Top chip counts on dinner break.
Poker Pro Folds Quads To All-In Bet In Main Event
Despite Getting Great Pot Odds, Kyle Bowker Finds Epic Lay Down
Recent bracelet winner Kyle Bowker was playing the World Series of Poker main event on Wednesday and found himself involved in a pot where he had turned quads and was betting for value on the river. Bowker’s opponent then moved all in.
Bowker was ready to insta-call, but he paused and realized that exactly one straight flush combination was a likely holding for his opponent. The board read K
9
7x 7x J
.
According to Bowker, he opened with pocket sevens from early position and everything that happened next made a straight flush a very real possibility.
“The next player flatted; the kid who I ended up folding to flatted,” Bowker told Card Player. “The big blind flatted. The flop came K
9
7. I bet 5,000. Fold. Kid in the middle calls. The big blind folds. The turn was another seven.”
Bowker decided not to slow-play his quads. He bet 11,000. The bet was called.
The dealer burned and put the J
on the felt.
“I bet 40,000,” Bowker said, “which was pot because I felt like he had the nut flush draw and got there on the river. And then he moved all in for 98,000 in total.”
Despite getting a great price on the call, which wasn’t even for his tournament life, Bowker went into the tank. Every summer there are waves of criticism about tanking in tournaments, but sometimes thinking about a hand for what feels like an eternity to other players is justified.
“I was just going to put the money in, but I sat back and thought about it,” Bowker said. “I was quite sure he liked the river card, and he was a three-bettor, so he would have three-bet me preflop if he had kings and he probably would have three-bet me preflop if he had jacks. So, like nines was one of the hands, but I was very sure he wasn’t made on the flop or the turn and he liked the river card. So now it’s pocket jacks or Q
10
, and I just really felt like he would have either three-bet preflop with jacks or not have gotten to the river with jacks. There was a zero-percent chance he was bluffing, so I thought it was really likely that it was the Q-10 of spades.”
Asked about the seven minutes he spent in the tank, Bowker said it was “way the most time I’ve ever taken for a poker hand.” The clock ended up being called on him.
“While I was thinking about it I was thinking that I was crazy, like ‘What am I doing in the tank for seven minutes with quads,’ but when it can only be a few hands: kings, jacks, nines, Q
10
, and I can rule out some of those hands almost for sure, it just became a fold in my head.”
Bowker exposed the sevens when folding, and his opponent didn’t show. The tabled responded in utter disbelief, according to Bowker. “They didn’t think it was real.”
“He told me later that he had it,” Bowker said. “But he said he would have also shoved nines full on the river. But you never know for sure. He could have been lying to me.”
Bowker agreed with the notion that if his opponent didn’t have the straight flush he likely would have tabled a hand that inexplicably bluffed quads.
“I felt like when I showed my hand I could see on his face that he was disgusted,” Bowker said. “I felt really confident that I was making the right fold anyway, and that just kind of confirmed it more.”
When asked about the price he was getting on making the call, Bowker said that in a cash game or a tournament that’s not the WSOP main event he likely would have found a call.
“I was getting an amazing price. You have to be over 95-percent sure to make the fold. But I was. I am playing with more confidence than normal because I just won [a bracelet]. I wouldn’t call myself a big hero folder in general, and I probably wouldn’t have made the fold in any other tournament or cash game, even if I thought he had the Q
10
. I would be like, ’If you have the Q
10
you got me. In this tournament, and being that sure, I thought I could make the fold.”
Bowker ended up surviving to day 3 of the tournament with 132,200 in chips, which was slightly below average with more than 2,000 players remaining.
Bowker’s hand is similar to the time Russian poker player Mikhail Smirnov folded quad eights in the 2012 $1 million buy-in at the WSOP. Smirnov also put his opponent on a straight flush in spades, and to this day it appears to have been the correct lay down.
Despite Getting Great Pot Odds, Kyle Bowker Finds Epic Lay Down
Recent bracelet winner Kyle Bowker was playing the World Series of Poker main event on Wednesday and found himself involved in a pot where he had turned quads and was betting for value on the river. Bowker’s opponent then moved all in.
