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Event:
No-Limit Texas Holdem World Championship Final Day
Buy-in: $10,000
Number of Entries: 2576
Total Prize Pool: $24,224,400
No-Limit Texas
Holdem World Championship - FINAL TABLE by BJ Nemeth
Once again,
I'm going to play the suspense card. You probably already
know who won the World Series, but don't say anything
to ruin it for anyone out there who hasn't heard the news
yet.
I'll be going
through the events of the final table chronologically,
giving a bit of play-by-play analysis on key situations and
what happened whenever a player was eliminated from the
tournament. So today's update will have fewer colorful side
stories, and be primarily about the action. If you're still
interested in the quirkier aspects of the tournament, don't
worry. There'll be more to come, but I'll talk about that at
the end of this update.
To set the
stage for the final table, this is where the players stood
at the beginning of the day:
1. Greg "Fossilman"
Raymer - $8,215,000 in chips
2. Matt Dean - $4,920,000 in chips
3. Josh Arieh - $3,205,000 in chips
4. Glenn Hughes - $2,275,000 in chips
5. Dan Harrington - $2,245,000 in chips
6. David Williams - $1,575,000 in chips
7. Al Krux - $1,305,000 in chips
8. Michael McClain - $885,000 in chips
9. Mattias Andersson - $740,000 in chips
Greg Raymer
(who I will hereafter call "Fossilman," since that's his
nickname, and nicknames are cool) clearly had an advantage,
starting the day with a huge chip lead. But you have to
remember that in the game of no-limit holdem, leads can
change very quickly. Fossilman started the day with more
than six times as many chips as Al Krux ($8.2 million vs.
$1.3 million), but if they went all-in against each other
twice and Krux won both times, he would have the
lead over Fossilman, by almost a million dollars.
Of course, the
big stack is still where you'd rather be. Mattias Andersson
would swap chips with Fossilman in a second. I'm just
pointing out that the difference in chip counts can be
deceptive, and Fossilman's position as chip leader isn't as
secure as it might first appear.
Okay, I'm
already sick of writing the name "Fossilman." So I'm going
to start calling Greg Raymer by his last name like everyone
else. Besides, why should he be the only one who gets to go
by a nickname in this update?
The Final
Table was scheduled to begin play at 1:00 pm, but for
whatever reason, they didn't start the "pre-game ceremonies"
until 1:30 pm. No, they didn't have the Blue Angels fly
overhead, and Fantasia Barrino didn't sing the National
Anthem. But Tournament Director Matt Savage took a little
time to acknowledge all of the people on his staff who made
the tournament a success, and kept things running as
smoothly as possible. Consider the circumstances -- a record
number of players, a record number of spectators, a record
number of media present, and the fact that Binion's
Horseshoe was shut down just a few months ago -- and you'll
have to agree that they did an unbelievably great job. I
suggest that everybody who reads this gives them a virtual
standing ovation. (Actually, by reading that last sentence,
you just did.)
Savage kept
his appreciation brief, and soon introduced the players. At
1:39 pm, the dealer shuffled and dealt the first hand of the
final table for the 2004 World Series of Poker
championship event.
On earlier
days of the tournament, Savage would only announce what was
going on in a hand if there was an all-in bet or something
equally dramatic. But for the final table, he was calling
out all checks, raises, and calls. And with TV monitors
around the room showing a top-down view of the table, it was
relatively easy to follow the action.
The first big
hand happened at 1:53 pm, when Michael McClain and Greg
Raymer found themselves all-in before the flop. McClain had
a huge statistical advantage with pocket aces over Raymer's
pocket tens. But with a flop of J-10-7, Raymer hit a set.
The turn and river came 8-K, eliminating McClain in ninth
place with $470,000 in prize money. He found pocket aces
fourteen minutes into the tournament, only to get them
cracked by the chip leader.
Because they
were near the end of a round the night before (when Marcel
Luske busted out in tenth place), they had to finish playing
that round of blinds and antes at the final table. After
McClain was out, that round was over. So 15 minutes into the
tournament, they took a fifteen minute break -- and a
Texas Holdem
player was
already eliminated. It seemed to set the stage for a
fast-moving day.
Play hadn't
resumed for more than five minutes when Mattias Andersson
announced that he was all-in, and Greg Raymer called.
Andersson was a huge favorite to win the hand, with A-K vs.
