The Octo-Nine as they are being referred to, since they will return in October to finish off the tournament are playing for a top prize of $8.5 million US Dollars. 6,598 players started the tournament and now the field is down to 8 Americans and 1 Hungarian. They return to the Rio All-Suite Hotel and Casino October 29, 2012 to collect their money and win the grand prize.
The Final Table of the 2012 World Series of Poker is set and these are the players, their chip counts and their home town.
Seat #1
Russell Thomas , 24
Hartford, CT., USA
24,800,000
Seat #2
Jake Balsinger, 21
Tempe, AZ., USA
13,115,000
Seat #3
Jeremy Ausmus, 32
Las Vegas, NV., USA
9,805,000
Seat #4
Steven Gee, 57
Sacramento, CA., USA
16,860,000
Seat #5
Greg Merson, 24
Laurel, MD., USA
28,725,000
Seat #6
Jesse Sylvia, 26
Las Vegas, NV., USA
43,875,000
Seat #7
Robert Salaburu, 27
San Antonio, TX., USA
15,155,000
Seat #8
Andras Koroknai, 30
Debrecen, Hungary
29,375,000
Seat #9
Michael Esposito, 44 on 7/20
Seaford, NY., USA
16,260,000
I'm going to be perfectly honest with you and tell you that I'm putting my loud cheers behind the Las Vegas guys. I want to see the next World Series of Poker Champion be a Las Vegas local. So support is behind Jessie Sylvia and Jeremy Ausmus. (How about that for journalistic integrity?)
Are you wondering just how much money the losers of the 2012 World Series of Poker main event will win?
1st place $8,527, 982
2nd place: $5,292,889
3rd place: $3,797,558
4th place: $2,850,494
5th place: $2,154,616
6th place: $1,640,461
7th place: $1,257,790
8th place: $971,252
9th place: $754,798
If you want to start watching the television coverage of the 2012 World Series of Poker on ESPN it will begin airing July 31 at 8pm eastern. The show will air in two hour segments each Tuesday until the Main Event Final Table coverage on Oct. 30, 2012.
