I’ll start by throwing out my thoughts on the WSoP. This event is the perfect micronism of what’s happening to poker on the macro level. Internet poker players are doing well in live tournaments for several reasons.
First, quantity, if you throw enough ammo at the target, then no matter how bad a shot you are; odds are at least one is going to hit, Moneymaker's 2003 WSoP win is a good example.
Second, some of the Internet players are very high caliber players with a “students of the game” philosophy. Reading everything in sight, posting on RGP (rec.gaming.poker) and popular poker message boards. Fossilman is this type of player with hundreds of posts on RPG and almost 2000 posts on the popular twoplustwo forums.
Third, some of the advantages in and of live poker are drastically dampened in tournament play because of the limited time player are in contact with each-other. I am referring to tells, of course; and unless the player is horrendously bad and obvious (which I admit more then a few are), tells won’t be a major factor of the game.

With a third of the entries coming from on-line for the 2567 seats the influx of players that have never touched casino felt, stared down an opponent in live action or had a slew of tasty alcoholic beverages delivered by a scantly clad cocktail waitress. Several times I heard players at the World Series of Poker ask “How much?” the answer, “Whatever you want to pay.” In Vegas the drinks are on the house, and this house was packed!

Too little space to accomadate the massive event was the biggest single problem, the Fire Marshall was on the scene the first day of the WSoP and had planned to shut the event down but, “I couldn’t get inside the building”. The next day he did get inside and imposed his will, severly limited access for the remainder of the main event, even for media types. Nothing beats seeing a holier then thou representative from a big media company being evicted from the scene, perhaps next time these last minute leeches will be a little more polite and have the wisdom to show courtesy rather then contempt for the overworked event staff. Remember that by the time the final event is played most of these people have been working more than thirty days straight. (Continuing courtesy throughout the event is the coin that bought our last minute shots).

If Raymer decides to play the tournament circuit I think his name will pop up on money lists far more often than last year's Moneymaker. Other signs the geeks are taking over? One of the finalist is a Magic: The Gathering tournament champion (and continues playing Magic). Four players, including first and second place, came in from Internet Casino Tournaments. I don’t think the current generation of champions will be out-matched by the Internet champs; however, I am sure some of the new breed will join their ranks as masters of poker. I also don’t believe the internet players (even the great tournament players) would do well in a long term ring game with the great tradiditonal players. Dolly Brunson and Chip Reese can eat even great tournament players alive.

As I mentioned at the start, poker is evolving, the great players of yesterday are slowly fading away, the current generation of champions are, by and large, active in the on-line community and the on-line community will give rise to many of tomorrow's tournament champions. Ten years down the road I foresee true VR rooms, millions of players, with great players being churned out by the hundreds and a steady stream of dead-money fish churned out by the millions.

The future of the poker industry has never been brighter. Television has raised the game from the smokey back rooms frequented by unsavory characters to prime time family entertainment with emerging young stars becoming household names hounded by autograph seekers. The TV money is making today's Tournamanet Poker a legitimate spectator sport with prize money that was unimaginable a few short years ago. We will end with a famous quote from the most influential individual and Godfather of tournament poker, Benny Binion. When asked what makes a great poker player he replied with one word, "Money!"

