When the World Series of Poker left the Rio to wrap up the remainder of the No Limit Texas Hold ‘Em poker action in the main event in Binions it went to the landmark casino for the last time.  Originally the move to the Rio was to accommodate the influx of new players. most online poker qualifiers, created by the Chris Moneymaker inspired poker boom.  The World Series thought they could solve the capacity problems Binions suffered under by opening things up at the Rio.  Then after the field had been pared down to a manageable size they’d return to play it out at Binions like the good ol’ days.

While that worked for the players what they didn’t count on was the increased media attention the event was garnering as well as fan interest.  Once again, Binions was busting at the seams this time not from rows and rows of players but rows and rows of media and fans.  Suddenly, watching poker had become a hot ticket and they simply did not expect it.  As mentioned in part one 2005 was probably the last year of transitioning to the new age of poker.

It was fitting that Johnny Chan and Doyle Brunson captured bracelets but the passing of the torch that began earlier in the decade was almost complete.  2005 the mid-year in the decade was also the close of the old world of poker.  A theme in the decade had been the Main Event portending the rest of the decade.  Moneymaker, an online qualifier, won and ushered in the herds of online qualifiers. 

In 2005 Joe Hachem would win the Main Event, bringing a mini-poker boom to Australia and predate the international boom of players.  As the decade moved along more and more foreign born players joined the Americans in the World Series, perhaps inspired by Hachems success as Joe Sixpack in the U.S. had Moneymaker’s success to aspire to.

In 2005, there was another everyman convincing the average man that anybody could go deep. Steve Dannenmann who was caught on tape bragging on his cell phone about bluffing Howard Lederer looked completely out his element yet he kept surviving.  Only in heads up play did it appear his inexperience caught up with him in the final hand (we’ll get to that).

Dannenmann was one of the 5,619 entrants that signed up and his dreams of winning might have been just as unlikely as any of them, yet it was he that went further than any American poker player (or for that matter all but one poker player).  One site alone had 1116 online poker qualifiers.   Greg Raymer’s attempt at a back to back run, the first since Johnny Chan (who’s loss to Phil Hellmuth prevented him from winning three in a row) ended at 25th spot.  Raymer a big stack suffered a horrenduos beat and then got bounced when his short stack couldn’t multiply.

In 2004, Greg Raymer a noted contributor of an online forum, the  poker school of its time, which advance the thought and strategy of the game, won the Main Event.  In 2005 he was running just as good again until his bust out.  In ’04 he had a memorable clash with then chip leader Mike Matusow.   In ’05, deja vu all over again, Matusow also was going deep.  This time Matusow had his bust upwith Shawn Sheikam, but Shawn gave as good as he got. 

Phil Ivey was on everybody’s minds as he lasted until 20th.  Another deep run for Ivey in the Main Event, even as the fields were doubling in size.  Tiffany Williamson was the last woman standing winning 400k for 15th.  The Final Table was notable for everybody making it winning one million dollars.  Matusow was the first one out and predictably ran bad at the wrong time. 

After Tex Barch, Arron Kanter, Andrew Black (whose massive stack imploded as well), Scott Lazar, Daniel Bergsdorf, and Brad Kondracki went out 3rd to 9th.  Dannemann and Hachem  got to heads up play as Hachem turned his small stack into the chip lead and they were buddy buddy friendly.  Dannemann raised with A3 o/s and Hachem called with 73.  Hachem flopped a straight 456.  Dannemann bet his straight draw with his ace high.  Hachem raised him. 

Danneman called and a terrible card hit the turn, an A.  Hachem, a 97% favorite to win, bet 2 million.  Dannemann raised him 3 million.  Hachem probed with some chatter to see how relaxed or how good Dannemann thought his hand was.  When he knew he could get a call he interupted Dannemann and went all in.  Dannemann called and the tournament was over.  No seven came for a chop.

In 2003, Chris Moneymaker an online poker satellite qualifier turned poker on its ear.  The poker world had an idea that they lived in a very different place than they used to but it was not until the Main Event in 2004 that they saw the difference first hand.  Greg Raymer left an indelible mark on that event, the first of the post Moneymaker era, and the ironically named Fossilman was more newbreed than old.

Seated on a memorable table that the TV cameras found Raymer locked horns with Mike Matusow, Raymer got chewed out but took it well showing exactly the kind of tempermant and patience it would take to win a tournament of this size over a period of days.  This is not a skill they teach you in poker school but it should be an introductory class.

Raymer first started gaining attention from the media during the main event due to his holographic sunglasses.  They offered an intimidating colorful stare that unsettled opponents.  Raymer certainly knew how to wear them as he put them on during a hand, put his head on his fist and just looked in his table-mates direction until they blinked. 

 Raymer waded through a massive field using his chip stack like a seasoned pro.  The patent attorney who had one WSOP cash to his name knew to use the stack like a big lever to apply pressure on his opponents.  Many of whom were also satellite qualifiers just looking to go as deep as possible.  Some were pros like Matusow and they too fell victim to Raymer’s aggression.

