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This is Part 1 in a series of Top 5 lists leading up to the 2018 WSOP Main Event. Be sure to look out for the remaining articles every day until the Main Event kicks off on July 2!
The bad beat. It’s the story you simply don’t want to hear.
Everybody has got a good bad beat story and, honestly, nobody cares. But, as poker players, we listen to them because anyone who plays the game can, at the very least, empathize.
The very worst of the bad beats come in the biggest events and there’s no bigger event than the World Series of Poker Main Event.
It would be impossible to detail out the worst Main Event bad beat of all time. With tens of thousands of players getting dealt hundreds of thousands of hands over the course of all previous Main Events to date – just about everything that could happen in a poker hand has happened in the Main Event.
So, while we’re sure that the hand that ended your most recent tournament was the sickest of coolers, we’ve composed a list of some of the most disgusting, filthiest, vicious beats to ever be seen in the Main Event. Look away…if you can.
Gaelle gets there
It was early on Day 1B of the 2017 Main Event. Three of the best poker players on the planet — Vanessa Selbst, Gaelle Baumann, and Noah Schwartz — take a flop on the televised featured table. While Schwartz flopped an inconsequential jack-hi flush draw (which he folded), both Selbst and Baumann each flopped a set. Set over set, usually one of the fastest ways for someone to go broke.
Selbst binked the flopped top set of aces while Baumann’s hit a middle set of sevens. The dealer then casually ripped off the last seven in the deck on the turn. Selbst checked her full house to Baumann, who now had quads and bet to build the pot. For those watching, the writing was on the wall. Selbst check-raised Baumann on the turn and then, after betting the river, got shoved on by Baumann. Selbst fell into the tank, but with only one hand, quad sevens, beating her aces full, she was forced to call.
“I wanted to fold, I really did,” Selbst said in the aftermath. A hand like that could send just about anyone into poker retirement.
Candio goes wild
Day 8 of the 2010 World Series of Poker Main Event found Italy’s Filippo Candio engaged in a big stack battle with poker pro Joseph Cheong. Cheong, holding aces, three-bet Candio preflop and Candio came along with his suited five-seven. The flop brought Candio bottom pair on a paired board, he decided to check-raise Cheong’s continuation bet. Cheong, having way the best of it, three-bet shoved the flop and with the pair of fives, Candio called it off hoping to have picked off a bluff. Nope.
Candio, in poker jail, headed to the back rail to hang his head and watch his fate. An eight hit the turn. The crowd swooned. Cheong sat stone-faced. The river brought out a four providing Candio a straight, the winning hand, and a reason to lose his mind.
Cheong, however, would prevail and rebuild his stack, eventually outlasting Candio at the final table. Candio survived to finish in fourth place for over $3 million while Cheong made it to 3rd for roughly $4.1 million.
“How can I get off of this hand?”
In the 2005 WSOP Main Event, poker legend Jennifer Harman flopped top set with pocket queens against Cory Zeidman’s flopped straight on one of the wettest boards possible. Harman bet her set and, after being raised by Zeidman on the flop, Harman called.
The turn was an action card, the ten of diamonds. It paired the board, giving Harman a full house and adding the open-ended straight flush draw to Zeidman’s already made hand. Harman checked, Zeidman bet, Harmon check-raised and Ziedman knew he was no longer ahead. He was going to have to make a decision for his tournament. He called with no knowledge that he literally had only one out headed to the river.
The savage seven of diamonds peeled off the top of the deck on the river giving Zeidman the straight flush and, while not busting Harmon on this hand, crippling her. In the end though, Zeidman was unable to turn that stroke of luck into a Main Event payday.
Mizrachi and Jarvis take turns
Matt Jarvis put Michael “The Grinder” Mizrachi to a tough decision in the midst of the 2010 final table. Jarvis shoved his final 13 million chips in the middle with pocket nines. Mizrachi, never one to pass up a spot, made the huge call holding a suited ace-queen.
With all the cards on their back, Jarvis was a slight favorite for his tournament life. Then, one of the most ridiculous hands of any final table played itself out.