Posted by pokerprof at 4:00 PM | Permalink

The final hand at the final table of the final event of the World Series of Poker was won by Greg “Fossil Man” Raymer this evening at the Horseshoe in downtown Las Vegas. The 2004 “Mother of all Poker Tournaments,” the World Series of Poker, is now history. The champion receives the platinum bracelet and $5 million in cash after his pocket eights bested David William’s A-4. The board brought three deuces giving Raymer deuces full of eights while William had deuces full of fours when a four paired one of his hole cards. David received $3.5 million for second place.
Following his win Greg answered questions from the press and praised the competition in the week long final event. He said,” The tournament started out with 2,576 players and at least sixteen hundred of them are better players than me”. Not this year, Greg, none better. When asked about luck he said he didn’t really believe in luck and compared it to what you see in your rear view mirror. “Luck is what’s in your rear view mirror and my rear view mirror for this week was good. He said that during the week he had very few bad beats and considering the total hours of poker played he was somewhat “lucky” and could only remember having aces cracked early on for a $160,000 loss. When asked about the glasses he said they came from Disney World in Florida. During a family vacation he purchased them on an impulse while waiting for his wife to buy souvenirs. When questioned about his stare down ability he said that he had not developed his to the extent of a Howard Lederer and that was the primary reason for the glasses since they hide his eyes completely while allowing him to easily see his hole cards. Some of the spectators and fellow players had renamed Greg “Sillyman” instead of the “Fossilman”. Greg said the glasses not only hid his eyes but made it difficult for the other players to stare him down since looking at a man with reptillian eyes is really disconcerting.
Greg “Fossilman” Raymer is a 39 year old patent attorney from Stonington, Connecticut where he lives with his wife, Cheryl, and their daughter. He is originally from North Dakota but moved around the country after receiving his law degree from the University of Minnesota Law School. His love of fossils and his ever growing collection gave rise to the nickname fossilman which can be found on Usenet posts going back to '99. A search of the Internet revealed Greg to be a prolific writer and net user with some posts going back almost a decade so it is not surprising that he qualified for this year’s World Series of Poker through an Internet casino tournament. Like last year’s winner, Chris Moneymaker, Greg is a regular Internet player but the similarity ends there. While Moneymaker had never played with real people in live games Greg has considerable live game experience. Greg’s best previous finish in a major poker tournament was a final table appearance at the 2001 World Poker Finals at Foxwoods where he finished third. The soft spoken, witty Raymer represents the next generation of players in the high stakes poker tournament world. He is intelligent, observant, calculating, and aggressive. Combine these attributes with a little bit of luck and his “student of the game” philosophy and we will probably see a lot of Greg over the coming years. We congratulate the Fossilman for his record setting 2004 win.
Some final 2004 WSOP observations. Greg Raymer eliminated six of the other eight players at the final table. Four of the nine finalist were twenty-something years old with the second place finisher, David Williams, being twenty-three. The first place money was a record $5 million dollars brought to the table in bundles of hundred dollar bills carried in four cardboard boxes. $5,000,000 in hundred dollar bills weights 175 lbs. Second place money was $3.5 million, one million more than Moneymaker got last year for winning. When Dan Harrington was eliminated in fourth by David Williams he collected $1.5 million, a half million more than he received for his 1995 WSOP win. When Harrington won in ’95 Williams was just finishing grade school. The best finish by a female in this year’s championship event was Rose Richie’s 98th place finish. Rose is a 48 year old amateur Internet player from St. Petersburg, Florida and won her seat plus travel expenses in an online tournament at the Royal Vegas Casino. Rose is a breast cancer survivor and has lupus, a chronic disease that causes severe pain. She collected $20,000 for her top one hundred finish. This was the last WSOP to be held in it’s entirety at the historic Horseshoe Casino in downtown Las Vegas. Current plans call for the 2005 WSOP to be played at the Rio here in Las Vegas with only the final table of the championship event taking place at the downtown Horseshoe. I had a great deal of fun documenting this year’s World Series of Poker and want to thank Nolan Dalla, Matt Savage, Jim Miller, Mike Page, the security team, especially the media accommodating players and all of the helpful WSOP employees from Harrah’s Entertainment. We are already planning our coverage of next year’s event including some innovative, never before used technology. See all of you next May at the 2005 WSOP. Until then we will continue offering daily poker info, las Vegas poker room reviews, Las Vegas stories and whatever else comes to mind.

