The final table of the 2010 World Series of Poker Main Event is on break until November. The finalists, now known as the “November Nine” will meet to determine the winner of the most prestigious event in the game, as well as who will take home nearly $9 million.

Aside from the fireworks to come in November, many other interesting stories came out of the scorching Nevada desert during June and July.

#9 Top Pros Make Deep Runs

With a near-record crowd of over 7,300 players, some observers of the game believed that a big-name pro could not outlast such a large field. One of them, Michael “The Grinder” Mizrachi, made it all the way to the final table. Two past WSOP champions, Scotty Nguyen (1998) and Johnny Chan (1987, 1988), made it to Day 5 and finished in the money. Two other previous WSOP winners, Dan Harrington (1995) and Robert Varkonyi (2002), made it to Day 4, just a few levels short of the cash.

#8 Annette Obre-rated

The twenty-one-year-old Norwegian sensation Annette Obrestad finally landed in Las Vegas after nearly three years of hype. Her win at the 2007 WSOP-Europe Main Event launched her into the poker spotlight. Poker magazines and web sites hailed her as the “next big thing” in the game. Her attitude at the tables, combined with her Day 1 knockout, combined to show that she has a lot of growing up to do, both as a player and as a person.

#7 Hellmuth KO’d Over Entrance

The “Poker Brat” has now become more famous for his WSOP Main Event entrances than his performance at the tables. He’s entered the Amazon Room dressed as everything from a racecar driver to General Patton to Julius Caesar. This year, he went with the new sport that’s sweeping Las Vegas: mixed martial arts. Dressed in a silk robe, trunks and fingerless gloves, he suffered the same fate on the felt that he would in a real fight: a first-round KO.

#6 Negreanu vs. Duke

When several men entered the WSOP Ladies $1,000 Ladies No Limit Hold'em Championship, Annie Duke took them to task on her blog. Daniel Negreanu, never one to hold back his opinion, retaliated against Duke. In one memorable line, he referred to her as a “f*cking c*nt”. Although Duke is not among the most popular pros on the circuit, many other players spoke out in her defense and criticized Negreanu for his use of such a foul obscenity.

#5 The Amazing Mizrachi Brothers (Part I)

The $50,000 The Poker Player's Championship featured the most fierce sibling rivalry since Cain and Abel. Robert and Michael Mizrachi faced each other across the final table with over $1.5 million on the line. “The Grinder” eliminated his older brother in fifth place on his way to the top prize. If Michael also finishes eighth or better in the Main Event, he will be the first player in history to win at least $1 million in two different WSOP events in the same year.

#4 Ivey Wins Eighth Bracelet

Phil Ivey proved his dominance once again by winning his eighth career WSOP bracelet. He outlasted nearly five hundred players at the $3,000 H.O.R.S.E. event and took home over $329,800. At only thirty-three years old, Ivey becomes the youngest player ever to win eight bracelets. Oddly enough, though, none of his jewelry has come in a no-limit Texas Holdem event.

#3 Poker Boom Redux

Despite an economic slowdown and restrictive online poker laws, the fields for almost all of the events, especially the WSOP Main Event, grew beyond expectations. The field of over 7300 players in the Main Event was the largest since 2006. Players were split into four Day 1 sessions and two Day 2 trials. Organizers opened the Pavilion Room to handle the overflow from the now-famous Amazon Room.

#2 Youth Is Served

If observers needed any more proof that the grind of the long WSOP Main Event favors younger players, they need only look at the lineup for this year’s final table. Eight of the nine players are under thirty, and seven of those are under twenty-seven. Michael Mizrachi is a “grizzled veteran” at only twenty-nine.

#1 The Amazing Mizrachi Brothers (Part II)

Michael and Robert are not the only Mizrachi brothers to perform well at this year’s World Series of Poker. Michael’s twin brother Eric and younger brother Dani both cashed at the WSOP Main Event. The Mizrachis are the first foursome of siblings in WSOP history to cash in the same year, a record that may never be broken.

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