WSOP Main Event November Nine: Mark Newhouse Makes History, Van Hoof Leads

Last updated on November 2nd, 2018

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The World Series of Poker Main Event November Nine is an international group. The final table has 6 nationalities, so it’s much in keeping with the international flavor of 2014, with major global events like the Winter Olympics and World Cup.

While Mark Newhouse of the United States will get plenty of attention, players from the Netherlands and Norway are the chip leaders among the finalists. Jorryt van Hoof seized the lead after eliminating a number of the final twenty-seven, while Felix Stephensen, who is the youngest competitor remaining, sits in second place at the moment.

Mark Newhouse’s Amazing Feat

The group has plenty of intrigue beyond the players’ nationalities, though. Mark Newhouse made the Novemeber Nine for the second year in a row. The odds against such a return are astronomical, so Newhouse will be a popular interview in the four months before the winner of the WSOP Main Event is resolved. As the veteran Main Event player among the bunch, it was natural Newhouse would eliminate the 10th place finisher, Luis Velador. Velador was eliminated in a must all-in call with a pair of 4’s, as Newhouse held a pair of 5’s which held up.

Who Is Billy Pappa?

“Billy Pappa”, born William Pappaconstantinou, is colorful figure. Billy Pappa is a 29 year old dealer at a charity poker room, but he gained his nickname in the midst of winning 9-strait world foosball titles.

“This isn’t realistic to me. I’m just a poor kid dealer trying to live a dream,” said Pappaconstantinou after surviving in 7th place. He said the day’s session was the toughest of the event, no doubt because of the high stakes. Each player in the November Nine will take home at least $730,000, though each still has a chance to win $10 million and the WSOP Main Event bracelet when play resumes on November 10 at the Rio.

Round of 27

Play lasted 13 hours, including breaks. To get to the final table, players had to survive 68 and 1/2 hours of cards spread over seven days. Playing ten hours a day for a week is a mental ordeal, when one considers that the player has to maintain focus throughout those days. Many players lose concentration for one hand and bust out. Others cannot withstand the effects of a bad beat or a poorly played hand, which causes them to go “on tilt” and bust out shortly after.

No doubt, every player among the Novemeber Nine had tremendous luck to get to this point. In any tournament which features over 6,683 contestants, a poker player is going to face their share of showdowns. Gamblers can pick-and-choose their spots, hopefully going into key showdowns with an advantage. This won’t always be the case–and even advantage players get unlucky–so the nine players remaining had to have the good luck to win most of their showdowns.

Day 7 – Jorryt van Hoof Emergent

When Day 7 began, 27 gamblers were seated at 3 tables of 9 entrants. By dinnertime, the 11 of the 27 players had been eliminated, leaving two tables and 16 players. Jorryt van Hoof eliminated several of the other competitors, building up the largest chip stack for the final phase of the event. Such an advantage can often be decisive in the latter stages of big tournaments.

The November Nine

Jorryt van Hoof, 31, The Netherlands – $38,375,000
Felix Stephensen, 23, Norway – $32,775,000
Mark Newhouse, 29, USA (Chapel Hill) – $26,000,000
Andoni Larrabe, 22, Spain – $22,500,000
Dan Sindelar, 30, USA (Las Vegas) – $21,200,000
William Pappaconstantinou, 29, USA (New Hampshire) – $17,500,000
William Tonking, 27, USA (Flemington, New Jersey) – $15,050,000
Martin Jacobson, 27, Sweden (Stockholm) – $14,900,000
Bruno Politano, 31, Brazil (Ceara) – $12,125,000

WSOP Main Event

At the beginning of the Main Event, players each receive 30,000 chips. The chips have no value inside the tournament, but players are eliminated when their last chip is gone. Over the course of a tournament, huge amounts of chips accumulate in a few hands. At a few final tables, the chip leader had such an overwhelming lead they pushed opponents out of most hands, building an even bigger stack. They are aided by the fact that survival until later stages of the final table often means hundreds of thousands, even millions, of dollars in winnings.

That hasn’t always been the case, though. The November Nine always has a few stacks large enough to dent the leader’s advantage significantly in head-to-head showdowns. If the leader is foolhardy or the 2nd or 3rd place chip leader is particularly aggressive, the advantage can switch quickly. Felix Stephensen is a few million behind van Hoof, while Mark Newhouse, Andoni Larrabe, and Dan Sindelar each have enough chips to be the leader in one hand.