Posted by flipchipro at 2:09 PM | Permalink

Well the big topic in the world of poker blogs this week is Ace-Queen off suit. Pauly has an excellent post on his experience with this trouble hand at Tao of Poker. TP's tournament report prominently features A-Qo and is a good read; also, Greg Raymer took out Al Krux in the WSoP with an A-Qo. On that World Series of Poker note, Mean Gene has some great thoughts on the WSoP on his blog. Finally I love reading Linda's PokerWorks; a dealer at the Bellagio, she has the story of a problem player and the excitement of dealing a 30-60 game, $30,000-$60,000 that is. Will have the WSoP epilogue up later.

Posted by pokerprof at 4:13 PM | Permalink

UPDATE: A ton of WSOP photos are in the extended text.

Greg "Fossilman" Raymer won the 35th World Series of Poker on hand 113 of the day to become this years Champion of Poker.

The 113th hand:
David Williams bets 300k preflop, Raymer calls. The Flop comes 5s-4d-2d.
Raymer checks the pot and Williams bets $500,000, Fossilman re-raises to 1.6 million and Williams immediately calls. 4th Street is a duce (2h) and Fossilman bets $2.5 million, again, Williams calls. The River floats another duce (2c) and Greg the Fossilman says "All In". David Williams calls.

Williams shows (Ace-4) for a full house 2's over 4's.

Fossilman shows pocket 8's and wins the 35th World Series of Poker Main Event with a fullhouse 2's over 8's! Fossilman takes home 5 million and Williams collects 3.5 million.

Josh Arieh, out in third.

Josh goes all-in before the flop with pocket 9's, Greg calls and shows Ace-Queen.

The Flop: Queen-Queen-Jack
The Turn: 3
The River: 4

Josh Arieh is out in 3rd going home to Georgia with $2.5 million for his efforts.

Also of note Greg knocked out 6 players today and has been the chip leader since the Day 5 of the event. He never lost the lead.

World Series of Poker Final Event Photos

Posted by pokerprof at 8:35 PM | Permalink

This is what I was able to get done during the dinner break.

PHOTOS
Al Krux	Greg "FossilMan" Raymer
Dan Harrington	Glenn Hughes
The Final Table The Money The crowds!

Posted by pokerprof at 8:08 PM | Permalink

It's now down to the final 3 players Josh Arieh, Greg Raymer and David Williams.

Willams knocked out Harrington when Harrington limped in and Williams checked to see a flop of: 2-5-9

A $250k bet is called by Willams.
4th street is: 3
Harrington Check-Reraises Williams putting Harrington all in.
Harrington Shows: 8-6
Williams Shows: 2-3
5th Street brings another 3 giving Williams a fullhouse of 3's over 2's and the former Champ is out in 4th with a prize of $1.5 million.

The Official before the dinner break is:
Greg: 14,460,000
David Williams: 8,630,000
Josh Arieh: 2,075,000

Tons of photos to come in a moment.

Posted by pokerprof at 6:59 PM | Permalink

Al Krux went all-in against Greg "the Fossilman" Raymer. Fossilman's Ace-Queen held up against Krux's Ace-9, with the board showing Ace-King-5-7-3.

Next Glenn Hughes moved All-In before the flop and Greg called.
Hughes is holding King-Queen
Greg has the speed limit (pocket 5's)
The flop comes 4-10-Ace a 10 on the turn and a 9 on the river.

Fossilman now has over 14 million in chips and is way way out in front. This is the fourth player Raymer has eliminated today. Al Krux leaves with an even $800,000 and Glenn Hughes takes $1.1 million.

Posted by pokerprof at 5:57 PM | Permalink

Matt Dean is short stacked with about 500,000 at the 40k-80k blind level. Dave Williams puts him all-in.

Dean is holding Ace 10

While Willams has Ace-Ace (Pocket Rockets!!)

The board brings no help for Matt and he leaves with $675,000 and a final table at the WSOP.

Matt lost most of his chips a few hands back when he raised 1.1 million against Josh Arieh, Josh moved all-in. Matt thought and thought, but finally folded.