The final table brought a diverse new breed of poker players together in what would be a template for many final tables to come.  There were young pros, a  young euro, an old hand or two, a young Moneymaker inspired kid, and a couple of wannabes.  In television shows this final table was the eagerly awaited sequel to Moneymaker’s and a familiar face headlined the event. 

In his green Boston Red Sox cap was the man known as Action Dan Harrington.  He was the most feared poker player at the Texas Hold ‘Em No Limit final table regardless of his chip stack and Dan had plenty of those.  Harrington entered final table play 4th in chips.  Everybody was looking up at Raymer but everybody was scared of Harrington, a former Main Eventer, and a repeat final table player. 

 Raymer’s dinosaur sized stack dwarfed the others as he sat with almost 9 million in chips.  In seat 5 was Matt Dean, a math teacher from just outside of Houston.  He picked up poker by playing at his fraternity house, and the 25 year old was new to huge tournament poker.  He had just under 5 million in chips and represented the biggest threat to Raymer. 

One player that the others feared was previous bracelet winner Josh Arieh.  The youngish poker pro had 10 World Series of Poker cashes under his belt at that time and knew how to wield his 3.25 million in chips.  Glenn Hughes a graduate from Ole Miss, a semi-retired 38 year old, with a big personality pipped Harrington’s chip stack by 30k. 

David Williams came into final table play with 1.575 million.  Like Mattias Andersson who was on the short stack (740k) Williams moved from playing Magic the Gathering to playing poker for high stakes.  Williams brash youth would set up a good heads up match with the eventual champion but he’d come up just short in his young quest for a bracelet.

The final two players were poker pros Mike McLain and Al Krux.  McLain at 39 didn’t have the years of near misses that Krux did but both were near the apex of their poker careers.  McLain came in with 885k while Krux had 1.3 million.  Neither lasted too long.

McLain was the first to go winnning 470k.  The short-stack Swede Andersson was next to head the exit with 575k.  Matt Dean’s day turned upside down and the second biggest stack was the third player out pocketing 675k.  Al Krux grinded his way to 800k.  Glenn Huges becam the Main Event’s first millionaire winning 1.1 for 5th place.  Looking back on the table the four biggest names were all that were left.

Arieh and Harrington had the most experience but Harrington got bounced in 4th with 1.5k, Aried in 3rd for 3.5k.  David Williams and Raymer played a short heads up match and the pocket 8s of Raymer prevailed over Williams’ weak ace.

2004 at the World Series of Poker was remarkable because of one older patent attorney’s crazy glasses, a summer for the ladies and a group of kids who stated they’d take over the poker world and for one year they did.  Let’s look at the youngsters first:  the nascent batch of online poker buddies Scott Fischman, Dutch Boyd, and Brett Jungblut comprised The Crew and all three finished first or second in ’04.  Fischman did double duty winning two bracelets and Boyd who came into the series as the most well known of the trio came up short.  These guys got their own article in Rolling Stone magazine, mainstream success rarely seen in poker.

Boyd’s went to final tabling online poker tournaments to a live final table at the 1.5k Seven Card Razz and he locked horns with the irascible old Texan bull TJ Cloutier for the bracelet.  Cloutier’s run of bad cards outlasted Boyd’s (remember it was Razz) and gave him enough momentum to win the modest 90.5k first place prize.  Boyd came into prominence with his deep run the previous year, and despite having modest poker success to that point, the young genius was all over re-runs of Moneymaker’s World Series win.

Boyd also  made the bold proclamation the year before on the telecast that “The Crew will take over the world.”  Escourted away from the cage by Fischman and Jungblut one year later Boyd was proving prophetic.  Things got started in the 9th event.  Scott Fischman, a former dealer, and now an avid poker pro got into heads up action with grinder Joe Awada.  Fischman fell over the table kissing his money and bracelets after banking the 300k win.

For some players like James Vogl, winner of event 2, a bracelet is a highpoint perhaps never achieved again.  For Fischman, who enjoyed a poker name of his own even if it wasn’t quite a Moneymaker, victory again  was just around the corner a 2k H.O.R.S.E. tournament.   Jungblutt won his bracelet by taking out Miami John Cernuto in the 5k Omaha Hi-Lo Split for 187k.

Fischman looked like the best of the Crew when John Cover faced one of only two two time winners at that World Series.  Fischman added 100k to his bankroll for the win.  The other two timer was Ted Forrest who place first in a 1.5k No Limit Hold’em tournament, denying Susan Pritchett for 300k.

Pritchett had a shot to be one of many women to win a bracelet that year.  Cyndy Violette, Kathy Liebert, and Annie Duke all won bracelets.  Hung Doan won the 1k Ladies Limit Hold ‘Em tournament over Millie Shiu, but the other ladies bested the men.  The beautiful Cyndy Violette added the first bracelet to the female wrist when she won the 2k Seven Card Stud Hi-Lo Split in event 10.

