Poker Articles

When the final table of the World Series of Poker Main Event resumes this Sunday, November 9th, two members of the PocketFives.com online poker community will be in attendance: Scott r_a_y Montgomery and Darus BejoMas Suharto. The latter holds the sixth largest chip stack at the final table with 12.5 million, trailing first place Dennis Phillips’ 26.3 million. Suharto is a 39 year-old accountant from Toronto, Canada and was born in Indonesia. He won his way into the tournament through an $80 satellite, which he has already parlayed into at least $900,000. If he wins the WSOP Main Event, he’ll take home over ten times that amount.

When play at the WSOP Main Event broke in July, players were given over 100 days off and instructed to reconvene at the Rio on November 9th. Play will conclude in the wee hours of the morning on November 11th and the tournament will air on cable station ESPN 12 hours later. Suharto gives his insight to the 100 day break, which has taken its toll differently on each of the members of the November Nine: “I don’t know if it’s going to be good or bad. You’re not going to be in the same zone as you were before and it will be tough. You could play in a lot of live tournaments in order to prepare for the final table, but its intensity and significance can’t be replicated.”

Suharto has gotten advice from a vast array of some of the world’s top poker minds. Each has shared what they believe he should do when the cards hit the air. He told PocketFives.com about what some of them have said: “Victor Ramdin told me not to worry and just play wild. At the same time, I talked to Kathy Liebert, who said not to play like that. Each person gives you advice, but they’re just giving it through their own eyes. To me, it’s great to listen to them because they have each a different perspective. All I can do is take it and do whatever I can at the final table.”

Unlike other members of the November Nine, Suharto is located and Canada and doesn’t have access to ESPN. This could conceivably put him at a disadvantage due to the fact that he doesn’t get the network. It’s an obstacle that makes it difficult to watch the action unfold every night. However, Suharto has found an alternate avenue: “I watched all of the ESPN Main Event shows and didn’t get a lot out of them. The only focus they seem to have is on David ‘Chino’ Rheem. I’m in Canada, so I watch the shows on PokerTube. Having said that, I played with my opponents later on in the tournament and think I have a good understanding of their tendencies.”

I’ve interviewed several members of the WSOP November Nine and asked each of them whether they plan to change their game plan headed into the final table. However, is it actually possible to master a completely different strategy in just four months’ time? Suharto explains, “I think it will be tough to change in three months. You can go online to test it, but people will play crazy with marginal hands. If you look at the final table as if it’s a sit and go, you could do it. However, I’m just going to play my game.”

He added that PocketFives’ own Eric Rizen Lynch has been coaching him heading into the final table. Suharto is a card-carrying member of poker training site PokerXFactor and Lynch is one of its featured instructors. He commented, “I don’t know that I would change my game. My opposition might change theirs and they might not. I don’t know what to expect. I guess I’ll see what happens, but stay the same for the time being. This strategy is what got me to final table.”

Perhaps his greatest struggle has surrounded his relationship with his boss at a job he seems to enjoy immensely. With a potential $9.1 million payday looming for the winner, one wonders what the future holds for Suharto’s employer. He told PocketFives.com, “It’s been hard. My boss is very demanding. I have had to turn down a couple of other offers. PokerStars, for example, wanted me to play in Uruguay and I turned it down because I had work obligations. They offered me more money than I make at my job, but I have commitments. I promised my boss I would finish my project. After I finished it, he said I could go play in tournaments.”

Online, Suharto took down the $55 buy-in $25,000 Guaranteed on PokerStars in June for $11,960. He also took second in the $100 rebuy on Stars for $12,940. His only other WSOP cash came by virtue of finishing 448th in the 2007 Main Event for $26,389.

Here are the chip stacks of the nine players remaining in the World Series of Poker Main Event:

Dennis Phillips - 26,295,000
Ivan Demidov - 24,400,000
Scott Montgomery - 19,690,000
Peter Eastgate - 18,375,000
Ylon Schwartz - 12,525,000
Darus Suharto - 12,520,000
David “Chino” Rheem - 10,230,000
Craig Marquis - 10,210,000
Kelly Kim - 2,620,000

Here is the pay schedule. Each person is guaranteed at least a $900,000 paycheck:

1st Place: $9,119,517
2nd Place: $5,790,024
3rd Place: $4,503,352
4th Place: $3,763,515
5th Place: $3,088,012
6th Place: $2,412,510
7th Place: $1,769,174
8th Place: $1,286,672
9th Place: $900,670

All of us at PocketFives.com would like to wish Montgomery and Suharto the best of luck when play in the World Series of Poker Main Event resumes.





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