Posted by pokerprof at 5:22 PM | Permalink

Greg "The Fossilman" and Dan Harrington have clashed. Raymer bet the pot pre-flop and Harrington calls. The flop is 7-Jack-9. Harrington Check-'Yo-Momma Raises' Raymer by moving all-in. Raymer calls showing Ace-Jack against Harringtons Queen-9. 4th street brings no help, but the river shows another 9! Harrington's trips net him over 3 million in chips.

Chip Counts at 4:52 pm
Blinds 40,000-80,000 Ante 10,000
Raymer - 7,730,000
Josh Arieh - 4,620,000
Matt Dean - 2,505,000
David Williams - 2,745,000
Glenn Hughes - 2,125,000
Dan Harrington - 2,805,000
Al Krux - 2,635,000

Posted by pokerprof at 3:40 PM | Permalink

Raymer has taken out another one! Matthias Anderson from Sweden goes all-in with 670,000 in chips pre-flop. Fossilman calls.

Anderson has Big Slick (Ace-King)

Raymer shows Ace-10

The flop is: Q-9-7
The Turn: J
The River: 8 (Giving Raymer the 8 thru Q straight!)

Anderson returns to Sweden with $575,000 and a WSOP final table under his belt. This puts Raymer over the 10 million mark in chips.

Right now the Blinds are 30,000-60,000 with 10,000 antes.

Posted by pokerprof at 2:31 PM | Permalink

Within 10 minutes of play one of the final 9 is out, Mike McCain. He just handed his $900,000 stack to none other than the chip leader Greg "Fossilman" Raymer. McCain got pocket Aces and went all in pre-flop, Raymer called with pocket 10's. The board puts up a ten and Raymer now has over 9 million in chips! McCain leaves in 9th place with $470,000 (dollars not chips).

Posted by pokerprof at 2:02 PM | Permalink

Just got the bios for the WSOP final 9, here are the bios for the chip leader Greg "Fossilman" and 1995 World Series of Poker champion Dan Harrington, the rest are in the extended text.

The Chip Leader: SEAT 4: GREG “FOSSILMAN” RAYMER
Chip Count: $8,215,000
The chip leader coming into the finale is Greg Raymer, a 39-year-old corporate patent attorney from Stonington, CT. Raymer is originally from North Dakota, and worked around the country before settling down with his wife and daughter in the woods of Southeastern Connecticut. Raymer’s best tournament finish was third in the main event at the World Poker Finals, back in 2001 at Foxwoods. This is his first final table at the World Series of Poker – and he comes in with a significant chip advantage at over $8 million. Raymer is known as “Fossilman,” because he collects antique fossils – which he often proudly displays on the poker table. He also has the most unusual shades in poker. Raymer’s motto: “I only appear to be wacko – in reality, I’m much worse.”

The 1995 Champ: SEAT 6: DAN HARRINGTON
Chip Count: $2,245,000
Dan Harrington is the 1995 world poker champion. He also made the final table in the main event last year – finishing third. This year’s repeat performance means he’s made three final tables within just the past ten years – a remarkable accomplishment by any measure. Harrington grew up in Boston and became a successful investor before turning to poker to make his “second fortune.” Harrington is jokingly referred to as “Action Dan,” a teasing reference to his rock-solid playing reputation. The fact is – Harrington is capable of playing many different styles and has proven to be one of the most dangerous players in the game of No-Limit Texas Hold’Em. Harrington now lives in Santa Monica, CA.

SEAT 1: MATTIAS ANDERSSON
Chip Count: $740,000
The only non-American to make the final table this year is Mattias Anderson, from Sweden. At age 24, he’s one of four 20-something players in the finale. Andersson previously worked as a salesman in a toy store before crafting his poker game playing on the Internet. Over the past year, he’s supported himself financially playing from his home computer. Andersson noted that “Poker School Online” at PokerPages.com helped him learn about strategy. In his spare time, he also enjoys soccer, pool, miniature golf, and other card games – including “Magic.” In fact, Andersson won the national “Magic” championship in Sweden in 2001. This is his first time to play in the World Series of Poker. Andersson’s motto: “Respect all of your fellow players and try to play your best game.”

