Jonathan Duhamel finally fired multiple bullets, and maybe it turned out he was right not to have tried to do so on previous hands. He opened pre-flop for 750,000 and was called by small blind Joseph Cheong. Cheong check-called 850,000 on a flop of 
and another 2,275,000 when the turn came 
. Both players checked the 
river. Cheong's small pair, 
, stood tall to take down the pot.
David Williams, the newest member of the Team PokerStars pros is here in the arena, and he was just introduced to the crowd. Williams stood and received a warm round of applause. Just as the commotion died down, someone from Camp Mizrachi yelled, "Who you goin' for, D?"
"Grinder!" Williams said as he sat back down.
Camp Mizrachi went wild.
In between hands, TD Robbie took a few seconds to recognize a truly noteworthy accomplishment this year.
"For the first time in history," Robbie said, "four brothers cashed in the Main Event... Let's give it up for the Mizrachis!"
A thunderous ovation followed, and Robbie introduced the three brothers in the stands to the crowd. Eric, Robert, and Danny are the most interested of the onlookers here today, sweating brother Michael as he attempts to pull off one of the more impressive feats in the history of poker.
Brandon Steven raised to 775,000, and he was called by John Racener in the blinds.
The two men went to a flop of 
, and it went check-check. The action repeated with two more checks on the 
turn. The river 
drew a leading bet of 1.1 million from Racener. Steven quickly called, but those chips were not coming back to him. Racener showed king-jack, and kings up earned him the pot and set Steven all the way down to 2.695 million once again.
Steven shoved the next hand to earn the blinds and antes and grab a few of those lost chips back. Still, he's got a lot of work to do.
After a seeming eternity of small pots, the outer table became a hub of activity as Jonathan Duhamel opened to 750,000. Pascal LeFrancois had the button and called that raise. Joseph Cheong then re-raised the small blind to 2.55 million, inducing a fold from Duhamel. LeFrancois must have smelled a squeeze, because he pushed all in. Cheong quickly called with 
, and was looking good against LeFrancois' 
. A jack on the flop, 
, surely gave Cheong a moment of discomfort, but it passed when the turn came 
to give Cheong an unbeatable hand. The ended LeFrancois' tournament in 11th place.
We're now on a break to set up the "last" table of 10 players. This is the November Nine bubble!
| Player | Chips | Progress |
|---|---|---|
|
49,350,000
850,000
|
850,000 |
|
||
|
39,305,000
695,000
|
695,000 |
|
||
|
32,625,000
2,525,000
|
2,525,000 |
|
|
||
|
24,550,000
150,000
|
150,000 |
|
20,075,000
2,460,000
|
2,460,000 |
|
17,415,000
1,015,000
|
1,015,000 |
|
13,260,000
1,340,000
|
1,340,000 |
|
12,495,000
310,000
|
310,000 |
|
|
||
|
7,780,000
1,020,000
|
1,020,000 |
|
||
|
3,305,000
1,345,000
|
1,345,000 |
|
|
||
Seat 1: Jason Senti (12,495,000)
Seat 2: Joseph Cheong (39,305,000)
Seat 3: John Dolan (24,550,000)
Seat 4: Jonathan Duhamel (49,350,000)
Seat 5: Brandon Steven (3,305,000)
Seat 6: Michael Mizrachi (7,780,000)
Seat 7: Matthew Jarvis (20,075,000)
Seat 8: John Racener (32,625,000)
Seat 9: Filippo Candio (13,260,000)
Seat 10: Soi Nguyen (17,415,000)
Jack Effel picked up the mic for what is likely to be the last time during play this July.
"Ladies and gentleman, welcome back to the World Series of Poker Main Event!" Effel was met with rousing applause from the packed gallery.
"The play from ten players down to nine will probably be some of the most exciting poker you'll watch in your entire life. The next couple of hours - or however long it takes - will be intense."
Effel then turned his attention to the players at the table. "You guys played pretty hard from 7,319 down to 10. Whoever gets knocked out, I wish all of you the best of luck. It could go any way, it could be anybody's game. Best of luck!"
Effel passed the mic over to "Rockin" Robbie Thompson. Thompson introduced each of the ten players by name and chip count (Michael Mizrachi got the loudest ovation). Thompson then instructed his dealer to shuffle up and deal.
Cards are in the air. 79 minutes remain in the level. The blinds are 150,000 and 300,000 with an ante of 40,000. One elimination to go!
The gallery became quite still on the very first hand of play. Michael Mizrachi raised the small blind to 900,000 pre-flop and was called by Matthew Jarvis from the big blind. Mizrachi checked the 
flop to Jarvis, who made a bet. Mizrachi then check-raised that bet to 2.5 million. Jarvis took about a minute before mucking his cards. Mizrachi's gallery thundered their approval.
We've had a few raise-it-and-take-it hands. The most exciting of them was the last, in which Brandon Steven open-shoved for about 3.6 million. Nobody wanted to try to take him out.
