Darvin Moon

Chip leader Darvin Moon’s story is one that encaptures the appeal of the WSOP Main Event perfectly. A self-employed logger from a small town in Maryland, Moon qualified for the Main Event through a $109 satellite at his local casino. His usual game is $20-$30 tournaments with friends and family in his hometown. Needless to say, this is his first $10,000 buy-in event!

All of which bears an uncanny resemblance both to Chris Moneymaker in 2003 and last year’s November Nine chipleader Dennis Phillips. Moon may be lacking in experience at this level of competition but that hasn’t deterred him so far, as he has held the chip lead throughout the past few days. A huge hand late in Day 8 when he flopped a queen-high flush vs Billy Kopp’s five-high flush propelled him to his current 58.9m stack, a very comfortable cushion over the second-placed Eric Buchman.

The grounded Moon must already be in shock at how far he has come and is now in pole position to take home the $8.5m top prize and the title of world champion. He has already given some priceless comments to the associated media, claiming that ‘everyone at this table is a better player than me’, the trip to Vegas was ‘my first time on a big plane’ and ‘if Phil Ivey so much as looks at me I’m going to fold.’ Perhaps not the most advanced strategy, but it seems to be working so far.

Darvin Moon’s appearance at the final table is a perfect example of why this year’s November Nine could turn out to create the most exciting Main Event in years. To have the inexperienced Moon lining up against established pros such as Phil Ivey and James Akenhead is a recipe for great action that’s sure to provide plenty of drama in November.

The most surprising world champion of all time? It could happen.