Bowker was ready to insta-call, but he paused and realized that exactly one straight flush combination was a likely holding for his opponent. The board read K
According to Bowker, he opened with pocket sevens from early position and everything that happened next made a straight flush a very real possibility.
“The next player flatted; the kid who I ended up folding to flatted,” Bowker told Card Player. “The big blind flatted. The flop came K
Bowker decided not to slow-play his quads. He bet 11,000. The bet was called.
The dealer burned and put the J
“I bet 40,000,” Bowker said, “which was pot because I felt like he had the nut flush draw and got there on the river. And then he moved all in for 98,000 in total.”
Despite getting a great price on the call, which wasn’t even for his tournament life, Bowker went into the tank. Every summer there are waves of criticism about tanking in tournaments, but sometimes thinking about a hand for what feels like an eternity to other players is justified.
“I was just going to put the money in, but I sat back and thought about it,” Bowker said. “I was quite sure he liked the river card, and he was a three-bettor, so he would have three-bet me preflop if he had kings and he probably would have three-bet me preflop if he had jacks. So, like nines was one of the hands, but I was very sure he wasn’t made on the flop or the turn and he liked the river card. So now it’s pocket jacks or Q
Asked about the seven minutes he spent in the tank, Bowker said it was “way the most time I’ve ever taken for a poker hand.” The clock ended up being called on him.
“While I was thinking about it I was thinking that I was crazy, like ‘What am I doing in the tank for seven minutes with quads,’ but when it can only be a few hands: kings, jacks, nines, Q
Bowker exposed the sevens when folding, and his opponent didn’t show. The tabled responded in utter disbelief, according to Bowker. “They didn’t think it was real.”
“He told me later that he had it,” Bowker said. “But he said he would have also shoved nines full on the river. But you never know for sure. He could have been lying to me.”
Bowker agreed with the notion that if his opponent didn’t have the straight flush he likely would have tabled a hand that inexplicably bluffed quads.
“I felt like when I showed my hand I could see on his face that he was disgusted,” Bowker said. “I felt really confident that I was making the right fold anyway, and that just kind of confirmed it more.”
When asked about the price he was getting on making the call, Bowker said that in a cash game or a tournament that’s not the WSOP main event he likely would have found a call.
“I was getting an amazing price. You have to be over 95-percent sure to make the fold. But I was. I am playing with more confidence than normal because I just won [a bracelet]. I wouldn’t call myself a big hero folder in general, and I probably wouldn’t have made the fold in any other tournament or cash game, even if I thought he had the Q
Bowker ended up surviving to day 3 of the tournament with 132,200 in chips, which was slightly below average with more than 2,000 players remaining.
Bowker’s hand is similar to the time Russian poker player Mikhail Smirnov folded quad eights in the 2012 $1 million buy-in at the WSOP. Smirnov also put his opponent on a straight flush in spades, and to this day it appears to have been the correct lay down.
Play has resumed with Level 14 in the Main Event, blinds at 2,000/4,000/500......1,368 players remain.
Phil Hellmuth has been eliminated in the last hour.
I`ll post some more players from the leader board.....I have the top 20 above.
Filming of the Main Event starts tomorrow.
Players on a 15-minute break in the Main Event, 1,161 players left.
Money Bubble Bursts In 2016 World Series of Poker Main Event
Kenny Hallaert Leads The Remaining 800 Players At The End Of Day 3
At around 12:15 AM local time the money bubble burst in the 2016 World Series of Poker $10,000 buy-in main event with the elimination of Adam Furgatch the remaining 1,011 players were all guaranteed to cash for at least $15,000 in this year’s world championship.
Furgatch was all-in in the final hand before hand-for-hand play was set to begin, moving in with his last 6,000 chips with Q-9. George Zisimopoulos called him with the A-7 and neither player improved, sending Furgatch to the rail as the last player outside of the money. As a result of his elimination there was no need for any hand-for-hand play, resulting in the shortest main event money bubble in recent memory.
