At age 51, Kevin Schaffel probably walked into a casino for the first time years before some of his World Series of Poker Main Event competition were even born. Despite the fact that he is on the lower end of the chip count, currently sitting in sixth place, this may give him an experience edge that could carry him to his dream; a WSOP Main Event bracelet.
Unlike a lot of the other people at the table, this is not Kevin’s first time making a deep run into the World Series of Poker Main Event. In 1994 he was still in contention during the waning days of the Main Event, and wound up finishing a respectable 42nd.
The WSOP is not the only place that Kevin has been successful. He has cashed in both the European Poker Tour and the World Poker Tour as well. In short, he is no stranger to big tournaments and pressure situations. After making the final table, Kevin had this to say about his success, "I'll come back in November and do what I can. If it's meant to be, it's meant to be. It's been a great ride whatever happens. My son is on cloud nine. I can't wait to come back."
While it is quite an achievement to make it this far in the Superbowl of the poker industry, Kevin has quite a mountain to climb in order to put him into a position to win. At this point in time he is over 46 million chips behind the leader. This is where he will have to draw on his experience to overcome his more chipped up, but much greener competition.
This final table is a little upside down. Most of the experience is sitting at the bottom of the totem pole looking up at their less seasoned counterparts. This will help to make it an exciting final table as the inexperienced chip leaders try to fend off the attacks from the predators at the bottom of the chip count.
