Wednesday, 08 October 2008


2004 World Series of Poker

A summary of 2004 world series of poker.



Questions and doubts hounded the World Series of Poker when the year 2004 came in. This was primarily because Binion's Horseshoe, which has been the venue of the WSOP ever since its inception in 1970, has decided to close shop effective January 9 of that year.

For some time, observers feared that an eventual WSOP death was imminent, but that was quickly brushed aside when Harrah's Entertainment stepped into the picture and announced that it has concluded negotiations with Binion's Horseshoe management for the purchase of the casino, as well as the WSOP.

Still, a cloud of uncertainty hanged overhead because under the new management, changes were likely to be put in place. After all, Harrah's Entertainment is a large gaming company that operates several casino houses in the Las Vegas area and so, the funds needed to effect any change in the WSOP were not going to be a problem.

Fortunately, Harrah's has a great respect for the Binion's as well as for the WSOP tradition. So in May of 2004, the WSOP was able to stage its 35th annual tournament at its regular venue, but under a different supervision.

What many feared would come out as a disastrous event turned out as a monumental success as the 2004 WSOP attracted a total of 2,576 participants, a far cry from the conservative estimate of 1,200 and definitely significantly higher than the preceding year's record of 839. This presented a bit of a problem for Harrah's since it had originally prepared only 120 game tables, sufficient enough to accommodate 1,200 participants. Ultimately, a decision was reached to make WSOP Day One a two-day affair with half of the total number of participants playing separately during the two-pronged Day One set up. The remaining 176 served as alternates who took over places of the participants who suffered early elimination.

At the conclusion of Day One, more than half of the original 2,576 WSOP entrants got eliminated, leaving only 1,091 participants. Among those who got booted out was Chris Moneymaker , the grand champion of the preceding year.

With such a tremendous number of participating players, the general observation was that the less experienced would eventually be overpowered by the veterans. Yet, that was hardly the case because apart from Moneymaker, the 2004 WSOP also took out some very prominent poker personalities in the early goings, including Brad Daugherty, Phil Ivey, Amir Vahedi, Ted Forrest, and many others.  

Interestingly, another pre-tournament observation turned out as another big dud. It was largely believed that the victory of Moneymaker at the WSOP final round last year was a fluke and that it was highly unlikely that it will ever be repeated in 2004. This basically meant that the possibility of another unknown poker player rising from obscurity to eventually walk away with a WSOP bracelet was, simply put, quite impossible.

Yet, that was what exactly happened in 2004. History repeated itself when a relatively unknown player from North Dakota named Greg Raymer beat David Williams for the grand title and walked away $5 million richer. By doing so, Raymer, nicknamed the 'Fossilman', accomplished two significant poker feats. One was being the first WSOP champion to win $5 million in cash. The other was being the first WSOP champion to come out from a tournament that is considered the biggest in the history of poker.

Additionally, Raymer also entered history books as the second player from PokerStars who went on to become WSOP champion. The first, of course, was Chris Moneymaker. Raymer though had to shell out $160 in buy-in fees to be able to enter a satellite tournament where a WSOP seat was at stake as opposed to the $40 that Moneymaker paid for his own satellite tournament.

Raymer was 39 years old when he secured his 2004 WSOP victory. Along with Moneymaker and 2002 WSOP champion Robert Varkonyi, he composed the rare trio of WSOP winners who were all married and had one daughter when they became champions.

For all his achievements, the Fossilman, so called because he loves collecting fossils, remains humble. In a surprising moment after he won the 2004 WSOP championship, Raymer said he does not consider himself a world-class player, which was a little hard to believe, considering the virtual mountain of money that was presented to him on the very table where he showed his unique skills in coming up with a winning poker hand.

Although the 2004 WSOP can best be remembered as the year when the tournament was staged under a new management, some can say that it was also the year when practically unheard-of poker players easily rose to prominence either at the championship table or in the preliminary round. Apart from Raymer, one simply needed to examine the likes of Carl Nessel, who won $40,000 in the $500 Casino Employee's Limit Holdem, and James Vogl who took home $400,000 in the $2,000 No Limit Holdem, to see that new players were slowly making their presence felt in the poker arena, marking the emergence of an entirely new breed of players, one that carried renewed intensity for the game, thus ensuring its continued existence.

Of course, this does not mean that the veterans are better off retiring. On the contrary, they should actually be encouraged to play more, as they can serve as models for the new players. Additionally, the performance of some of them in the 2004 WSOP, particularly Dan Harrington, who was the 1995 WSOP ultimate winner, simply proved that the veterans still have what it takes to become champions.  

Still, the results of the 2004 WSOP was a revelation, especially with regards to the kind of players that came out practically from obscurity. Ditto for female poker players who previously were not able to make any significant headway in the WSOP, but who performed quite remarkably in the 2004 edition. Special mention goes to the following female players for landing on the first place in the preliminary round of the event: Cyndy Violette, who took home $135,900 in the $2,000 Seven-Card Stud Hi-Lo Split; Kathy Liebert, who bagged $110,180 in the $1,500 Limit Hold'em Shootout; Annie Duke , who got $137,860 in the $2,000 Omaha Hi-Lo Split; and Crystal Doan, who snagged $58,530 from the $1,000 Ladies Limit Hold'em.  

Another interesting thing that happened in the 2004 WSOP is the emergence of PokerStars as a breeding ground of future WSOP champions. Since it started hosting satellite tournaments that entitled winners to a seat at the WSOP, PokerStars has been quite successful in producing poker champions. The most notable of these was Moneymaker, the WSOP grand winner in 2003. Raymer then followed suit in 2004, eventually becoming a WSOP champion as well.  

The number of poker players who gained entry to the WSOP via online satellite games such as those that were sponsored by PokerStars definitely increased that year. Yet, PokerStars was comparatively more successful in producing champions. Apart from Raymer, the 2004 WSOP runner-up, David 'RugDoctor' Williams, was likewise a PokerStars qualifier.

In the final round, the nine-poker player table included four players who came from PokerStars. These were Raymer, Williams, Michael 'Mockahai'  McClain, and Matt 'Mattpage'  Dean. All of them landed in respectable places in the 2004 WSOP, with McClain landing at the ninth place, and Dean finishing at the seventh spot. Raymer and Williams, of course, needed no further description.

Of all the 2,576 participants of the 2004 WSOP, 316 came from PokerStars, a significant number by any means. Clearly, if 2004 proved to be an eventful year for the WSOP, it was equally eventful for PokerStars judging by the performance of its players at the highly prestigious tournament.