SEAT 2: JOSH ARIEH
Chip Count: $3,205,000
Josh Arieh was born in Rochester, NY and now lives in Atlanta, GA. He’s a 29-year-old professional poker player who once worked as a courier for a law firm. Arieh won a gold bracelet at the World Series in 1999 – in the $3,000 buy-in Limit Hold’em event. This is his fifth year to play at the World Series – where he has cashed ten times. He started playing poker several years ago, mostly to kill time after the local pool hall closed. Arieh is married and has two children. About his life, he says, “I’m just a family man trying to make a decent living.”

SEAT 3: AL KRUX
Chip Count: $1,305,000
Al Krux is originally from North Carolina, but now lives near Syracuse, NY. Prior to becoming a professional poker player, Krux worked as a diamond merchant. He won a World Series gold bracelet in 1996 in the $1,500 buy-in Pot-Limit Hold’em event. He also made the final table in the main event in 1990, when he finished 6th. Krux is married and has four children.

SEAT 5: MATT DEAN
Chip Count: $4,920,000
Dean is a 25-year-old aspiring math teacher from Woodlands, Texas – located just outside Houston. He’s currently working on getting his teaching certificate, in order to teach high school math. Dean started playing poker just one year ago. He learned to play poker online, and at his local fraternity house on the campus of Southwestern University. Dean is single and enjoys playing sports, including tennis.

SEAT 7: GLENN HUGHES
Chip Count: $2,275,000
Glenn Hughes, a.k.a. “The Big Cat,” is a 38-year-old married father of two children who now lives in Scottsdale, AZ. He’s a graduate of the University of Mississippi and is now semi-retired. When Hughes isn’t spending time with his family or playing poker, he’s usually out on the golf course. Hughes has finished in the money several times here at the World Series and other tournaments, as well -- but like many of his opponents, this is his first foray onto the world’s brightest poker stage.

SEAT 8: DAVID ANTHONY WILLIAMS
Chip Count: $1,575,000
David Williams is the youngest player at today’s final table. His 24th birthday comes up in just two weeks. Williams currently lives in Dallas, Texas and is currently a student at S.M.U. where he’s majoring in math and economics. He started playing poker seven years ago. Interestingly, Williams credits “The Flying Dutchman” -- Marcel Luske -- as the player who helped him most with his game. Last night past midnight, Luske busted out tenth in this event. About his future, Williams says: “I never want to have a boss. I will open my own business – if poker doesn’t work out.” Williams credits his mother who is here with him today -- who is very supportive of his decision to play poker.

SEAT 9: MIKE McCLAIN
Chip Count: $885,000
Mike McClain is a 39-year-old pro poker player from Lemoore, CA. He earned a BS degree in engineering and worked in the computer industry before turning pro in the East Bay area. McClain is perhaps best known for having his face shown literally hundreds of times nationally on television as the “AGONY OF DEFEAT” shot, during ESPN’s repeated World Series of Poker broadcasts last year. Perhaps this year in 2004, McClain can turn that “agony of defeat” memory into a “thrill of victory” reality. McClain is married and has two children.

TOURNAMENT DIRECTORS: MATT SAVAGE and JIM MILLER
TOURNAMENT COORDINATOR: STEVE MCDONALD
MEDIA DIRECTOR: NOLAN DALLA
DEALER COORDINATOR: MEG PATRICK
DIRECTOR OF FINANCE: MICHAEL O’MALLEY

Posted by pokerprof at 12:57 PM | Permalink

Well, it's now down from 32 to the final 9. The last person to go was Marcel Luske who went all-in for 900,000 with pocket 4s, former World Series of Poker champion Harrington called with a A-J. The board came up Queen-8-6 4th street brought a Jack and the River an 8. Harringtons paired Jacks and takes out Marcel in the 10th spot. He leaves with a mere $373,000.

