Le Monde du Poker.

PokerNews rattrapé avec Nadya "KGB" Magnus pendant sa pause dans le Hold sans limite de 1 500 $ à faire certains rattrapent. En 2010, Nadya écrasé le PokerStars.net Big Game de 63 600 $. Nous avons voulu voir ce qu'elle a été jusqu'à depuis le gros gibier.

Vous encore parler de certains des joueurs que vous avez joué avec sur le gros gibier ?

Une fois dans un grand moment. Je veux dire sur Twitter. J'ai couru dans Barry Greenstein, je parle sans doute à lui plus que quiconque. Mais oui, tout le monde est assez sympathique. Nous parlons surtout juste sur Twitter.

Vous avez les avantages que vous êtes devenu ami avec depuis cette expérience ?

Hmmmmm... amis ? Vous savez, qu'il est difficile de devenir ami avec quelqu'un. J'ai sans doute fait plus d'amis dans le circuit que je voyage, et je ne voyage pas leur circuit. C'est un peu trop cher pour moi.

Parlant du circuit, je sais que beaucoup de nos reporters vous ont vu les événements du circuit. Événements combien de circuit ont joué ?

J'ai joué beaucoup l'année du jeu, le gros gibier. Et puis cette année, pas tellement parce que j'ai été traitant de certains problèmes familiaux.

Vous jouer avant vous étiez sur le gros gibier ? Est-ce que vous ont joué professionnellement ? Ou avant que ce que vous faisiez ?

J'ai commencé à jouer il y a quatre ans. Et avant le gros gibier, j'ai joué quelques tournois, mais je jouais en ligne, principalement des sit et gos. Et maintenant, puisqu'il n'y a pas plus en ligne, j'ai joué beaucoup plus direct.

Vous allez maintenant jouer dans des événements du circuit et autres événements en direct ?

Absolument. Sans aucun doute.

Une des choses que j'ai remarqué que lorsque je regardais le gros gibier est que vous avez choisi le surnom de Nadya « KGB. » Avez-vous toujours ce surnom ?

Je n'a pas le faire ! Je ne choisir que. J'ai quelque sorte ramassé il. Ouais j'encore aller par là.

Vous avez tout autres surnoms aux tables de poker ?

Pas vraiment, non.

Je voulais aussi dire félicitations sur votre trésorerie première de la série ! C'est seulement le deuxième événement et vous avez déjà une trésorerie. Est-ce votre trésorerie plus importante depuis le gros gibier ?

Merci. Pas encore, non. La même année, j'ai joué dans un événement du circuit dans mon domicile casino, qui est Indiana de fer à cheval, et je suis arrivé en 12e. Et qu'il a été mon plus gros cash jusqu'à présent.

J'ai vu aussi qu'avant vous étiez sur le gros gibier, vous gagné une ladies événement sur le circuit, droite ?
Droit.

Comment vous sentez-vous sur les événements de Mesdames ? Sont-elles bonnes pour le poker ? Sont-ils mauvais pour le poker ?

Je pense que c'est bon pour le poker de dames. Tu sais? C'est vraiment bon pour les dames, parce que beaucoup de femmes, y compris moi-même, lorsque j'ai commencé à jouer, vous genre de vous sentez intimidé dans. C'est juste un tas de gars et la plupart du temps, vous êtes le seul à la table. Donc surtout lorsque vous commencez à elle vraiment vous donne confiance et courage à jouer en cas de dames, parce que vous n'avez comme vous êtes en infériorité numérique.

Alors qu'avez-vous fait depuis le gros gibier ?

Juste jouer au poker.

Comment l'argent que vous gagné à l'émission a changé votre vie ?

Je ne dirais pas qu'elle a changé ma vie. No Elle a changé ma vie de poker. Il n'a pas changé mon à l'extérieur de la vie de poker, mais qui était un grand coup de pouce à ma bankroll. Qui m'a permis de jouer dans plusieurs événements.

Si c'est votre première fois à la WSOP ?

Non ce n'est pas. C'est ma troisième fois, mais ma première caisse.

Si c'est votre première caisse à la série ? Vous allez jouer plus événements cet été ?

Droit. Il dépend. Cela dépend de ce qui se passe cette semaine. Je suis rester pendant une semaine, alors je vais probablement aller retour domicile et vol retour.

Vous avez les autres régimes de jouer les tournois cette semaine ou juste ce tournoi ?

Même pas à la série. Si rien je vais juste jouer Deepstacks vénitienne.