Raymer's A-10. The flop of Q-9-7 offered no help, but a jack
on the turn gave Raymer a gut-shot straight draw. He needed
an 8 to win the hand and bust Andersson out of the
tournament.
The river card
was an 8.
It was 2:12
pm. The tournament was barely half an hour old (and that's
including the 15-minute break), and two players
were already eliminated. Both times, Raymer entered the hand
with the worst of it, only to catch just the right card to
win. Now it seemed like it would be a very
fast-moving day.
It's
unfortunate that 24-year-old Andersson was eliminated so
quickly. Not only will that make it very difficult for ESPN
to squeeze in the first two player profiles on TV, but he
was a very animated player that was fun to watch. When he
wasn't involved in a hand, he would often get up from his
seat and walk around the table, like an expectant father in
a maternity waiting room. And if Andersson had won that hand
against Raymer, you would have seen Andersson celebrate the
way that most players want to celebrate a big hand
-- by jumping, cheering, pumping your fist in triumph, and
then calmly walking over to shake hands with the other
player. But Andersson exited the tournament in 8th place,
with $575,000 in prize money.
In the early
going, you could already sense the style of the different
players. Most of them seemed to be pretty tight, playing
very, very few hands. Meanwhile, Josh Arieh was showing his
ability to win with any two cards by claiming a lot of small
pots uncontested. With almost $10 million in chips by this
point, Raymer had turned into a calling station. That meant
Arieh and Raymer found themselves heads up in quite a few
pots. But Arieh is a very skilled
Texas
Holdem
player, and he
worked his way up to about $5 million in chips by 2:40 pm.
At 2:43 pm,
David Williams raised the big blind to $120,000, and Josh
Arieh made a move with a substantial reraise to $500,000.
Williams thought about it a while before he called. The flop
came A-5-6. Williams checked, Arieh moved all-in, and
Williams called immediately. Uh-oh. That's not what
you want to see when you move all-in with less than the
nuts.
Arieh flipped
over A-K for top pair with top kicker, while Williams showed
pocket fives for a set. Another ace showed up on the turn,
giving Williams a full house and leaving Arieh with 7 outs
in the deck. But the river card was a 10, allowing Williams
to double up. Williams' mom Shirley was celebrating by
jumping and cheering, while Josh's friends loudly reassured
him that he had played the hand properly, and that Williams
just caught some luck.
At 2:49 pm,
while the crowd was still buzzing about that hand, Al Krux
went all-in before the flop. When Raymer called him (who
else?), I had the feeling that this might be the first final
table broadcast that would have to be edited for length --
to make it longer than it actually was.
Krux showed
pocket sixes, and Raymer had A-K. Unlike Raymer's previous
calls, he was nearly fifty-fifty to win this pot. The flop
came J-9-4, but the ace that fell on the turn seemed to
prove that God had placed a big bet on Raymer to win this
tournament in less than two hours.
But wait!
There were now four spades on the board -- and while Krux
had the lowly six of spades, Raymer didn't have any. When a
spade fell on the river (giving Krux a flush), Raymer got a
taste of his own medicine, doubling up Al Krux.
You'll notice
that I have yet to mention Dan Harrington, Glenn Hughes, or
Matt Dean. I told you they were playing tight, and I meant
it.
Whenever Matt
Dean entered a pot, it seemed like Josh Arieh was waiting to
prey on him. I got the feeling that Arieh didn't even need
to look at his own cards. Dean would bet, Arieh would make a
substantial raise, and Dean would fold. Dean was admittedly
the least experienced player at the final table (he started
playing a year ago), and unfortunately his lack of
experience really showed today. Arieh was giving him a
lesson in high-stakes tournament
Texas
Holdem
poker, but it
wasn't coming cheaply.
On one
heads-up play between Dean and Arieh, Josh bet the turn for
$400,000 with K-4-5-3 on the board. Dean raised it to $1.1
million, and Arieh re-raised him all-in. I won't know until
it airs on TV this summer, but I have the feeling that Dean
had the best hand at the time, and he laid it down. He
hadn't thought through his raise very well, and it left the
door open for Arieh to make yet another move on him. It was
a very expensive hand for Dean, and he was hemorrhaging
chips after starting the day in second place.
After a second
break, at 3:22 pm, Dan Harrington finally found himself in a
key situation. With a flop of J-9-7 (two clubs), he moved
all-in against Greg Raymer. Raymer, true to form, called,
showing A-J for top pair with top kicker, and Harrington was
in trouble with Q-9 -- second pair. But another 9 fell on
the river, giving Harrington trips to win the pot, and
dealing Raymer his second bad beat of the day.
