Poker Tournament Results

40th World Series of Poker 2009

Derek Raymond

Tournament Report

Tournament Highlights: Event Headlines – 1. Derek Raymond Wins First WSOP Gold Bracelet 2. Rookie Poker Player from Maine Pulls-Off Big Upset in First-Ever WSOP In-the-Money Finish 3. Derek Raymond Defeats Mark Tenner in Grueling Heads-Up Duel – Final Table Runs Nearly 12 Hours The Champion -- The 2009 World Series of Poker $2,500 buy-in Omaha High-Low Split champion is Derek Raymond, from Portland, Maine. Raymond was born and raised in Portland, Maine. Raymond is a 24-year-old semi-pro poker player. He is in the midst of traveling around the world and working various jobs while playing poker to supplement his income. Raymond is a graduate of Georgetown University in Washington, DC. He earned his degree in finance and business management two years ago. The day after his graduation, Raymond took second in a major online poker tournament. He collected a nice payoff and has been playing poker seriously ever since. Raymond has been traveling all over the world in recent months. He spent time in Australia and New Zealand. Raymond has worked various jobs when his poker game did not provide enough money to survive. His primary job was working for an excavation company. Raymond has entered four events at this year’s WSOP. This was his first time to cash. Raymond collected $229,129 for first place. He was also awarded his first WSOP gold bracelet. According to official records, Raymond now has 1 win, 1 final table appearance, and 1 in-the-money finish at the WSOP. His career WSOP earnings now total $229,129. Raymond was cheered to victory by several friends, along with his father. Raymond dad commented afterward, “This is the best thing in the world – watching my son win. This is better than winning it myself.” Winner Quotes (Derek Raymond) -- On his feelings, moments after victory: “This is not what I was expecting. It feels great. It was my fourth event this year, with no cashes. So, it’s my first cash the year I played at the World Series On his see-saw victory: “At one time I had a million in chips. But I got down to 120,000. Then I hit a few big hands and got right back up. It was a long battle. There were a lot of good players sitting at the table.” On his final opponent, Mark Tenner, who provided such tough opposition: “Mark played really great heads-up. He had a big chip lead on me. But I thought I could pound away on him. He played well. He is certainly not easy to exploit. I’m just glad to come out on top. If a couple of cards were different, he (would have won).” On the length of the final table and playing heads-up: “I think I had an advantage, just based on my age. The later it went, the more I thought it was in my favor. The match was tough for me, so I think it might have been even harder for Mark. He stuck in there and played great. You can never give in, after all – you are playing for a bracelet. We don’t need to sleep – you can get sleep later.” On what the gold bracelet means: “I wouldn’t trade it for anything.” On having his father at tableside, watching the victory: “I think it was meant to be that he was here, and that I won. He came in and I decided to play in the event. It worked out. It was meant to be. Without him here and his guidance, there was no chance for me.” The Final Table -- The final table included two former WSOP gold bracelet winners – Patrick Poels (2 wins) and Michael Keiner (1 win). The runner up was longtime poker pro and industry insider Mark Tenner, from Henderson, NV. Tenner, who is an attorney and businessman who is one of the founders of the Poker Players Alliance (PPA), now has two final table appearances and eight cashes at the WSOP. This was his highest finish, to date. Tenner is also an Omaha High-Low Split specialist. As the runner up, he collected $141,647. The third-place finisher was Scott Bohlman, from Homer Glen, IL. He now has three final table appearances and 14 cashes at the WSOP. The fourth-place finisher was Fabio Coppola, who is originally from Italy and now lives in Las Vegas, NV. He is an architect-turned poker pro who achieved his best WSOP finish is this tournament. The fifth-place finisher was Josh Schlein, from Baltimore, MD. This was his second WSOP final table appearance, after finishing third in an event three years ago. The sixth-place finisher was Sirous Jamshidi, from Philadelphia, PA. He has won more than $1 million (lifetime) in WSOP events. Jamshidi’s biggest cash was a 16th-place finish in the largest live poker tournament of all-time, the 2006 Main Event. The seventh-place finisher was Michael “the Doc” Keiner, from Braunfels, Germany. He won his WSOP gold bracelet in 2007 playing Seven-Card Stud. The eighth-place finisher was Mark Gregorich, from Las Vegas, NV. He is considered by many to be the best Omaha High-Low specialist never to have won a WSOP gold bracelet in his favored game. Gregorich now has 8 final table appearances and 27 cashes at the WSOP. The ninth-place finisher was Patrick Poels, from Mesa, AZ. He won