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.