Ironically,
Raymer had won two all-in situations when he made
bad calls as the underdog, and then lost two all-in
situations when he made good calls and was the favorite.
Things aren't supposed to work out that way, but hey --
that's poker. Oddly enough, those two bad beats may have
been just what Raymer needed to realize that he shouldn't be
the calling station of the final table. Instead of putting
him on tilt, it may have actually improved his play.
Around 4:00
pm, Josh Arieh picks up a pot from David Williams on a board
of 9-6-5-K-J. Arieh won the hand with pocket 8s, making a
good call after Williams made a $500,000 bluff on the river
with ace-high. It wasn't the most exciting hand, but I
mention it because it may have been the first time Arieh won
a pot by actually showing the best hand. Every
previous time there was a showdown at the river, Arieh would
run into a better hand. But he kept playing his aggressive
game, and I got the feeling he could have seen nothing but
2-7 all day long and he would still have as many chips as he
did.
After the
first two players made quick exits, play continued with
seven players for quite some time. At 4:35 pm, the
approximate chip positions were:
1. Greg "Fossilman"
Raymer - $7,730,000
2. Josh Arieh - $4,620,000
3. Dan Harrington - $2,805,000
4. David Williams - $2,745,000
5. Al Krux - $2,635,000
6. Matt Dean - $2,505,000
7. Glenn Hughes - $2,125,000
At 5:13 pm,
Matt Dean raised the big blind to $250,000. David Williams
made a suspiciously low reraise to $500,000. He was
obviously looking for Dean to call, and of course Dean did
call. The flop came 8-8-3, and Dean moved all-in. For the
second time today, Williams called an all-in bet
immediately. Uh-oh.
Williams
flipped over pocket aces. He set a trap, and Dean fell right
into it with pocket nines, thinking his overpair was good.
At the end of the hand the board read 8-8-3-3-A, giving
Williams a full house to take all of Dean's chips and send
him home in 7th place with $675,000. Josh Arieh was
definitely sorry to see him go.
The casual
observer might think Williams acted hastily with two 8s on
the board, when Matt Dean could have had an 8 in his hand.
But Williams was starting to show that he was actually a
very skilled poker player. (He's only 23 years old, but he's
been playing poker for seven years and excels at other games
as well.) He was prepared for any move that Dean might make,
and obviously figured that if Dean had flopped trips, he
would slow play it a little more, hoping to win some money
on it. His all-in bet signaled to Williams that Dean had
bottom pair, an overpair, or nothing but a bluff. Anyway you
cut it, Williams would be a huge favorite to win the hand.
The fact that he acted so quickly just shows his experience
and forethought for
Texas
Holdem
situations
like this.
Before Matt
Dean exits, I just want to say that he was one of the
nicest, most sincere people I met the entire week of the
tournament. I don't imagine that he'll ever become a
professional player (or bereckless enough to try), but he
can take his $675,000 to the bank and become a teacher like
he originally planned. And no matter what happens, nobody
can ever take away the fact that in 2004, he went upagainst
the best players in the world and made it to the final table
at the World Series of Poker. Congratulations,
Matt.
At 5:40 pm,
Greg Raymer, Josh Arieh, and Al Krux found themselves in a
three-way pot. Short-stacked, Krux goes all-in on a flop of
A-K-5 (two diamonds). Raymer not only calls, but actually
raises to scare Arieh out of the pot. Arieh folds, and
Krux shows A-9 while Raymer shows A-Q. With no help on the
turn or river, Al Krux is out-kicked, and busts out in sixth
place, taking home $800,000.
Four players
had been eliminated from the final table, and Greg "Fossilman"
Raymer had consumed three of them. So at 5:49 pm, here were
the approximate chip positions:
1. Greg "Fossilman"
Raymer - $10,000,000 +
2. David Williams - $6,100,000
3. Josh Arieh - $5,000,000
4. Dan Harrington - $2,700,000
5. Glenn Hughes - $1,800,000
Let me remind
you that Raymer's lead is not as large as it might appear. A
failed all-in bet against Williams or Arieh would put Raymer
in third place, and he certainly wouldn't want to double up
former champion Dan Harrington to over $5 million.
