WSOP: Recreating History
The World Series of Poker (WSOP) has announced it is going all-in playing the ‘what-if’ game by re-staging a select group of the best Main Event heads-up battles in its long and memorable history.
The first match will be between the man who changed everything, Chris Moneymaker, and the man he snatched victory from with “the bluff of the century” Sammy Farha.
This is a made for TV event and will actually be played in Las Vegas on June 2 and televised on July 26. (Incidentally, the matches will be open to the public.) Moneymaker and Farha will engage in a best-of-three series with the first match recreating the 2003 chip stacks, the second switching the chip stacks to favor Farha, and the third starting with even chip counts, should it be necessary.
Moneymaker, always the diplomat, commented in a press release, “Winning the WSOP Main Event was a life altering moment. Even though Im agreeing to run it again against Sammy, I have been assured they cant take away my title if my bluffs dont work as well this time.”
Life altering is an enormous understatement. Back in 2003, it was the 33rd WSOP and the Internet-fueled interest in the ‘Big Dance’ had swelled the field to a then unheard of 839 entrants, with first place money of $2.5 million. The all-star roster of combatants included Phil Ivey, Freddy Deeb, Scotty Nguyen, Howard Lederer, Phil Hellmuth Jr., and Victor Ramdin.
Yet, none of the above listed top gun pros made it to the final table, but Moneymaker, an unknown 27-year-old accountant from Tennessee in the role of ‘everyman’ did. To further fuel the underdog makes good drama, he had won his seat through a $39 satellite playing online poker.
Legendary poker pro and author Dan Harrington was bumped out in third place and the duel between Moneymaker and Farha began, with Moneymaker’s epic win spawning untold WSOP bracelet dreams.
The second restaged match will be between Johnny Chan and Phil Hellmuth Jr. When they clashed in the 1989 WSOP, Chan was on a great run, coming off back-to-back Main Event victories, looking for number three when he ran into the “Poker Brat” who snatched the win to become the youngest WSOP champ in history up until then. Hellmuth—“I can dodge bullets, baby!” went on to win the most bracelets ever, eventually earning a total of eleven.
There will also be a third match, yet in a unique twist the fans will get to choose the matchup by voting for one of four possibilities on the WSOP’s Facebook page. Below are the selections:
1988 WSOP: Johnny Chan versus Erik Seidel
2004 WSOP: Greg Raymer versus David Williams
2006 WSOP: Jamie Gold versus Paul Wasicka
2010 WSOP: Jonathan Duhamel versus John Racener
The voting will begin in a couple of weeks and all the matches will be played in Vegas on June 2.
This year’s WSOP will be the 42nd and will run from May 31 thru July 19, 2011 at the Rio All-Suite Hotel & Casino in Las Vegas and will offer a total of 58 bracelets, one more than last year.
