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HEADLINE: World Series of Poker Gets Down to Final Two for $8.9 Million First Prize

Body:
Canadian poker professional Jonathan Duhamel holds a 6-1 advantage in chips as he faces John Racener of the U.S. for the $8.9 million top prize at the World Series of Poker in Las Vegas.

Duhamel, 23, and Racener, 24, square off tonight after outlasting 7,317 other players in the No-Limit Texas Hold’Em world championship. It’s the World Series of Poker’s richest event, with the top eight finishers at the Rio All-Suite Hotel and Casino receiving at least $1 million.

Duhamel, of Boucherville, Quebec, majored in finance before dropping out of the University of Quebec in Montreal. He’s been playing poker full-time for about two years -- mostly online -- and his combined WSOP earnings before this event were $43,000.

Duhamel has almost 189 million chips to about 30.8 million for Racener, a poker professional from Port Richey, Florida. Racener entered this event with $701,165 in earnings from WSOP tournaments.

The $10,000 buy-in tournament began in July and is the biggest of more than 50 events on a circuit founded in the 1970s. Nine players advanced to the final table, with seven being eliminated during a 13-hour session that was completed early yesterday morning in Las Vegas.

To contact the reporter on this story: Erik Matuszewski in New York at matuszewski@bloomberg.net

To contact the editor responsible for this story: Michael Sillup at msillup@bloomberg.net

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