LAS VEGAS (July 16, 2013) – The 44^th annual World Series of Poker (WSOP) $10,000 No-Limit Hold’em Championship – commonly referred to as the Main Event – is down to its final nine players. The “November Nine” – a diverse and international group – is all that remains of the massive field of 6,352 players from 83 different nations who entered the iconic tournament seeking poker’s most coveted title and a top prize of more than $8.3 million.

The final nine players represent five countries – Canada, France, Israel, Netherlands and the United States. The players will return to the Rio All-Suite Hotel and Casino on Monday, November 4 to vie for poker’s ultimate trophy – a WSOP gold bracelet – and the lion’s share of the Main Event’s $59,708,800 total prize pool. The winner will receive a first-place prize of $8,359,531, with the other eight players sharing another $18,302,535.

The November Nine and their respective seat assignments and chip counts are as follows:

1.    Sylvain Loosli – 19,600,000

Loosli is a 26-year old poker professional originally from Toulon, France, but now residing in London, England.  The business school graduate is the least accomplished tournament player left in the field, with zero career WSOP cashes and only $3,198 in recorded earnings worldwide.  However, Loosli considers himself an online poker cash game specialist, with more than $1,000,000 in winnings, so a one-table format should suit his skill set.  When not playing poker, Loosli, enjoys playing tennis, surfing, snowboarding and travelling.  His finish in this Main Event will mark his first cash in a poker event outside of France.

2.    Michiel Brummelhuis – 11,275,000

Brummelhuis is a 32-year-old poker professional from Amsterdam, Netherlands.  Brummelhuis will be a busy man the next several months, as he is expecting his first child in September.  This marks Michiel’s fourth time to play the WSOP Main Event, and first time since 2008.  He did not cash in this event in his previous attempts. Brummelhuis has seven previous WSOP cashes for $174,170 in earnings and more than $670,000 in career poker tournament winnings.  With his accomplishment in this event, Michiel will more than double his career winnings and more than quadruple his WSOP winnings.  This marks the first time a Dutch player has made the WSOP Main Event final table, securing the country’s highest finish since Marcel Luske finished 10^thin 2004.  He can also become the fourth-ever WSOP gold bracelet winner from the Netherlands.

3.    Mark Newhouse – 7,350,000

Newhouse is a 28-year-old professional poker player who has played in the WSOP Main Event every year since 2006. Originally from Chapel Hill, North Carolina, he now resides in Los Angeles, California.  With $152,725 in WSOP earnings, Newhouse has cashed six previous times, including a 207^th place finish in the 2011 WSOP Main Event for $47,107.  His total live poker tournament winnings are $2,004,277.

4.    Ryan Riess – 25,875,000

Riess is a 23-year-old poker professional from East Lansing, Michigan who now resides in Las Vegas, Nevada.  Riess, a Michigan State University graduate with a degree in business, has cashed in 3 WSOP events for $30,569 with his biggest cash coming in the 2012 WSOP Circuit Main Event at Horseshoe Hammond in Chicago, where he finished in second place for $239,063. This was Riess’ first time entering the WSOP Main Event, but this marks his fourth cash at the WSOP this summer.  He has $309,478 in career live poker tournament winnings.  Riess is the youngest player remaining at this final table.

5.    Amir Lehavot – 29,700,000

Lehavot is a 38-year-old Israeli now residing in Weston, Florida.  Lehavot is a WSOP gold bracelet champion, by way of his victory in 2011 in the prestigious $10,000 buy-in Pot-Limit Omaha championship.  A poker professional by trade, Lehavot has cashed 12 previous times at the WSOP for more than $800,000.  His career poker tournament winnings total more than $1.5 million. He holds an Engineering degree from the University of Texas at Austin. Amir is the oldest player remaining in the field, ironic since 38.1 years old was the average age of this year’s Main Event field.  He is 38 years old and two months.

6.    Marc-Etienne McLaughlin – 26,525,000

McLaughlin, of Brossard, Quebec, Canada, is a 25-year-old pokerplayer.  This marks his fifth consecutive year playing the Main Event, and he is no stranger to making deep runs, finishing 30^th in 2009 and 86^th in 2011.  McLaughlin can become the second French Canadian World Champion, following in the footsteps of 2010 WSOP Main Event Champion Jonathan Duhamel from nearby Boucherville.  In his free time, the University graduate enjoys playing soccer and ping pong.  His WSOP record includes six previous cashes and $639,168 in earnings, but his finish in this event will mark his biggest cash in his young career.