The flop saw a queen in the window and one in the door, giving Mizrachi a massive lead in the hand. Jarvis, taking it in stride, nodded, understanding that the end was near. But when the turn brought one of the two remaining nines in the deck, the room exploded. The tables had indeed turned with Jarvis taking nearly the same lead on Mizrachi that Mizrachi had over him on the flop. Mizrachi was now looking for help with only 7 outs to save him from the brink of extinction. The ace from space smacked the river, retaking the hand for Mizrachi and crushing the tournament life of Matt Jarvis.
Justin Phillips lives the dream
Perhaps one of the most brutal hands of all time occurred on Day 1 of the 2008 WSOP Main Event. Tank-top wearing Justin Philips was facing off against Motoyuki Mabuchi who had flopped a top set of aces. The turn brought the ten of diamonds, giving Philips, who was holding the king-jack of diamonds, a straight with a redraw to a straight flush.
The ESPN cameras caught the action as the improbable ace of diamonds hit the river giving Mabuchi quad aces. But as one can guess, that was no good as the same card completed the royal flush for Phillips.
Mabuchi bet, Phillips raised and then, Mabuchi with an aggressive splashing of the pot literally shipped every chip into the middle by shoving his stack and shouting “gamble!”
Both hands were tabled and Phillips seemingly could not believe what his opponent turned over. Quad aces fall to the royal flush in what could possibly be one of the most disgusting coolers of all time.
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The World Series of Poker Main Event Final tables are all about the action at the table and the players who make that time worth it and memorable for audiences everywhere.
There have been 13 World Series of Poker Main Event champions since 2003, a year which we've liberally deemed to mark the start of the modern-day WSOP era. For your reading pleasure, the PokerNews editorial staff decided to take a swing at ranking the WSOP Main Event final tables based solely on our own criteria of what a final table should be like.
For this list, our editorial staff ranked players based on star quality, entertainment, production value, what was most memorable about the event, impact, interest in the players and the play, speed of play and the general mix of players at the table.
There isn't a perfect formula for determining these rankings, but we felt it was important for each member of the team to base their rankings on what the ultimate final table should look like.
1. Final Table 2003
| Place | Player | Country | Prize |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Chris Moneymaker | USA | $2,500,000 |
| 2 | Sam Farha | USA | $1,300,000 |
| 3 | Dan Harrington | USA | $650,000 |
| 4 | Jason Lester | USA | $440,000 |
| 5 | Tomer Benvenisti | USA | $320,000 |
| 6 | Amir Vahedi | USA | $250,000 |
| 7 | Young Pak | USA | $200,000 |
| 8 | David Grey | USA | $160,000 |
| 9 | David Singer | USA | $120,000 |
Sarah Herring: 2003 is etched in the mind of anyone who loves poker. The everyman Chris Moneymaker vs. the high-stakes poker regular Sam Farha. I always loved watching Farha and he wasn't afraid to bluff and talk. They were both interesting characters.
Pam Maldonado: Amateur Chris Moneymaker defeating pro Sam Farha heads up in 2003 will always be the best and biggest final table for obvious reasons.
Mo Nuwwarah: It feels like the Moneymaker win should be higher [on my list], but looking back, the only thing that really sticks out from that one is the heads-up match with Farha.
Martin Harris: Looking at these final tables in terms of their entertainment value, 2003 easily tops the list as containing the most characters and meaningful storylines affecting poker’s larger narrative.
Jason Glatzer: My top vote went to the 2003 final table due to the historic run by Chris Moneymaker along with many notable players on the final table.