Although Furgatch didn’t officially cash in this event, he didn’t actually walk away empty handed. The WSOP awarded Furgatch a free seat into the 2017 main event as a consolation prize.
Play continued for approximately an hour and 15 minutes after the bubble burst before the remaining 800 players bagged and tagged their chips for the night. At the end of play Kenny Hallaert was the chip leader with 1,709,000.
Hot on Hallaert’s heels are a number of huge names with plenty of chips of their own, including Jared Bleznick (1,607,000), Antonio Esfandiari (1,381,000), Shaun Deeb (1,266,000), Marc-Andre Ladouceur (1,302,000), 2016 WSOP bracelet winner Ray Dehkharghani (1,184,000), Jon Turner (1,124,000) and Steve O’Dwyer (1,172,000).
Melanie Weisner exploded up the leaderboard after the dinner break, ending the night with 1,083,000 to put her just outside the top ten in chip counts. Card Player TV caught up with her on a break for a quick video interview about her rise up the ranks.
“It’s nice to feel like you are executing the things that you want to and playing to your ability, which is how I feel right now, and I would love to keep it going,” said Weisner in the interview.
Four former winners of the main event are still alive with a chance of becoming repeat champions. Johnny Chan (588,000) is the only player left with a shot at becoming a three-time champion in this event, having won back-to-back titles in 1987 and 1988. 2004 champ Greg Raymer (732,000), 2013 winner Ryan Riess (270,000) and 1983 world champion Tom McEvoy (202,000).
Notable pros to hit the rail on day 3 include defending champion Joseph McKeehen, 1989 champion Phil Hellmuth, Michael Mizrachi, Ted Forrest, David Williams, Vanessa Selbst, Olivier Busquet, Tony Dunst, former November Niner Matt Jarvis, Anthony Zinno, Bertrand “ElkY” Grospellier and many others.
Kenny Hallaert Leads The Remaining 800 Players At The End Of Day 3
At around 12:15 AM local time the money bubble burst in the 2016 World Series of Poker $10,000 buy-in main event with the elimination of Adam Furgatch the remaining 1,011 players were all guaranteed to cash for at least $15,000 in this year’s world championship.
Furgatch was all-in in the final hand before hand-for-hand play was set to begin, moving in with his last 6,000 chips with Q-9. George Zisimopoulos called him with the A-7 and neither player improved, sending Furgatch to the rail as the last player outside of the money. As a result of his elimination there was no need for any hand-for-hand play, resulting in the shortest main event money bubble in recent memory.
Although Furgatch didn’t officially cash in this event, he didn’t actually walk away empty handed. The WSOP awarded Furgatch a free seat into the 2017 main event as a consolation prize.
Play continued for approximately an hour and 15 minutes after the bubble burst before the remaining 800 players bagged and tagged their chips for the night. At the end of play Kenny Hallaert was the chip leader with 1,709,000.
Hot on Hallaert’s heels are a number of huge names with plenty of chips of their own, including Jared Bleznick (1,607,000), Antonio Esfandiari (1,381,000), Shaun Deeb (1,266,000), Marc-Andre Ladouceur (1,302,000), 2016 WSOP bracelet winner Ray Dehkharghani (1,184,000), Jon Turner (1,124,000) and Steve O’Dwyer (1,172,000).
Melanie Weisner exploded up the leaderboard after the dinner break, ending the night with 1,083,000 to put her just outside the top ten in chip counts. Card Player TV caught up with her on a break for a quick video interview about her rise up the ranks.
“It’s nice to feel like you are executing the things that you want to and playing to your ability, which is how I feel right now, and I would love to keep it going,” said Weisner in the interview.
Four former winners of the main event are still alive with a chance of becoming repeat champions. Johnny Chan (588,000) is the only player left with a shot at becoming a three-time champion in this event, having won back-to-back titles in 1987 and 1988. 2004 champ Greg Raymer (732,000), 2013 winner Ryan Riess (270,000) and 1983 world champion Tom McEvoy (202,000).
