WSOP 2013 Main Event November Niner Michiel Brummelhuis
After a three year hiatus from the World Series of Poker, a familiar name has resurfaced in Las Vegas this year. Following an impressive run at the 2009 World Series of Poker that saw him cashing in 5 separate events, 32 year old Dutch poker pro Michiel Brummelhuis has returned from Amsterdam, and this time his eyes are unwaveringly trained on the ultimate prize – the 2013 WSOP Championship bracelet and $8,359,531 in cold, hard cash.
Michiel won’t have the easiest run of it; then again, who does in this most prestigious of poker championships? He’ll be entering the final table four months from now with the third smallest chip stack of 11,275,000; about 5 million more than the short stack, David Benefield, but nearly 27 million behind the chip leader, JC Tran. Nevertheless, Brummelhuis is perfectly content to have made the elite November Nine, and if the obvious skills that brought him this far continue to hold up, he won’t be easily eliminated when the final table of the 2013 WSOP Main Event reconvenes.
Hailing from the Netherlands, the Dutch poker pro got his start several years ago playing online poker. Like most novices, he started out at the lower limits playing holdem cash tables. His talents were quickly realized and he began progressing up the stakes ladder. Although his cash game winnings are incalculable, Brummelhuis has raked in over $800,000 in online tournaments, spanning a number of the world’s largest online poker sites, including PokerStars, Full Tilt Poker, Absolute Poker and the now defunct UB poker room. Michiel’s online tournament action dropped off at the end of 2011, but it’s notable that his last three wins were all 1st place finishes; a $43,823 win at the PokerStars ‘Sunday 500’ on June 26, a $65,236 win at the PokerStars ‘Super Tuesday’ on August 2 and a $28,422 win at PokerStars ‘The Bigger $109’ on November 2, all occurring in 2011.
Brummelhuis’s live tournament results picked up where his online prowess dropped off, cashing in two events in 2012, including a 1st place victory at the Master Classics of Poker NL Holdem Bounty event worth $67,135. But those are just his latest cashes. All in all, Michiel Brummelhuis has earned $610,518 with a consistent record for live tourney in-the-money finishes dating back to 2007.
Along the young poker pro’s journey, his most recognizable moment – to American poker fans, at least – occurred in 2010 when he made an appearance at the PokerStars Caribbean Adventure. He and 83 other players posted a lofty $25k buy-in for the PCA High Roller Event. Brummelhuis finished the tournament in 4th, winning $154,350, but it was a particular hand that really drew attention to the young Dutchman. Brummelhuis faced off with American poker pro William Reynolds, the eventual winner of the event, when Reynolds raised 63k pre-flop from the small blind. Michiel called from the big blind and the flop came down Jh-Jc-2h. Reynolds bet 47k, and Brummelhuis called again. The Ac came on the turn, drawing a 102k bet from Reynolds. Again, the Dutchman made the call. When the 8h fell on the river, showing 3 hearts on the board, Reynolds began to second guess himself. He checked, and Michiel pushed his whole stack of 330k into the middle. Reynolds folded, showing A-2; two pair with Aces on top. Michiel revealed Kc-4c; absolutely nothing. It was one of the biggest, gutsiest bluffs in the history of the game, and he didn’t even bother to muck it.
The Dutch poker pro’s admirable experience and imposing talents on the felt have gotten him this far in the 2013 WSOP Main Event, where he is guaranteed to more than double his current live poker tournament career total. Should he be the first to hit the rails come November, Brummelhuis will walk away with $733,224 for his efforts, while an outlasting victory over the November Nine would put $8.35 million in his pocket. Whatever happens, Michiel has already made the history books by being the very first poker player from the Netherlands to make the final table of the WSOP Main Event. Could he also become the first Dutchman to win the championship bracelet?
The 2013 WSOP Main Event November Nine has shaped up as follows, listed by chip stacks:
- JC Tran –38,000,000
- Amir Lehavot –29,700,000
- Marc-Etienne McLaughlin – 26,525,000
- Jay Farber – 25,975,000
- Ryan Riess – 25,875,000
- Sylvain Loosli – 19,600,000
- Michiel Brummelhuis – 11,275,000
- Mark Newhouse – 7,350,000
- David Benefield – 6,375,000
And finally, the calculated payouts for the 2013 WSOP Main Event November Nine will be as follows:
- 1st place: $8,359,531
- 2nd place: $5,173,170
- 3rd place: $3,727,023
- 4th place: $2,791,983
- 5th place: $2,106,526
- 6th place: $1,600,792
- 7th place: $1,225,224
- 8th place: $944,593
- 9th place: $733,224