It is the end of Day 7 for all of the 27 players remaining and the 11th total day for the tournament. The biggest news has to be the presence of Phil Ivey who is 4th in at the end of the day. He has put his large chip stack to work by punishing the rest of the field. It will be his first cash in the Main Event since being bounced on a bad beat by Chris Moneymaker in 2003, a hand that was immortalized as one of the best hands of the year. He has to be the odds on favorite to win the title as he is one of only a few professionals remaining. He is within firing distance of the chip leader, Darvin Moon, who has over 20 million in chips. Ivey sits with just over 11 million.

Another notable pro who is remaining in the tournament is Antonio Esfandiari. With a little over 4 million in chips is on the short end of the field. Esfandiari has seen little success in the WSOP and has a small fan base thanks to other televised poker events such as High Stakes Poker and the WPT. He has a very good skill set and can be dangerous at any point in a tournament so he is one to watch out for, but “The Magician” needs to have a few tricks up his sleeve to take down this bracelet.

After today, the ”November Nine” will be set, so look for updates on the tournament along with player profiles right here.

With only 27 players remaining, the pressure gets turned up and we will see what these guys are made of.  While most of the pros that have entered have since gone to the rail, two names are still glaring on the leader board.  Antonia Esfandiari (4,470,000) has never really had a truly great run of cards, but he seems to make the most of every hand that he is involved in.  He is grinding away and continues to survive.  His style of play is ideal in this type of tourney and while he may never get that monster stack, do not be surprised to see his name on the final table.

The one person that everyone has to fear at this point is Phil Ivey (11,350,000).  He is currently sitting in 4th place, but that doesn’t really matter.  As he has been having an incredible WSOP, the rest of the field must take notice and beware of any hand that they play with him.  He has a tendency to go early or go deep and deep is obviously the case here. Only one other player managed to get three bracelets this time around and Phil obviously has his heart set on being the second one to hold that honor this year.

While the rest of the players are going after the bracelet and the $8,546,435 that goes with it, Phil Ivey probably stands to make more in side bets were he to take down the Main Event.  Everyone knows he loves to gamble and the circuit that he hangs around in is not scared to throw out a $1,000,000 on anything.  You can rest assured that if Phil makes it to the final table, the gallery will be a star studded field of poker superstars with their hands in their wallets.

The overall leader of the tournament is an unknown player by the name of Darvin Moon (20,160,000).  He has never had a cash in the WSOP and has sure picked a great time to break his cherry.  At this point, all of the players are guaranteed well over $300,000 and once they get it down to two tables, the payouts start to increase significantly.

Unfortunately for Moon, he will have to sit across from Ivey when play resumes.  You can be assured that his eye balls will be popping out of their sockets when he sees that chip stack and make it is sole purpose in life to move it across to his side of the table.  How will Moon handle the pressure of being the big stack with one of the greatest poker players in the world on his table?  Only time will tell, but we should have that answer in about 24 hours.

The World Series of Poker (WSOP) originally started back in 1968 as an invitational event at the Holiday Hotel and Casino in Reno, NV. The event was won by Crandell Addington. The World Series of Poker as we know it today started back in 1970 as a set of cash games that drew the best Poker players in the world together to compete for the title of WSOP. Binion’s Horseshoe in Las Vegas, NV was the venue for this new World Series of Poker. The champion was determined by a vote and Johnny Moss emerged as the winner. For his win, Moss received a silver cup.

The next year, the champion was determined by a freezeout tournament and Johnny Moss again emerged the victor. 1973 saw the introduction of the first preliminary WSOP tournament. Bill Boyd won the Five Card Stud event for a grand prize of $20,000. Every year through 2003, the event was held at Binions. Many champions emerged victorious throughout the years including Doyle Brunson, Stu Unger, “Amarillo Slim” Preston, Johnny Chan, and Phil Hellmuth.

The Main Event was not the only poker tournament held at the World Series of Poker. Over the years bracelet events have been held in all forms of poker including Seven Card Stud, Pot Limit Omaha, H.O.R.S.E. and Lowball. Some games that have come and gone over the years include Five Card Stud, Five Card Draw, Ace to Five Draw, Match Play, Mixed Doubles, and Women’s Seven Card Stud.

The Rio – Home of the World Series of Poker

In 2004, Harrah’s Entertainment purchased the Horseshoe and the rights to the World Series of Poker. The event was then moved to the Rio All Suite Hotel and Casino with the last two days played at Binions downtown. 2004 was the last year that any portion of the WSOP was held at Binions. Since then, the even has been held at the Rio. 2004 also saw Chris Moneymaker parlay an online satellite into a world title. Since then, the popularity of poker has exploded and ushered in the current Poker Boom.

By the time of the 2006 World Series of Poker, the fields had grown to such epic size that the Main Event was view much like a lottery. A new event was created to showcase the elite of the poker world and try and bring back some of the old school luster of the World Series of Poker. This event was the $50,000 H.O.R.S.E. event. Chip Reese emerged as the first champion of the event and since then the event has showcased the best of the poker world.

The Main Event is still the World Championship of Poker. Each year thousands of players make the journey out to Vegas to try and put their name in the record books. This year’s World Champion is still to be determined. Harrah’s decided to delay the final table until November to allow for increased coverage of the event. The “November Nine” will reconvene on November 9^th and play down to the final two. Those players will return on November 10^th to play for the title and the $9 Million top prize.