7.    JC Tran – 38,000,000

The chip leader entering final table play in November, Tran is a 36-year-old poker professional from Sacramento, California.  Tran has 44 previous WSOP cashes, two WSOP gold bracelets and a WSOP Circuit ring amongst his $1,843,946 in WSOP earnings.  He is the most decorated player remaining in this field and he will start with more than eight million chips in front of his nearest competitor.  In total, Tran has pocketed $8.3 million in winnings during his poker career and, with this final table, will go over the $9 million earnings mark. Tran won WSOP gold bracelets in back to back years in 2008 and 2009.  His 2008 victory in a $1,500 No-Limit Hold’em event earned him $631,170, but with a ninth-place finish guaranteeing $733,224, Tran will earn his largest WSOP cash in his career.

8.    David Benefield – 6,375,000

The shortest chip stack entering play in November, Benefield is a 27-year-old part-time student and part-time poker professional originally from Fort Worth, Texas now residing in New York City. Benefield has a dozen previous WSOP cashes for $455,713 and career live poker tournament winnings of $633,243.  He is currently studying Political Science and Chinese at Columbia University.  Though he skipped the WSOP Main Event last year, Benefield has played it five previous times, cashing once in 2008 in 73^rd place for $77,200.  In his free time, Benefield enjoys reading and playing basketball.

9.    Jay Farber – 25,975,000

Farber is a 28-year-old Las Vegas VIP Host originally from Doylestown, Pennsylvania.  This is Jay’s second time playing the WSOP Main Event, having entered it for the first time last year.  Poker is just a hobby for Jay, and his career earnings back that up.  Farber has never cashed in a WSOP event before and shows lifetime poker winnings of just $2,155.  That marks the least amount of earnings for a WSOP Main Event final tablist since the advent of the November Nine in 2008.  The UC Santa Barbara business graduate enjoys travelling, sports and cars.

Carlos Mortensen, 41, finished in 10^th place, just one spot away from the November Nine. Mortensen, from Alicante, Spain is the 2001 WSOP Main Event Champion and was the last remaining former champion in the field.  In the end, it was not enough to make the final table, but he does collect tenth place prize money of $573,204.

In addition to the first-place prize of $8,359,531, prize money for the remaining eight spots is as follows*:

2^nd place: $5,173,170
3^rd place: $3,727,023
4^th place: $2,791,983
5^th place: $2,106,526
6^th place: $1,600,792
7^th place: $1,225,224
8^th place: $944,593
9^th place: $733,224

When play resumes November 4, the players will pick up with 42 minutes and 25 seconds remaining in Level 35. The antes will be 50,000 and blinds will stand at 200,000 and 400,000.

Comprehensive WSOP Main Event television coverage will begin airing Tuesday, August 6 at 9 p.m. Eastern on ESPN. Coverage will continue in two-hour blocks each Tuesday at 9 p.m. culminating with Main Event Final Table coverage on November 4-5, 2013.

The 2013 Main Event capped the largest-ever WSOP in terms of entrants. A total of 79,471 players from 107 countries entered the 62 events on this summer’s WSOP schedule, generating a total record prize pool of $197,041,468.

The 2013 Main Event was the eighth-largest in the tournament’s illustrious history, drawing 6,352 players from 83 nations. The average age of entrants in the event was 38.1 years old, with the oldest entrant, William Wachter age 92, and the youngest, Rayan Chamas, 21 years old, 8 days.  298 females – or 4.7% comprised this year’s field, up from 211 entries last year.  Melbourne, Australia’s Jackie Glazier was the last female standing, finishing in 31^st place good for $229,281.

*The final nine players each received ninth-place prize money upon reaching the final table; the remainder of the prize pool will be placed in an interest-bearing account to be added to the prize pool on a percentage basis for the final eight finishers.

ABOUT THE WSOP

The World Series of Poker (WSOP) is the largest, richest and most prestigious gaming event in the world, awarding millions of dollars in prize money and the prestigious gold bracelet – globally recognized as the sport’s top prize. Featuring a comprehensive slate of tournaments in every major poker variation, the WSOP is poker’s longest running tournament in the world, dating back to 1970. In 2013, the event attracted 79,471 entrants from 107 different countries to the Rio in Las Vegas and awarded more than $197 million in prize money. In addition the WSOP has formed groundbreaking alliances in broadcasting, digital media and corporate sponsorships, while successfully expanding the brand internationally with the advent of the World Series of Poker Europe. For more information on the World Series of Poker, please visit www.WSOP.com.