Que votre famille pensez à vous jouer au poker professionnellement ? Je sais que vous avez un fils. Ce qu'il pense de vous jouer professionnellement ?

Il me souscrit pleinement. En fait, il est fier de l'être. Il se vante de ses amis, vous savez.

Je parie qu'il fait ! J'aimerais trop. Mais le déplacement, hier soir, j'ai vu que vous aviez et il s'est fissuré par à droite à la fin de la nuit. C'était douloureux pour moi de regarder.

Bien, c'est tout aussi douloureuse pour moi.

Comment vous composer avec le stress d'être un joueur de tournoi live maintenant ? Que faire pour traiter avec les battements et les balançoires ?

Vous savez, cela a vraiment été la fuite importante dans mon jeu ? Qui je veux dire j'ai réalisé, il n'y a pas si longtemps, après la Chicago Poker Classic. Je faisais vraiment bien dans le main event, et j'ai fini par presque bouillonnant. Et je l'ai pris réel dur. Et pas seulement juste dans ma vie de poker, je l'ai dur dans ma vie réelle. J'en ai parlé à des amis et nous avons tous décidé, « OK, c'est votre fuite importante, et vous devrez travailler là-dessus. » Je réellement décollé quelque temps et a fait quelques auto creuser et de lecture sur la façon de traiter avec qui et je suis venu à la conclusion vraiment que vous ne pouvez maîtriser les cartes. Vous devrez prendre les meilleures décisions dans le temps, une part à la fois. Ce qu'il faut. Vous connaissez éventuellement sur le long terme c' est tout de même à aller.

En parlant d'amis, qui vous parler poker avec ?

Surtout les gens que jouer avec à la chaussure et les joueurs que le circuit de voyage.

Que faites-vous à Vegas quand vous n'êtes pas jouer au poker ?

Jouer au poker. J'ai manger dormir et jouer au poker. Bien que j'ai mettre un maillot de bain. Je ne sais pas si je vais jamais à l'utiliser, mais je le fais toujours.

Qu'avez-vous fait avant le gros gibier et jouer au poker professionnellement ?

Je ne fais vraiment trop. J'ai été marié. Nous avons travaillé avec l'immobilier, je suppose que vous pouvez placer ce de cette façon.

Maintenant que vous êtes juste jouer au poker professionnellement ?

Vous pourriez dire que. Je joue seulement vraiment partie du temps, mais depuis cela c'est !

Nadya est encore en vie à l'événement # 2 et nous serons sûr de garder un œil sur sa pile puce et les progrès tout au long du reste de la journée. Vérifiez sur PokerNews pour les mises à jour !

Suivre PokerNews sur Twitter pour les nouvelles minute.

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November 28 2011, Chad Holloway

In January 2005, John Stolzmann, a 23-year-old student at the University of Wisconsin-Madison, traveled to Tunica, Mississippi, with his father to play a little poker. Both father and son were well-versed in the game, but it was the latter who made a deep run in the World Poker Tour’s Sixth Annual Jack Binion World Poker Open.

Slowly but surely, the younger Stolzmann navigated a field of 512 entries and found himself at the televised final table. Unfortunately for him, he was joined there by some of poker’s top professionals including Michael “The Grinder” Mizrachi, Scotty Nguyen, Daniel Negreanu, and Chau Giang. It was a tough final table, to say the least, but Stolzmann managed to do the improbable and defeated his experienced foes, becoming a WPT champion in the process and capturing the $1,491,444 first-place prize.

*Photo courtesy of the World Poker Tour

After his big score, Stolzmann dropped out of school and gave up the cold Wisconsin winters for the sunny shores of California. He began playing tournaments full time, but discovering success on the tournament trail eluded him outside of his WPT score. In fact, his biggest cash outside of that payday was a seventh-place finish in a $2,500 No-Limit Hold’em Event at the 2005 Five-Star World Poker Classic for $14,275.

$2,599 NLHE Caribbean Poker Classic$10,000 WPT Sixth Annual Jack Binion World Poker Open$2,5000 NLHE Five-Star World Poker ClassicWorld Poker Tour Battle of Champions III$1,000 Super Satellite Gold Strike World Poker OpenWPT Father & Sons Tournament World Poker Finals Invitational

Over the past six years, Stolzmann’s poker journey has taken many turns. PokerNews recently sat down with the now 30-year-old to find out what he’s been up to in the past seven years.

What have you been up to since your WPT win?