The most tense
moment of the day came shortly before 6:00 pm. Josh Arieh
and Greg Raymer found themselves heads up for the umpteenth
time. With the turn showing J-10-6-8 (two clubs on the
flop), Arieh checks, Raymer bets $1 million, and Arieh
calls. When a third club falls on the river (the four of
clubs), Josh checks, and Raymer moves all-in on him. Josh
leaps from his chair, not wanting to face this decision.
Arieh clearly has a good hand, but that third flush card and
Raymer's all-in bet scares him. As he replays the hand in
his head and contemplates whether to call, I'll take a break
from the action to tell you about Raymer's sunglasses. (If I
had to wait several minutes to see what Arieh was going to
do, so will you.)
Raymer had
brought a pair of novelty sunglasses to the World Series
with him, the kind that have a pair of unblinking eyes
printed on the lenses. It's a cheap way of giving yourself a
very effective poker face, as other players find it
disconcerting and difficult to focus on anything else.
Anytime he faced a bet from another
Texas
Holdem
player or was
waiting for a call, he would rest his chin on his fist and
stare them down with those unblinking artificial eyes.
And that's
what he was doing to Josh Arieh while he faced a very
difficult call that could bust him out of the tournament.
Most of the all-in bets to this point were either quickly
called or quickly folded, or you got the impression that the
player was just stalling a fold to save face. But in this
case, everyone could sense that Arieh did not want
to lay this hand down.
But he did.
That hand
really rattled Josh Arieh, and gave Raymer an even more
commanding chip lead. Their approximate totals at 6:00 pm,
just 11 minutes after the last chip count:
1. Greg "Fossilman"
Raymer - $12,000,000
2. David Williams - $6,100,000
3-4. Josh Arieh - $3,600,000
3-4. Dan Harrington - $3,600,000
5. Glenn Hughes - $1,500,000
About 6:05 pm,
Glenn Hughes tried to make a move with K-Q by going all-in,
but Greg Raymer called him with his pocket fives. It was a
race situation, and Hughes would need a king or a queen to
stay in the tournament. The flop came A-10-4, and Hughes
also picked up a gutshot straight draw if a jack fell. He
had ten outs left in the deck. But no help arrived, and
Glenn Hughes was eliminated by Raymer in fifth place,
collecting $1.1 million.
Stop and think
about that number for a moment, because I've been throwing
around the word "million" a lot in this update. Remember
what a million dollars means in the real world? A large
house, fancy cars, and long-term financial security. Glenn
Hughes came in fifth place, and now he's walking
out with over a million dollars. It's surreal.
Okay, time to
get back to the action on the final table. At 6:45 pm, Dan
Harrington was heads up with David Williams when he bet
all-in on a board showing 9-5-2-3 on the turn. For the
third time today, Williams immediately called. Uh-oh.
Dan Harrington
was caught on a semi-bluff with nothing but a double-gutshot
straight draw, holding 6-8. (A 4 or a 7 would make him a
straight.) Meanwhile, Williams was in the lead with 2-3,
giving him two pairs. With 8 outs left in the deck for
Harrington, a 3 fell on the river giving Williams his third
full house of the day and allowing him to eliminate the
former champion. Dan Harrington ended the tournament in
fourth place, winning $1.5 million.
Dan Harrington
may not have won his second World Series
championship (he won this event in 1995), but he solidified
his position among the all-time greats in the history of
poker. To finish in the top four two years in a row is
absolutely incredible considering the number of players who
entered these past two years. Congratulations, Dan. You've
proven that skill is still more important than luck. I look
forward to seeing you prove it again next year.
The tournament
directors decided that Dan's exit would be a good time to
take the 75-minute dinner break, returning to the action
with the final three
Texas
Holdem
players, who
each made it this far in very different ways.
Josh Arieh
seemed to go most of the day without catching any flops, but
he continued his aggressive play to steal whatever pots he
could. Greg Raymer was calling down the short stacks and
consuming all of their chips, building a substantial lead.
David Williams had eliminated two players to build up a nice
stack, pulling off a few nicely laid traps in the process.
He was catching some great hands, but he was playing them
very effectively and earning as much as possible with them.
Remember that
David Williams is the same young kid that was on the brink
of disaster the day before, barely able to keep ahead of the
blinds and antes. Williams has fought his way back to be
among the final three players. If it weren't true, I would
never believe it.
