Las Vegas Weekly

November 9, 2008 · 4:01 PM

$32.7 million WSOP’s final rounds are underway at The Rio

By Robin Leach

The November Nine and a show of hands at The Rio.

Photo: Harrah's/WSOP

At 2 p.m. today, Penn & Teller’s theater at The Rio was packed to the rafters, yet the silence was so hushed and reverential, you honestly could hear the turn of an ace! It’s now more than four hours since nine of the world’s best poker players sat down on the stage to battle one another for a share of $32,731,625 in the World Series of Poker World Championship.

Each one of them is aiming for the $9,152,416 first-place prize. Little wonder then that the tension is thick enough to cut with Emeril Lagasse’s New Orleans knives.

Every so often, the silence is interrupted by a quick, loud cheer as one player grabs a little of the win, and then the peace of quiet lowers again. What’s extraordinary is that more than 2,000 people were lined up here at 8 a.m. Even at 2 p.m., there were still 500 of the faithful waiting to get into the next vacated seat.

WSOP officials tell me it will be somewhere around midnight when the players reach the final twosome. Vegas DeLuxe will have all those details early tomorrow with photos.

“Once the first bust-out is done, things will pick up faster,” I was told. “When you’re playing for this much money, the level of intensity is incredible -- and nobody wants to be the first to go.”

It was at 3:22 p.m. that the WSOP had its first bust-out. Craig Marquis was eliminated in 9th place on hand #52 -- but, if it’s any consolation, he walks away with $900,672.

ESPN will broadcast the last head-to-head showdown Tuesday, within hours of one poker prince’s victory and the other’s loss. Still not bad, though, to come in second because that player will walk away with $5,809,595. The dealer’s table is the center of an elaborately designed TV set, and it’s screened off so even those lucky enough to get inside the Penn & Teller theater still have to watch on monitors.

It was back on July 15 at 3:25 a.m. that the 2008 WSOP World Championship Main Event came down to the final November Nine when Dean Hamrick went all-in and Craig Marquis called over the top. Marquis’ pair of queens held up, and Hamrick finished in 10th place with $591,869. Not bad for a $10,000 buy-in!

Click HERE for our coverage on Friday for the details of the nine remaining players.

This is the world’s richest and most prestigious poker tournament, with the players vying for the most coveted prize -- the WSOP Championship Bracelet. This year’s total prize pool rang in at $64,431,779.

We’re set to meet the two finalists at 1 p.m. tomorrow in the Rio, and then tomorrow at 10 p.m., boxing’s Michael Buffer will bring his top voice to introduce the players, the shuffle and the deal. Sometime in the early hours of Tuesday morning, there will be a new $9 million man -- the best poker player in the world. Vegas DeLuxe will have that breaking news early Tuesday.

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