For most people, you will simply need to look north and squint very hard to see the two planes that will carry two PokerStars players toward their destiny.
Quebec’s Jonathan Duhamel and Minnesota’s Jason Senti are headed to Las Vegas this weekend to join the 2010 World Series of Poker November Nine. In their sights sit a gold WSOP bracelet, millions of dollars, and the chance to be among names like Moneymaker, Raymer, Hachem, Eastgate, and Cada as world champions under the PokerStars flag.
As you’re likely aware by the point, Duhamel holds the chip lead at this year’s WSOP final table. Senti currently sits in ninth place among the November Nine. What remains to be seen is whether Senti can climb up from the bottom or Duhamel can go wire-to-wire.
Jonathan Duhamel leaving no doubt about his alliances
As this is the PokerStars Blog’s sixth WSOP final table and third November Nine, we thought it would be fun to spend the week focusing on Duhamel, Senti, the November Nine, and the final tables we’ve seen over the past few years.
If you are just tuning in after four-month walk in the woods, here’s a bit of what you missed in the past week’s run-up to the November Nine.
Duhamel, Senti days away from November Nine seats PokerStars.com (blog) In their sights sit a gold WSOP bracelet, millions of dollars, and the chance to be among names like Moneymaker, Raymer, Hachem, Eastgate, and Cada as world …
November Nine: Filippo Candio – 2010 WSOP VegasSports-Odds The final table of the 2010 WSOP, also known as the “November Nine” is set and will resume action on November 6th. Sitting in seat 8 will be Italian Filippo …
2010World Series of Poker November Nine: Matthew Jarvis PokerNews.com The PokerNews Live Reporting Team will be tableside November 6 when the 2010 WSOP Final Table resumes. Until then follow us on Twitter and Facebook for …
If you read to the bottom of this post, you’ll find out how you can win a PokerStars Caribbean Adventure seat simply by making the right predictions about the WSOP November Nine.
But, first a quick story.
In 2008, the PokerStars Blog team joined the other poker media to cover the November Nine for the first time. In the hours leading up to the final table, we ate Mexican food and made a few bets about how the final table would end up. And by a few, I mean we made a lot. I booked most of my action with the infamous Dr. Pauly, beside whom I was sitting in the media peanut gallery. The bets served the dual purpose of keeping us in action while making sure we paid total attention to what was happening at the table. Among the many bets we made was which player would get the first walk in the big blind. I don’t recall who I had, but Dr. Pauly picked Peter Eastgate.
Play began and, like most poker games when they aren’t on TV, the action was pretty boring for a while. Still, our attention was as high as it could be. Every flick of the cards, every chip placed in the middle of the table, all of it meant money changing hands in one way or another between Dr. Pauly and me.
And so it was that I looked up to see players folding, folding, folding…all the way around to Eastgate’s big blind. The huge crowd in the Penn and Teller theater was as impressed as you would be by a walk. As such, they were completely silent. I, however, forgetting myself for a moment, realized I had just lost the first bet of the night, and involuntarily let loose with a dramatic–and quite loud, unfortunately–”Nooooooooo!!!!!!!”
One thousand heads turned and looked directly at me. I blushed, I cowered behind my computer, and I didn’t say another word for a very long time (but, if memory serves, I ended up winning the most money that night…thankyouverymuch).
Fast forward one year and ESPN had sort of co-opted our little media game and turned it into a big bonanza.
That’s where you come in.
This year, PokerStars and ESPN have teamed up to let you in on the action with Poker Pick’em. In short, you get more correct answers than anybody who plays (including tie-breakers and all that) and you will be joining us at the 2011 PokerStars Caribbean Adventure for the Main Event. You will get your buy-in, a room at the Atlantis Resort and Casino, some travel money, and a bunch of money credited to your hotel room. In all, it’s worth more than ,000.
Prepare yourself to answer a lot of questions about PokerStars sponsored player–and chip leader–Jonathan Duhamel.
If you don’t feel like you’re up to speed enough to be making predictions, then we suggest you get this inside info from the top dogs at ESPN’s Inside Deal. In the video below, hosts Bernard Lee (2005 13th place WSOP Main Event finisher) and Andrew Feldman (2005…well, he watched the Main Event on TV) break down the final table for us.
The November Nine start playing exactly two weeks from today. So, get your picks in soon.
And be thankful there aren’t any questions about who will get the first walk in the big blind. Those can get expensive.
