World Series of Poker reaches final nine players

LAS VEGAS — The World Series of Poker has reached its final table as Jordan Smith busted in 10th place with a pair of aces.

Smith, a 27-year-old poker player from College Station, Texas, was eliminated Wednesday night when a self-employed logger from Maryland called his all-in bet and flipped over pocket eights that matched with a third eight among the first three community cards.

Smith did not improve with either of the final two cards, and was eliminated in 10th place.

He won $896,730.

The 45-year-old Moon built his leading chip stack to nearly 60 million by winning the hand.

THIS IS A BREAKING NEWS UPDATE. Check back soon for further information. AP’s earlier story is below.

LAS VEGAS (AP) — Ten players were left Wednesday night at the World Series of Poker main event, each competing for one of nine spots at poker’s richest final table.

Seven-time gold bracelet winner Phil Ivey busted 35-year-old Jamie Robbins in 11th place to prompt tournament officials to re-seat the remaining players at the same table.

They will play until one is eliminated, determining the final table of the tournament. The final nine will take a break for about four months before finishing the event in November.

Ivey called an all-in bet from Robbins with a suited ace-ten. Robbins held an unsuited king-queen and neither improved.

Self-employed logger Darvin Moon led among the remaining players with 45 million chips when the players resumed play, having already played roughly seven and a half hours on Wednesday, excluding breaks.

The players were on their eighth session of no-limit Texas Hold ‘em, the remaining winners from a crop of 6,494 entrants.

The tournament, which boasts poker’s richest prize, started July 3 at the Rio All-Suite Hotel & Casino in Las Vegas when each player bought in for $10,000 and were given 30,000 starting chips.

Those left on Wednesday raised, called and folded with breaks every two hours as each elimination brought the tournament closer to its final nine players.

Among those eliminated on Wednesday was Antonio “The Magician” Esfandiari, who was one of only two prior World Series of Poker tournament winners left as play began with 27 players.

The other was Ivey.

After the final table is determined, each of the nine players left will be paid $1.26 million on Thursday, ninth-place money. Harrah’s Entertainment Inc., the private casino operator that owns the tournament, will put the rest of the prize money into a conservative interest-bearing account until the day before the final table starts Nov. 7.

That will push the prizes for the first through eighth-place finishers even higher. Top prize right now is $8.55 million.