Can Hachem Go Back To Back?

Joseph Hachem is looking to pull off the impossible and go back to back at this year's World Series of Poker Main Event. Can he pull it off? Very unlikely, though Greg Raymer did manage to finish a very impressive 27th last year after winning the year before. As it stands now, Hachem is in solid position with $114,100 in his stack, compared to the chip lead of $549,200.

My horse is Daniel Negreanu, aka Kid Poker, who is in 6th place overall with $331,000. He is the highest placed of the "known" professionals. Most of the top pros have already been eliminated in the first two days of competition, including Hellmuth, Brunson, and Chan, so I'm rooting for the remaining big names, and Negreanu in particular. Anyone who commonly wears a hockey jersey to the table gets my support.


Only 606 players are left vying for the $12,000,000 first prize. Twelve mil!!! When Chris Moneymaker won just three years ago, his prize was "only" $2,500,000 against a field of 839 players. This year, there were 8,773 entries. I guess that explains the 10x increase in prize money. Unbelievable growth.

If you want to follow along, check out the live updates and daily chip counts. Otherwise, you can wait for ESPN to telecast in a few months and be surprised!