The November Nine: Dennis Phillips

<img src="http://www.liquidpoker.net/staff/Raidern/denisp.PNG" align="right" style="border:1px solid black; margin:5px;">With one day to go, one day before the start of the Main Event final table, our attention goes to <b>Dennis Phillips</b>, the guy who will start the November Ninth as the chip leader. Phillips is a 53-year old man from St. Louis and works as an accountant for a trucking company.

Despite his age, he has only started playing poker four years ago when a friend introduce him to the game. He used to spare some time playing blackjack before. When it comes to live tournaments, he has only cashed in two live tournaments, and his total winnings aren't even enough to pay the buy-in for the Main Event. He actually won a seat for the ME in a satellite tournament played in his hometown.

When WSOP announced they would have a four-month break prior to the final table, people expected that the finalists would use that time to improve their poker skills. Phillips is no exception. He has been working on his game with <b>Joe Mcgowan</b> and <b>Roy Winston</b>. He has already said he considers himself a better player now than at the start of the final table.

Dennis Phillips says he has played poker on the internet, but he doesn't like it very much. “[I've played] Some, but I prefer live play. For me poker is about having fun, relaxing, the camaraderie.... I mean people try to play seriously and take each other’s money, but we can go have a beer afterwards and talk about it and have fun. I do have a mathematics background and know the probabilities and everything, but [when we are playing] I want to see your face.”

Just like his colleague Ylon Schwartz, Phillips put on an auction on e-bay offering a 10 square inch patch advertising place on his arm. However, he didn't do it thinking about himself, but to support the National Multiple Sclerosis Society. The winning bid was US$19,350.00, and 100% of that will go to the NMSS. Apart from that, Phillips also plans to donate 1% of his winnings from the ME to charity.

Dennis Phillips will start the final table with 26,295,000, less than two million chips ahead of <b>Ivan "Soul" Demidov</b>. It is clear that he is not the most experienced player in the table. Will he be able to take advantage of his big stack and take down the Main Event? We don't know, but his attitude about it is simply the best: “Regardless of the outcome, I intend to keep enjoying poker.”

<i>The November Nine consist of</i>:

Dennis Phillips - 26,295,000
<a href="http://www.liquidpoker.net/news/600372/The_November_Nine:_Ivan_Demidov">Ivan Demidov</a> - 24,400,000
<a href="http://www.liquidpoker.net/news/598458/The_November_Nine:_Scott_Montgomery">Scott Montgomery</a> - 19,690,000
<a href="http://www.liquidpoker.net/news/596579/The_November_Nine:_Peter_Eastgate">Peter Eastgate</a> - 18,375,000
<a href="http://www.liquidpoker.net/news/594748/The_November_Nine:_Ylon_Schwartz">Ylon Schwartz</a> - 12,525,000
<a href="http://www.liquidpoker.net/news/590965/The_November_Nine:_Darus_Suharto">Darus Suharto</a> - 12,520,000
<a href="http://www.liquidpoker.net/news/589000/The_November_Nine:_David_Rheem">David 'Chino' Rheem</a> - 10,230,000
<a href="http://www.liquidpoker.net/news/585045/The_November_Nine:_Craig_Marquis">Craig Marquis</a> - 10,210,000
<a href="http://www.liquidpoker.net/news/583038/The_November_Nine:_Kelly_Kim">Kelly Kim</a> - 2,620,000

1 percent.. epic nit

1% is at least ~$9k, that's not a bad payday for the NMSS.

1% is more than most poker players would.

will there be a live feed somewhere to watch? or what

wow that dude looks like a fisherman.

Wow how on earth is he the chip leader at the final table?

On November 08 2008 22:08 goodguysm wrote: 1 percent.. epic nit

1% of the amounts at FT is quite significant. As a raw amount, it's more than most people donate to charity in their entire lifetime.

On November 08 2008 23:52 rockman255 wrote: will there be a live feed somewhere to watch? or what

It looks like it's only audio feed and chipcounts/stats: http://www.worldseriesofpoker.com/news/article.asp?newsID=2218

I guess we´ll have to wait until tuesday evening for some actual footage. Apart from that there are always the live text updates, but I was hoping to see some live TV footage as well, like the EPT does, but I guess that's not possible . I hope they surprise me tho, in about 5.5 hours

1% charity is a decent start, most people dont give anything to charity beforehand, so why complain about him giving 1%? I mean, it's not like he says that's all he'll ever give to charity, and saying you're donating 50% or 100% to charity is not realistic. Other than that, the guy sold a 10 square inch advertising with 100% going to charity, while Ylon Schwartz tried to sell one with 100% going to himself.

My predictions for the event:

1. Demidov
2. Eastgate
3. Chino
4. Marquis
5. Phillips
6. Montgomery
7. Schwartz
8. Suharto
9. Kim

Demidov is my clear favorite, best player by far. Phillips looks like a nice guy but I'm not really impressed with what I've seen so far.

I'm rooting for this guy and demidov too. I hope philips won't play overly conservative.. get in there & gamble pops!

i think demidov eastgate HU would be pretty cool and anyone know what blinds antes are starting at?

chino rheem probably best player, i think

demidov more % to win though , + he russian russian ME champ would be sexy

LOL @ a certain hand

I can't see this guy winning, but g'luck to him regardless

homeless freeroll