The current chip count standings of the final table are as follows:

GREG RAYMER $8,215,000
MATT DEAN $4,920,000
JOSH ARIEH $3,205,000
GLENN HUGHES $2,275,000
DAN HARRINGTON $2,245,000
DAVID WILLIAMS $1,575,000
AL KRUX $1,305,000
MICHAEL MCCLAIN $885,000
MATTIAS ANDERSSON $740,000

Play will resume at 1pm and I'll be following it to the last card.

Posted by pokerprof at 1:19 AM | Permalink

Blinds are 25-50 (thousand, that is) and ante is 5,000. There are 17 16 15 12 10 left right now. As of this writing Fossilman is the chip leader with over 6 million.

There was a double knock-out by Mike McClain earlier today. McClain picked up pocket Kings, and got called by A-? (Hung La) and A-K (Jason Sagle). Flop never brought an Ace and McCain took a massive pot. I heard another player folded an ace on this hand leaving only one in the deck for the players to pray for, total rumor though. Scharf went out with a KQ when the chip leader Greg "Fossilman" Raymar called with the Hilton Sisters (pocket queens) Scharf walks away with a cool $275,000.

The 5 million chip hand that knocked out John Murphy. Matt Dean raised $400,000 before the flop. Murphy went all in for $2 million+. Dean calls. Murphy turns over Big Slick (Ace King), Dean has the Dukes (pocket Jacks). The board comes 2-J-9 turn is 5 River is an A. Dean wins pot with trips and Murphy is out in 13th taking home $275,000.

Both Archer and Grimes were knocked out by Josh Arieh. First Grimes went all in with a Queen 10, Arieh called with Ace Queen, the board brought no help for either player and the Ace took the pot and Grimes is out in 12th. Then, two hands later Archer went all in with the Sisters and Arieh called with Big Slick. Flop come 6 Ace 7 4th street brings a 6 and the river floats down another Ace! Giving Arieh a full boat of Aces over 6's, the crowd (of course) has gone wild. Grimes and Archer both leave the 35th World Series of Poker (WSOP) $10,000 Buy-in no limit hold'em main event with $373,000.

We are now at level 27: Ante 5,000 Blinds 25,000-50,000

Posted by pokerprof at 4:53 PM | Permalink

Inconceivable! Inconceivable!

A few moments ago Chris “Jesus” Ferguson went all in on pocket 4’s and lost, dropping down to $6000 in chips (that’s the ante for two hands). Chris went all in and won, then did it again, and again, and again! He just went all-in against Hughes with Big Slick and took another $100,000. Ferguson went from $6,000 to $200,000 in less then 10 minutes!

UPDATE: Ferguson just went out in 26th lost with A-10 to pocket 5's.

Posted by pokerprof at 2:16 PM | Permalink

Day 6 of the World Series of Poker Main Event is upon us, and the database is updated with player information for the 32 left. The guy with the snake glasses off to the left is Dan Raymer, chip leader going into today. Day 6 WSoP standings include Chris "Jesus" Ferguson still in it with just under a million as are Marcel Luske entering today with just under 1.4 mil and Dan Harrington with 1.5 million. The payout data will be up as soon as I have it. Everyone out today walks away with between $80,000 and $373,000.
UPDATE: The payout place list is now in the extended text and database for places 33 thru 85. I plan to post updates everytime a player drops out on the last day, so stop back by to find out who won the World Series of Poker (WSOP)
UPDATE II:Julian Gardner was the first one sent home today and as of right now (1:20pm) it 10,000-20,000 blinds and 3,000 Ante.

Read the extended text for the list of todays players.