Riess Beasts His Way to WSOP Title

Riess Beasts His Way to WSOP Title

Wednesday, 6 November 2013

Ryan Riess and Jay Farber knew that one more session could cement their place in poker history forever, but they also knew that only one of them would walk away with the World Series of Poker Main Event title. Having come through Monday's first session with bulging chips stacks, both Riess and Farber enjoyed a wave of support from rail as they began their final move towards the $8,361,570 top prize.

At the start of play it was Farber who led the way but a succession of large pots were soon pushed in the direction of Riess who looked every bit the champion elect. Indeed, despite Farber's rail consisting of tournament veterans such as Shaun Deeb, the amateur seemed to struggle with the aggression Riess brought to the table.

As the session developed a brief comeback from Farber sent his fans into hysterics but the revival was to be short-lived as the beginning of the end was nigh. Hand 261 proved to be the pivotal moment of this year's Main Event final table after Farber made a somewhat mistimed all-in with Qs 5s.

Knowing his moment in the spotlight was potentially seconds away, a jubilant Riess made the call with Ah Kh and watched with joy as the board rolled out: Jd Td 4c 3c 4d. As the final card landed and the realisation that he'd become the 45th WSOP World Champion slowly sunk in, a stunned Riess was mobbed by his supporters who let out cries of "Riess the beast".
Hugging everyone and anyone in sight, Riess was able to cobble some words together before collecting his winner's bracelet worth a staggering $500,000.

After the madness had calmed down Riess was able to answer some questions from the media and said: "I've been dreaming about this for a long time," Riess said after the win. "Ever since I was 14 and saw [Chris] Moneymaker win it. I just had a great feeling about it. There's going to be people like Scott Seiver who say I suck. I obviously don't care."


WSOP 2013 Main Event Result:


1st Jay Farber $8,361,570
2nd Ryan Riess $5,174,357
3rd Amir Lehavot $3,727,023
4th Sylvain Loosli $2,791,893
5th JC Tran $2,106,893
6th Marc McLaughlin $1,601,024
7th Michiel Brummelhuis $1,225,356
8th David Benefield $944,650
9th Mark Newhouse $733,224



Tags: WSOP 2013 Main Event, Ryan Riess, Jay Farber