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| Corporate Patent Attorney Wins World's Richest Sporting Event |
| HARRAH'S ENTERTAINMENT LOGO
Harrah's Entertainment, Inc. logo. (PRNewsFoto)[JL] LAS VEGAS, NV USA | |||
-2004 World Series of Poker World Champion Returns to
Connecticut with $5 million -
LAS VEGAS, May 29 /PRNewswire/ -- Eight hours after play started on the
final day of the 35th annual World Series of Poker, Greg Raymer, a corporate
patent attorney from Stonington, Connecticut, scooped the final pot of the
night - a staggering $25 million in chips - and walked away with $5 million in
cash, the largest prize in poker tournament history.
(Logo: http://www.newscom.com/cgi-bin/prnh/20021220/LAF055LOGO )
The climatic moment in the No-Limit Texas Hold' Em event came at 8:40pm
(Pacific) at Binion's Horseshoe Casino in downtown Las Vegas, when Raymer's
full house (deuces full of eights) topped the smaller full house (deuces full
of fours) held by David Anthony Williams, the second player at the table.
Although it was a close final hand, Raymer was confident about the cards
he held. "I didn't see any reason why I didn't have the best hand," he said.
He started the day with more than $8 million in chips and was the overall
leader among the nine players who initially sat at the final table. Wearing a
pair of snake-eye reflective glasses purchased at Disney World, he was
recognized for his pronounced stare-downs of other competitors.
Raymer began the tournament last weekend among an original field of 2,576
players. He was joined on the final day of the event by his wife Cheryl, dad
Phil and other family members.
"It was wonderful," he said. "I played the best poker of my life and I
got as lucky as I've ever gotten in my life for such a sustained period of
time. I was able to advance past a lot of great, great players. It's a dream
come true."
Williams, who won $3.5 million for his second place finish, is a 24-year-
old math and economics major at Southern Methodist University in Dallas.
Throughout the day's event, 14 ESPN television cameras captured the
action. ESPN begins its coverage of the World Series of Poker on July 6 and
concludes September 14 with coverage of last night's event.
The total prize pool at the 2004 World Series of Poker reached $49
million, a new poker tournament world record. Last year's World Series of
Poker tournament prize money was just under $22 million, and 2003 World
Champion Chris Moneymaker won a top prize of $2.5 million.
Players from all over the globe plunked down the $10,000 it takes to
compete in the World Championship event. Hundreds more won a place in the
event through a variety of qualifying tournaments called satellites.
The World Series of Poker was hosted for the first time in 2004 by
Harrah's Entertainment, Inc., which purchased the rights to the tournament
earlier this year.
Founded 66 years ago, Harrah's Entertainment, Inc. owns or manages through
various subsidiaries 25 casinos in the United States, primarily under the
Harrah's brand name. Harrah's Entertainment is focused on building loyalty
and value with its valued customers through a unique combination of great
service, excellent products, unsurpassed distribution and operational
excellence.
SOURCE Harrah's Entertainment, Inc.
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Photo Notes:
NewsCom: http://www.newscom.com/cgi-bin/prnh/20021220/LAF055LOGO
AP Archive: http://photoarchive.ap.org
PRN Photo Desk, photodesk@prnewswire.com
CONTACT:
Brent Burkhardt, +1-410-299-2528, or Dave
Curley, +1-410-299-2363, both for Harrah's Entertainment, Inc.
