For some it\’s their first rodeo

It\’s always interesting when we reach the final stage before the end of the main event to see who will rise to the top. Of course, this game isn\’t all skill, but in this spot real tournament experience is key. It makes you less likely to crack under pressure and more apt to make the moves (re-raise steals, tricky slowplays) that will allow you to chip up and become one of the November Nine. Considering how important experience is, I thought I\’d look up the current final 15 players\’ tournament records. Amazingly, four of the 15 do not have any cashes listed on PokerPages. A handful of others have modest numbers, while others (such as Scott Montgomery, a WPT final tablist this February) have relatively impressive stats. Here\’s a rundown of the players left listed in order of current chip count with their tournament dollars earned listed to the side.

Player                  Chip Count         Tournament Dollars

Peter Eastgate            18.2 million             $76,084

Scott Montgomery      14.9 million             $406,585

Darus Suharto             14.1 million            $26,389

David Rheem               12.6 million            $634,657

Joe Bishop                   11.4 million            $0

Dennis Phillips            11.2 million            $0

Dean Hamrick               8.6 million            $149,474

Ylon Schwartz               7.4 million            $255,851

Nicholas Sliwinski        6.5 million            $0

Chris Klodnicki             6.5 million            $201,048

Ivan Demidov               6.4 million            $43,371

Kelly Kim                      6.3 million            $351,774

Gert Andersen              3.8 million            $0

Owen Crowe                 3.2 million            $197,021