$27 Million at the World Series of Poker Final Table Tonight

The American poker player professionals and amateurs were becoming more and more excited as the 43rd 2012 World Series of Poker was reaching its grand finale. The final table of the main event will be held at the Rio in Las Vegas on Monday October 29 at 4:30 pm Vegas time.

It's been a long three months since the nine finalists took a long break before gathering again for the final showdown at the poker table. They were the best of the 6,598 players from 83 nations who paid the $10,000 buy-in for the poker event.

The minimum pay-out each final table participant is guaranteed is $750,000. The complete sharing is an astonishing $27,258,025, making up the lion's portion of the 43rd World Series of Poker 's overall prize pool of $62,031,385.

It is worth noting how many young people play poker at a professional level. The average age of all participants of this world series was only 37, and the average age of the final table players is 31.6 years with three of them being under 25. Apart from Andras Koroknai of Hungary, all players are from the USA.

Here are the chip counts before the start:

• Jesse Sylvia (26) from Martha's Vineyard, USA - 43,875,000
• Andras Koroknai (30) of Hungary - 29,375,000
• Greg Merson (24) hails from Maryland, USA - 28,725,000
• Russell Thomas (24) Connecticut, USA - 24,800,000
• Steven Gee (57) California USA - 16,860,000
• Michael Esposito (44) New York USA - 16,260,000
• Robert Salaburu (27) Texas USA - 15,155,000
• Jacob Balsiger (21) Arizona USA - 13,115,000
• Jeremy Ausmus (32) Nevada USA - 9,805,000

The rewards to be earned for the final nine players are gigantic even for international pro poker player events. The winner of the poker tournament receives $8,531,853 and the $150,000 gold bracelet. The second place bags $5,295,149 and the third place - $3,799,073.

The remaining prizes:

• 4th $2,851,537,
• 5th $2,155,313,
• 6th $1,640,902
• 7th $1,258,040
• 8th $971,360
• 9th $754,798

US players must pay their taxes according to the American gambling laws.