Pennsylvania native Joseph Mckeehen (GPI No. 254) will carry the largest chip stack inside the Penn & Teller Theater at the Rio All-Suites Hotel and Casino in Las Vegas once play resumes in November. Mckeehen’s chip stack more than doubles that of Israel’s Zvi Stern (GPI No. 9820), who currently sits second in chips. Already guaranteed to become a millionaire with his entry into the November Nine, Mckeehen has started to splurge a bit:
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Mckeehen became the vilain at one point during play on Tuesday as he eliminated everyone’s favorite poker hero Daniel Negreanu (GPI No. 17) as the buzz surrounding Negreanu’s possible participation in the November Nine grew and grew and grew. Sadly, Negreanu was eliminated in 11th position, same place he finished in the 2001 WSOP Main Event.
Kid Poker would earn $63,940 for his 11th place finish in 2001 … 14 years later? He gets to take home $526,778 as a consolation prize as poker fans are all left wondering what if Negreanu had made the November Nine? One thing is for sure, ESPN ratings would have been through the roof as live coverage of the final table begins on Sunday, November 8 at 8:30pm ET.
72-year-old poker legend Pierre Neuville (GPI No. 147) and 2012 WSOP bracelet Max Steinberg (GPI No. 8667), who finished 131st in the 2013 Main Event, are two other of the bigger notables in this edition of the November Nine:
2015 WSOP NOVEMBER NINE SEAT DRAW/CHIP COUNTS
Seat 1: Zvi Stern (ISR) 29,800,000 Seat 2: Pierre Neuville (BEL) 21,075,000 Seat 3: Joshua Beckley (USA) 11,800,000 Seat 4: Max Steinberg (USA) 20,200,000 Seat 5: Thomas Cannuli (USA) 12,250,000 Seat 6: Joseph McKeehen (USA) 63,100,000 Seat 7: Patrick Chan (USA) 6,225,000 Seat 8: Federico Butteroni (ITA) 6,200,000 Seat 9: Neil Blumenfield (UK) 22,000,000
Photo credit: Joe Giron (WSOP)
