The November One
The inaugural version of the November Nine should probably go down as the biggest experiment in the history of poker. The brains behind the World Series of Poker took a bold step earlier this year when they announced they’d be delaying the fi nal table of the 2008 Main Event to give ESPN a chance to build up the fi nal nine players and get poker fans excited about cheering for “who’s going to win,” rather than “who won.”
To describe the atmosphere inside the Penn & Teller Theatre at the Rio on November 9th as the fi nal table began after 117 days of anticipation is nearly impossible. It was part rock concert with the crowd fi ling in and seeming more anxious than the players who were about to get a oncein- a-lifetime shot at being world champion. Thanks to over 300 Dennis Phillips fans it was part county fair. Watching 300 clones walking around in St. Louis Cardinals caps and white dress shirts with the Ford logo embroidered on it had everybody doing double takes. And of course it was part Las Vegas show. How could it not have been?
Phillips was the story early on. The salesmen from St. Louis came to the fi nal table with the chip lead and his story of representing the working class had a lot of people pulling for him. He’d gone as far as hiring poker pros Roy Winston and Joe McGowan as coaches in the months leading up the fi nal table. Expecting the other players to be extremely tight and nervous in the early goings Phillips was the most aggressive player but that plan backfi red on him quickly.
At the fi rst break, after only eighteen hands, Phillips had plummeted from over 26 million to only 8.8 million in chips. His hopes of becoming world champion were fading quickly and there were now seven players with more chips than him. To those in attendance, including his many friends and family, what was supposed to be a coronation ceremony had quickly turned into a wake.
Of all the storylines heading into play there was one that was seemingly already written: Kelly Kim’s. With only nine big blinds in his stack at the start of the day he was going to be the fi rst player eliminated unless something crazy happened. Enter Craig Marquis.
The 22-year-old who had been mentored by his good friends David gRaptorh Benefi eld and Tom gdurrrrh Dwan survived until the 52nd hand. After shoving his last 4.925 million into the middle he found a caller in Scott Montgomery. Marquis fl ipped over pocket sevens and was racing against the Ad Qh of Montgomery. A third seven on the fl op should have sealed the fate of the hand for Marquis, but the 10s on the fl op gave Montgomery some pretty improbable runner-runner options to make a straight. Then the Jd on the turn gave Marquis some cards to sweat on the river; four kings. The Ks on fi fth street brought a gasp from the 1,000 people in attendance and a nod from Marquis as he hit the rail in ninth.
“I was starting to get a little bit frustrated because I was a little bit card dead. That last hand obviously had a lot of mixed emotions,” said Marquis as he met the media throng that greeted every bustout. “The whole thing was a lot of fun though. It’s kind of crazy to have it all be over now. I was really hoping to wait until tomorrow.”
“That’s not really that bad of a beat,” admitted Marquis. “I got it in as 55%. That’s how I have to look at the hand. It happens – that’s the game we play.” Obviously the most relieved man in the room was Kim. Standing at the side of the table Kim looked at his supporters as the hand played out as if he was in the hand himself. The result was better than he could have imagined. When the November Nine left the Rio in July they were all paid ninth place money, $900,670, with the remaining money put into an interest bearing account for the fi rst through eighth place fi nishers to split accordingly. Ninth place received no more money and none of the interest, and – the endorsement and sponsorship money Marquis earned notwithstanding – he waited 117 days for nothing.
Kim, who has fl own the gIfm just happy to be hereh fl ag since July, would see his WSOP end on the very next hand. With almost all of his chips committed to the big blind, Kim put the rest of it in after Darus Suharto, Ivan Demidov and Ylon Schwartz had all limped. The three players called and after the board ran out 9h 6s 2s Ah Qd, Kim mucked his hand, shook the hands of his fellow players, and headed to the rail to the loud cheers of his family and a standing ovation lead by the army of Dennis Phillips supporters.
“I know that I had one shot at this in this life time, probably, realistically, and I just wanted to try to wait and wait and wait as long as I could. Every hand that you wait and survive there’s a better chance for you to squeak up,” said Kim. “Obviously, I wanted to win this thing, but you’ve got to double up fi rst before you can do that.”
“It’s amazing that I just squeaked up one spot. What happened to Craig was unfortunate but that’s what happens when you give yourself a chance to move up. I moved up one spot and I’m very ecstatic about it.”
While Kim was gracious in defeat the next of the November Nine to fall was anything but. David “Chino” Rheem was the one player at the fi nal table that diehard poker fans may already have known. He’d made two previous WSOP fi nal tables and was good friends with the Mizrachi brothers, Michael, Robert, and Eric. He also had a number of pros in the stands sweating him including Greg Mueller, Amnon Filippi, J.C. Tran, and Nam Le. Despite having all that support and expertise behind him, he couldn’t avoid the fate of a cold deck.
