On the eve of the Big One, here's my opinion on who are the twenty players most likely to be crowned champion in eleven days. Chances are zero of these guys will make the final table, but it's still an appropriate time to speculate (in alphabetical order).
Patrik Antonius
The most feared player on the planet.
Michael Binger
Eight cashes this WSOP.
Justin Bonomo
At this point, nothing would surprise me from this guy, nothing. An expert at large fields.
Allen Cunningham
It's ALLEN CUNNINGHAM.
Bill Edler
Always seems to be in the thick of it late in the deep stack events, and finally got that big breakthrough score.
Jamie Gold
It seems Jamie needs a) chips and b) weak players to do his thing. Both are found in high quantities at the WSOP main event.
Joe Hachem
The all-time leader in ROI with a sample size of 2+ majors.
Phil Hellmuth
Possibly the best no limit hold em tournament player ever, and certainly the current best at dancing through modern poker's monster donkey fields.
Phil Ivey
The only player on this list with two deep runs the last four years.
Alex Jacob
A classic "go big or go home" guy and a master of wielding the big stack.
Marc Karam
Unmatched results in a small sample size of deepstack events.
Erick Lindgren
Always a factor.
Michael Mizrachi
Looking to put a miserable WSOP behind him.
Carlos Mortensen
Fresh, accomplished, fearless, and lethal with chips.
Daniel Negreanu
Plays a perfect game for the WSOP, playing tons of small pots giving him a chance to feast on the fish without risking his tournament life.
David Pham
Amazingly, the Dragon's biggest lifetime score was for $477k, back in 2003. Due for a monster result.
Kido Pham
People don't realize how rarely this guy plays - less than me, less than anyone on this list.
JC Tran
Probably the best overall NLHE tourney player.
James Van Alstyne
Deep in the freezer lately.
Paul Wasicka
When the Kwickfish is excited to play in a 5k+ event, his results are basically unmatched.
