2010 November Nine Profiles

(Editor's Note: Let me welcome Timtern to the mix as a guest poster and the newest member of the Tao All Stars. He happily helped me out with these profiles, while I was away working on my newest book project. And special thanks to Flipchip from LasVegasVegas.com for his stellar accompanying photos. So without further ado, let's give a hearty reception to Timtern...)

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2010 November Nine Profiles

By Timtern

The 2010 WSOP Main Event and the ESPN broadcast timeline have finally synced up up, and with the final table just days away, it seems like the perfect opportunity to get to know (or reacquaint yourself with) the November Nine.


Jonathan Duhamel (@JonathanDuhamel) - 65,975,000
Hometown: Boucherville, Quebec, Canada
Occupation: Professional Poker Player
Lifetime Cashes (Including Ninth Place Money): $913,383
Age: 22


Seat 4 - Jonathan Duhamel
The youngest player of the youngest Main Event final table in WSOP history enters with the chip lead. If anyone amongst the group has been cast as the villain, it's Duhamel. The hand he played against Matt Affleck that propelled him to this sizable chip lead will certainly go down as the most infamous hand of this World Series.

Duhamel is attempting to become the first Canadian-born player to win the Main Event. Duhamel's biggest live score outside of the Main Event was a tenth place finish at the EPT Prague in 2008 for just over $50,000, so this will be by far his largest score. As one of only two PokerStars sponsored players, Duhamel looks to be the third consecutive player affiliated with the site to be crowned champion.

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John Dolan (@JRD312) - 46,250,000
Hometown: Bonita Springs, Florida
Occupation: Professional Poker Player
Lifetime Cashes (Including Ninth Place Money): $1,085,116
Age: 24


Seat 3 - John Dolan

Dolan was one of the late risers of the tournament, entering Day 8 of the Main Event as one of the shortest stacks. A pair of double-ups through 21-year-old Dutch pro Michiel Sijpkens helped put him in position for the rest of the day, and he was one of the biggest beneficiaries of the extremely tight 6-hour ordeal that was the 10-handed final table.

He's one of seven players under the Full Tilt banner, and with the most chips amongst the group he's likely to be one of the three who can don the patch per WSOP guidelines. This was his second final table of the 2010 WSOP, having waded through another massive field in one of the $1K Donkulus specials. Since the November Nine was set, he's been playing sporadically around the world, including a three-way chop in the last couple of weeks in a $1K prelim event at Foxwoods.

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Joseph Cheong (@subiime) - 23,525,000
Hometown: La Mirada, California
Occupation: Professional Poker Player
Lifetime Cashes (Including Ninth Place Money): $1,283,838
Age: 24


Seat 2 - Joseph Cheong
Likely the most prolific online player amongst the nine, the man known simply as "subiime" perfected the patch on pulled-down hoodie look, along with his signature shades. Cheong spent much of the last two days amongst the chip leaders, and survived a wicked beat from fellow November Niner Candio at the featured table. He grinded his way back into prime striking position by the time the chips were bagged.

Cheong has over $1 million in lifetime online tournament winnings, but has stepped up his live game in a big way in the month leading up to this final table. He finished second in the High Roller event at EPT London for more than $250,000, and followed it up by winning a $5K event at Festa Al Lago for $142,000.

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John Racener (@racener) - 19,050,000
Hometown: Port Richey, Florida
Occupation: Professional Poker Player
Lifetime Cashes (Including Ninth Place Money): $2,075,387
Age: 24


Seat 7 - John Racener
After Michael Mizrachi, Racener is the most accomplished live tournament player of the group. He didn't seem to get involved in as many pots as the rest of the players, but was consistently in the top five throughout the final day. Among his bounties in this event was former runaway chip leader Theo Jorgensen, who appeared to be a lock on the final table early on Day 8 play.

The majority of Racener's success in live tournaments has come on the WSOP Circuit, where he final tabled the Main Event in Atlantic City twice, including a win in 2007 for almost $350,000. In the build up to this final table he made another WSOP final table across the pond, taking fifth in the Pot Limit Omaha event at the WSOPE for $60,000.

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Matthew Jarvis - 16,700,000
Hometown: Surrey, British Columbia, Canada
Occupation: Professional Poker Player/Student
Lifetime Cashes (Including Ninth Place Money): $1,030,335
Age: 25


Seat 6 - Matt Jarvis
Jarvis' path to the November Nine made him one of the most popular players amongst the media, very specifically because he's the one who finally brought the marathon ten-handed session to an end, winning a coin-flip with pocket queens against Brandon Steven's ace-king. He's also the other Great White (North) hope.

