Nine survivors from an original field of 6,737 will again come together at the Rio in Las Vegas on October 30 to compete for millions of dollars at the final table of the World Series of Poker Main Event.
The nine-man composition of the table was decided back in July this year, but television imperatives have once again resulted in an hiatus of several months before the finale is decided and the 2016 champion is named.
Here’s the final table and the seating and chip counts:
1 Griffin Benger Canada 26,175,000
2 Vojtech Ruzicka Czech Republic 27,300,000
3 Fernando Pons Spain 6,150,000
4 Qui Nguyen USA 67,295,000
5 Cliff Josephy USA 74,600,000
6 Michael Ruane USA 31,600,000
7 Gordon Vayo USA 49,375,000
8 Kenny Hallaert Belgium 43,325,000
9 Jerry Wong USA 10,175,000
Whilst there is only one WSOP gold bracelet holder at this year’s table – chip leader Cliff Josephy who has two – the nine players have an aggregate of 118 previous WSOP cashes, illustrating a wealth of experience among the finalists.
Josephy is 6,675,000 chips ahead of his nearest rival, Qui Nguyen, a far cry from the 33,3 million lead last year’s winner Joe McKeehen enjoyed when final table action began.
By contrast, low-stack Fernando Pons will be 68.4 million behind the chip leader when play commences.
This year the final table can boast four international players: Hallaert (Belgium), Ruzicka (Czech Republic), Benger (Canada) and Fernando Pons (Spain).
Gordon Vayo is the youngest at the table this year; the average age around the table is 34.5, a little lower than that in 2015, when it was 35.3.