2009 November Nine Sponsorships Settled

With the final table of the 2009 Main Event of the World Series of Poker just over two months away, one of the biggest questions regarding this year’s November Nine seems to have now been answered. With the signing of Joe Cada, the sponsorships for all of the players at the final table are (apparently) settled.

2009 is a unique year for WSOP sponsorships, thanks to a new rule from Harrah’s that limits the amount of players one company can sponsor. Specifically, we’re referring to Rule 43-B-i: “No more than three (3) players at the Final Table — and all other tables featured for television coverage — will be allowed to wear apparel with logos, patches or promotional language from the same entity.”

The new rule forced the big rooms to modify their sponsorship approach, especially with chipleader Darvin Moon taking the path less traveled and essentially ruling out accepting sponsorship cash from an online poker room (more on that below). Anyhow, now that the wheeling and dealing is done with, here’s where the final table stands:

PokerStars Gets…

Joe Cada, Eric Buchman and Kevin Schaffel. That trifecta hands PokerStars three of the top six chip stacks in play, with Buchman topping the list at 34,800,000 in chips. Many observers believe that Buchman – a tournament circuit regular with over a million in lifetime cashes – has the best chance to win the tournament, especially if Ivey fails to surge early. Cada fits with the ‘youth movement’ model of PokerStars sponsorship, giving the room the chance to break the record for youngest Main Event winner again, while Schaffel is more in line with the Moneymaker / Raymer ‘everyman’ spokesperson model.

Full Tilt Poker gets…

FTP looked to have a serious coup on their hands when Phil Ivey made the final table, but most observers feel like Ivey’s lack of presence in the mainstream media since the final table was determined has undermined a bit of the value FTP was expecting. That could easily be reversed with a push closer to the Main Event final table, but his absence as ESPN is ratcheting up WSOP coverage seems a little odd. FTP has reasonable backups with Steven Begleiter and James Akenhead. Begleiter is a nice feel-good story cut from the Dennis Phillips cloth who will likely get a lot of narrative air time, and Akenhead who, while short stacked, is likely to be a big personality at the table and more than capable of running up his meager stack into a competitive one given his extensive online experience. FTP also gets the benefit of Akenhsure,ead’s European marketability, as he hails from the UK.

Everest Poker gets…

Antoine Saout, who qualified for the WSOP on Everest. Saout is one of two non-Americans at the table, hailing from France, and Everest probably figured the Euro-angle plus the relatively cheap price and coherent story made for a nice deal to reinforce the exposure they’ll already be getting as the title sponsor of the WSOP. As a short stack with limited experience, he might not be around for long, but probably long enough for Chad to mention where he qualified a few times alongside some awkward jokes about Chad’s ex-wives.

SpadeClub gets…

Spade what? Spade club is the online poker arm of CardPlayer magazine, and one assumes that’s the banner Jeff Shulman will be flying at the final table given his day job as the editor of CardPlayer magazine. Shulman’s been the most vocal of the November Nine since the final table was set, but not in the most positive of ways – he seems intent on using his position as a platform to rabble-rouse for change at the WSOP, and his tactics (including his early claim that he’d throw the bracelet in the trash if he won) have cost him some respect in the poker community.

No one gets…

Chip leader Darvin Moon, who has almost double the stack of second place. Darvin has told various sources that he’s never played a hand of online poker and isn’t interested in being sponsored by a room. That, of course, doesn’t rule out sponsorship from some non-poker entity, but Moon has said that “he doesn’t want to be tied up to anything”, and it’s hard to imagine a Home Depot ponying up more than PokerStars, so you’re likely to see Moon repping the New Orleans Saints pro bono this November.

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