Best Cash Game Players of November Nine Era

The November Nine era of the World Series of Poker Main Event ended Monday with the announcement of the Poker Central’s deal with ESPN and the WSOP. The November Nine began as an experiment and turned into a unique page of poker’s history. We already took a look at some of the biggest personalities from the November Nine.

The concept saw 80 players in an exclusive fraternity that spanned all types of player metrics – age, nationality, experience, etc. Looking at the group, here are some of the best cash game players that made it to the top of the tournament world.

Ben Lamb – It was rumored he won eight-figures playing cash games at ARIA in 2011 that playing tournaments was -EV for him. Lamb was one of the early stalwarts in Ivey’s Room and prefers to let the action come to him in Las Vegas.

Phil Ivey at the Super High Roller Bowl (Photo: Poker Central)
Phil Ivey – There are two high stakes poker rooms in Las Vegas named after players – and Ivey is one of them. ‘Nuff said.

Jesse Sylvia (Photo: PokerPhotoArchive.com)
Jesse Sylvia – He honed his game online, hit a huge score and moved to Las Vegas a week before Black Friday. Sylvia was forced into the live games of Vegas to make a living and found success through a small group of friends, including fellow Niner Russell Thomas.

Jorryt van Hoof had the best Main Event finish in Dutch history. (Photo: PokerPhotoArchive.com)
Jorryt van Hoof – Playing as “TheCleaner11”, Jorryt van Hoof became one of the most feared Pot Limit Omaha players before “the great game” became as popular as it is today. Van Hoof didn’t intend to play the Main Event, as he had meant to play only cash games on his trip to Las Vegas in 2014.

Jeremy Ausmus won a bracelet in WSOP Europe. (Photo: PokerPhotoArchive.com)
Jeremy Ausmus – For years Ausmus played daily at the Bellagio playing the $10-$25 or $25-$50 games carving out a living. Nearly all his tournament cashes are in Las Vegas because he limits travel for his family and still has ten six-figure cashes, including a cash in the 2013 High Roller for One Drop.

(Thomas Cannuli had a rail of millionaires. (Photo: PokerPhotoArchive.com)
Thomas Cannuli – The grizzled poker media was collectively puzzled in 2015 when Antonio Esfandiari, Jeff Gross and couple other superstars were railing Cannuli deep in the Main Event. Cannulli is a fellow ChoiceCenter grad and is probably the purest cash game player on the list. Since his sixth-place finish in 2015 he’s added nine cashes in fairly major tournaments.