WSOP Favourites and Background of the Players

In three months time, nine players will return to Las Vegas for the biggest tournament of their lives, or in Mark Newhouse's case, just another final table to add to his resume. It seems that every year now the November Nine results in more established players occupying it which shows you need more than just run good to reach this illustrious final table.

The chip leader going into the final table is Jorryt van Hoof of Netherlands with a chip count of 38,375,000. With $358,580 in lifetime cashes previous to this final table, no matter where Jorryt finishes he will at least double his career earnings. The last chip leader of the November Nine who went on to win the bracelet was Jonathan Duhamel in 2010. It's hard to close out tournaments anyway but closing out the final table of the WSOP Main Event is on a much tougher scale. With van Hoof's last tournament win in 2013 at the Utrecht Series of Poker for $42,891, he knows how to close out tournaments but it won't be easy for him with the calibre of players at this final table.

Second in chips going into the final table is the relatively unknown Felix Stephensen of Norway sitting on a chip stack of 32,775,000. With only $22,118 in live cashes to date, reaching this final table is by far Stephensen's biggest ever score and with his chip count why couldn't he become the next main event champion? The beauty of the Main Event is that no matter what your poker background looks like on paper, everyone has a chance of changing their life by winning this event and Felix has a great opportunity to do so.

Sitting in third is Mark Newhouse, no stranger to the final table of the WSOP main event and he became the first player to make back-to-back final tables since Dan Harrington in 2003 and 2004. After finishing ninth last year, there is no doubt that Newhouse will want a better showing this year and with a chip count of 26,000,000 he is in good shape to do that. Making back-to-back final tables is not only an incredible accomplishment but admittedly you need your fair share of luck to get there. However, Newhouse has $2,776,172 in live cashes previous to this final table and is well equipped to take down this event to add to his already impressive resume.

Now for the youngest player at the final table, Andoni Larrabe. At only 22 years of age, the Spaniard has already reached the biggest final table in poker and is sitting in 4th with a stack of 22,550,000. Despite being young, Larrabe has some impressive results to his name both live and online, his main live result being a win in the $5,000 NL Holdem event at the Pokerstars Caribbean Adventure for $218,710. Previous to this event, Larrabe managed three cashes at this year's WSOP for around $20,000 but the fourth cash will certainly be a lot more than that and with the stack he has, he could define his career at this young age by winning the event.

Fifth in chips is Daniel Sindelar with 21,200,000 to start the final table with. Sindelar is no stranger to grinding the WSOP scene and has $227,791 in cashes in both the WSOP and Circuit events coming into this event. His best result up until now was in the 2007 Fall Poker Classic $1,000 Championship event which saw him take home the trophy and $105,312. He's in the same boat as a few players at the final table whereby he hasn't had too many huge results in the past but he has enough experience travelling the circuit to know what it takes to win this event.

Sixth in chips and the only amateur at the final table is foosball champ, William Pappaconstantinou. Pappaconstantinou started his poker career with two cashes back in 2010 at the World Poker Finals at Foxwoods for $1,038 and $15,341. However, this is a whole different type of cash in comparison with those; but the fact that Pappaconstantinou is an amateur could play in his favour as his opponents may underestimate him. With 17,500,000 in chips, he has as good of a chance as anybody to win the event.

William Tonking will be at the final table in seventh place with a chip stack of 15,050,000. Tonking has $93,306 in cashes prior to this event with his biggest cash coming in the $2,500 NL Holdem Sands Bethlehem Deepstack Extravaganza Main Event in 2012 for $28,000. Despite Tonking describing himself as more of a cash game player, he certainly isn't doing much harm to his tournament career by making the final table of this event. Although he will be starting the final table with one of the shorter stacks, he still has plenty of chips at his disposal to win this tournament.

Now for the most decorated player at this final table, Martin Jacobson. With $4,807,316 in tournament cashes prior to this event, Jacobson is by far the most established player going into this final table. Despite sitting eighth in chips with 14,900,000, Jacobson has enough experience in huge prize pool events to turn it around and become the first Swedish Main Event Champion. Jacobson has had many major cashes in the last 5 years but is still missing that illustrious title, although he has a short stack at this final table, could he turn it around and finally get that WSOP bracelet he deserves?

Last in chips but by no means least in ability is the Brazilian, Bruno Politano. Politano is the first Brazilian to reach the November Nine and could he be the first Brazilian World Champion? With a stack of 12,125,000 it would be a remarkable comeback from Politano to go and win the event but with the extremely vocal rail that Politano will have come November, I wouldn't be surprised to see him go far. Politano has just over $110,000 in cashes prior to this event with his largest being a third-place finish in the 2013 Brazilian Series of Poker Main Event for $47,493. Despite being the short stack, Politano has vocalised his confidence and believes he can turn it around to win the event which will no doubt be celebrated for years to come by the Brazilian rail.

Looking at how this final table is set out it's difficult to see an obvious winner but simply due to the fact that he's been there before and is well equipped this time round, I can see Mark Newhouse having the complete opposite finish of last year and taking the event down. However, it won't be plain sailing for him; if Jacobson manages to pick up chips early then it will be bad news for the remaining players.

The article is courtesy of another writer, Adam, who was kind enough to send it to us.