When play
resumed after dinner (about 8:13 pm), these were the
official chip totals:
1. Greg "Fossilman"
Raymer - $14,460,000
2. David Williams - $8,630,000
3. Josh Arieh - $2,075,000
There isn't
much action for a few hands, until Josh Arieh moves all-in
before the flop, and Greg Raymer quickly calls him. David
Williams hasn't acted yet, and when he looks down at his
cards, he likes what he sees. But he knows better than to
get involved in this with anything less than the best, so he
wisely folds his hand to get out of the way. Arieh reveals
pocket nines, and Raymer shows A-Q. It'll be another race to
see who will win the pot. With a flop of J-Q-Q, Josh is in
trouble. He needs a nine to fall (there are two left in the
deck), and he has a longshot runner-runner straight draw.
But the next two cards come 3-4, and Arieh is eliminated in
third place with $2.5 million.
Josh Arieh
played a strong final table. The thing I'm looking forward
to the most in the ESPN broadcast this summer is seeing what
kind of cards he had. I have a strong feeling that he could
have been dealt rags all day at the final table, and he
would have still finished in third place. And that's saying
something. Congratulations, Josh.
Before we
continue, let's play a quick game of connect-the-dots. Josh
Arieh was eliminated holding pocket nines. Pocket nines is
the hand that Phil Hellmuth won the 1989 World Series
with. Phil Hellmuth is very proud of the fact that he was
the youngest player to ever win the championship, as he was
only 24 years old at the time. David Williams is 23 years
old. Uh-oh.
Somewhere,
Phil Hellmuth is sweating bullets.
At 8:31 pm,
the $5 million in cash is brought out and placed on the
final table. That's 50,000 one-hundred dollar bills. Every
year, the players insist the giant pile of money doesn't
affect them, but everyone else who comes within ten feet of
it seems to get a little lightheaded.
So after five
minutes of silently staring at the money, everyone wakes up
and remembers that we still have a tournament to finish.
Play resumes at 8:36 pm. Greg Raymer has over $16 million in
chips, and David Williams has over $8 million. All Williams
needs is a single all-in victory to reverse positions and
take the lead himself.
On the first
hand, Williams bets $350,000, and Raymer calls. With a flop
of 10-3-4 (two spades), Williams bets $400,000 and wins the
pot.
On the second
hand, Raymer bets $250,000, and Williams calls. The flop
comes 9-8-2 (two hearts), which Williams checks. Raymer bets
$400,000, winning the pot right there.
On the third
hand, Williams bets $300,000, and Raymer calls. With a flop
of 4-2-5 (two diamonds), Williams bets $500,000 and Raymer
raises it to $1.6 million. Williams calls him immediately.
Uh-oh.
The turn makes
the board 4-2-5-2, and Raymer bets $2.5 million even though
the board has paired, and Williams immediately calls. Double
uh-oh.
The river card
is yet another two, making it 4-2-5-2-2, and suddenly
everything happens so fast that I couldn't tell up from
down. Chips were pushed, players leapt out of their chairs,
cards were thrown on the table, the announcer was yelling
into the microphone, and the crowd was drowning him out with
uproarious cheers and applause.
When the
initial chaos subsided, I was finally able to figure out
what happened. Raymer went all-in on the river, and Williams
called before the words were out of Raymer's mouth. Williams
had his fourth full house of the day, with twos full of
fours. (He had A-4.) But it wasn't enough, as Raymer had a
stronger full house, twos full of eights. (He held pocket
eights.)
At 8:44 pm on
Friday, May 28, 2004, Greg "Fossilman" Raymer won the
World Series of Poker No-Limit Holdem World
Championship.
For anyone who
thinks watching poker is boring unless it's edited and
packaged for television, think again. This was one of the
most exciting sporting events I've ever witnessed, and I've
been to the World Cup Finals, the Winter Olympics, the
Summer Olympics, a college football championship, and the
final game of a World Series (the baseball version).
It's a shame
that the tournament room couldn't accommodate more
spectators, because there was a line of people waiting all
day to get in to witness history. And for those of you who
couldn't even get that close, I hope you've enjoyed these
daily updates.
The World
Series may have ended, but there is still a lot
of great information that I wasn't able to squeeze into
these daily updates. Check out CardPlayer.com on Tuesday,
June 1st, and I'll provide a final wrap-up to the event with
a lot of interesting tidbits from the past week, as well as
more information on the finalists, who will soon become
household names.
You might also
find it interesting to print this out and reread it in a few
months after the World Series airs on television.
Once you see the players' hole cards, it should be obvious
how accurate I was in my analysis. |
