Final Table Decided in WSOP Main Event

The final day of play in July went down and now nine players remain in the 2012 WSOP Main Event. Those who are left are looking at a huge payouts now - which is a pretty good return on a $10K buy-in. And surprisingly, none of the nine players to outlast a total field of 6,598 players in the world’s greatest poker tournament are well-known poker pros.

When play resumes in October, the remaining nine will seat themselves around the final table, all hoping to become the WSOP Main Event champions. Yes the tension will be high. It’s all come down to this. It’s all about making their dreams of becoming the next world champion a reality.

Here are the final nine players:

Seat 1: Russell Thomas, Chips: 24,800,000 (4^th place)
Seat 2: Jacob Balsiger, Chips: 13,115,000 (8^th place)
Seat 3: Jeremy Ausmus, Chips: 9,805,000 (9^th place)
Seat 4: Steven Gee, Chips: 16,860,000 (5^th place)
Seat 5: Greg Merson, Chips: 28,725,000 (3^rd place)
Seat 6: Jesse Sylvia, Chips: 43,875,000 in chips (1^st place)
Seat 7: Robert Salaburu, Chips: 15,155,000 (7^th place)
Seat 8: Andras Koroknai, Chips: 29,375,000 (2^nd place)
Seat 9: Michael Esposito, Chips: 16,260,000 (6^th place)

The chip leader is 26-year-old, Jesse Sylvia, who has under USD $25,000 in live tournament cashes. To learn more about the players, see their bios.

Worst Beat Ever:

Actor Kevin Pollak, known for his roles in Casino, Grumpy Old Men and The Usual Suspects missed out on his shot at the final table with not just a bad beat, but a horrific one. Kirill Rabtsov raised to 52,000 and Kevin Pollak moved all in from the big blind for his last 369,000. Rabtsov quickly called and they flipped their cards, revealing that they both held pocket queens.

Rabtsov: {q-Hearts} {q-Spades}

Pollak: {q-Diamonds} {q-Clubs}

It looked like they were going to split the pot, but when the flop revealed {K-Clubs} {9-Hearts} {k-Hearts} . The {3-Hearts} hit the turn, and the crown started to groan. Pollak put his hands on his head and was hardly able to look at the river.