The World Series of Poker announced the 44th annual November Nine, the final table of the tournament. The championship will begin on Monday November 4 at the Rio All-Suite Hotel and Casino in Las Vegas, and a Canadian citizen represents one of the five countries at the final table – a fitting end for the highly publicized ‘Year of Canada’ at the WSOP.
The sole Canadian is Marc McLaughlin, a 25-year old tattoo artist from Brossard Quebec. McLaughlin would set a new poker record for Canada by becoming the 11th Canadian to win a WSOP gold bracelet this year. McLaughlin participated in the main event over the last five years, but never qualified for the November Nine until this season.
If McLaughlin does win the final table, he will become the second French Canadian to do so after Jonathan Duhamel won the WSOP main event in 2010. McLaughlin plans to receive counsel from Duhamel as he feels the former champion can provide advice on coping with the media at the final table.
“I need his advice about what will be going on with the media and everything related to it, because I simply have no idea. I am not a person who seeks the spotlight at all, so I will have a little work to do.”
McLaughlin will sit down at the November Nine table ranked third with over 26 million in chips, trailing only JC Tran of the US and Amir Lehavot of Israel, respectively. McLaughlin will be seated between the two players, and can use his aggressive gameplay to his advantage. However, many poker pundits expect the three players will challenge each other, which could result in at least one of them being eliminated early in the game.
The winner will walk away with over $8.3 million in cash along with the coveted WSOP gold bracelet – will Canada flop another winner?