After moving all in for his last 3.5 million and getting a call from Peter Eastgate in the small blind, Rheem had to be happy to see his As Kc dominating Eastgatefs Ah Qd. The fl op, however, delivered the Qs and with no help on the turn or river Rheem was out of pokerfs biggest event in the worst way possible. Losing as a three to one favorite didnft sit well with Rheem in his post-bustout interview when he was asked how he felt about the hand that cost him his shot at the bracelet.
“Are you for being serious right now? What the fuck kinda question is that? How do you think I’m feeling?” answered Rheem, in the most honest way possible. “Not to be rude, but I put my heart into it and my heart is broken. How do you think I’m feeling? “I feel like shit. It’s that simple. You can quote me on that. I feel like shit.”
The next two eliminations broke the hearts of Canadian poker fans. In the forty year history of the Main Event, a Canadian has never won it all. The highest previous fi nish by anybody representing the Maple Leaf had been Tuan Lam’s runner-up to Jerry Yang in 2007. Both Scott Montgomery and Darus Suharto had the opportunity to break that streak but the Canuck-on-Canuck violence that took place ensured that the streak of no Canadian winners continued.
Montgomery opened the pot to 1.5 million only to watch Suharto move all in for 8.55 million from the button. After considering his options for some time and trying to get a read on his fellow Canadian, Montgomery made the call and tabled As Qd. Suharto sheepishly showed Ah 8c as both players waited for ESPN to give the dealer the go ahead. The fl op only made matters worse for Suharto, whose tournament life was the one at risk. Ks Js 2s gave Montgomery the nut fl ush draw as well as a straight draw. All drama died on the turn when the 4s fell to complete the fl ush, eliminate Suharto, and push Montgomery into second position with 32,700,000 in chips. He trailed only Eastgate at this point.
“I’m disappointed, I’m very disappointed. I’m happy to make sixth place, but I’m disappointed with the last hand,” said Suharto, who admitted he was planning to go back to his job in Toronto as soon as he got home. “It’s not enough money to retire.”
The sudden emergence of Montgomery as a force at the table evaporated as quickly as it had appeared. Showing signs of fatigue, the 27-year-old made a fatal mistake only nine hands after eliminating Suharto that would all but end his run at the title while propelling Demidov to the front of the pack in a big way.
In a battle of the blinds Montgomery, the small blind, raised to 1.5 million which was quickly followed by a reraise to 4.025 million by Demidov. Montgomery then asked the Russian a question that must have been music to his ears. gHow much do you have behind?h Demidov didnft answer but when Montgomery moved all in the Russian snap-called to put the pot at just over 50 million. Montgomery showed Ad 9d and Demidov tabled pocket kings. The fl op brought a four-fl ush for Montgomery but that was as close as he got as Demidovfs kings held up. Canadafs last shot at the title was left with just over 7 million in chips.
While that hand left some observers shaking their heads, his elimination hand, only fi ve hands later, would end up being one of the most talked about in the days following the fi nal table. After Peter Eastgate opened with a raise to 1.25 million, the short-stacked Montgomery moved all in from the small blind and Eastgate made the call. The 22-yearold Dane showed 6h 6s while Montgomery tabled Ad 3d. The fl op brought one ace and Dennis Phillips let the table know he had folded the six of clubs. When the turn brought another ace, it looked as if Montgomery was safe.
But for the fi rst time since the fi nal table resumed play the entire theatre went quiet for a few seconds when the dealer peeled off the case six giving Eastgate a full house. Phillips immediately went into the muck and dug out his cards to prove he’d folded the other six, and the crowd, lead by Phillips’ supporters, came screaming back to life.
“I saw it coming. I actually said ‘Oh, so the six of diamonds is the only one left. I’m going to have to catch a diamond on the turn so when the six of diamonds comes on the river it won’t beat me,’” said Montgomery. “I was behind when I put the money in, so I don’t consider that a suckout.”
“I told myself to play tight, play against my image. And I did, I played tight except for one big bluff and that one big bluff got immediately called. Playing tight all day would have been a little smarter.”
While the back-to-back eliminations of Suharto and Montgomery left Canada out in the cold, the next player to go would disappoint all fi ve boroughs of New York City. Ylon Schwartz, the 38-year-old chess hustler from Brooklyn, NY, was one card away from taking a monster pot off of Eastgate when his WSOP came to a crashing halt.
The pot was opened by Eastgate for 1.5 million and Schwartz made the call from the small blind. The Kh 8h 2s fl op brought a check from both players. The Kd on the turn brought another check from Schwartz but a 1.75 million bet from Eastgate. The New Yorker called and the river brought the 5d. Schwartz quickly checked and allowed Eastgate to bet 4.6 million. Without much hesitation Schwartz moved all in for an additional 11.2 million and was representing either kings full or eights full.
At this point the 22-year-old Dane took some time to replay the hand in his head and seemed to be contemplating a fold. When he fi nally made the call, it left the audience in shock. Still unsure of his handfs strength Eastgate allowed Schwartz to table Ah 10c for ace-high before showing 5c 5s for a rivered full house. Schwartzfs call on the turn followed by a check-raise on the river left Eastgate wondering if his full house was already beaten by a bigger hand. The bluff almost worked for Schwartz but in the end the Danish youngster sniffed it out and snuffed out Schwartz in the process.
