WSOP 2009 “November Nine”: Who are these guys?

The nine World Series of Poker finalists includes a lumberjack, a barely legal player, two pros, a Wall Street investment banker and one wacko who claims in all seriousness that if he wins, he’ll throw his bracelet in the garbage. Who exactly are we dealing with here?

The finalists known as the “November Nine” will reconvene at the final poker table on November 7, 2009 to battle for the WSOP champion bracelet and a cumulative $27 million pot.

DARVIN MOON

Darvin Moon started playing seven card stud poker at the age of 12 with his grandfather, who never let his young grandson win if he could help it. Moon started to find enjoyment in the aggressive nature of the game.

Although Moon continually played all through his entire life he only learned Texas Hold’em, the card game of the World Series of Poker, three years ago. When he started playing poker professionally, his original  intention was to assist in raising funds for local fire buildings and other charity institutions.

This coming November 2009, Moon will be reprising his current role as the tournament chip leader. One playing style he has demonstrated during the 8 days of the competition was the way that he did not push all-in at any time.

He has shared in interviews that he has always started each day with a game plan in mind. Recently he gave credit to winning the table to his last set of good cards. This unassuming logger from Maryland intends to keep on working at his day job until the final table. He has also revealed that no matter the outcome, he will be traveling to Alaska, and also buying his father a new pink Cadillac.

As an aside, Darvin Moon is the oldest player amongst the November Nine. It will never be simple and easy for the rest of the players to push out his cards nor his skills.

Being the chip leader of the 2009 November Nine, Darvin Moon is assured a minimum of $1.2 Million, and could earn $8.5 million if he takes all. Does this formidable newcomer to the WSOP have what it takes, or will he choke from the unfamiliar pressure of being in the spotlight?

ERIC BUCHMAN

Twenty nine-year old Eric Buchman is one of the most skilled live tournament poker players in the 2009 November Nine. He is also very experienced in handling high levels of pressure during the World Series of Poker. So far, Buchman has live tournament earnings amounting to $967,199 which brings him to the top level of players amongst the 2009 November Nine.

From Valley Stream, New York, Buchman has claimed 10 WSOP places in conjunction with two final tables as well as the Main Event. Buchman was recognized as a runner-up in Event #4 with $1,500 Limit Hold’em in 2006. The event was the biggest Limit Holdem field in WSOP’s history.

Certainly, Buchman has also been successful in both the WSOP Circuit and the US Poker Championships. He finished 2nd in the 2007 Circuit Main Event, Atlantic City and brought home $208,666. Subsequently, Buchman also had two final tables at the US Poker Championships and finished 3rd place in the 2002 USPC Main Event.

At present, Buchman has one win to his credit. He won the 2004 New England Poker Classic Main Event and received $275,000. Buchman is experienced in various disciplines of poker with several trophies in NL Holdem, Limit Holdem, 7 Card Stud, Stud 8 or Better, and Omaha Hi-Lo.

The final table at the WSOP will definitely be the biggest cash to date for Buchman. With his intense nature and risky pattern of wits and chips, Buchman is absolutely one of the favored players to win the 2009 WSOP Main Event bracelet when the game resumes in November.

STEVEN BEGLEITER

Steven Begleiter, a Senior Principal at Flexpoint Ford, an investment firm based in New York City is the 2009 November Nine third placer. He used to be the Senior Managing Director of Bear Stearns & Co. where he was a part of the company’s Management and Compensation Committee.

Begleiter is doing well financially and has no plans of leaving his regular day job at present. But he wants the $8.5M 1st place purse like everyone else, and he’ll be starting at the final table with a strong chip position.

In an interview he shared “I have no idea what I’m going to do in the next four months,” to the Associated Press. “I have a vacation planned with my wife, I got to get to Europe with her – she deserves a trip – decompress a little and not see a flop for a long time.”

Begleiter claimed his $10,000 seat entry into the WSOP by winning it in a poker league. A percentage of his winnings will be split between the players of the game as soon as the tournament is finished on November 10th. He completely admits that he is indeed very fortunate to make it to the final table. Begleiter expressed his ride to the Main Event as “dancing between raindrops in the middle of a minefield.” On the other hand, he is also expected to go back to the felt and put up a formidable fight for his glory against the eight outstanding opponents.

