winning his Main Event seat, Phillips’ poker experience was confined to small buy-in tournaments and cash games at his local casino, and in preparation for the final table, Phillips enlisted the coaching services of WPT champion Roy “The Oracle” Winston. Since final tabling the Main Event he’s been signed as one of PokerStars’ “Million Dollar Men” and has played the WPT Beau Rivage in Biloxi, Mississippi, as well as the PokerStars.com EPT High Rollers Event in London, England, where he just missed the final table, finishing in 10th place.

Phillips enters play today as the tournament’s chip leader, with 26,295,000.

Tags: Dennis Phillips

11-09-2008 11:10 UTC-7

Anticipation

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There's something of a live sporting event atmosphere inside the Penn & Teller Theater. People are holding all sorts of signs and banners in support of their chosen player. Three particularly large banners are meant to inspire short-stacked Kelly Kim: "Go Kelly!", "Kelly - So Proud of You!" and "You Can Do It, Kelly!" are visible from where we're sitting in media row.

The army of Dennis Phillips supporters, however, have been the most vocal so far. And when we say "army", we mean just that. The story in the hallway outside the theater was that Phillips put 359 rooms at the Rio on hold for his fans in the weeks leading up to the final table. There may not be 359 soldiers in the Dennis Phillips army, but there are legions, to be sure. They have been hooting and hollering, whistling, and have even broken into a couple of impromptu "Den-nis! Den-nis!" chants.

Not to be outdone, the Kelly Kim supporters have broken into a few chants of their own. And someone out there is honking a car horn.

The audience will need to entertain themselves for a few minutes more. Things on the stage are running slightly behind schedule.

11-09-2008 10:59 UTC-7

Where We Left Off

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When play was suspended back in mid-July, this was how things stood.

21 minutes and 50 seconds remain in Level 33. Blinds are 120,000 and 240,000 with an ante of 30,000. Kelly Kim has the button. Seat assignments and chip counts are as follows:

Seat 1: Dennis Phillips (26,295,000)
Seat 2: Craig Marquis (10,210,000)
Seat 3: Ylon Schwartz (12,525,000)
Seat 4: Scott Montgomery (19,690,000)
Seat 5: Darus Suharto (12,520,000)
Seat 6: David Rheem (10,230,000)
Seat 7: Ivan Demidov (24,400,000)
Seat 8: Kelly Kim (2,620,000)
Seat 9: Peter Eastgate (18,375,000)

11-09-2008 10:48 UTC-7

The Final Table, At Long Last

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Welcome back to the Rio All-Suite Hotel and Casino in Las Vegas, Nevada. 117 days ago, Dean Hamrick was knocked out in 10th place from the World Series of Poker Main Event, leaving nine players still in the hunt for the title of world champion: Peter Eastgate, Kelly Kim, Ivan Demidov, David "Chino" Rheem, Darus Suharto, Scott Montgomery, Ylon Schwartz, Craig Marquis and chip leader Dennis Phillips. Those nine players have reassembled this morning to play out the rest of the tournament.

The day dawned gray and rainy in Las Vegas, but that hasn't dampened spirits in the hallway outside the Penn & Teller Theater. Spectators were lining up hours in advance of the official 9:30am opening of the theater to the general public, stretching almost all the way to Buzio's seafood restaurant. Nobody was tailgating in the parking lot outside, but there were people downing a breakfast of barbecued meats; people carrying giant foam hands and thunder-sticks; an army of people dressed as Dennis Phillips (red St. Louis Cardinals caps and white button-down shirts) and the usual assortment of attractive models hawking poker-related products. The Starbucks outside the theater was doing a brisk business.

Inside the theater, the featured table set from the Amazon Room has been re-created on the stage. This will make it difficult for anyone not in the prime spectator seats on the stage around the table to see or hear any of the action, but giant monitors have been set up inside the theater to allow the general-admission audience to follow along. A DJ is currently blasting thumping dance music as spectators file in and take their seats.

The schedule this morning is to try to have the players in their seats by 10am, at which point Jeffrey Pollack will commence the festivities with an opening address. After that is the Michael Wunderman Watch Presentation, the unbagging of the chips, and then individual player introductions by Tournament Director Jack Effel. Theoretically cards will be in the air by 10:23am, but the good money should take the over on that estimation.

The party gets started in about fifteen minutes. See you then.