We have quite a group assembled here, and we think it's a good idea if we tell you just a bit about them.
Ali Eslami is no stranger to high-pressure poker games. He's appearing at his sixth WSOP final table, and he plays all the games quite well. Shaun Deeb called him one of the best Badugi players in the world yesterday, but he also has one previous pot-limit hold'em final table. He also took down the WSOP-C Regional Championship in Rincon last season. That was good for more than $280,000 and his first piece of WSOP jewelry, but he's got his sights set on that bracelet today.
Matt Marafioti is our Canadian at the table. He's moved past $2 million in live winnings with this performance in Event #17, and he certainly knows his way around this event. Two years ago, Marafioti finished runner-up in the $10,000 version of this tournament, notching his biggest career cash of close to $400,000 dollars. He's making his third appearance at a WSOP final table.
Phil Ivey needs no introduction. He's 35 years old, from New Jersey originally, and he's the best poker player in the world. There's not much question about that. He's second on the all-time money list, and his eight bracelets put him fifth all-time in that category. Another win today would move him into a fourth-place tie with Johnny Moss.
Manuel Bevand is 35 years old, too, and he's a former chess player and computer programmer. Bevand is well known in Europe where he travels along with the biggest poker tours, but he's still seeking his first taste of WSOP gold. He received the loudest ovation of the nine when he was introduced, and it sounds like we have a strong French contingent with us this evening.
Hoyt Corkins is one of the stalwarts of the WSOP, and he's looking for his third gold bracelet. His previous two came 15 years apart, giving him the record for longest span between bracelets. He's also racked up 35 cashes in his years here. Oh, and more than $5.5 million in earnings.
Andy Frankenberger is a former equity trader from New York City, and he's only been playing poker professionally for about two years. In his first year as a pro, he won a major title as well as a bracelet. He's already made one WSOP final table this summer, and that one ticked him up over $2 million in tournament winnings. Not too shabby for two years of poker.
Alex Venovski is a Brit who's relocated to Florida. He's appearing at his first career WSOP final table. This cash will move him up past $500,000 in career earnings.
Daniel Weinman is also playing at his first WSOP final table. He's not a lumberjack, though he wrote that under "Occupation" on his bio sheet. He's a local with about a quarter-million dollars in live winnings, and he seems to have a big group of fans here today.
Shaun Deeb. What else needs to be said? Deeb made history this year by winning four SCOOP titles. His online results are astonishing, but he's still waiting for his big live breakthough. This could be it, but he'll have some work to do as he starts this final table on the second shortest stack. He's made one WSOP final table prior to this one, and he's crested $750,000 in live tournament cashes.
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flop put Deeb two cards from the exit, and the 
turn was a blank, too. The river was not a blank. The 
dropped off the deck to save Deeb's tournament life. Ivey is forced to grant a double to drop back under a million, while Deeb crawls out of the cellar and doubles back to 570,000.
put Bevand ahead and Corkins was looking likely to leave us in the very first hand. The turn 
added some straight outs for Corkins, but the 
and Venovski squeezed a 45,000 value bet out of Weinman holding 