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2004 Was my first complete World Series of Poker. I describe my experience there as ‘the fly on the wall who got lost in the desert’, but while I was getting my first baptism into the world I call home now, I got to watch the ’04 Main Event blossom.
In the early weeks of the series, organizers were hopeful for an attendance of 1400. The three hundreds already registered gave them hopes of that drastic a degree of hope as Min Nguyen and Erik Seidel took bracelets, Chau Giang, Cyndy Violette and Scott Fischman twice won events as registration nears the previous year’s 800+, and as each event completed, topped by champions like Daniel Negreanu, Barry Greenstein, Kathy Liebert, Annie Duke, Antonio Esfandiari, Ted Forrest, Joe Awada, Gavin Griffin, TJ Cloutier, Farzad Bonyadi and John Hennigan took titles, the total registrants passed 1400, then 1600. There was no end in sight.
Finally, when it came, a whopping 2,576, three times the previous year’s tally, had handed over $10,000 for entry. It was an astounding number the marked the true emergence of a social phenomenon. The winner of this event would become a new poker hero and face of the game. That man was Greg Raymer.
The quietly known Raymer was no superstar, but he wasn’t an amateur taking a lucky swing either. He moved to the final table in firm command of the chip lead, and despite the experts’ calls for his fall he held onto his lead with an iron grip. When Dan Harrington, then Josh Arieh were eliminated in fourth and third places, it left only Greg and David Williams playing for the $5 million and the gold.
Their match up was a short one, lasting just seven hands. With the blinds and antes totaling $140000, Williams raised his Ah4s, adding $220000 to his bet, a sizeable raise. While this bet might have inspired Raymer to fold in a game with more players, in heads up play, the standards of quality in opening hands must lower in the face of aggression in order to protect one from being run over. Raymer called.
The flop of 4d 2d 5s gave Williams second pair with the nut kicker and a draw to the inside straight. It was even better for the Fossilman, whose 8’s were better than any pair the board could produce. Raymer checked, hoping to induce a bet from Williams, and with the pot at T620000, Williams made a strong play, putting T500000 in. This bet was designed to communicate strength: For Raymer to just call, he’d need to have a made hand, but a raise could mean either he was already strong or was on a strong draw. Raymer re-upped, raising T1.1 million. Dave quick-called.
The turn brought the 2h into play, with Dave checking immediately, a pre-programmed response. Raymer thought for a moment before betting T2.5 million, essentially telling Dave to get it all in or go on home. Dave erred here, his call leaving him with a stack of T3.79 million, when he should have decided he was either winning or losing and played accordingly. The raise might chase Raymer, the fold would save Dave money for the next go-round. The call did neither and eventually trapped him.
The river, 2c, didn’t change much aside from securing both player’s positions. Dave checked, Greg put his stack all in, and with so few chips and so much in the middle, Dave had no choice but to call. While the first quick call may have been right, its sole purpose was to set Dave up for a bet on the turn, and he failed to follow up. Raymer won the hand and the tournament, taking home $5 million. Williams had to content himself with the $3.5 million runner up prize.
Gary Wise
gary@wisehandpoker.com