2. Final Table 2009
| Place | Player | Country | Prize |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Joe Cada | USA | $8,547,042 |
| 2 | Darvin Moon | USA | $5,182,927 |
| 3 | Antoine Saout | France | $3,479,669 |
| 4 | Eric Buchman | USA | $2,502,890 |
| 5 | Jeff Schulman | USA | $1,953,452 |
| 6 | Steven Begleiter | USA | $1,587,160 |
| 7 | Phil Ivey | USA | $1,404,014 |
| 8 | Kevin Schaffel | USA | $1,300,231 |
| 9 | James Akenhead | UK | $1,263,602 |
Herring: 2009 Main Event Final Table contained a fascinating mix of players. You have the young gun Joe Cada who eventually wins, but you never saw that coming until the very end! Of course all eyes were on Phil Ivey, the established professional and arguably one of the best in the world. And then out of nowhere you have Darvin Moon, the logger and guy everyone can relate to. Seeing Darvin Moon win a huge hand against Phil Ivey, I think, gave us all hope. :)
Maldonado: Ivey on the final table? Easily at the top of my list.
Frank Op de Woerd: 2009: Darvin Moon, what a story that was! He didn't want any sponsor deal, which boggled my mind. He was just there playing his favorite game, not much else. Could one of the way more experienced players beat him? In the end, Joe Cada did, but it was exciting to follow along with.
Glatzer: The 2009 final table got my number two vote due to the amount of top tier players on the final table.
3. Final Table 2010
| Place | Player | Country | Prize |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Jonathan Duhamel | Canada | $8,944,310 |
| 2 | John Racener | USA | $5,545,955 |
| 3 | Joseph Cheong | USA | $4,130,049 |
| 4 | Filippo Candio | Italy | $3,092,545 |
| 5 | Michael Mizrachi | USA | $2,332,992 |
| 6 | John Dolan | USA | $1,772,959 |
| 7 | Jason Senti | USA | $1,356,720 |
| 8 | Matt Jarvis | Canada | $1,045,743 |
| 9 | Soi Nguyen | USA | $811,823 |
Matthew Pitt: I think the 2010 final table was the best because of the quality and caliber of the poker players who reached it.
Herring: I might be biased that 2010 was the first year that I actually sat in the Penn & Teller and watched the Final Table play down. I thought the play was fantastic! Cheong, Duhamel and Dolan were very aggressive and bold. The Grinder was fighting for the Player of the Year title. Each of the guys was different and had a different vibe.
Maldonado: No. 4 is a tricky one because it wasn't Duhamel that stands out; it was instead Joseph Cheong. He was poised to win it all but a bluff gone wrong sent him packing. I've always loved his style of play and aggression, but it did not work in his favor this time around.
4. Final Table 2014
| Place | Player | Country | Prize |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Martin Jacobson | Sweden | $10,000,000 |
| 2 | Felix Stephensen | Norway | $5,147,911 |
| 3 | Jorryt van Hoof | Netherlands | $3,807,753 |
| 4 | William Tonking | USA | $2,849,763 |
| 5 | Billy Pappaconstantinou | USA | $2,143,794 |
| 6 | Andoni Larrabe | UK | $1,622,471 |
| 7 | Dan Sindelar | USA | $1,236,084 |
| 8 | Bruno Politano | Brazil | $947,172 |
| 9 | Mark Newhouse | USA | $730,725 |
Herring: I really enjoyed the 2014 Main Event Final Table. One of the first big tournaments I covered in Portugal featured Martin Jacobson as runner-up. His play fascinated me and I saw him at many final tables after that. Seeing him win was a beautiful moment. But I also really loved watching many of the other players. Jorryt van Hoof is a great player and I love his stare! Of course, one cannot forget Bruno Politano and the Brazilian rail!
Op de Woerd: 2014: Again, a Dutchman made the final table which added all sorts of excitement for me. Jorryt van Hoof started as chip leader and dominated for quite some time. The three-handed part was just top notch poker stuff. Maybe not as exciting for recreational players, but watching Jacobson, Stephensen and Van Hoof battle it out for millions, I can watch that every day.
Nuwwarah: Martin Jacobson's win was a joy to watch. Not just because I won a bet on him, but he put on an absolute clinic of short-stack play.
Harris: In general, the more recent and better-played final tables produced less exciting viewing, relatively speaking, although they sometimes still became intriguing to follow. For example, Martin Jacobson’s comeback win in 2014 was better-than-average viewing, in my opinion, in part because of the uncanniness of his timing with all of those all-in shoves.
