2011 WSOP: AND THEN THEY WERE NINE...

PHOTO/SOURCE: POKERNEWS.com

We have reached the end of the long and winding road towards the completion of the 2011 World Series of Poker ... well, that is, until November.

After almost two months of major tournaments, day-in and day-out, we've reached the final table of the WSOP - the November Nine!

And although we could have been headed to November with some pretty interesting storylines (boyfriend-girlfriend battle for example), what we're left with is nothing to spit at either.

Will we see the fourth non-American in the past 7 years to win the Main Event? The top 2 in chips, Martin Staszko and Eoghan O'Dea will sure do everything in their power to make this happen.

Will Matt Giannetti continue his late charge and win the big one?

Or will Ben Lamb conclude his ascension into poker stardom with a Main Event bracelet? Lamb has already had a storybook Series, his story could become the most amazing WSOP story of all-time.

Oh, and how many Phil Collins jokes, jabs, headlines and one-liners will we have to endure for the next four months? Over/under set at, let's say, 5000?

One thing if for sure, we're all set for what could be the best final table of all-time - some great stories and quite frankly, one of the most talented yet intriguing FT in quite some time ... No Grinder, No Ivey? No problem - I'll take Lamb, Collins and O'Dea any day (no pun intended).

November Nine Chip Counts:
Martin Staszko 4.01M
Eoghan O'Dea 3.39M
Matt Giannetti 2.47M
Phil Collins 2.38M
Ben Lamb 2.08M
Badih Bounahra 1.97M
Pius Heinz 1.64M
Anton Makievskyi 1.38M
Samuel Holden 1.23M


PTPR GRAND SLAM EVENT
2011 World Series of Poker
World Series of Poker NLH Main Event
July 17-November, 2011

Rio All-Suite Hotel & Casino | Las Vegas, Nevada, USA

Buy-in: $10,000 | Prizepool: $64,531.000 | Entries: 6,865

PTS AT STAKE:
Bracelet Winner 170
Runner-Up 110
3rd place 95
4th place 85
5th place 80
6th place 75
7th place 70
8th place 65
9th place 55
JOHN HEWITT 45
KHOA NGUYEN 40
BRYAN DEVONSHIRE 38
KONSTANTINOS MAMALIADIS 38
SCOTT SCHWALICH 38
ANDREY PATEYCHUK 35
RYAN LENAGHAN 35
SAM BARNHART 35
KENNY SHIH 32
ALEKSANDR MOZHNYAKOV 32
GIONNI DEMERS 32
CHRIS MOORE 28
LARS BONDING 28
ANDREW HINRICHSENB 28
GREGORY KAPLAN 25
JERRY VAN STRYDONCK 25
JP KELLY 25
KYLE JOHNSON 25