The first thing I did was drop out of school because I wanted to move out to California to focus on poker. My girlfriend lived out there, who was also a professional poker player, so it made sense for me at the time. I spent the next year out in California playing tournaments and cash games. I didn’t really parlay the [WPT] tournament, the tournament stuff didn’t go well. I was winning in cash games, but didn’t really have any cashes in tournaments. After a year, I basically stopped playing in those except for the Main Events.

I had promised my mom I would go back to school and finish my degree at Wisconsin, so my girlfriend and I broke up. She was playing at Commerce all the time, and I really didn’t want to butt heads with her there, so I moved back to Wisconsin. I finished my degree, which only took two semesters, and stayed out there playing poker for about three years, and then I decided it was about time to come back out to California. I started playing for a living here in cash games, and then about a year and a half ago I got a job as a prop, a house player, at Hawaiian Gardens, and that’s what I’ve been doing.

For those who may not know, what does being a prop player entail?

Now I get paid a pretty sick wage, plus health benefits, to play like $30-$60 limit and $5-$10 no limit at the Gardens. I’m playing with my own money, but I have to work a set schedule. They just pay me hourly and I keep what I win. If I lose, I lose [my money]. Then I get my wage on top of that plus my benefits.

The only job aspect to it is I have to get up when the game fills up. So sometimes I’m just there making my hourly wage and not in a game, but I’m really happy doing it because there’s so much less stress knowing that you’ll never have a losing month because your wage more than covers any terrible month that you’ll have. The games are really good there, and I’ve been doing well. It’s like my dream job because it makes it viable long term.

You’ve mentioned that you used to play online quite a bit. Did Black Friday have a negative effect on you?

Yeah, I lost a little money on Black Friday. Not an incredible amount. I thought I was in the clear; I actually had a friend who lives out of the country who I was able to transfer to, within like an hour after when the transfers were still legal but cashing out wasn’t. So I transferred to my friend, but he still couldn’t cash it out. I had my prop job and stuff, but I’d play Rush Poker now and then. I’d play a little bit of limit poker on PokerStars, where at least I got my money back.

How did you come to play the WPT Sixth Annual Jack Binion World Poker Open?

I didn’t even want to go, really. I had school and had just missed for a poker tournament down in Costa Rica, but my dad was qualified for Tunica; he had won an online WPT vacation sit-and-go, so he wanted me to go and wanted to invest in me. I had been playing professionally in the summers, and when I first started out and didn’t have any money he bankrolled me for a piece of my winnings.

The deal he gave me [for the WPT] was just so awesome that I said all right. He bought me into a $3,000 event that I busted out of, and then a $1,000 satellite into the Main Event. I won then and then won Tunica.

That final table boasted quite the lineup. Was that kind of intimidating?

I guess a little bit at that time. I just basically played accordingly. At that time, I had barely played any no-limit hold’em at all; I was a limit hold’em player. I had played tournament here and there online, so I knew I was inexperienced. Looking back, I don’t think I played that well. I did play well given the circumstances, that being I had to take big chances and try to play for big pots. I didn’t want to play small ball with these guys and try to become involved in a lot of pots and try to outplay people, because I knew that wasn’t going to happen.

So, preflop, I would put huge percentages of my stack in so there was no real thinking postflop. In a sense I wasn’t intimidated because my strategy kind of took their game away. It made me an underdog, but less of an underdog that I would have been had I not done that.

You took home nearly $1.5 million. Did you make any big purchases with that money?

Mostly I just used it as a poker bankroll, but I did buy a house out in California, which ended up being a terrible decision, looking back. I took a loss on it. I also bought a car, but not right away because my girlfriend at the time had two awesome cars, so I’d just use one of those. When we broke up, I bought an Audi. Nothing too splurgy. I took a lot of vacations.

You also played in a WPT Father and Sons Tournament at the 2006 World Poker Finals. Can you tell us a little bit about that?

That was a really nice thing that the WPT did. That was just a little side event after Foxwoods. It was an invite-only thing. They invited six teams* of fathers and sons who were important to the WPT to play in a little event. What ended up happening, it was like a tag-team event, so at any time my dad could play or I could play, likewise for everyone else.

When one father and son team wins, then the father and son would play heads up for an entry into the $25,000 World Championship. It was just a freeroll. My dad got all-in with aces against Todd Brunson’s kings, and Brunson hit a king [laughs]. That’s how we got knocked out in fifth.

*Teams included: Barry Greenstein/Joe Sebok (1st); Doyle Brunson/Todd Brunson (2nd); Barry Shulman/Jeff Shulman (3rd); Michael Simon/Rome Simon (4th); Steve Stolzmann/John Stolzmann (5th); and Dick van Patten/Vince van Patten (6th).