Leading up to the fi nal table, Schwartz had become a media hermit, giving limited interviews and avoiding the spotlight at all costs. He continued that trend after busting out and refused to oblige the media throng that awaited him. His elimination left three players, Eastgate, Demidov and the last American standing, Phillips, to chase the $9.1 million payday.
Getting Phillips to heads-up play was going to be a task too great – even with an army behind him. Eastgate started three-handed play with nearly 65 million, Demidov had a hair over 52 million, and Phillips was just below 20 million. By this point play had been going on for over 14.5 hours and the Phillips cheering section had been partying the entire time. Despite consuming what may have been record levels of Milwaukee’s Best Light throughout the day the army was still in control of the theatre. What they weren’t in control of, however, were the cards.
After Demidov folded from the button, Eastgate raised to 1.5 million from the small blind and Phillips called. The fl op came Jc 4d 3s and Eastgate threw out a continuation bet of 1.5 million. Phillips began to count out his chips for a raise and eventually decided to move all in; Eastgatefs chips beat Phillipsf into the pot as the 22-year-old showed his fl op set of threefs. Phillips shook his head, then nodded approval and turned over 10c 9h. The turn and river were anything but kind to Phillips and he was sent packing in third place, $3,617,163 richer.
“I was down to 16 million. Not a whole lot of wiggle room there. I fi gured unless he had a jack he’d have to fold if I pushed in. They didn’t want me to double up and get to 30 million. Of course, he had a set. So anyhow it was a bad move.
“I wish I’d gone out on a little better hand. But how can I complain about this? My per-hour pay today was not too bad. I had over 300 people here. I came in here telling (everybody) I was going to have fun, and I guarantee you I had fun here.”
With Phillips’ elimination just before 2am the tournament was again put on pause – but this time only for about twenty hours. The two remaining players, Ivan Demidov and Peter Eastgate, would return to the table at 10pm to duke it out for the world championship.
When the two players returned that night Eastgate had 79.5 million to the 57.725 million of Demidov. Like Phillips the night before, Eastgate watched his lead slip away early on only to buckle down and refocus on accumulating the last of the chips. ESPN only showed two hands, both of which Eastgate won, but the early action was dominated by Demidov and he nearly doubled up on the fi rst hand.
As he had done on numerous hands down the stretch, Eastgate opened with a raise to 1.5 million. Demidov called and both players saw a fl op of Kh 10s 10h. Demidov checked and Eastgate came out fi ring with a bet of 1.75 million. Demidov called and the turn was the Kd. Demidov again checked and Eastgate followed suit. The river card is where things got interesting. The Kc brought a bet of 8 million from Demidov and sent Eastgate into the tank. After nearly ninety seconds of replaying the hand in his head the young Dane made the fold and before many spectators had the chance to settle in their seats the power had shifted.
But Eastgate was not discouraged. “The early stages of the heads-up were just standard swings. I didn’t make any real mistakes; he was catching hands and was taking advantage of the spots. I didn’t do anything wrong so I wasn’t afraid of him getting the chip lead. I was confi dent in myself and confi dent in my game so I kept on playing the game I always play.”
Over the next four hours Eastgate stayed the course and continued to chip away at Demidov. It took 175 hands of play between the two European upstarts before Eastgate claimed victory. With the deep stacks of each player it took both players making a hand before all the chips got in the middle. Both players limped to see a fl op of Ks 2d 3h. Demidov checked and Eastgate continued his aggressive play with a bet of 1.25 million. Demidov called the bet and the 4c hit the turn. Another 2 million bet from Eastgate was met with a check-raise to 6 million by Demidov. Eastgate called the bet and the 7s came on the river. Demidov moved all-in and Eastgate called and watched as Demidov fl ipped up 2h 4h for two pair. But the card the made Demidovfs two pair and led him to believe his hand was good was also the card that made the wheel straight for Eastgate.
“That hand kind of summed up the heads-up. I had him crippled to below 20 million and I was lucky that he hit two pair on the turn where I hit the wheel. It was kind of inevitable for those two hands to get it all in,” said Eastgate, who was extremely stoic in the minutes after his win, eschewing the primal yell or scream that has accompanied most previous world championship moments. “I guess I hadn’t really realized how big this is. That will come in the next weeks or days. I will get very emotional at some point.”
For his part, Demidov accepted defeat with class and was quick to point out that he was outplayed by Eastgate during the heads-up play.
“He defi nitely had the best of it. I really had no idea how he was going to play heads-up and he has way more experienced than me so maybe I was playing a bit passive and sometimes I made the bad calls where I should have just folded. I was just thinking he was going to bluff a little more than he really did.”
The victory by Eastgate was historic and erased Phil Hellmuth’s name from a WSOP record he’ll never be able to recapture. At 22 years old, Eastgate shattered the record for youngest Main Event winner of all time. Hellmuth, who won it all in 1989 at age 24, held the record for 19 years.
