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A Closer Look at the 2010 November Nine

The World Series of Poker main event is down to nine players — take a look a closer look at the players who will return in November for the bracelet and the first prize of more than $8 million.

Read quick bios here; for full bios and photos select any player name from the list below:

Jason Senti
Soi Nguyen
Filippo Candio
Matthew Jarvis
John Racener
Joseph Cheong
John Dolan
Jonathan Duhamel

Full Bios for the 2010 November Nine

Jason Senti (Chip Count 7.625M)

A 25 year old poker professional from Minnesota, Senti is probably better known as “PBJaxx” online, where he also works as a BlueFirePoker instructor. He comes to the final table with a lot of respect from the online community, but very little to show in the way of tournament experience. Senti isn’t a well known live threat, posting just a single cash for $17,987 in last years WSOP Heads Up championship and no other cashes.

He instead acts as a specialist in online cash games from $5/$10 all the way to $50/$100, so Senti has plenty of practice playing high stakes poker. He does have a profit on the online tournament scene for the year, showing a $29,897 profit for the year under PBJaxx. He also has the help of the entire BlueFire Poker team, including another player that made a deep run in this year’s Main Event, Phil Galfond.

Senti had spoke earlier in the main event about how well he had ran, explaining on his run from 20 BB’s to 7th in chips on Day 7, “I ran great, everything’s just going my way right now!” He’ll need that luck to help him make a strong showing in November; he enters the November Nine as the short stack.

Soi Nguyen (Chip Count 9.65M)

Soi stands out at in the November Nine for a lot of reasons. He sits as the oldest of the remaining players, at the ripe old age of 37. The pride of California is also the only player not to list themselves as a professional poker player on their resume, instead making a living as an operations manager for a medical supply company.

But, as we’ve seen in the past from the old guard at the November Nine, the lack of youth and experience doesn’t always mean lack of skill; just ask the super aggressive Dennis Phillips about that. Soi follows in Phillips’ footsteps as another aggressive amateur, but that may be due to the company he keeps; he lists professionals JC Tran, Steve Sung, and the Le brothers (Tuan and Nam) as friends and tutors to the game he employs today.

Soi has a bit of catching up to do in the experience department, however; he claims this is only the 4th live tournament he’s ever played in. The lack of prior play doesn’t seem to phase him, however. “Being the amateur doesn’t bother me at all…This is the best time of my life. I didn’t think I had any shot. I just came for the experience.”

Michael Mizrachi (Chip Count 14.45M)

This has truly been the year of “The Grinder” at the WSOP. He starts the series off with a win at the $50,000 Player’s Championship for $1,559,046. He makes two more final tables in $10k events after that. Then, to cap off an already amazing WSOP, the 29 year old Miami professional ran that wave of power poker all the way to the final table at this year’s Main Event. After having some problems with taxes earlier in the year, some where whispering that Mizrachi’s days as a top professional were over, and that the game had already passed by the super aggressive Mizrachi.

His accomplishments in this year’s series have silenced the critics. A win in the Main Event would actually tie him with Frank Kassela for WSOP Player of the Year honors. The Grinder has a huge edge on the rest of the field in the live tournament experience department; he boasts a staggering $8,883,304 in live winnings, including 19 career titles. He’s won bracelets, WPT events, and has been under the glare of the TV cameras many times in his before in his career. “It’s just an exciting feeling, wherever I finish I’m happy I made the November Nine, it’s an accomplishment. I can’t say it won’t happen for me again, but you’re a long shot to pass through this field. You have to get lucky and survive in this large of a field.”

Filippo Candio (Chip Count 16.4M)

The 26 year old Italian pro from the PokerStars camp has been earning a living at the game since the tender age of 18 under the handle “FCandio” on PokerStars. However, there’s a bit of controversy, as Candio has been sporting FTP gear in the Main Event. He has shown some live tournament prowess, scoring a win in the 2009 Campionato Italiano, San Remo, for $185,271.

He also holds a bit of history with him when he officially plays his first hand at the final table; he is the first Italian to ever reach the final stage of the Main Event. Other Europeans have made big splashes in recent years; Antoine Saout and James Akenhead both made it to the November Nine last year, and Saout almost brought Europe back the bracelet, finishing in 3rd.

Interview:

Candio is well aware of the importance of making the November Nine, both for his country and for his own future in poker. “I am very happy. I’m [ready] to be a November Niner with all my heart, with all of my techniques and with all of my skill. For me, I’m part of the history of poker, I’m the first Italian, the last European and the first Sardinian.”

Matthew Jarvis (Chip Count 16.7M)

The biggest wild card at the final table is the relatively unknown Canadian Jarvis, a 25 year old business student who had just recently decided to give the professional poker playing business another shot.

