With so many entrants into this year’s World Series of Poker Main Event, the first issue for debate was how many players would be paid from the thousands that entered. As it turned out, the organizers settled on 225 paid places, with previous two-time runner-up Duane ‘Dewey’ Tomko sneaking into the money in 225th place to get his $10,000 buy-in back.
Others to cash but fail to make the latter stages included British poker newcomer and former bookmaker Neil Channing (205th), Israeli-American mixed games player Eli Elezra (170th), Finnish professional Juha Helppi (167th), Danish talent Gus Hansen (150th), regular Main Event player John Esposito (108th), Mike ‘The Mouth’ Matusow (87th), Dave ‘Devilfish’ Ulliott (72nd), the two-time champion and poker legend Doyle Brunson (53rd) and the late, great Canadian Gavin Smith (52nd).
Inside the top 50 places, players including 2002 Main Event runner-up Julian Gardner (32nd for $80,000), 2000 world champion Chris Ferguson (26th for $120,000) and 10th-placed Dutch crooner Marcel Luske ($373,000) all got close. When the final table payouts were announced, players were besides themselves with excitement, with an incredible $5 million top prize, double that of Moneymaker’s bounty in 2003.
Harrington Sees Action
As the action began at the final table, ‘Action’ Dan Harrington was the name on everybody’s lips. In reaching his second consecutive Main Event final table in the Texas Hold’em Championship, he had achieved what looked almost impossible with the increased field sizes of the most recent two Main Events. Harrington held firm during the early eliminations at the last table in the tournament, as Michael McClain (9th for $470,400), Mattias Andersson (8th for $575,000) and Matt Dean (7th for $675,000) all slid out of contention.
Al Krux hit his ace on a flop of A-K-5 and moved all-in with ace-nine, only for Greg Raymer to call with ace-queen. A three on the turn and seven on the river saw Krux depart for a score of $800,000. Krux, who reached three WSOP Main Event final tables in his lifetime, was arrested in 2011 with over $200,000 worth of cannabis in his vehicle, bringing a distinguished poker career to a sad end.
Glenn Hughes was the least experienced player left of the final five, each of whom were guaranteed to win over a million dollars. All-in with king-queen against Greg Raymer’s pocket fives, a flop of A-T-4 offered Broadway draws to add to his overcards.
“Give me a jack, king or queen!” yelled Hughes, until this point almost silent but now desperate for survival. A ten on the turn was no good.
“Come on dealer, you can do it! Give it to me, baby!” Hughes pleaded, but a nine on the river sent him home in fifth place, with $1.1 million, the same amount won by the runner-up just two years earlier.
A Big Name and A Big Bluff
Down to four players, Dan Harrington fell a place short of his previous year’s finish but won more than double the amount. In 2003, Harrington had taken home $650,000 in third place. In 2004, he came fourth for $1.5 million. On a board showing 9-5-2-3, David Williams, a former Magic: The Gathering card player, bet half a million chips. Harrington double-barrelled all-in with just a double-gutter and Williams called with a 2-3 for two pair. Another three on the river sent Harrington home.
“It was an honor playing with you,” said the gracious and humble Williams, as ‘Action Dan’ was congratulated warmly by all the remaining players and the packed house at Binion’s, the last time the event would take place at the original venue before moving to the Rio Convention Center a mile away from the Las Vegas Strip.
Josh Arieh went next as he lost a coinflip. All-in with pocket nines, Arieh needed to fade an ace or a queen which would give Raymer a bigger pair.
“I aint won one yet,” laughed Arieh. “Why start now?”
Sadly for him, his own prophecy came true, a crushing flop of Q-Q-J landing to put him behind. A nine and only a nine would save him and after a three on the turn, a four on the river sent play heads-up. Greg Raymer complimented Arieh, who accepted it with a polite smile before embracing Williams and whispering in his ear: ‘Bust this m*tha****a’ as he went off to collect the $2.5 million third-place prize – the same amount Moneymaker took home 12 months earlier.
Heads-up, the clash of styles, of young versus old, would go the chip leader’s way. Williams began with 8.24 million chips, while Raymer sat behind 17,125,000, just better than double his opponent’s stack.
The Finale
The final hand saw a dramatic finish as a board of 5-2-4-2-2 had fallen before Greg Raymer announced all-in holding pocket eights. Williams had ace-four and took barely two seconds to think about it before announcing ‘call’, losing with his full house to Raymer’s superior one.
‘Presto!’ yelled the champion. ‘I can’t imagine $5 million in my pocket.’ Raymer told Norman Chad later in his post-match interview.
Throughout the event, Raymer had played with a fossil acting as his card protector. This led to him becoming known as ‘The Fossil Man’, which was later shortened to simply ‘Fossilman’, Raymer was a rock throughout. He didn’t crumble at the final table, however, and while a crestfallen Williams won $3.5m, ‘Fossilman’ took home $5m – the biggest prize ever awarded to a Main Event world champion.
Within 12 months, it would look small by comparison as the World Series of Poker Main Event was about to be turned upside down.
| Place | Player | Country | Prize |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1st | Greg Raymer | United States | $5,000,000 |
| 2nd | David Williams | United States | $3,500,000 |
| 3rd | Josh Arieh | United States | $2,500,000 |
| 4th | Dan Harrington | United States | $1,500,000 |
| 5th | Glenn Hughes | United States | $1,100,000 |
| 6th | Al Krux | United States | $800,000 |
| 7th | Matt Dean | United States | $675,000 |
| 8th | Mattias Andersson | Sweden | $575,000 |
| 9th | Mike McClain | United States | $470,400 |
2004 WSOP Main Event – Part 1 2005 WSOP Main Event
About the Author: Paul Seaton has written about poker for over 10 years, interviewing some of the best players ever to play the game such as Daniel Negreanu, Johnny Chan and Phil Hellmuth. Over the years, Paul has reported live from tournaments such as the World Series of Poker in Las Vegas and the European Poker Tour. He has also written for other poker brands where he was Head of Media, as well as BLUFF magazine, where he was Editor.