5. Final Table 2005
| Place | Player | Country | Prize |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Joe Hachem | Australia | $7,500,000 |
| 2 | Steve Dannenmann | USA | $4,250,000 |
| 3 | John “Tex” Barch | USA | $2,500,000 |
| 4 | Aaron Kanter | USA | $2,000,000 |
| 5 | Andy Black | Ireland | $1,750,000 |
| 6 | Scott Lazar | USA | $1,500,000 |
| 7 | Daniel Bergsdorf | Sweden | $1,300,000 |
| 8 | Brad Kondracki | USA | $1,150,000 |
| 9 | Mike Matusow | USA | $1,000,000 |
Nuwwarah: I don't know if it's nostalgia or what because I think the ‘05 series was the one I watched the most, but that final table was awesome to watch.
Matthew Parvis: Fun fact, during one of my only WSOP ME appearances I played with Kondracki, Barch and Dannenmann during the first two days. It'll always hold a special place in my heart.
6. Final Table 2006
| Place | Player | Country | Prize |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Jamie Gold | USA | $12,000,000 |
| 2 | Paul Wasicka | USA | $6,102,499 |
| 3 | Michael Binger | USA | $4,123,310 |
| 4 | Allen Cunningham | USA | $3,628,513 |
| 5 | Rhett Butler | USA | $3,216,182 |
| 6 | Richard Lee | USA | $2,803,851 |
| 7 | Doug Kim | USA | $2,391,520 |
| 8 | Erik Friberg | Sweden | $1,979,189 |
| 9 | Dan Nassif | USA | $1,566,858 |
Op de Woerd: 2006: The year Jamie Gold won was my first year that I was really into poker. I had seen some of the 2005 footage, but by the time the 2006 final table was there, I was hooked. And what a show! Jamie Gold made for such an entertaining final table, eating blueberries, constantly talking people into or out of hands. I loved it!
Parvis: Poker was at its peak powers as Phil Hellmuth would say in 2006. With Jamie Gold at the table, this final table had so much juice and excitement.
Harris: I enjoyed the 2006 final table won by Jamie Gold, both for the characters and some of the unorthodox play resulting from such a varied cast making the final nine.
7. Final Table 2004
| Place | Player | Country | Prize |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Greg Raymer | USA | $5,000,000 |
| 2 | David Williams | USA | $3,500,000 |
| 3 | Josh Arieh | USA | $2,500,000 |
| 4 | Dan Harrington | USA | $1,500,000 |
| 5 | Glenn Hughes | USA | $1,100,000 |
| 6 | Al Krux | USA | $800,000 |
| 7 | Matt Dean | USA | $675,000 |
| 8 | Mattias Andersson | Sweden | $575,000 |
| 9 | Mike McClain | USA | $470,400 |
Parvis: I'm surprised this final table doesn't get more love from our editorial team. It's certainly one of my favorites looking back. Mattias Andersson and his screaming, Josh Arieh was super entertaining to watch and I loved the heads up play with Raymer and David Williams.
8. Final Table 2012
| Place | Player | Country | Prize |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Greg Merson | USA | $8,531,853 |
| 2 | Jesse Sylvia | USA | $5,295,149 |
| 3 | Jake Balsiger | USA | $3,979,073 |
| 4 | Russell Thomas | USA | $2,851,537 |
| 5 | Jeremy Ausmsu | USA | $2,155,313 |
| 6 | Andras Koroknai | Hungary | $1,640,902 |
| 7 | Michael Esposito | USA | $1,258,040 |
| 8 | Robert Salaburu | USA | $971,360 |
| 9 | Steve Gee | USA | $754,798 |
Maldonado: My No. 2 will probably get some criticism, but I have a soft spot for Greg Merson. The final table was great because of him. Plus, Salaburu was hilarious AF.
