It took until 2:00am PT at the Rio in Las Vegas to determine the November Nine of the 2011 World Series of Poker Main Event. But boy was it worth it. Players from seven different countries will take to the felts at the casino’s Penn and Teller Theater four months from now, all jockeying for a first place prize of $8.7 million. Four countries will be represented for the first time at the final table of the $10,000 buy-in tournament: Belize, the Czech Republic, Germany, and the Ukraine.

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Coming out of the redraw when 10 players remained in the Main Event, the action tightened up considerably as the 2011 WSOP November Nine bubble neared. Poker pros like Humberto Brenes were on-hand and many fans back at home were watching the action on ESPN2 on a 30-minute delay.

ESPN2 commentator Antonio Esfandiari noted that whoever busted out in tenth place would likely “go home and cry,” so players did their best to avoid laying claim to being the November Nine Bubble Boy.

In a major hand, Matt Giannetti(pictured), known in the online world as hazards21, open-shoved 5.5 million in chips with pocket jacks and John Hewitt called with A-10. The decision wasn’t an easy one for Hewitt, as coverage found on WSOP.com described, “Upon sweating his cards, he ripped his hood off of his head and went into the tank. He painstakingly called and was in bad shape.”

The flop came K-4-8, keeping Giannetti in the lead with jacks, and the turn was the five of clubs. No ace came on the river and Giannetti, one of only three Americans left standing in the Main Event, doubled up to 11.75 million. Hewitt, who had unsuccessfully tried to pop the November Nine bubble, dropped to 10.40 million.

Giannetti wasn’t done there. He once again put his tournament life on the line with jacks, this time after 4betting all-in before the flop. Ben Benba Lamb (pictured), who 3bet in the hand, called with K-9 and, once again, the crowd rose to its feet with the November Nine bubble on the line.

The dealer spread 10-6-3 on the flop, which kept Giannetti in front of Lamb, and the turn was a seven, putting three hearts onboard. Lamb held both flush and straight draws in addition to an overcard, but whiffed when the ace of spades ripped off on the river. Giannetti and Lamb held nearly identical stacks after the hand was over at around 20 million.

Hewitt then once again doubled up a tablemate in the late stages of the 2011 WSOP November Nine bubble. Badih Bounahra 3bet all-in before the flop with pocket kings and Hewitt made the call with K-Q offsuit. Although he turned a queen to give Bounahra a sweat, he couldn’t connect on the river and dropped to four million in chips. Bounahra shot up to 19.95 million.

Around 2:00am PT, Hewitt ultimately became the November Nine Bubble Boy. He 3bet all-in for his last 3.88 million and Ireland’s Eoghan O’Dea (pictured) made the call. When the cards were revealed, Hewitt showed pocket threes, while O’Dea tabled K-J for a coin flip.

The flop of Q-10-7 gave O’Dea outs to a straight and, when an ace hit on the turn, Hewitt was drawing dead. He picked up $607,000 for his eight-day Main Event run.

Prior to this year, the most number of countries represented at a Main Event final table in the 21st century was six, which occurred in 2007. It’s in stark contrast to the 2003, 2004, and 2006 Main Events, in which eight of the final nine hailed from the United States.

Every November Nine member except for Bounahra is in his 20s; Bounahra is 49:

1. Martin Staszko (Trinec, Czech Republic) – 40,175,000
2. Eoghan O’Dea (Dublin, Ireland) – 33,925,000
3. Matt Giannetti (Las Vegas, NV) – 24,750,000
4. Phil USCphildo Collins (Las Vegas, NV) – 23,875,000
5. Ben BenbaLamb (Tulsa, OK) – 20,875,000
6. Badih Bounahra (Belize City, Belize) – 19,700,000
7. Pius MastaP89 Heinz (Cologne, Germany) – 16,425,000
8. Anton Makievskyi (Dnipropetrovsk, Ukraine) – 13,825,000
9. Samuel SamDMND Holden (Sussex, United Kingdom) -12,375,000

Lamb leads the 2011 WSOP Player of the Year race and his run is reminiscent of Michael “The Grinder” Mizrachi’s last year. He’s set to record his fifth in the money cash in a WSOP event this year and won the $10,000 buy-in Pot Limit Omaha Championship for $817,000. He made three final tables in 2011, including in the $50,000 Poker Player’s Championship, and has over $2.1 million in career WSOP earnings, not counting this year’s Main Event.

The action now pauses for 108 days. Stay tuned for continuing coverage of and reaction to the 2011 WSOP November Nine right here on PocketFives.com. View our completed WSOP coverage, sponsored by 24hPoker.