He's also had a very active lead-up to the November Nine, with a victory in the Canadian Open Poker Championship heads-up event for $100,000 as well as a $1K prelim win at Festa al Lago for $72,000.

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Filippo Candio (@filippocandio) - 16,400,000
Hometown: Cagliari, Sardinia, Italy
Occupation: Professional Poker Player
Lifetime Cashes (Including Ninth Place Money): $1,065,354
Age: 26


Seat 8 - Filippo Candio
The flamboyant Italian has become this year's Hevad Khan, as in he made a name for himself by making lots of noise and a general ass of himself on several occasions. Following a nine-hand penalty after his loudest of outbursts, he actually became quite withdrawn for most of the remainder of the tournament. The one exception followed a monster suck-out with his middle pair turning into a straight on the river against Joseph Cheong's pocket aces, which is the hand that allowed Candio to coast the rest of the way into the November Nine.

He is the first Italian-born player to reach the final table of the Main Event, which would obviously make him the first Italian-born champion should he be fortunate enough to do so. Candio's only result since the November Nine was set was two weeks ago, as he finished third in a $230 event at Caeser’s Palace.

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Michael Mizrachi (@TheGrinder44) - 14,450,000
Hometown: Miami, Florida
Occupation: Professional Poker Player
Lifetime Cashes (Including Ninth Place Money): $9,613,917
Age: 29


Seat 5 - The Grinder
The center of attention entering this final table has to be Michael "The Grinder" Mizrachi, far and away the most prolific player to make the 2010 November Nine. After finally breaking through for his first WSOP bracelet in the $50,000 Player's Championship, he would go on to make three more final tables, all in $10K events. The Grinder was able to sit on a short stack for much of Day 8 and slowly improve his position, taking advantage of the extended bubble to give himself a chance once play restarts.

A win for Mizrachi would put a cap on what would likely be the greatest single WSOP that any player has ever had, despite the fact that he would somehow still share the Player of the Year title with Frank Kasella. A win or other deep finish in this event would likely move him into the top ten in Lifetime tournament earnings, but the prestige and perks of being a Main Event champion would be the crowning achievement of a prolific career that's already seen him earn nearly $10 million on the tournament circuit.

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Soi Nguyen - 9,650,000
Hometown: Santa Ana, California
Occupation: Medical Supply Sales
Lifetime Cashes (Including Ninth Place Money): $825,303
Age: 37


Seat 9 - Soi Nguyen
The only player over the age of thirty and the only one not to describe themselves as a professional poker player, Soi Nguyen is truly the wild card amongst the bunch. Including the Main Event final table, he has only three career tournament cashes to his name, and had played less than ten live tournaments prior to the start of the 2010 Main Event.

Should Nguyen meet a lot of good fortune on November 6th, he might reignite the belief that anyone truly has a chance to win this tournament, and that, coupled with the continued fight to legalize online poker in this country could be just the spark that the poker world needs, a secondary Moneymaker Effect.

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Jason Senti (@PBJaxx) - 7,625,000
Hometown: St Louis Park, Minnesota
Occupation: Professional Poker Player
Lifetime Cashes (Including 9th place money): $829,820
Age: 24


Seat 1 - Jason Senti
If the extended period of 10-handed play hurt anyone more than Brandon Steven the unfortunate bubble boy, it was Senti, who went from the middle of the pack to the very bottom during those six hours.

He may enter the November Nine as the shortest stack, but could be a dark horse if he puts together some chips early. The only player aside from Duhamel to sport a PokerStars patch, he has to be doing something right as he was also recruited by Phil Galfond to represent his new training site, Bluefirepoker.

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November Nine By the Numbers:

Sponsorship: 7 Full Tilt, 2 PokerStars (Duhamel & Senti)
By First Name: 5 J’s (aka the New Kids on the Block theory)*, 2 M’s, 1 F, 1 S
By Country: United States: 6; Canada: 2; Italy: 1
By State: Florida: 3; California: 2; Minnesota: 1

* This NKOTB theory is in it's early stages, and is obviously flawed as Donnie Mizrachi would have been the proper brother to help confirm it.


Timtern is a writer originally from New York who got his start in the poker industry as an intern with Poker Road Radio. Follow Timtern on twitter (@Ttim00).