AP story
AP story
Greg ' The Fossilman' Raymer of Stonington, Conn., right, prepares to play the final round against David Anthony Williams, left, of Dallas, Friday, May 28, 2004 at the World Series of Poker at Binions Horseshoe in Las Vegas. Raymer took home the first place prize of $ 5 million and Williams took second and $3.5 million. (AP Photo/Joe Cavaretta)
Connecticut lawyer takes home $5 million prize in World Series of Poker
LAS VEGAS (AP) - The soft-spoken patent lawyer from Connecticut knew exactly what do with his monstrous stack of chips at the final table of the 35th annual World Series of Poker.
Greg "Fossilman" Raymer wielded it like a Flintstones club, knocking down opponent after opponent. He saved his greatest drubbing for the end, beating David Anthony Williams in an epic showdown Friday night, seven hours after the finale began.
In head-to-head play, Raymer had a stack worth $17.1 million compared with the $8.2 million owned by Williams. On the seventh hand, Williams pushed all his chips into the pot and Raymer matched him.
Both had full houses - but Raymer had eights over twos, while Williams had fours over twos. Williams, a 23-year-old Dallas college student, busted out.
Raymer, 39, whose nickname comes from his hobby of collecting fossils, snagged the top prize of $5 million and Williams earned $3.5 million for second place.
"I played well but I was the luckiest," Raymer said before embracing a mountain of cash that has become tradition at the conclusion of the world series.
Williams said he didn't have a choice but to press his luck in that final hand.
"I felt the chances of me having the best hand at the time were greater than coming back with that short stack," Williams said.
Raymer had built up a stack of $8.2 million chips leading up to the final table at Binion's Horseshoe Hotel & Casino. He toppled six of his eight competitors using bruising hands that ranged from a pair of tens to three queens.
A fearless Williams knocked out the other two players, including a former World Series of Poker champion.
A field that began with 2,576 entrants May 22 was down to nine Friday afternoon. The game is No-Limit Texas Hold'Em, in which a player can risk all his chips with every draw of a card, guaranteeing high-stakes action and big losers.
Friday's nine-person final saw unprecedented action as players repeatedly moved in all their chips, trying to gain the upper hand.
The first to fall was Mike McClain, 39, of Lemoore, Calif. Minutes later, Mattias Andersson, a 24-year-old Swede and the only foreigner in the final, was knocked out by Raymer.
McClain and Andersson went home with $470,400 and $575,000, respectively.
It was then Williams' turn to be the poker slayer. The youngest player at the table, he used a full house to send home Matt Dean, 25, of Woodlands, Texas. One of four 20-somethings at the final table, Dean finished in seventh place with a $675,000 prize.
Raymer then went to work on Al Krux, a professional poker player from New York state, and Glenn Hughes, a 38-year-old married father of two from Scottsdale, Ariz. Krux left with $800,000, while Hughes walked away with $1.1 million.
The last to leave before a dinner break Friday was 1995 World Series of Poker Champion Dan Harrington, who earned a $1.5 million prize. Williams used an improbable second full house to take out Harrington.
Third place went to Josh Arieh, a 29-year-old professional poker player from Atlanta who banked $2.5 million. Raymer knocked him out with three queens to Arieh's pair of nines.
Both Raymer and Williams qualified playing in satellite tournaments on the Internet, picking up where last year's champ Chris Moneymaker left off. Moneymaker, who won $2.5 million in 2003, lost on the event's first day.
?2004 Associated Press.