his first gold bracelet in 2005 playing Omaha High-Low Split. His second win came the following year in Seven-Card Stud High-Low Split. In-the-Money Finishers -- Former WSOP gold bracelet finishers who cashed in this event included – Michael Keiner, Frankie O’Dell, Mike Matusow, Claude Cohen, Meng La, Paul Darden, John Esposito, and Max Pescatori. Odds and Ends -- Omaha High-Low Split has been offered at the WSOP every year since 1990. Omaha (high) was first seen at the WSOP back in 1983. As draw poker and lowball games faded in popularity, the number of Omaha-related events increased. All WSOP Omaha events played between 1983 and 1989 were Limit (high) and Pot-Limit. However, today Pot-Limit Omaha and Omaha High-Low Split are the most popular forms of this poker game. Omaha-High tournaments are now rare. It was last played at the WSOP in 2003. Omaha High-Low Split is also called “Omaha Eight-or-Better.” This means the low hand must be an “eight or better” qualifier to split half of the pot. The official WSOP gold bracelet ceremony takes place on the day following the winner’s victory. The ceremony takes place on at center stage of the main tournament room and begins during the break of the noon tournament. The ceremony usually starts around 2:20 pm. The national anthem of the winner’s nation is played. The entire presentation is open to public and media. Video and photography is permitted by both media and the public. The Event -- The $2,500 buy-in Omaha High-Low championship attracted 424 entries. The total prize pool amounted to $975,200. The top 45 finishers collected prize money. The tournament was played over three consecutive days. Joel Schlein came to the final table on Day Three with the chip lead. He ended up busting out in fifth place. Derek Raymond came to the final table on Day Three ranked fourth in chips. The heads-up match between Mark Tenner and Derek Raymond was a brutal test of patience and willpower. Both players traded the chip lead back and forth. Just when it appeared Raymond might close out the victory, Tenner scooped a series of pots which catapulted him into the chip lead. But he ran card dead late and Raymond managed to come back from a more than 6 to 1 deficit. Raymond won every pot of consequence in the final 30 minutes of battle and managed to pull off what most observers would consider an upset, given Tenner’s many years playing Omaha High-Low Split. Tenner was gracious in defeat, although visibly disappointed with the outcome. Meanwhile, Raymond ran around the table and hugged his father after winning the most coveted prize in poker. The final table lasted about 11 hours. The event ran so long that all limits (levels) were completed on the official WSOP structure sheet. By the end of the tournament, with 3,180,000 chips in play, the blinds were 50,000-100,000 and limits were 100,000-200,000. The tournament officially began on Monday, June 23rd, at 5 pm. The tournament officially ended on Wednesday, June 26th, at 3:30 am. WSOP Statistics – Through the conclusion of Event #46, the 2009 WSOP has attracted 44,328 entries. $89,612,582 in total prize money has been awarded to winners. Through Event #46 – the nationalities of WSOP gold bracelet winners reads as follows: United States – 32 United Kingdom – 3 Canada – 2 Australia – 2 Russian Federation – 1 Finland – 1 Sweden – 1 Mexico – 1 Italy – 1 Holland – 1 Hungary – 1 Note: Last year 19 of the 59 gold bracelet events were won by non-Americans (32 percent). In, 2007, the number was 15 of 55 (29 percent). In 2006, the number was 5 of 45 (11 percent). Event #46 winner Derek Raymond is to be classified as a semi-professional player. He plays poker for extra income part-time. Accordingly, the “Pro-Am” gold bracelet scoreboard (excluding Event #1 – Casino Employees) currently reads: Professionals -- 29 wins (Thang Luu, Steven Sung, Jason Mercier, Phil Ivey-1, Rami Boukai, Anthony Harb, Ville Wahlbeck, Keven Stammen, Brock Parker-1, Jeffrey Lisandro- 1, Daniel Alaei, Brock Parker-2, John-Paul Kelly, Jeff Carris, Nick Schulman, Phil Ivey-2, Pete Vilandos, Tomas Alenius, Roland de Wolfe, J.C. Tran, James Van Alstyne, Angel, Guillen, Greg Mueller, Eric Baldwin, Jordan Smith, Jeffrey Lisandro-2, Richard Austin, Marc Naalden, Matt Graham, Peter Traply, Jerrod Ankenman, Jeffrey Lisandro-3) Amateurs -- 6 wins (Freddie Ellis, Ken Aldridge, Travis Johnson, Zac Fellows, Michael Eise, Michael T. Davis) Semi-Pros -- 6 wins (Vitaly Lunkin, Brian Lemke, Lisa Hamilton, Leo Wolpert, Ray Foley, Derek Raymond) Twelve of the 46 winners this year (26 percent) were previous gold bracelet winners. There have been two double winners in 2009 -- Brock Parker, Phil Ivey. There has been one triple winner in 2009 -- Jeffrey Lisandro. Through the conclusion of Event 46, the WSOP “Player of the Year” standings reads as follows (with point totals): 355 – Jeffrey Lisandro 275 – Ville Wahlbeck 242 – Phil Ivey 220 – Brock Parker 220 – James Van Alstyne 195 – Roland de Wolfe 185 – Vitaly Lunkin 180 – Angel Guillen 175 – Pete “the Greek” Vilandos