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The final table has been set for the 2008 World Series of Poker Main Event. Dennis Phillips will return to the Rio Hotel & Casino in Las Vegas in November in first place on the chip count. Find out more about him:

Dennis Phillips

Chip Count: 26,295,000

Age: 53

Lives: St Louis, USA

World Ranking: 8359

WSOP Bracelets: 0

WSOP Cashes: 0

Total WSOP & Circuit Earnings: $4,578

Total Live Winnings: $4,578

When the World Series of Poker decided to move the final table to November, they were hoping to maximise the marketing potential of the players involved.

But Phillips, who was raised on a farm, is not exactly the sort of character they were thinking of. The 53-year-old account manager for a commercial trucking company was back at work a week after winning the best part of one million dollars and with potentially much more to follow.

He qualified for the Main Event through a $200 satellite, beating Dan Nassif - who reached the final table of the Main Event in 2006 - and despite this performance and being a regular casher in St Louis tournaments, his performances in Vegas have left everyone stunned.

The Main Event is the only tournament he has entered at the WSOP this year and wearing the cap of his favourite baseball team, the St Louis Cardinals, he has gone all the way to the final nine. Not bad for a man who only took up poker as a hobby four years ago.

Before this performance, he had only managed a couple of minor cashes, earning a shade over two thousand dollars apiece for top ten finishes in WSOP Circuit events in Missouri.

He says: "In my wildest dreams, I didn't think I'd be here. There is no way you can prepare for what's going to happen. I'm just going to meet it the way I've met everything else, I'm going to have some fun, going to enjoy it, make the best of it and go to that table smiling. I'll keep my feet on the ground but the money is not going to change me that much."

Angus MacKenzie / Eurosport