Sam Holden Eliminated in 9th at WSOP Final Table

After 51 hands at the World Series of Poker Main Event final table, the November Nine have finally been reduced to eight players. Sam Holden, who came in as the short stack, was eliminated by Ben Lamb to become the table’s first casualty.

The knockout came with blinds at 400k/800k and a 100k ante. Lamb raised to 1.7 million under the gun, and the table folded around to the blinds. Holden moved all-in for just over 11 million, and Lamb called. Lamb showed AK, which dominated Holden’s AJ of spades.

The flop came A98, all clubs – a bad flop for Holden, as Lamb held the king of clubs. The turn was the queen of clubs, giving Lamb the unbeatable nut flush, and ending Holden’s run. Holden took home $782,115 for his efforts.

For Lamb, the pot moved the WSOP Player of the Year into a much bigger stack. He now has over 34 million in chips, putting him in third chip position.

For Holden, a primarily online pro from England, this was by far his greatest live cash ever. In fact, he had just over $11,000 in live cashes before reaching the November Nine. He was the last remaining player from the United Kingdom at this year’s World Series of Poker.

We will continue to have more coverage of the WSOP Final Table as players are eliminated. Today’s action will continue until three players are remaining; the final three will come back to battle for the bracelet and a World Championship on Tuesday evening.