The timing could not have been better for the young pro, who will now at least multiply his live winnings twenty fold with the guaranteed $811,823 that goes with the November Nine appearance.

With just $61,245 in cashes prior to the final table, which includes exactly zero WSOP cashes and zero titles, the pro has the least credentials of anyone at the final table, except for Soi Nguyen. He’s certainly far from the least experienced or credentialed player to appear at the final table of the WSOP, but among this group he’s a bit down the ladder.

This hasn’t deterred Jarvis from showing the confidence needed to excel when the final table reconvenes, but with the structure of the Main Event, that’s probably in his favor – it wouldn’t take all that improbable a set of circumstances to see him rocket into contention for the title of World Series of Poker Main Event Champion.

Interview with Jarvis:

When asked about how he felt after reaching the November Nine, Jarvis remarked, “I think I’ve played pretty well and I’m feeling good. It’s amazing. It’s every poker player’s dream to make the November Nine. I’m stoked! Every thing’s good right now.”

John Racener (Chip Count 19.05M)

The second most accomplished player at the table, aside from The Grinder, Racener, a 24 year old pro from Florida, has a WSOP Circuit ring and a total of three six figure cashes already under his belt. His live and online winnings total up to a staggering $1,153,499. His skills were already well known through the well versed card players, but Racener now gets a chance to show the whole world the skill that has earned him 3 titles and over a million dollars in cashes in just a 3 year career as a professional.

The WSOP Circuit victory, at an Atlantic City stop, netted him $379,392 alone. He’s made 2 final tables at the WSOP lifetime prior to this one, but the chance to finally step into the spotlight and gain the recognition that has eluded him throughout his career makes this all the more sweet for Racener, who says, “I’m very excited. This is my dream. I’m very happy. Once they look at my stats they’ll see how well I’ve done in the past. … I’ve already had a lot of phone calls, Facebook and text messages. I’m just going to go home and enjoy it with my mom and my sister.”

Joseph Cheong (Chip Count 23.525M)

Even getting his aces cracked midway through Day 8 couldn’t stop Joseph “subiime” Cheong from making it to the final table.

The double major in Math and Economics (with a B.S. in Psychology, to boot) also boasts a live win at a WSOP Circuit event at Harrah’s Rincon for $17,000 this March.

The 24 year old poker pro from California (born in South Korea) has three years of pro status and over 10,000 recorded tournaments played under his online handle, which has amassed a total of $307,772 in winnings from the live and online felt. He’ll be entering the final table of the Main Event with more than enough chips to add some serious cash to that total – in fact, the minimum cash would almost quadruple his lifetime earnings instantly.

However, it doesn’t sound as if he’s shooting to make the minimum. When asked about the eight days of play behind him, Cheong said, “I’m exhausted, but I’m relieved that I’m finally at the final table of the main event. I’m playing to win the whole tournament. I haven’t slowed down on any of the bubbles, though the equity of the November Nine made me think about it. I’m ready to win this tournament.”

As you can see from his PTR graph, he barely ever touches cash games:

John Dolan (Chip Count 46.25M)

An accomplished dual threat in the online and live tournament realms, John “JRD312” Dolan is one of the more decorated professionals left in the field.

The 23 year old Floridian has $216,556 in live tournament cashes, including a 6th place finish in Event 36 at this year’s WSOP for $82,804. He’s also cashed for over $1.1 million dollars on FTP and PokerStars, with wins in the $100 and $200 rebuy (PokerStars) and the $1k Monday (FTP) to his name.

Even with his 2nd place stack, he has the unfortunate distinction of having the aggressive Canadian chip leader, Jonathan Duhamel, to his direct left when play resumes in November. However, the fame and glamor associated with being a part of the biggest final table in poker don’t seem to be phasing him much, compared to the financial security that making it this far can bring.

When asked how he plans on spending his next four months, Dolan said, “I’ll probably just float along for the next few months to be honest. I’ve already cashed for a good chunk of money but i would love to be able to get up in the money and not have to worry about stuff for a long time.”

Jonathan Duhamel (Chip Count 65.975M)

Our chip leader is a 22 year old Canadian pro that administered one of the most heart-wrenching beats (that you will see on TV, surely) in WSOP history. Duhamel claims to be a cash player primarily, but has $126,308 in live tournament cashes to his credit, although none of the cashes listed for him are victories. He did have two prior cashes in this year’s WSOP for a total of $43,000, but having played 17 different events during the series, he was very likely in the red for the WSOP prior to the Main Event.

He’s only been a pro for a year and a half, but that hasn’t stopped him from running away with an impressive chip lead heading into the final 9, with more than a quarter of the chips in play at his disposal. He also has a large amount of confidence, telling reporters that he had no plans on getting a coach or training in the months leading up to the final table.

