WSOP 2009 ESPN, Event One
Greg Raymer. This guy is proving he is worth his salt over and over again. Since he won the WSOP on 2004, he has made it to a few WSOP final tables and has been an active figure in the Poker Player’s Alliance (PPA) forging to protect poker online in America. In the $40,000 buy-in event, Raymer got to the final table and showed he had some new tricks up his sleeve.
In an early hand, he raised late position with A, 9 and Justin Bonomo, a well known “young internet player” moved in on him with AJ. Raymer had considerably more chips than his opponent and he called. He was pretty shocked when Bonomo turned over as good of cards as he held. Raymer even said, “I though you had any two”. This statement proves Raymer has come a long way over the years. ‘Any two’ means any two cards. Raymer saying this means he thought Bonomo was on a ‘re-steal’ of his late-position opening bet. If he thought this was true, Raymer might even attempt calling lighter than he did, maybe even King high. Unfortunately for Raymer, he was wrong and lost a lot of chips.
If anything, this fist episode shows how far poker online has come, and how fun it will be to look at the new high level of play, where young online poker players and live poker professionals duke it out, each displaying their newfound skills at destroying the other.
In the end, a young online pro, Isaac Haxton, dueled with Russian bracelet holder Vitaly Lunkin. The swings were drastic and the lead changed often, but it was one to remember. Cheers to the start of another great WSOP season on ESPN!
