Read below to find out what JWoww and Snooki have to do with a John Racener win being 'Good for Poker'

At 8pm PT on Monday night, Jonathan Duhamel will face John Racener for the 2010 WSOP Main Event title.

Duhamel will take a massive 6-1 chip lead to heads-up play (188,950,000 to 30,750,000).

Like every year (or just last year, whatever), we’ll take a look at a few big questions going into this likely unepic heads-up battle.

Are Duhamel and Racener Most Deserving to Be Here?

Last year, the mass consensus was that Antoine Saout (and to a lesser degree, while he was still in it, Phil Ivey) outplayed everyone at the final table. Everyone believed Joe Cada had luckboxed his way to heads-up play (including Cada). While Darvin Moon definitely got some lucky breaks, he didn’t necessarily do anything undeserving of making the final two.

This year–it’s really tough to say.

At times, Michael “The Grinder” Mizrachi and Joseph “Subiime” Cheong were clearly outplaying everyone. But both made some highly questionable decisions which ultimately led to their demise. Jason Senti played well enough to come from behind as uber-short-stack to a seventh place finish, but he needed a major river suck-out on Cheong to get there.

Anyway, Duhamel started final table play as big stack. Then went to short-stack. Some questions his A-9 all-in call vs. Grinder’s 3-3, but take that out and he made some smart plays, and it’s hard to argue place in the final two.

Same goes Racener. He needed an A-Q suck-out vs. A-K to save his tournament life, but otherwise, he kept grinding away until making it heads-up.

Is Duhamel Really Bad For Poker, Guys?

Here are all of the reasons why a Duhamel win would be bad for poker:

1. This.
2. This.
3. This.
4. This.
5. And without a doubt, most especially this.

Plus, it’s no lock that Duhamel is a permanent presence on the circuit after the win. While this is GREAT for Duhamel, it’s bad for the poker economy.

Is Racener Really Good for Poker?

Consider these factors:

1. He’s not French Canadian.
2. He’s American.
3. He’s a guy who wants to be the ambassador/face of poker.
4. He’d rep well on all of the talk shows, etc.
5. He makes a good case for the poker skill game argument and would be the first “pro” winner since Carlos Mortensen in 2001.
6. He always reps well for the tournament grinders, setting the stage for a near sure-fire lock Dwyte Pilgrim victory next year.
7. Good chance he’d start banging J-Woww or Snooki.
8. And unlike Duhamel, Racener’s money will definitely recirculate back into the poker community.

And that’s about it for now. Check back for coverage starting around 8pm PT of the final table happenings.

Tagged as: 2010 WSOP Main Event, John Racener, Jonathan Duhamel, November Nine

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