9. Final Table 2013
| Place | Player | Country | Prize |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Ryan Riess | USA | $8,361,570 |
| 2 | Jay Farber | USA | $5,174,357 |
| 3 | Amir Lehavot | Israel | $3,727,823 |
| 4 | Sylvain Loosli | France | $2,792,533 |
| 5 | JC Tran | USA | $2,106,893 |
| 6 | Marc-Etienne McLaughlin | Canada | $1,601,724 |
| 7 | Michiel Brummelhuis | Netherlands | $1,225,356 |
| 8 | David Benefield | USA | $944,650 |
| 9 | Mark Newhouse | USA | $733,224 |
Op de Woerd: The first time ever a Dutchman made the final table of the world’s biggest event and my first time witnessing a November Nine final table. Marcel Lüske had come close, but Michiel Brummelhuis was the first Dutchman to actually make it. I flew to Vegas and was so excited. So putting it up so high is very biased, but I just loved that final table. Unfortunately, Brummelhuis busted in seventh.
10. Final Table 2008
| Place | Player | Country | Prize |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Peter Eastgate | Denmark | $9,152,416 |
| 2 | Ivan Demidov | Russia | $5,809,595 |
| 3 | Dennis Phillips | USA | $4,517,773 |
| 4 | Ylon Schwartz | USA | $3,774,974 |
| 5 | Scott Montgomery | Canada | $3,096,768 |
| 6 | Darus Suharto | Canada | $2,418,562 |
| 7 | Chino Rheem | USA | $1,772,650 |
| 8 | Kelly Kim | USA | $1,288,217 |
| 9 | Craig Marquis | USA | $900,670 |
11. Final Table 2007
| Place | Player | Country | Prize |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Jerry Yang | USA | $8,250,000 |
| 2 | Tuan Lam | Canada | $4,840,981 |
| 3 | Raymond Rahme | South Africa | $3,048,025 |
| 4 | Alex Kravchenko | Russia | $1,852,721 |
| 5 | Jon Kalmar | UK | $1,255,069 |
| 6 | Hevad Khan | USA | $956,243 |
| 7 | Lee Childs | USA | $705,229 |
| 8 | Lee Watkinson | USA | $585,699 |
| 9 | Philip Hilm | UK | $525,934 |
Op de Woerd: Jerry Yang was really a character. It was funny to me, with the praying and the unconventional moves. I really liked it back then, though I can't remember much of it now.
12. Final Table 2011
| Place | Player | Country | Prize |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Pius Heinz | Germany | $8,715,638 |
| 2 | Martin Staszko | Czech Republic | $5,433,086 |
| 3 | Ben Lamb | USA | $4,021,138 |
| 4 | Matt Giannetti | USA | $3,012,700 |
| 5 | Phil Collins | USA | $2,269,599 |
| 6 | Eoghan O’Dea | Ireland | $1,720,831 |
| 7 | Bob Bounahra | Belize | $1,314,097 |
| 8 | Anton Makiievskyi | Ukraine | $1,010,015 |
| 9 | Sam Holden | UK | $782,115 |
Poker Final Table
13. Final Table 2015
| Place | Player | Country | Prize |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Joe McKeehen | USA | $7,683,346 |
| 2 | Josh Beckley | USA | $4,470,896 |
| 3 | Neil Blumenfield | USA | $3,398,298 |
| 4 | Max Steinberg | USA | $2,615,361 |
| 5 | Ofer Zvi Stern | Israel | $1,911,423 |
| 6 | Thomas Cannuli | USA | $1,426,283 |
| 7 | Pierre Neuville | Belgium | $1,203,293 |
| 8 | Federico Butteroni | Italy | $1,097,056 |
| 9 | Patrick Chan | USA | $1,001,020 |
Op de Woerd: I had high expectations for this one, but unfortunately it was kind of a dull final table. I was rooting for Pierre Neuville, but he busted early on. Zvi Stern slowed down the final table tremendously to the point where my uncle and sister (who joined me in Vegas and understand nothing about poker) asked me if he knew it was his turn. The eventual winner, Joe McKeehen, was a nice character to have on the final table, but not very exciting to follow along with.
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Nuwwarah: Joe McKeehen's win was an exhibition in big-stack dominance, but totally lacked any sort of excitement or suspense. It felt like he was always winning and the other players didn't care to do anything but play for second.
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