Success in the Off Months for the Majority of November Niners
Since its inception, it’s not uncommon for the players that reach the November Nine at the end of July to continue their success on the felt during the months leading up to November.
The year the November Nine concept was introduced was 2008. That year, both Ivan Demidov and Peter Eastgate both found some success in the off months leading up to their massive final table. Eastgate found himself deep in the EPT London Main Event where he finished in 18th place. Demidov did something that was rather unheard of at the time and final tabled the WSOP Europe Main Event, eventually finishing in third place. When he returned to Las Vegas in November, he topped that finish with a second-place finish, falling short to none other than Eastgate himself.
The following year in 2009, James Akenhead and Antoine Saout both did what Demidov did the year before, they final tabled the WSOP Europe Main Event. They weren’t the only pairing to find themselves sharing a final table in the off months though. Kevin Schaffel and Steven Begleiter both final tabled the WPT Legends of Poker Championship Event. That begs the question for this year: who’s kept their summer run good going in the of months for 2010?
Out of the nine players who have made the November Nine this year, only three of them went without cashing in something during their break. The three that did not cash were chip leader Jonathan Duhamel, Michael “The Grinder” Mizrachi and Jason Senti. It’s unsure about how many events Senti has played in the downtime, but both Duhamel and Mizrachi have been seen a good amount on the circuit, Mizrachi especially. He has been seen all over the globe trying to get as much poker in as possible. Unfortunately for him, he wasn’t able to cash in any events, but that still doesn’t mean the practice won’t help him this weekend.
Out of the other six who did have some success, here’s what they have done.
Joseph Cheong
| Event | Entries | Finish | Prize |
|---|---|---|---|
| Detox Poker Series $230 No-Limit Hold’em | 122 | 13th | $650 |
| EPT London ￡1,000 No-Limit Hold'em | 222 | 24th | ￡1,300 |
| EPT London ￡10,000 High Roller Turbo | 69 | 2nd | ￡162,280 |
| Festa al Lago $5,000 No-Limit Hold’em | 90 | 1st | $142,635 |
Matthew Jarvis
| Event | Entries | Finish | Prize |
|---|---|---|---|
| Canadian Open Poker Championship Heads-Up Championship | 64 | 1st | C$100,000 |
| WSOP Europe ￡1,000 No-Limit Hold'em | 582 | 40th | ￡2,747 |
| Festa al Lago $1,000 No-Limit Hold’em | 136 | 1st | $71,895 |
John Racener
| Event | Entries | Finish | Prize |
|---|---|---|---|
| Full Tilt Cyprus Classic $1,000 Pot-Limit Omaha w/ Rebuys | N/A | 2nd | $22,143 |
| WSOP Europe ￡5,000 Pot-Limit Omaha | 120 | 5th | ￡39,486 |
John Dolan
| Event | Entries | Finish | Prize |
|---|---|---|---|
| EPT London Main Event | 848 | 107th | ￡7,500 |
| World Poker Finals $1,500 No-Limit Hold’em | 212 | 2nd | $45,000 |
Soi Nguyen
| Event | Entries | Finish | Prize |
|---|---|---|---|
| WPT Legends of Poker Championship Event | 462 | 34th | $11,500 |
Filippo Candio
| Event | Entries | Finish | Prize |
|---|---|---|---|
| Caesars Palace Classic $230 No-Limit Hold’em | 232 | 3rd | $4,726 |
Joseph Cheong had the most cashes with four and looks to have the best performance on the felt during his break before the November Nine. His four cashes are highlighted by a second-place finish in the EPT London High Roller Turbo and a win in a big Festa al Lago preliminary event. Matthew Jarvis had a good amount of success as well. Like Cheong, he also won a preliminary event at Festa al Lago. He also won the Canadian Open Poker Championship Heads-Up Championship, giving him two big wins. John Racener and John Dolan also had greater than one cash each, proving this final table isn’t missing out on talent.
Someone’s got to win the WSOP Main Event. Will it be one of the players who had a lot of success in the off months or one of the ones who couldn’t even find the money a single time in an event? Be sure to stick right here at PokerNews to find out!