Action was picked up on a 3♥8♣Q♥5♦ board with 42,000 chips in the middle.
Ryan Riess tossed 26,000 into the middle from the cutoff and Toshikazu Ishii called from the big blind.
The river 2♠ peeled off and Riess sized-up to 78,000. Ishii gave it a thought but eventually placed a chip into the middle for a call. Riess tabled A♠Q♦ and it was good.
Justin Bonomo raised to 12,000 from early position, Marius Kudzmanas then went all in for 61,000 from the small blind and was at risk, after some thought Bonomo made the call.
Marius Kudzmanas: 9♣9♥
Justin Bonomo: A♠2♠
The dealer ran out a board of 4♣Q♦10♣4♥J♦ securing a much needed double up for Kudzmanas.
On a flop of Q♠2♠6♠, Cary Katz checked from the big blind and faced a bet of 10,000 from Christopher Chaudey. Katz check-raised all-in for 66,000 and after tanking for close to a minute, Chaudey let go of his hand.
Katz was kind enough to show the K♠ as he pulled in the much-needed pot.
In 2003, the game of poker changed forever after Chris Moneymaker topped a field of 839 players to win the World Series of Poker (WSOP) Main Event for $2.5 million. By doing so, the Moneymaker effect ignited the “Poker Boom,” which saw the tournament field triple the following year.
The 2004 Main Event was the last to be held at the birthplace of the WSOP – Binion’s Horseshoe in downtown Las Vegas. The venue was packed to the rafters with 2,576 players entering that year’s tournament, and with the ESPN cameras capturing all the action several poker players made a name for themselves that year including young guns David Williams and Josh Arieh, while 1995 WSOP Main Event champ Dan Harrington made history by following up his third-place finish in the 2003 WSOP Main Event by placing fourth in 2004 for $1.5 million.
However, when the dust settled it was a patent attorney from Connecticut by the name of Greg Raymer winning the whole thing for a smooth $5 million and a gold bracelet. While attempting to defend his title in 2005, which doubled from the year prior by attracting 5,619 players, Raymer proved his win was no fluke by making another deep run, ultimately falling in 25th place for $304,680.
It’s been 20 years since Raymer’s victory, but he hasn’t slowed down as he’s continued to play poker all across the globe. In recognition of Raymer’s anniversary, PokerNews caught up with the champ, who will be at the 2024 WSOP!
