2009 World Series of Poker Final 9

Smith, a 27-year-old poker player from College Station, Texas, saw his chance at the final poker table slip away when he went all-in on his pair of aces in the hole. He was called by Darvin Moon, a 45-year-old self-employed logger from Oakland, Md.  on a community board of an eight, two and four. Moon flipped over his a pair of eights to reveal a set.

Smith did not improve when the dealer revealed the final two cards, and was eliminated in 10th place. He won $896,730.

“I was trying to look weak,” Smith said. “It just didn’t work.”

Smith said he was disappointed with the last hand but happy with his finish in the tournament.

“I didn’t come with very much money and I leave with some now,” he said. “I’m very fortunate, I had a great tournament.”

WSOP 2009 chipleader Darvin Moon

The 45-year-old Moon built his leading chip stack to nearly 60 million by winning the hand, putting him 23 million chips ahead of his next closest competitor, tournament poker player Eric Buchman.

“Everyone at this table is way better than I am,” Moon said. “Something is helping me.”

Moon said he never risked his entire chip stack during eight sessions of play during the tournament.

“The dealers — I love ‘em all,” he said. “It’s great to have a run like that.

Moon said he planned to fly back home soon and return to everyday life.

“As soon as I go home, I go back into the woods,” Moon said. “When it’s time to come out — I’ll come out.”

There is one well-known player still in the mix; veteran poker pro Phil Ivey is 7th but shortstacked at a chip count of 9,765,000 versus Moon’s 58,930,000.

Phil Ivey at the 2009 World Series of Poker in Las Vegas, Nevada

The others left in the tournament 51-year-old Kevin Schaffel of Coral Springs, Fla.; Antoine “Tonio” Saout, 25, of Saint Martin des Champs, France; Joseph Cada, 21, of Shelby Township, Mich., Steven Begleiter, 47, of Chappaqua, N.Y.; James Akenhead, 26, of London; Eric Buchman, 29, of Valley Stream, N.Y.; and Jeff Shulman, 34, of Las Vegas.

Finals will resume November 7 at the Rio Suites in Las Vegas. The pot is worth $8.5 million USD.