November Nine: Kelly Kim

Published on 09 Nov 08 14:45 by meta

Each day a November Nine in detail. Today: Kelly Kim – The 31-year old poker pro from California is the clear short stack in today's finale of the WSOP 2008 with only about 2.5 million in chips.

From the start, Kim will have to remain in the push-or-fold mode, hoping to move all-in with the best hand, and it also holding up. However, even if Kim doubles through early on, he would still have the shortest stack at the table.

That it is certainly still possible to turn the shortest stack into the win was proven last year by Jerry Yang, who also started as the small stack at the final table and won the tournament at the end of the day. However, last year's stack were clearly more evenly distributed, and Yang was by far not as short as Kelly Kim.

Nevertheless, one shouldn't write off Kim from the start. On one hand, everything is possible in poker, and on the other hand Kim knows how to hold his ground as the short stack. Throughout the whole Day 7 of the Main Event, he already played with the shortest stack and proved to be a real survivor.

He avoided confrontations with the big stacks as often as possible, and only played absolute monsters against them. Oh the other hand, he took several blinds and thus survived like this until he had made it to the final table. 21 minutes and 50 seconds are still to be played in the 33rd level, with blinds of 120k/240k and 30,000 ante.

With his experience and his reputation, however, Kim is always a dangerous opponent. Already since 1995, he is hooked to the game. Back then he was still pursuing his studies, which he also finished successfully and then worked as an analyst, before heeding the call and becoming a professional poker player. Since then, he already cashed eight times at the WPT, and finished twice in the money at the WSOP.

What could benefit him in the long run is his good feeling for short-handed games. He has really mastered them and thus should get a real edge over the further course of the finale. However, he has to get this far first, and extend his stack before he can be able to play it properly.

If he makes it will already be decided today. In about three hours, the finale of the 39th World Series of Poker will kick off in the Rio All-Suite Casino, with an unbelievable final table prize money of $32,731,625.

Today, the last two players will be determined, who will then battle it out in the heads-up tomorrow, playing for the $9,152,416 the winner will receive.

Origin of photo material: WSOP