Notable pros to hit the rail on day 3 include defending champion Joseph McKeehen, 1989 champion Phil Hellmuth, Michael Mizrachi, Ted Forrest, David Williams, Vanessa Selbst, Olivier Busquet, Tony Dunst, former November Niner Matt Jarvis, Anthony Zinno, Bertrand “ElkY” Grospellier and many others.
Its late on day 3 of the 2016 World Series of Poker main event and number of notable players have made their way to the top of the leaderboard as the money bubble looms, including Melanie Weisner. Card Player TV caught up with her on a break to learn how she built her sizable stack and to get her thoughts on the marathon that is this deep-stacked WSOP main event.
Bryan Piccioli Leads 2016 World Series of Poker Main Event After Day 4.
250 Players Remain In The Biggest Poker Tournament of the Year.
The Amazon room at the Rio All Suite Hotel and Casino went through a metamorphosis on day 4 of the 2016 World Series of Poker $10,000 no-limit hold’em main event.
The tables that once filled the room have been broken down and cleared out to make way for the throngs of ESPN camera operators documenting the action of this year’s world championship.
The fanfare served to underline the drama of day 4, which began with 800 players and ended with 250. All of those who made day 5 are guaranteed at least a $36,708 payday but surely have their eyes on the November Nine, the championship bracelet and the $8,000,000 first-place prize.
At the end of the day Bryan Piccioli was in the lead with 4,026,000. The young poker pro from Allegany, NY already has a bracelet to his name, having won the 2013 WSOP Asia Pacific $1,100 no-limit hold’em accumulator event in Australia.
2014 WSOP $1 million Big One For One Drop winner Daniel Colman bagged up the second largest stack heading into day 5 with 3,711,000. Colman has over $25 million in lifetime live tournament earnings (with $15 million coming in the aforementioned super high roller event) and is in a good spot to add even more to that already impressive total.
Melanie Weisner ended the night inside the top ten on the leaderboard, picking up A
A
and getting all in against an opponent’s A
K
to win a huge pot to increase her stack to over 3 million.
Other notables inside the top fifty heading into day 5 include James Obst (3,003,000), Valentin Vornicu (2,911,000), Alex Keating (2,626,000), Jared Bleznick (2,568,000), Griffen Benger (2,409,000), 2009 November Niner Antoine Saout (2,283,000), 2010 Card Player Player of the Year Tom Marchese (2,108,000) and Anthony Gregg (2,013,000).
Two former ‘last women standing’ are still in with a shot at being the last player standing. Gaelle Baumann, who finished 10th in this event in 2012, ended the day with 1,791,000. Maria Ho, who has been the last female left in this event twice, held the chip lead at one point early on day 4. She will enter day 5 with 691,000.
While the remaining field is stacked with accomplished poker pros, plenty of big names hit the rail on day 4 including 1983 main event champion Tom McEvoy (644th – $18,714), Card Player columnists Matt Matros (712th – $17,232) and Gavin Griffin (505th – $22,648), three-time bracelet winner Antonio Esfandiari (449th – $25,235) two-time WSOP bracelet winner and Card Player publisher Barry Shulman (469th – $25,235), 2015 Colossus champion Cord Garcia (376th – $28,356), Jamie Kerstetter (325th – $32,130), bracelet winner and Twitch poker streamer Jason Somerville (320th – $32,130), former November Niner Eoghan O’Dea (276th – $36,708) and Steve O’Dwyer (261st – $36,708).
As the night wound down 2013 World Series of Poker main event champion Ryan Riess was eliminated, losing most of his stack in a race with A
K
against an Mark Mitzel’s pocket threes to be left with only four big blinds. Riess spent most of the day sitting directly to the left of 2004 world champion Greg Raymer, who survived the day with 992,000. Raymer and two-time main event winner Johnny Chan are now the only players in with a chance to repeat in this tournament. Chan, who won back-to-back main events in 1987 and 1988, bagged up 968,000.
