Greg Raymer Back atop a WSOP Leader board in a Big Way

Posted by pokerguru on May 30, 2009

Day 2 of the 40th Annual No Limit Hold’em event was filled with fireworks. Mike ‘the mouth’ Matesow finally started to get some cards, but was eventually eliminated. Chris Moneymaker showed his true form and once again went out before the money. It is amazing that he managed to squander away a second place chip position early on in day two. You read it right here that he was quite capable of doing exactly that and he did not disappoint.

Moneymaker broke one of the cardinal rules of poker in shoving a huge stack into the middle of the table with anything less than AA or KK. The hand that started him on tilt happened around 6:15pm. Tony G. started the action and Moneymaker immediately applied the pressure with QQ in the hole. Tony G. made the call and turned over AK. We all know what happened and with Moneymaker getting up to take a walk, you almost knew the end was near.

Chris should have stayed away from the tables a few minutes more because when he returned, he found himself looking at 1010. He made a move in middle position by throwing out a $43,000 bet that was quickly called by Forrest and his KK. Moneymaker walked away disgusted and before Forrest could stop him, a flop of KJ10 showed up to but a further damper on Moneymakers outs.

With only one card left I the deck to help him, he was sent to the rail when it did not hit the turn or river. Once again, Moneymaker misses the cash in a major tournament. Some will say he can take solace in finishing only 10 out of the money, but it is quite apparent that his 2003 win was nothing more than a fluke as he continues to get shut out at the WSOP.

The leaderboard now looks more like a who’s who of poker as a lot of the pretenders have finally been dropped. While there are still a few amateurs left, the bulk of the field consists of big name pros that are out for that monster payday. Even with the all-star cast, the biggest name on the board is Greg Raymer.

The 2004 WSOP Champion has proven that he was no fluke. He continues to grab headlines and made it all the way back to the top 25 in 2005 after his amazing win in 2004. He has been playing perfect poker in the second session and it shows as he was the first player to cross the 2,000,000 chip barrier. As of this posting, he holds a 1,000,000 chip lead over the next closest competitor.

The hand that put him over the top of this mark was one of the biggest of the tourney so far. Steve Z. was dealt the dreaded QQ and Raymer found AK in the hole. Raymer had called a raise by another player and then Steve Zotlow pushed the action to 100,000. Neil Chirss, the initial raiser, called and then it was Raymer’s turn to start the fireworks. He came over the top and pushed all in and Steve Z. pushed in his remaining 670,000. Chriss decided to get out of the way of this battle. Steve Z. was still good on the flop, but once again, AK pops as a K hit the turn and Zotlow was sent to the rail.

Raymer is always tough with a chip stack as there are few better at big stack poker than him. He has not fear and will put every small stack on a decision as the money gets closer and closer. With only 7 players left to the money, people will be holding onto their stacks with both hands. It would not be a surprise to see Raymer knocking on the door of 3,000,000 when the money is finally hit.