'November Nine' Set to Compete for Nearly $9 Million

LAS VEGAS, July 19 /PRNewswire/ -- Following 13 days of intense competition at the 2010 World Series of Poker(1), two North American PokerStars players have advanced to join the elite 'November Nine' and will compete for the $8,944,138 first prize and the title of 2010 World Series of Poker champion.  Canadian Jonathan Duhamel and American Jason Senti skillfully outplayed their competition to earn the coveted seats at the final table, and now await the November 6 final date for their next shot at the grand prize.  The two PokerStars players have the largest and shortest chip stacks at the final table respectively, but it's still anyone's game.  

PokerStars player and former finance student Duhamel (Boucherville, Quebec, Canada) will enter the final table as the chip leader with nearly $66 million in chips – more then $20 million more then his closest competition.  Duhamel, 22 and an avid hockey player/fan, has never finished above the top ten before and he is eagerly looking for his first win.  

"I don't have much tournament experience but I'm confident in my game. Going into November as the chip leader is a great place to be," said PokerStars player Duhamel.  "With nearly four months until the Final Table, I plan to stay sharp by competing in some European Poker Tour events and having fun with my family and friends and relaxing."

PokerStars-sponsored Jason Senti, 28 from St. Louis Park, MN, enters the final table with the short stack -- just 7,725,000 chips -- but feels confident that his skills can help him win it all.  At a minimum, Jason is guaranteed to walk away with more then 10x his entry -- $811,823 -- his best live result to date.  

"It's going to be an up-hill battle, but as we've seen before, it's not impossible," says Senti, an instructor for an online poker school.  "I have a lot experience through online play and my skills keep getting sharper.  Between now and November, I'll be focused on winning the grand prize."  

Senti, an electrical engineer by trade, began playing poker full time nearly 18 months ago.  In his spare time, the PokerStars-sponsored player spends time with his wife and plays guitar and sings in the popular Minneapolis band Suburban Hero.

This year's mammoth $68,798,600 prize pool was the second largest in WSOP history.  PokerStars gave away over 1,018 seats to the 2010 WSOP with more than 800 players accepting the challenge to compete in the in the $10,000 No Limit Hold'em Championship Main Event.  Out of the 839 PokerStars players who took part, 145 cashed, notching up at least $14 million so far between them.

For a full recap of PokerStars at the 2010 World Series of Poker, go to www.pokerstarsblog.com or see vblogs from the tournament at www.pokerstars.tv.  The final takes place at the Rio Hotel from November 6-9, 2010.

(1) World Series of Poker and WSOP are trademarks of Harrah's License Company, LLC ("Harrah's").  Harrah's does not sponsor or endorse, and is not associated or affiliated with PokerStars.net or its products, services, promotions or tournaments.

About PokerStars.net:

PokerStars.net is the world's largest poker site, with more than 36 million members around the world. It's the first choice of the world's top players, with more daily tournaments than anywhere else, and with the best security online. More hands have been dealt on PokerStars.net than any other site; that's over 45 billion hands dealt to date and more than 200 million tournaments played.

PokerStars.net is the official sponsor of some of the biggest live poker tournaments in the world: The European Poker Tour, North American Poker Tour, PokerStars Caribbean Adventure, Latin American Poker Tour, Asia Pacific Poker Tour, as well as many regional tours.

PokerStars.net is also home to an elite team of sponsored players known as Team PokerStars.net Pro – a group of established and up-and-coming players that travel the world competing in international tournaments. For a list of Team PokerStars.net Pros visit http://www.pokerstars.net/team-pokerstars.

SOURCE PokerStars