Here is a look at the top ten stacks heading into day 5:
<tbody>
</tbody>
250 Players Remain In The Biggest Poker Tournament of the Year.
The Amazon room at the Rio All Suite Hotel and Casino went through a metamorphosis on day 4 of the 2016 World Series of Poker $10,000 no-limit hold’em main event.
The tables that once filled the room have been broken down and cleared out to make way for the throngs of ESPN camera operators documenting the action of this year’s world championship.
The fanfare served to underline the drama of day 4, which began with 800 players and ended with 250. All of those who made day 5 are guaranteed at least a $36,708 payday but surely have their eyes on the November Nine, the championship bracelet and the $8,000,000 first-place prize.
At the end of the day Bryan Piccioli was in the lead with 4,026,000. The young poker pro from Allegany, NY already has a bracelet to his name, having won the 2013 WSOP Asia Pacific $1,100 no-limit hold’em accumulator event in Australia.
2014 WSOP $1 million Big One For One Drop winner Daniel Colman bagged up the second largest stack heading into day 5 with 3,711,000. Colman has over $25 million in lifetime live tournament earnings (with $15 million coming in the aforementioned super high roller event) and is in a good spot to add even more to that already impressive total.
Melanie Weisner ended the night inside the top ten on the leaderboard, picking up A
Other notables inside the top fifty heading into day 5 include James Obst (3,003,000), Valentin Vornicu (2,911,000), Alex Keating (2,626,000), Jared Bleznick (2,568,000), Griffen Benger (2,409,000), 2009 November Niner Antoine Saout (2,283,000), 2010 Card Player Player of the Year Tom Marchese (2,108,000) and Anthony Gregg (2,013,000).
Two former ‘last women standing’ are still in with a shot at being the last player standing. Gaelle Baumann, who finished 10th in this event in 2012, ended the day with 1,791,000. Maria Ho, who has been the last female left in this event twice, held the chip lead at one point early on day 4. She will enter day 5 with 691,000.
While the remaining field is stacked with accomplished poker pros, plenty of big names hit the rail on day 4 including 1983 main event champion Tom McEvoy (644th – $18,714), Card Player columnists Matt Matros (712th – $17,232) and Gavin Griffin (505th – $22,648), three-time bracelet winner Antonio Esfandiari (449th – $25,235) two-time WSOP bracelet winner and Card Player publisher Barry Shulman (469th – $25,235), 2015 Colossus champion Cord Garcia (376th – $28,356), Jamie Kerstetter (325th – $32,130), bracelet winner and Twitch poker streamer Jason Somerville (320th – $32,130), former November Niner Eoghan O’Dea (276th – $36,708) and Steve O’Dwyer (261st – $36,708).
As the night wound down 2013 World Series of Poker main event champion Ryan Riess was eliminated, losing most of his stack in a race with A
Here is a look at the top ten stacks heading into day 5:
| Rank | Player | Chip Count |
| 1 | Bryan Piccioli | 4,026,000 |
| 2 | Daniel Colman | 3,711,000 |
| 3 | Thomas Miller | 3,684,000 |
| 4 | Pierre Merlin | 3,396,000 |
| 5 | Farhad Jamasi | 3,380,000 |
| 6 | Goran Mandic | 3,216,000 |
| 7 | Adi Abugazal | 3,180,000 |
| 8 | Daniel Zack | 3,085,000 |
| 9 | Melanie Weisner | 3,078,000 |
| 10 | Tom Middleton | 3,025,000 |
<tbody>
</tbody>
Day 5 of the Main Event starts with 251 players:
Payouts: 226th-251st: $36,708...163rd-225th: $42,285...100th-162nd: $49,108...91st-99th: $57,494...82nd-90th: $67,855...73rd-81st: $80,721
Players now on dinner break at Day 5 of the Main Event. 127 players remain.
Top 15 money holders.
2016 World Series of Poker Main Event -- Daniel Colman Among Chip Leaders.
Having a mountain of chips is not an unusual circumstance for the 26-year-old poker pro, who put together one of the most impressive years on the tournament circuit ever seen to win the 2014 card player of the year award. That year alone he cashed for more than $22 million in live tournaments, including a $15 million win in the $1 million buy-in WSOP Big One For One Drop.
