With only a couple of million in chips, Kelly Kim was looking as if he wouldn't even make the final table, but a fortunate confrontation just before Kim was forced to move in his stack resulted in a sudden elimination.
And just like that, Kelly Kim was a member of the November Nine. Kim was happy just to make the elite group, but now he must look to make that final table seat count.
Who Is Kelly Kim?
Although not a name pro, Kim is a professional poker player with a great deal of experience. He was confident enough in his abilities to buy directly into the World Series of Poker main event, and his decision paid off. Born in Korea, Kim now lives in California and plays in the games and tournaments surrounding the Los Angeles poker scene.
Why Kelly Kim Will Win the World Series of Poker Main Event
Kim has a ton of poker tournament cashes to his credit, from smaller buy-in events of a few hundred dollars, to major $10,000 buy in World Poker Tour tournaments. He knows how to handle a short stack and he knows what to do when he gets his hands on some chips.
He's got 2.6 million chips, which looks bad. However, two double ups will put him right in the thick of things.
Why Kelly Kim Will Not Win the World Series of Poker Main Event
Okay, let's be honest. It looks bad because it is bad. Kim has few enough chips that he is likely to get called with any reasonably strong hand, which means when he gets those chips in there, he's got to have something.
With about five rounds of blinds left in him, that means he's got less than 50 hands to pull something out of his hat. If it doesn't come, he's got to cross his fingers and pray that whatever he decides to put his money in with holds up.
Even if he's fortunate enough to double up one time, he'll still be at a tremendous chip advantage. It's going to take a serious combination of luck and skill to vault Kim from worst to first.
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