By TheNuts - Jul 15, 2014
Newhouse Makes Back-to-Back Main Event Final Tables
The 2014 World Series of Poker 'November 9' is set, with familiar face Mark Newhouse defying the odds and reaching poker's most prestigious final table for the second consecutive year. Sitting in third place entering the final stage, Newhouse will look to improve on his 9th place finish in 2013 by claiming the coveted gold bracelet on his second attempt.
Standing in his way will be a talented group from around the world - in total there will be 6 different nationalities represented. The remaining players will command the following stacks when play resumes in November:
Jorryt van Hoof (Netherlands) - 38,375,000
Felix Stephensen (Norway) - 32,775,000
Mark Newhouse (USA) - 26,000,000
Andoni Larrabe (Spain) - 22,550,000
Dan Sindelar (USA) - 21,200,000
William Pappaconstantinou (USA) - 17,500,000
William Tonking (USA) - 15,050,000
Martin Jacobson (Sweden) - 14,900,000
Bruno Politano (Brazil) - 12,125,000
Play started with 27 hopefuls still in the running on Monday afternoon and the action was fast and furious with two players eliminated before the days first break. After the restart crowd favorite Bryan Devonshire lost a race for his tournament life - bowing out in 25th. Leif Force, who bubbled the Main Event final table in 2006, soon saw his run end in 21st.
The biggest name in the field entering day 7 was High-Roller specialist Dan Smith, looking to add to his more than $8 Million in career tournament earnings. Despite hanging around as one of the chipleaders for several days, Smith's As-Ks was unable to improve against van Hoof's pocket 4's resulting in a 20th place finish.
With Smith out of the picture all eyes focused on Mark Newhouse who was looking to become the first player to reach the final table of the Main Event in consecutive years since Dan Harrington acomplished the feat in '03 and '04 against fields of 839 and 2,576 respectively.
Entering the final 18 in the middle of the pack, Newhouse would suffer a setback by running his A-9 into the A-K of Felix Stephensen - moving him into unfamiliar territory towards the bottom of the chip counts. However, a flopped set of deuces would soon change his fortune and serve as the catalyst for his final table push. After eliminating Craig McCorkell in 13th place, the November 9 veteran would once again strike gold with a small pair - flopping a set of 3's to KO Maximilian Senft in 11th. On the tense final table bubble it was Newhouse again that stepped up to the plate, calling Luis Velador's 6.15m chip shove with pocket 5's. Velador's pair of 4's did not improve, and the 2014 November 9 was set.
While wading through fields of 6,352 (2013) and 6,683 players (2014) is an astonishing accomplishment, Mark Newhouse will undoubtedly be looking to make history of a different kind this fall by collecting the Main Event championship that eluded him a year ago.
While the final 9 will have locked up a hefty $730,725 payout, they will all be focused on the winners purse. Here's what they'll be playing for:
1st - $10,000,000
2nd - $5,145,968
3rd - $3,806,402
4th - $2,848,833
5th - $2,143,174
6th - $1,622,080
7th - $1,235,862
8th - $947,077
9th - $730,725