The History of November 9

News / Matthew Pitt / 31 October 2008 / Leave a comment

When the 'November Nine' return to the Rioto play out the final table of the 2008 World Series of Poker Main Event, there will have been a break of exactly 117 days since they last battled it out at the felt, writes Matthew Pitt.

Whether or not the break in proceedings proves to be the success story Harrah's and ESPN promised remains to be seen but one thing is for certain, the final table will be the most televised poker event in history.

November 9, the 313th day of the Gregorian calendar, has been the date of some historic events throughout time. On this date in 1985, Garry Kasparov became the youngest ever World Chess Champion when he defeated Anatoly Karpov, aged just 22 years.

Both Peter Eastgate and Craig Marquis, aged 22 and 23 respectively, will also write themselves into the history books should they emerge victorious in the WSOP Main Event. By claiming the title, either of the players would become the youngest-ever winner of the Main Event, taking the record from current holder, Phil Hellmuth, who won the 1989 Main Event aged just 24.

The date is also known as 'Inventor's Day' in Europe, in honour of Hedy Lamarr's birthday. Lamarr, a beautiful actress, was also instrumental in inventing 'frequency-hopping spread spectrum', which was instrumental in modern-day wireless technology. Each of the nine remaining players will need to be at their creative best if they are to lay claim to the coveted bracelet and the $9,119,517 first prize.

Probably the most appropriate event linked to the final table occurred on November 9 1989 and that was the fall of the Berlin Wall. As a result of the liberation of Central and Eastern Europe of communism, George W Bush declared November 9 a federal observance named 'World Freedom Day'.

Without these barriers being lifted, it is unlikely that players such as Ivan Demidov of Russia would have had the freedom to take part in such an amazing sporting spectacle, with the freedom and ease that he has this year.

The final table restarts on November 9 and will play down to the final two players. The tournament will then be paused until November 10, when the two remaining players will return and battle it out heads up until the 2008 WSOP Main Event Champion is crowned.