Begleiter’s wife Karen said, “We could have never imagined this. It wasn’t like we were talking about what we are going to do if he wins. He does not talk about winning the game. There are so many people (entered) so it just wasn’t something that came up.”

JEFF SHULMAN

Shulman, the CardPlayer magazine editor, had racked up over $1M in tournament winnings before capturing a spot in the 2009 November Nine which assures him of at least another $1.2 M.

This is the second final WSOP table for the 34-year old player. His first was at the 2000 Main Event. Shulman ended up finishing  seventh place in the event and won $145,000. His very last table appearance at a WSOP event was when he finished seventh for $ 50,000 in a $5,000 buy-in Limit Hold’em tournament. Moreover, he has a total of $400,000 earnings from the WPT circuit.

Shulman has caused some controversy in the poker industry by declaring that he would “toss [my] bracelet in the trash” if he wins the Main Event. Rumor has it that he was resentful of tournament sponsor Harrahs’ dealings with a sister card player magazine, Bluff.

However Shulman says he his comments were inspired by a ”lack of respect for the WSOP and the management and what they’ve done to all of the players. I don’t like it.”

Jeff Shulman is the son of CardPlayer owner Barry Shulman. Indeed, he has become one of the most significant characters in the poker industry. His casual approach is a complete contrast to the serious manner of nearly all poker players. Shulman openly made clear to reporters assembled around him at the WSOP, “I feel like I’m on Adderall and everyone else is on Xanax.”

KEVIN SCHAFFEL

From Coral Springs, FL, Kevin Schaffel at 51 years old is the oldest player in the 2009 November Nine. When the games begins on November 7th, Schaffel will be in mid-field 6th place having 12,390,000 in chips. He will be sponsored by PokerStars. Seminole Hard Rock Casino and Hotel in Hollywood, FL, are the places he has called as his home casinos.

Schaffel is divorced and a father to two college-aged kids. He used to own and operate a number of businesses before taking up poker at the 2009 World Series of Poker Main Event. After his printing and direct mail company experienced a downturn in 2006, he boosted the number of poker tournaments that he joined in and started traveling around the country following the tournament circuit. His name may not sound familiar  to the avid poker fan, but Schaffel in fact has had respectable wins under his belt in the WSOP Championship Event.

Schaffel’s very first cash-in was during the 2004 Main Event where he ended in 42nd place. He has moved on to the 2008 WSOP Main Event, a European Poker Tour event (2008 PokerStars Caribbean Adventure) and another two World Poker Tour events. He has raked in a cumulative$1.4 million dollars at the tables, as well as his payout for being a part of the November Nine.

PHIL IVEY

Born on February 1, 1976 in Riverside, California, Phil Ivey’s family moved to New Jersey when he was just three months old. This is the place where he would grow up and learn the game of poker. Ivey’s poker profession began at an early age having his grandfather as his mentor, who would deal hands of penny-ante 5-card stud to his 8-year-old grandson. His grandfather would deceive his grandson by dealing cards off the bottom of the deck in order to stack the cards against young Phil– hoping to teach a lesson about the possible risks of gambling.

This test was miserably unsuccessful. In fact, it resulted in the opposite outcome, provoking Ivey’s interest and desire to develop into the player he is now. In his teenage years, he told everyone that he wanted to become a professional gambler. Ivey’s first taste of success happened when he was 16, when he got invited to play in a game organized by a family friend. Without any difficulty, he was able to beat the game and got started on looking for newer challenges.

When he reached 18, Ivey procured a bogus ID and was frequently playing at Atlantic City casinos. Even if he admitted to suffer from more losses than victories, he was continuously learning from his slips and becoming adept at a wide range of games. He moved to Atlantic City when he turned 20.

In 2002, Ivey made history by taking home three bracelets at the WSOP. His successes came from three different games, confirming his overall skills and talent. Later on, Ivey became a regular at high-limit cash games in Las Vegas, winning a lot of money and establishing a name for him as one of the most talented players in the world.

Even though he focused more on cash games that time than tournaments, Ivey made waves in November 2005. This is the time when he victoriously won back-to-back titles within five days. Ivey won $1,000,000 at the Monte Carlo Millions tournament on November 20, and earned $600,000 as a first-placer prize at FullTiltPoker.com’s invitational tournament on November 25. He has a total of career tournament earnings more than $6 million.

