Hand of the Week: Russia v. Canada and $52 Million

Date: 2012.11.19 | Category: Hand Of The Week | By: Phil Hellmuth   

In November 2008, after a four-month delay, play resumed in the WSOP’s Main Event.  This was the first year that they offered the “November Nine” as a separate, made-for-TV event.  That summer, the play started in July, with 6,800 entrants, and continued like mad down to the final table.  Then, the action froze and everybody waited and waited for this new feature called the “November Nine!”

At that point, the action unfolded for two months on ESPN, building the tension, drama, and excitement.  Millions watched ESPN in the early fall, no one knew who the winners would be, and everyone formed opinions of who would win and why.  In November, the event was hosted in the Penn & Teller Theatre, which was filled to capacity with over 5,000 cheering, poker-crazy fans who were there to watch the spectacle unfold live.  Players from foreign countries showed up with rowdy entourages from their home countries who waved flags and painted their bodies.  I was sitting in the special spectator seats on stage with Daniel Negreanu, Chris “Jesus” Ferguson and Johnny Chan.