10/29/2012 : WSOP FINAL TABLE SET TO SHUFFLE UP AND DEAL
Hefty pay-day for one of October Nine
The keenly-anticipated 43rd World Series of Poker Main Event final table is set to kick-off at the Rio All-Suite Hotel and Casino later today having taken a break to accommodate television scheduling from the final table decider which was played in July.
Nine finalists comprising eight Americans and one Hungarian will take to the felt for a shot at an impressive prize pool of $27 258 025, of which the title winner will take $ 8 531 853 along with a WSOP gold bracelet valued at $150 000.
Finalists include commodities broker Michael Esposito (44), insurance actuary Russell Thomas (24) and an Arizona State student Jacob Balsiger (21) as well as six poker professionals Steve Gee (57), Greg Merson (24), Robert Salaburu (27), Jeremy Ausmus (33), Jesse Sylvia (26) and Andras Koroknai (30).
Heading into play, the final table chip count looks like this: First number is seat position
6 Jesse Sylvia 43 875 000
8 Andras Koroknai 29 375 000
5 Greg Merson 28 725 000
1 Russell Thomas 24 800 000
4 Steven Gee 16 860 000
9 Michael Esposito 16 260 000
7 Robert Salaburu 15 155 000
2 Jacob Balsiger 13 115 000
3 Jeremy Ausmus 9 805 000