With lifetime earnings in excess of $25 million, Colman is fifth on the all-time money list and is in a great situation to add another chunk of earnings to his already incredible resume as a chip leader on day 5 of the WSOP main event.
On the first break of the day Colman had just over 4.2 million in chips, which would be good for 140 big blinds with play set to resume at 15,000 – 30,000 blinds and an ante of 5,000.
Card Player TV caught up with Colman on the break to discuss his strong start to the day, which saw him eliminate Joseph Potts in a huge pot. Colman flopped top set with the J
J
on a J
5
3
board. After the K
turn and A
river the money got in and Colman’s set was good against Potts’ K
3
for two pair.
Colman also discussed a video that he posted to his Instagram account earlier this summer in which he was showing off his prowess with nunchucks.
“I’m not that good at nunchucks but I bought a pair and started messing around with it. I watched Youtube videos and learned how to sling em’ around. It’s just something fun and as you do it you get better and better,” said Colman.
“It’s funny, it’s actually my ADHD,” he continued. “Whenever I’m doing something I have to be multi-tasking, so I’ll be on the phone and playing with the nunchucks. Whatever I’m doing I have to multi-task, so they come in handy for that.”
There is still a long way to go in the 2016 WSOP main event, but with a big stack and the ninja skills to sling around the chips Colman seems to be in a good spot.
Having a mountain of chips is not an unusual circumstance for the 26-year-old poker pro, who put together one of the most impressive years on the tournament circuit ever seen to win the 2014 card player of the year award. That year alone he cashed for more than $22 million in live tournaments, including a $15 million win in the $1 million buy-in WSOP Big One For One Drop.
With lifetime earnings in excess of $25 million, Colman is fifth on the all-time money list and is in a great situation to add another chunk of earnings to his already incredible resume as a chip leader on day 5 of the WSOP main event.
On the first break of the day Colman had just over 4.2 million in chips, which would be good for 140 big blinds with play set to resume at 15,000 – 30,000 blinds and an ante of 5,000.
Card Player TV caught up with Colman on the break to discuss his strong start to the day, which saw him eliminate Joseph Potts in a huge pot. Colman flopped top set with the J
Colman also discussed a video that he posted to his Instagram account earlier this summer in which he was showing off his prowess with nunchucks.
“I’m not that good at nunchucks but I bought a pair and started messing around with it. I watched Youtube videos and learned how to sling em’ around. It’s just something fun and as you do it you get better and better,” said Colman.
“It’s funny, it’s actually my ADHD,” he continued. “Whenever I’m doing something I have to be multi-tasking, so I’ll be on the phone and playing with the nunchucks. Whatever I’m doing I have to multi-task, so they come in handy for that.”
There is still a long way to go in the 2016 WSOP main event, but with a big stack and the ninja skills to sling around the chips Colman seems to be in a good spot.
Dan Colman Video.
Greg Raymer Not Impressed By Being Last Former Champ Left In 2016 WSOP Main Event
Poker Pro Makes First Cash In Main Event Since 25th Place In 2005
The last former champion alive in the 2016 WSOP main event was 2004 winner Greg Raymer, who sat with an average stack with fewer than 130 left on Saturday.
For Raymer, who might have made the final table again in 2005 had it not been for a brutal hand against Aaron Kanter, the title of last champ standing means nothing. Johnny Chan, the 1987 and 1988 winner, hit the rail in 180th place on day 5, which was good for a $42,285 payday.
“I was reading [a media report] this morning and it talked about how he and I were fighting to be the last champ standing,” Raymer said. "No, we were fighting to be the next champ standing. That’s the reality. I don’t get paid extra for being the last champ left. I’m trying to win the $8 million.”
Raymer won $5 million in 2004, and his 25th-place finish in 2005, which was the last time he cashed in the main event prior to this year, was good for $304,000.
