News / Matthew Pitt / 16 July 2009 / Leave a comment

Day 8 of the World Championship $10,000 No-limit Hold'em Event started at noon Las Vegas time and just 11 hours later the 27 players who started were whittled down until only the November Nine had chips remaining.

With so much at stake, fame, money and of course a coveted WSOP bracelet, play was expected to be tight with eliminations few and far between but nothing could have been further from the truth as four players headed to the rail within the first two-hour level.

Play was fast and aggressive from the off and James Akenhead lost a large portion of his stack very early on. Having arrived three minutes late, Akenhead check-raised Ian Tavelli's 750,000 bet all-in on a Qh5h7c flop with Kings, only to be snap-called by Tavelli who held pocket Aces. The 6d and 7h on the turn and river respectively saw the British player's stack dwindle to 2,800,000 and boosted Tavelli's stack close to the 10,000,000 mark.

First elimination of the day

First to bust out was the last woman in the tournament, Leo Margets who lost the rest of her short stack within the first twenty minutes of play when she moved all-in over the top of Warren Zackey's 350,000 raise. Zackey made the call and was in good shape as his AhTh dominated Margets' As7h and his lead was extended when the flop fell 4c8dTs. This left Margets a 95/5 underdog and now miracles arrived on the turn and river and she was eliminated.

The eliminations came thick and fast but a significant one happened when Eric Buchman raised to 425,000 on the button, only to see Tommy Vedes move all-in for 1,900,000. After some deliberation Buchman called and showed a pair of sevens. Vedes revealed his hand, a pair of threes and his fans went crazy when they saw the Tc3c7c flop, not realising his opponent had also flopped a set. Vedes needed the case three to stay in the tournament but the Qh and 2s sent him to the rail with $352,832 for his troubles and meant each of the remaining players would be guaranteed $500,557.

With just 14 players remaining James Akenhead once again lost a large portion of his stack when he was all-in preflop with Ace-King vs Antoine Saout's pair of eights and failed to improve but then was doubled up himself when he cracked Jamie Robbins' Aces with KhQh all-in preflop. A board of KdQhJs7c5d saw Akenhead give himself some breathing room.

Darvin Moon wins a monster pot

Three players, Ben Lamb, Billy Kopp and Jamie Robbins then busted in quick succession, with Kopp's exit hand being one that will haunt him for a long time to come. With the board reading Kd9d2d2h, Kopp entered a raiding war with Darvin Moon which resulted in Kopp being all-in. His 5d3d had flopped a baby flush but Moon had flopped a larger flush with QdJd to eliminate Kopp and boost his own stack to a staggering 45,000,000.

Moon then claimed the scalp of Jordan Smith after cracking his Aces. Ric Buchman raised to 650,000, a bet that was called by Moon. Smith then made a squeeze play and raised to 2,600,000 which only Moon called. The flop came down 8c4d2d prompting Smith to check-raise Moon's 4,000,000 bet all-in, Moon called and showed a pair of eights in the hole for top set, way in front of Smith's AhAd. No aces on the turn or river and with Smith's elimination, the November Nine were confirmed.

The players now go on a 115-day break, with Darvin Moon holding the title of chip-leader for almost four months. Play will resume on November 9 where the players will play down until only two of them remain. These two players will then play the heads-up match on November 10 with the victor claiming $8,546,435 and the most sought after piece of jewellery in poker.

Seat 1 - Darvin Moon - 58,930,000
Seat 2 - James Akenhead - 6,800,000
Seat 3 - Phil Ivey - 9,765,000
Seat 4 - Kevin Schaffel - 12,390,000
Seat 5 - Steven Begleiter - 29,885,000
Seat 6 - Eric Buchman - 34,800,000
Seat 7 - Joe Cada - 13,215,000
Seat 8 - Antoine Saout - 9,500,000
Seat 9 - Jeff Shulman - 19,580,000