Old-school online legend Cliff "Johnny Bax" Josephy is currently the chip leader at the final table of the 2016 WSOP Main Event. Josephy leads the November Nine, which will return to Las Vegas in November to play out the conclusion of the final table. Five Americans made the final table plus one Canadian and three Europeans including Belgian pro Kenny Hallaert. Also making the November Nine... Qui Nguyen, Gordon Vayo, Kenny Hallaert, Michael Ruane, Vojtech Ruzicka, Griffin Benger, Fernando Pons, and Jerry Wong. Who is going to win $8 million and become the next WSOP Main Event Champion?
Down to nine. The November Nine is finally set! The most prestigious tournament in the universe hath reached the final table. Say hello to the next batch of media-hyped superstars. After an arduous process, the Main Event field was whittled down from 6,737 to nine players. The first day was broken up into three fields with Day 1C drawing in the most runners.
WSOP Main Event Runners:
- Day 1A: 764
- Day 1B: 1,733
- Day 1C: 4,240
Johnny Bax a.k.a. Cliff Josephy bagged up the most chips at the end of Day 7. Josephy is the November Nine chip leader. He's also the sole bracelet winners among the final nine. Bax has been a major figure in poker for the last decade. The Wall Street bankster was initially known as a savvy online pro before he moved into the staking/backing side of the poker circuit, where he built one of the largest staking machine in the industry. He was most mistaken as Joe Cada's father when Cada made a deep run because Cada and Bax kept hugging each other. It turned out that Josephy backed Cada into the Main Event and he was sweating his winning racehorse.
The legend of Johnny Bax was solidified at the 2005 WSOP when he won a bracelet in a Stud event…a game he had never played before and was given a tutorial in the hallway shortly before cards went in the air. Legend indeed. Check out a piece I wrote about Johnny Bax from 2005.
Josephy returned to this year's WSOP hoping to take down a big score...and along the way he embarked on a deep run in the Main Event. When the dust settled, Josephy was the chip leader with nine players to go. Five Americans are at the final table, plus four non-Americans with representatives from Canada, Spain, Belgium, and the Czech Republic.
The 2016 WSOP Main Event had a prize pool in excess of $63.3M. First place in the Main Event pays out $8 million. The November Niners are guaranteed to win at least $1,000,000. The conclusion of the November Nine resumes on October 30 and runs through November 1 at the Rio Casino in Las Vegas.
Josh Weiss bubbled the final table when he busted in tenth place. Unlike previous years when the unofficial final table of ten often played out for extended periods of time, this year's bubble popped rather quickly. Everyone was prepped for a long haul and a late night, but Weiss busted on Hand #18 at the pseudo- final table.
2016 WSOP – Event #68 Main Event Championship
Entrants: 6,773
Prize Pool: $63,327,800
Payouts: 1,011
WSOP Main Event - Final Table Payouts:
1. $8,000,000
2. $4,658,452
3. $3,451,175
4. 2,574,808
5. $1,934,579
6. $1,463,906
7. $1,250,000
8. $1,100,000
9. $1,000,000
November Nine - Chip Counts:
1. Cliff Josephy (USA) 74,600,000
2. Qui Nguyen (USA) 67,925,000
3. Gordon Vayo (USA) 49,375,000
4. Kenny Hallaert (Belgium) 43,325,000
5. Michael Ruane (USA) 31,600,000
6. Vojtech Ruzicka (Czech Republic) 27,300,000
7. Griffin Benger (Canada) 26,175,000
8. Jerry Wong (USA) 10,175,000
9. Fernando Pons (Spain) 6,150,000
Notables who cashed on Day 7 included... Aussie James Obst (13th), Tom Marchese (14th), Valetin Vornicu (22nd), and former November Niner Antoine Saout (25th).
Gaelle Baumann was the last woman standing for a second time. She went super deep in 2012, but bubbled the November Nine. She busted in 102nd place this year, but locked up the distinction of Last Woman Standing.