“Fossil Man” is already thinking about how great it would be for his second bracelet to be in the tournament that put him on the poker map right when the poker boom was beginning. However, the 52-year-old North Carolinian knows very well that you can’t get too far ahead of yourself in the main event, or you might blow up.
“There’s still so far to go,” Raymer said. “In a lot of the tournaments I’ve won over the past several years, the starting fields weren’t much bigger than [160 players]. So, even though this is great and all, I still have like 331 million chips to go.”
When Raymer won the main event the field size was a record 2,576, more than triple the number of players the year before when Chris Moneymaker altered the course of poker history. The main event field size reached a peak of 8,773 in 2006, but it has remained steady over the past decade. This year’s field size of 6,737 was the largest in five years.
Raymer said that the experience of being deep before allows him to play his A-game at times when other players might be feeling the pressure of the lights and cameras, as well as the massive money jumps. He also knows you can dominate by almost going back-to-back and then not cash in the event in over a decade.
“I think my edge is that, even though there are great players still in the field, many of them haven’t been in this situation before,” Raymer said. “It brings up more emotions, and it’s the emotions that cause you to exhibit tells so that you are easier to read. Emotion causes you to make mistakes that you wouldn’t normally make.”
With so many players and a significant portion of the field being amateurs, the main event is often described as a minefield, but, according to Raymer, that characterization applies to any tournament with a big field these days. The difference is that the main event has so much money on the line and the psychological toll that comes from a bad beat or a fatal mistake is a lot to deal with.
“Because it’s the main event you feel it a lot more when one of those mines blows up in your face,” Raymer said of navigating thru a seven-day poker tournament.
Because it has been so long since his last deep run, Raymer said the memory of falling short in 2005 isn’t on his mind. The time has healed that disappointment, and now it’s about making the most of this opportunity. You can never count on a deep run happening again.
“I don’t think any one tournament can redeem anything,” Raymer said. “You just play your best. It’s really hard to judge someone’s skill level based on tournament results, to be honest. If someone has massively good results then they have to at least be really good, but it doesn’t mean they are the best. Someone can have mediocre results for a period of time and that doesn’t mean they aren’t a good player either.”
His remarkable runs in 2004 and 2005 were the product of great play, but Raymer did enjoy big stacks throughout the tournament in both years, and he used his chips and table image to find some spots where an opponent would disintegrate and basically gift him all their chips. He seemed to have an uncanny ability to spark a blowup from an opponent. This year, thanks to not having a top stack, he’s had to adjust his play. But it’s also a different era of poker.
“I certainly still have [people playing back at me], but I’m not sure I get it a lot more than other people now,” Raymer said. “It happened more in the past because in 2004 and 2005 I was one of the big stacks. I was appropriately playing a lot of hands. Also, the skill level of opponents back then was lower, so it was more correct to play more hands. Because people play better now, you probably shouldn’t be playing a lot of extra hands even if you have a big stack. The fact that I was in those spots for a couple of years meant I was in position to catch blowups.”
According to Raymer, tanking in the main event, especially in its later stages, is better and worse than it was over a decade ago. That’s another way the game has evolved.
“For the big decisions, it was worse back then,” Raymer said. “You were much more likely to have someone thinking about one decision for 10 or 15 minutes if no one called a clock. Today, even if it’s for all your chips this deep in the main event, someone is going to call the clock by the time five minutes goes by.
They aren’t going to give you 10 or 15. But when it comes to just the routine preflop decisions, it’s worse today. That’s really the biggest concern I have, if you have someone taking 20 to 30 seconds for every preflop decision.”
Poker Pro Makes First Cash In Main Event Since 25th Place In 2005
The last former champion alive in the 2016 WSOP main event was 2004 winner Greg Raymer, who sat with an average stack with fewer than 130 left on Saturday.
For Raymer, who might have made the final table again in 2005 had it not been for a brutal hand against Aaron Kanter, the title of last champ standing means nothing. Johnny Chan, the 1987 and 1988 winner, hit the rail in 180th place on day 5, which was good for a $42,285 payday.