2007 was a down year for Ivey’s tournaments, but he focused more on cash games that year than tournaments. Nevertheless, he still had great victories when he did actually play. He finished 5th by making it to the final table of the WPT Mirage Poker Showdown and consecutively made two final tables at the World Series of Poker. He was a runner-up in the $5,000 Stud World Championship, defeated by Chris Reslock.

Presently, Phil Ivey is perhaps one of the best and most popular players in the game. He has been labelled the “Tiger Woods of Poker,” and now owns five WSOP bracelets, as well as a record-tying three in one year (2002). It was even more remarkable when he placed in the Top 25 of the WSOP main event in three consecutive years from 2002 to 2005. Moreover, he has also won six World Poker Tour final tables.

Phil Ivey is one true gambler who has no fear and a seemingly unlimited bankroll. Ivey currently lives with his wife in Las Vegas.

ANTOINE SAOUT

Hailing from Saint Martin des Champs, France, Antoine Saout is one of the two non-US born members of the 2009 November Nine. Saout will be one of the players with short stacks at the table having only 9.5 million in chips.

This 25-year-old Frenchman says that this will be his first ever World Series and had no experience in having a documented live poker wins or experience to show off. Saout began playing poker just about eighteen months back and earned his seat to the 2009 WSOP Main Event through an online $50 satellite on Everest Poker. A lot of online players on the site are presently sharing in the success that he is enjoying. It is through his breakthrough of being an Everest Poker player that made it possible for 51 players to jointly earn a share of $1 million, which gets divided to roughly $19,000 per person.

Potentially, Antoine Saout has had the most difficult road to take to be able to earn his way to the “November Nine” final table. He was in the undesirable position of being on the left side of fellow November Nine opponent Phil Ivey for the final three days of play in the 2009 Main Event. If he can learn quickly and make use of the information he gets from playing next to Ivey and manages to grow his chip stack early, then he could end up being a challenging opponent.

JAMES AKENHEAD

James Akenhead, a 26-year-old British poker professional, is one of the two non-U.S. players at the 2009 Main Event final table, alongside Frenchman Antoine Saout. He used to be a railroad conductor and later on went full-time as a  pro poker player. Akenhead currently has a short stack on this tournament.

Akenhead has only two prizes to his name in the World Series of Poker (WSOP). He finished as the runner-up to Grant Hinkle in a $1,500 buy-in No Limit Hold’em tournament during the 2008 WSOP for $520,000. In addition, he took 39th in a £1,500 buy-in No Limit Hold’em event inclusive of the WSOP Europe festivities in London the same year for just over £3,000.

In 2008, he finished fourth in the 888.com U.K. Open after successfully winning two initial heats. James Akenhead made his waves in U.S. competitions by winning a $1,000 buy-in tournament during the Bellagio Cup for $41,000 in July 2007. Since then, he has played in tournaments around the world which includes the United States, Bahamas, Germany, Ireland, and France.

Currently, James Akenhead is sponsored by Full Tilt Poker together with fellow finalist Phil Ivey. A regular on the Governor U.K. Poker Tour, James Akenhead is one of Britain’s top players. Belonging to the long line of Britain’s professionals includes David “Devilfish” Ulliott, Roland de Wolfe, John Gale, and Liv Boeree.

JOE CADA

Joe Cada, a native of the Shelby Township, MI, is a young and logical player who has a brilliant mind for math. “Professionally, I’ve been playing poker for four years,” he shares. “I went to school for three semesters. I want to start my own business soon, so I went for business classes, accounting classes, and statistics too.” But similar to a lot of poker pro aspirants, Cada realized that university life wasn’t for him. He took the step toward to realizing his dream of becoming a professional poker player briefly after the start of classes at Macomb Community College.

While a majority of dropouts learn the transition is difficult, his decision to leave school last year ended up being the most financially rewarding decision of his young life when Cada earned a seat at the final table of the WSOP Main Event, outliving a field of 6,494 players to guarantee himself a payday of at least $1,263,602.

Currently, Joe Cada will come into the final table as fifth in chips having 13,215,000. He did a significant move on Day 8, making his stack double even though his pocket aces were cracked by the pocket tens of Jamie Robbins.

Cada is the youngest of the nine finalists. He intends to take time off to relax. ”I’m going to spend a Michigan summer on the water,” he shares.

The November Nine this year will all meet again on November 7th to play for the $8.5M prize. Will you be watching?