Poker has gone through many permutations and there is always hope that it will go through a female boom but it never has really taken hold.  Still, for one year the ladies (and The Crew) were winning bracelets left and right.  Annie Duke whose later stint on Celebrity Apprentice propelled her to one of the biggest names in all of poker beat Ron Graham for her bracelet in the 2k Omaha Hi-Lo Split.  She won 137k for her favorite noncharity… herself.  Ante Up for Africa would have to wait.

Kathy Liebert won her bracelet by beating Kevin Song in the 1.4k Limit Hold ‘Em Shootout.  Liebert’s first place prize was over 110k.  Gavin Griffin, who would later paint his hair pink in honor of breast cancer research became the youngest ever bracelet winner.

There were several other big names to win bracelets in ’04.   Chau Giang, Joe Awada and Farzad Bonyadi added bracelets to their collections. Daniel Negreanu, Barry Greenstein, John Hennigan,  Thomas “Thunder” Kelly all also won one.  Greenstein was narrowly denied in the last event before the main event to win his second of the series.   Course the Main Event was just to come and evidence of the seismic shift in poker Moneymaker’s victory the year before had cause.

So… 2003 started off as reaffirmation of the status quo.  Barely any new poker players broke through and guys like Johnny Chan, Phil Hellmuth and even Doyle Brunson just added to their poker trophy case.  Live poker players were relishing in their burgeoning growing tournament but they really had no idea what was to come.  None had yet to play in the ensuing Main Event, that would change everything, and none had seen a guy, with the better than fiction name, Chris Moneymaker run over the world’s best pros on his way to a quantum shift changing Main Event title.  He would also welcome in the new age of the online poker player and a Main Event field never came in under 1000 players again.

Moneymaker, in his Tennessee home took his love of sports gambling and his appreciation of cards to branch out into a new hobby.  He decided to play poker online and it became a past-time for the young accountant.  In a life-changing event Moneymaker one day when sat to down to play online poker he turned a $50 online poker satellite tournament into a Main Event title.

It just so happened ESPN was there to chronicle it all.  Moneymaker had the good fortune of being placed at the featured table even if it didn’t feel like good fortune at the time.  The featured poker tables were selected for recording because of the high profile players there and Moneymaker early on realized to advance he was going to have to lock horns with the likes of Johnny Chan.  After knocking out the iconic orange sniffing champion Moneymaker found his confidence and the strength to make it deeper into the event.

With two tables left it was a murderer’s row of players.  Phil Ivey, newcomer Dutch Boyd, Freddy Deeb, Marcel Luske, Bruno Fitoussi, Scotty Nguyen all shuffled chips with steely eyes on the prize.  Shockingly, none of them made the final table and it was Moneymaker, who to a lot of observers, was clearly over his head did much of the eliminated.   In one memorable clip earlier in the tournament he had to be reminded action was on him.  Sure some of the pros salivated at the sight of his growing chip stack but most found when they tangled with the kid he had the goods.  Wonder if they knew that Lou Diamond, a Vegas odds maker, tabbed Moneymaker on day one as his long shot to win it all.

Men Nguyen who dominated the 2003 world series cashed in 25th place, with Phil Hellmuth Jr in 27thplace (both pocketed 45k), and Victor Ramdin in 29th (35k).  Along with all the other stars that busted out before,  the youngster from Tennessee could hardly believe his good fortune as he watched one poker legend after another report to the rail.  After a few days in the cramped confines of Binions, Moneymaker started to believe his poker dream might soon be a reality.

Even back in 2003, Phil Ivey was being lauded as one of the best poker players in the world.  Maybe even the best.  That might have been the first year Norman Chad did his annual selection of Phil Ivey as the winner of the tournament.  Then Phil Ivey in one of the most famous hands in poker got rivered by the Tennessee Assassin.  Ivey and Moneymaker locked horns when Chris flopped a set of queens and Ivey called his small flop bet with pocket 9s.  A 9 on the turn gave Ivey a full house, when he shipped it and Moneymaker insta-called it looked like the Cinderella run was going to hit Midnight as the pot would cripple moneymaker.  An 83% percent favorite is only a favorite and Moneymaker hit an Ace on the River.  Watch video of the hand here.

With the final table upon him and the best player in the world nursing a bad beat from the sidelines, Moneymaker tangled with pros David Grey, Amir Vahedi, Jason Lester, Sammy Farha, Dan Harrington, and newcomer of sorts David Grey.  When it got to heads up Moneymaker bluffed Farha in a big pot that would also become one of poker’s most well remembered hands “The bluff of the century.”  Watch that video here.

On the heels of winning  that hand, one where Sammy prophetically quoted “You said it’s going to be over soon,”  it was over a few hands later.  Crippled by Moneymaker’s bluff Farha folded and Moneymaker won the title.   Poker was never the same.