The 39th annual World Series of Poker (WSOP) main event final table will be delayed until November 9th. This shocking announcement came one month prior to the start of 2008 WSOP by the Commissioner of the WSOP, Jeffery Pollack. The delay would be for approximately four months or 117 days to be exact. The final nine players, dubbed “The November Nine” would return to the Rio All Suite Hotel and Casino on November 9th to compete for the WSOP main event title, bracelet and a first prize of over $9.1 million.

Pollack stated that this change would heighten the public’s interest in the WSOP main event. He believed that poker fans across the world would now ask the question, “Who will win?” not “Who won?” Once the final table is set, the media attention on these final nine players would be unprecedented.

WSOP Final Nine Players

On July 14, 2008, eleven days after the WSOP main event began, the final 27 participants assembled to play down to the final nine players. With 6,844 players beginning the 2008 WSOP main event (the second largest field in the history of poker), only ten players remained a little after midnight, needing one more player to be eliminated.

Ninety minutes into the play, Dean Hamrick had Craig Marquis all-in and dominated with his Qd-Qc vs. Marquis As-Qh. However, after a fairly harmless flop of Jh-7s-3h, Marquis caught runner-runner hearts, allowing him to survive. Ninety more minutes later, Marquis (holding Qh-Qc) turned the tables and called Hamricks’s all-in bet holding As-Jc. After a Kc-10h-3d-10d-Ks board, the November Nine was set.

Let’s meet the final nine players, aka the November Nine (according to their chip stack):

November Nine WSOP 2008

Dennis Phillips: 26,295,000 chips – The elder statesman of the group, this 53 year old account manager for a commercial trucking company is a St. Louis native and the current chip leader.

Ivan Demidov: - 24,400,000 chips – This 27 year old Russian recently made WSOP history by becoming the first player to make both the WSOP main event and WSOP Europe final tables. After finishing 3rd in WSOP Europe, he enters the WSOP main event in 2nd chip position.

Scott Montgomery: 19,690,000 chips – This 26 year old Canadian is on a roll. Prior to the WSOP, he final tabled the World Poker Tour (WPT) LA Poker Classic in February. During the WSOP main event, he finished fourth in the $3,000 Bellagio Cup event.

Peter Eastgate: 18,375,000 chips – This 22 year old poker professional from Denmark plays primarily cash games. Prior to the WSOP, he has played tournaments primarily in Europe, including the European Poker Tour.

Ylon Schwartz: 12,525,000 chips – This 38 year old poker professional from New York was a former professional chess player. He has had over 30 cashes, including twelve at the WSOP, throughout his poker tournament career.

Darus Suharto: 12,520,000 chips – This 39 year old accountant from Toronto, Canada has one previous cash prior to the 2008 WSOP main event. This cash occurred in the 2006 WSOP main event, where he finished in 448th place.

David 'Chino' Rheem: 10,230,000 chips – This 28 year old poker professional hails from Los Angeles, California. Chino, as he is known to his friends, made a televised WSOP final table in 2006. He is close friends with top young poker players such as JC Tran, Nam Lee and the Mizrachi brothers (Michael and Robert).

Craig Marquis: 10,210,000 chips – This 23 year old poker professional from Arlington, Texas plays primarily online. Marquis is good friends with online superstar David “Raptor” Benefield, who also made a deep run in the 2008 WSOP main event, finishing in 73rd place.

Kelly Kim: 2,620,000 chips – This 31 year old poker professional has over 30 career tournament career cashes to his credit. This California native from Whittier began playing poker during college in San Diego and enters the final table as the short stack.

The winner of the 2008 WSOP main event will take home the coveted bracelet, along with over $9.1 million. Good luck to all the members of the November Nine!