When asked about the Main Event being a struggle, however, Duhamel’s response shows the poise and character needed to approach being the chip leader of the most prestigious event in poker. “No, it feels pretty easy. You just gotta play good hands, win your flips, then it’s easy.”

Quick Bios for the November Nine

Michael “The Grinder” Mizrachi

For a fan of poker, Mizrachi needs no introduction. Easily the most accomplished tournament player of the November Nine, he’s already got 23 WSOP cashes for more than $2 million, and he has $8.6 million in live tournament cashes in his career. Despite his success in live poker, he didn’t win his first bracelet until this year, when he took down the $50K Players Championship for $1.5 million. If he wins the main event, he’ll have won the first and last open events of the 2010 tournament series. Mizrachi has also won two World Poker Tour events. Mizrachi is from a poker-playing family — all three of his brothers made the money in this year’s main event.

Jason “PBJaxx” Senti

Senti is a cash-game pro who is an instructor at poker training site BlueFire Poker, which features Phil “OMGClayAiken” as its lead instructor. He plays cash games online of anywhere from $5/$10 to $50-$100. According to his bio at BlueFire Poker, the Minnesota resident left his job as an electrical engineeer to play poker professionally, he plays guitar and he is a member of a band. His only cash in live tracked tournaments came at last year’s WSOP heads-up world championship. He finished 21st for about $17,000.

Joseph “subiime” Cheong

Hailing from California, the Korean-born Cheong is much better known for his online game. Playing as “subiime” on Full Tilt, he’s got $820K in cashes and $270K in profit. His biggest cash came last year in a miniFTOPS event for $55K. He’s got eight five-figure scores at Full Tilt in his career. At PokerStars, he’s got more than $400K in cashes and over $70K in profits. He has a few live cashes, the most notable coming in the WSOP Circuit event at Harrah’s Rincon in March of this year. He beat out PokerStars pro David Williams heads-up to win an event and more than $17K.

John “jrd312″ Dolan

Dolan is one of the more accomplished live tournament players left, albeit on a smaller scale. He has $222K in live tournament cashes, including a final table at this year’s WSOP. He was sixth in one of the $1K buy-in events for $82K. He also finished in 32nd in a $1,500 event. He also won $32K last year in the Gulf Coast Poker Championship — a hefty sum considering it was a $300 buy-in event. The Floridian is also a pretty good online player. He’s won the Full Tilt $1K Monday for about $94K for his biggest online score. He’s also won the Sunday Mulligan at FTP, and the Sunday Warmup and the daily $100 rebuy (twice) at PokerStars.

Jonathan Duhamel

The Canadian will be sitting on the chip lead for the better part of four months when the main event resumes in November. He’s become a force at the table over the last two days of the ME, chipping up from 4 million to over 60 million. The Canadian has two sizable live tournament scores: €42K in the European Poker Tour Prague in 2008 in a €5K event and $37K in a $2.5K no-limit hold’em event at this year’s WSOP.

John “$JMONEY$” Racener

The Floridian has the most live tournament success of anyone left at the final table this side of Michael Mizrachi, and he’s also a threat online. He’s got more than a million in cashes in live tournaments, the biggest coming in 2007 in a WSOP circuit event in Atlantic City. He won the $5K main event of the circuit stop for $379K. He’s got two other six-figure scores to his name, one in a WPT event, the other in another circuit event. While he has 10 WSOP cashes, he’s never hit it big in the Vegas tournament series. He’s also had a lot of success in online poker — he plays as “$30K” on PokerStars and as “POCKET FIVE” at Full Tilt — with 18 five-figure scores to his name.

Matthew Jarvis

The Canadian from British Columbia is one of two players at the final table with no prior WSOP cashes, and he’s made his first one a doozy. He’s been hanging around the chip leaders since the start of day 7, and he’s rode that stack to the final table. Before the main event, he’s had $60K in live tournament cashes, but he’s never won a tournament tracked by the major tracking websites.

Soi (Cuong) Nguyen

Perhaps the least experienced player at the final table is Nguyen. He’s got no WSOP cashes, and according to his profile at the World Series of Poker web site, the main event is only his fourth live poker tournament. The Californian originally from Vietnam was near the chip lead for periods of time on days 7 and 8, but will be in the middle of the pack when the final table begins.

Filippo Candio

The Italian is not exactly a household name, or even a well-known name in the world of poker. But he was named a member of Team PokerStars, as the online poker site is aggressive in locking up European talent. But during the main event, he’s apparently changed his allegiance to Full Tilt, as he has been sporting FTP gear. His biggest score came in 2009, when he won the Italian Championship for $185K. Before the main event, he had just one WSOP cash for $3K.

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