“I was reading [a media report] this morning and it talked about how he and I were fighting to be the last champ standing,” Raymer said. "No, we were fighting to be the next champ standing. That’s the reality. I don’t get paid extra for being the last champ left. I’m trying to win the $8 million.”
Raymer won $5 million in 2004, and his 25th-place finish in 2005, which was the last time he cashed in the main event prior to this year, was good for $304,000.
“Fossil Man” is already thinking about how great it would be for his second bracelet to be in the tournament that put him on the poker map right when the poker boom was beginning. However, the 52-year-old North Carolinian knows very well that you can’t get too far ahead of yourself in the main event, or you might blow up.
“There’s still so far to go,” Raymer said. “In a lot of the tournaments I’ve won over the past several years, the starting fields weren’t much bigger than [160 players]. So, even though this is great and all, I still have like 331 million chips to go.”
When Raymer won the main event the field size was a record 2,576, more than triple the number of players the year before when Chris Moneymaker altered the course of poker history. The main event field size reached a peak of 8,773 in 2006, but it has remained steady over the past decade. This year’s field size of 6,737 was the largest in five years.
Raymer said that the experience of being deep before allows him to play his A-game at times when other players might be feeling the pressure of the lights and cameras, as well as the massive money jumps. He also knows you can dominate by almost going back-to-back and then not cash in the event in over a decade.
“I think my edge is that, even though there are great players still in the field, many of them haven’t been in this situation before,” Raymer said. “It brings up more emotions, and it’s the emotions that cause you to exhibit tells so that you are easier to read. Emotion causes you to make mistakes that you wouldn’t normally make.”
With so many players and a significant portion of the field being amateurs, the main event is often described as a minefield, but, according to Raymer, that characterization applies to any tournament with a big field these days. The difference is that the main event has so much money on the line and the psychological toll that comes from a bad beat or a fatal mistake is a lot to deal with.
“Because it’s the main event you feel it a lot more when one of those mines blows up in your face,” Raymer said of navigating thru a seven-day poker tournament.
Because it has been so long since his last deep run, Raymer said the memory of falling short in 2005 isn’t on his mind. The time has healed that disappointment, and now it’s about making the most of this opportunity. You can never count on a deep run happening again.
“I don’t think any one tournament can redeem anything,” Raymer said. “You just play your best. It’s really hard to judge someone’s skill level based on tournament results, to be honest. If someone has massively good results then they have to at least be really good, but it doesn’t mean they are the best. Someone can have mediocre results for a period of time and that doesn’t mean they aren’t a good player either.”
His remarkable runs in 2004 and 2005 were the product of great play, but Raymer did enjoy big stacks throughout the tournament in both years, and he used his chips and table image to find some spots where an opponent would disintegrate and basically gift him all their chips. He seemed to have an uncanny ability to spark a blowup from an opponent. This year, thanks to not having a top stack, he’s had to adjust his play. But it’s also a different era of poker.
“I certainly still have [people playing back at me], but I’m not sure I get it a lot more than other people now,” Raymer said. “It happened more in the past because in 2004 and 2005 I was one of the big stacks. I was appropriately playing a lot of hands. Also, the skill level of opponents back then was lower, so it was more correct to play more hands. Because people play better now, you probably shouldn’t be playing a lot of extra hands even if you have a big stack. The fact that I was in those spots for a couple of years meant I was in position to catch blowups.”
According to Raymer, tanking in the main event, especially in its later stages, is better and worse than it was over a decade ago. That’s another way the game has evolved.
“For the big decisions, it was worse back then,” Raymer said. “You were much more likely to have someone thinking about one decision for 10 or 15 minutes if no one called a clock. Today, even if it’s for all your chips this deep in the main event, someone is going to call the clock by the time five minutes goes by.
They aren’t going to give you 10 or 15. But when it comes to just the routine preflop decisions, it’s worse today. That’s really the biggest concern I have, if you have someone taking 20 to 30 seconds for every preflop decision.”
Memory lane Video....I remember Mike.....I liked him.
