We're closing in on the Best Damned WSOP Main Event Player in the 2000s and this posting will give us positions 4 and 3 on the list. Previous posts can be found here (Part II) and here (Part I).
But, first, a quick review of our last post...
7) Phil "Jerome" Ivey - Three top 30 finishes in the 2000s and, widely regarded as today's best all around player - Ivey lands in 7th on our list as 2 of his three deep runs were in the smaller pre-2004 fields.
6) Greg Raymer - Unjustly regarded as "weak", Fossilman has proven himself in our reptilian shaded eyes to be the sixth best Main Event player in the 2000s.
5) Phil Hellmuth - Regarded in his own mind as the best poker player ever, we agree that he's a top five performer for this decade's ME.
Before we move on to positions 4 and 3 - here is another quick look at some additional players who just failed to make our list of Best Damned WSOP Main Event Players in the 2000s:
Hevad Khan - The Red Bull-fueled Khan made himself known in 2007 not only through his over-the-top (WAY over-the-top) antics, but also with a 6th place finish. He followed that up by cashing in 240th last year. Good results, just not yet enough to make our list.
Minh Nguyen - A two-time WSOP bracelet winner (Stud8 in 2003, and PL Hold 'em in 2004), he also pulled down a 24th place finish in 2002 following that up with an 11th place in 2003. We'd be pretty happy with the $120,000 taken in from those two ME finishes, but it's not enough to break the top ten.
Howard Lederer - The "Professor" took 19th in 2003 and 133rd in 2005. He's had plenty of other great WSOP finishes and a great career. But, for our criteria and this list, he doesn't quite make the grade.
Now, on to our list - coming in 4th place:
4) Lee Watkinson - Really a cash-game exclusively player, Lee decided to get dealt into tournament poker in 2004 - perhaps a product of the "Moneymaker Effect". It may have been the best decision he's ever made. Three progressively better cashes for Watkinson in the ME - all since the fields exploded (2004 and later) - including an 8th place final table in 2007 put him in 4th on our list.
and,
3) Julian Gardner - WHO??? Yeah, nobody seems to ever remember the guy that finishes second. Gardner did that in 2002 - in only his second Main Event (played in 2000, but not 2001). That made him (at the time) the youngest player ever (at 24) to win more than $1 million in a tournament. Since then, he cashed in 54th in 2003, 32nd in 2004 (making him the ONLY player to cash in three consecutive WSOP Main Events) and then 64th in 2007. Our darkhorse pick for 3rd, is the UK's Julian Gardner - deal with it.
One more post to go - who will be #1 and #2?? Let us know your thoughts on our 10th to 3rd place finishers, who you think is deserving of first and second or who we missed.
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2 comments:
I was recently at a local poker tournament when another player told me that Fossilman ripped up a card when he was knocked out. In my opinion, someone with bad sportsmanship such as that should not be on such a list. Regardless of his "skill".
Behavior can certainly be a factor, but I think we need to forgive an incident such as card ripping. After all, we forgave Scotty Nguyen his drunken HORSE behavior and put him on our list.
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