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November 14 2011, Chad Holloway

The 2005 World Series of Poker Main Event final table is likely the most memorable final table of the last decade, with the exception of Chris Moneymaker’s win in 2003. Joe Hachem, formerly an Australian chiropractor, outlasted the field of 5,619 at the 36th Annual WSOP to claim the $7.5 million first-place prize. He overcame a final table that included Mike “The Mouth” Matusow, Andy Black, Tex Barch, and Steve Dannenmann. Also at that final table, was Aaron Kanter, the latest subject for our Where Are The Now series.

Known as the “Giant Killer,” Kanter earned the nickname by delivering a fatal blow to the 2004 world champ, Greg Raymer, who ended up finishing 25th in the 2005 WSOP Main Event, for $304,680. In that hand, Raymer had about 4 million in chips and opened for 100,000 with . Kanter made the call with and the two were heads-up to the flop. Raymer fired out 150,000, Kanter called, and the appeared on the turn.

Raymer kept the pressure on with a bet of 300,000, Kanter raised to 900,000 with his flush draw, Raymer moved all-in, and Kanter made a reluctant call, creating a pot of 3.51 million. Kanter’s tournament life was on the line, so it was no surprise that he shot his arms up in celebration when the spiked on the river, crippling Raymer.

Since finishing in fourth place in 2005 for $2 million, Kanter continued to pursue his poker career, primarily playing online. However, he did manage to notch some live cashes including a 48th-place finish in the 2007 World Poker Tour PokerStars Caribbean Adventure for $17,787, 18th in a 2007 WSOP $1,500 No Limit Hold’em event for $23,576, third in a 2008 WSOP $1,500 NLHE event for $258,862, and a victory in the $500 NLHE event at the 2008 WSOP Circuit Harvey’s Lake Tahoe stop for $15,594.

Still residing in Lodi, California, Kanter has started a family and spends his time traveling between Vancouver and home, an unfortunate necessity to continue playing online poker after Black Friday. PokerNews recently caught up with Kanter to find out what he’s been up to, how the 2005 WSOP final table changed his life, and what the future holds for the “Giant Killer.”

What have you been up to since the 2005 WSOP Main Event Final Table?

I've just been continuing my poker career, and I’ve got a family now, so it’s been pretty busy with those two things. My wife and I have two kids now; one is almost four and one just turned one. We live in Lodi, California, where I grew up and I’ve been playing mostly online, obviously up until April. Just hanging out with them, and now I just got a place in Canada. I’ve been living there and coming home to visit the family.

Where in Canada did you find a place?

The suburbs of Vancouver. It’s a beautiful place, especially for a West Coast guy.

What sort of affect did Black Friday have on you an your family?

It definitely hasn’t been easy. I’ve been playing as my main source of income for eight years, and most of that has been online other than the World Series. I’ve been playing online since college, which is like 11 years ago, so I had gotten used to just being able to play from home, which I think I took for granted now because the traveling, and leaving the family at home, has just been rough on all of us.

Did you ever consider transitioning to live play after Black Friday?

I mean if I did, I’d have to move to a different city anyway. There’s not enough live games here in Northern California. I mean you can go to Bay 101, but that’s about the biggest. I can make more money per hour playing online than I can live. I could probably move to L.A. or Vegas or something, but I think Vancouver is about the same flight-wise, and I think being able to play online is more important.

Did you have any money stuck on Full Tilt?

I did, but not very much. Luckily, 90 percent of my money was on PokerStars. I’m pretty thankful for that.

In the 2005 WSOP, how did you get in? Satellite? Direct buy-in?

I won a satellite. I think it was the steps on PartyPoker. I think I started with a $50 step or something like that.

Was that the first time you’ve ever played the Main Event?

Yes. I’d played a couple of $10K events. I hadn’t even been playing tournaments that long when I played that one. I started playing tournaments maybe seven to eight months before that.

What was it like going deep in the Main Event, especially in a year toward the peak of the poker boom?

At the time I didn’t think too much about it. I was kind of excited as we had a lot of friends and family there. It seemed weird, but I wasn’t really thinking about the whole thing, and now going back to the WSOP after that, I feel more aware of how difficult that is. I think I would be more nervous in that same situation now than I was then. I was sort of naive on what was actually going on there.

Can you talk a little bit about your hand against Greg Raymer?

That hand actually came up a few weeks ago. It was rated the number one “Top Ten Bad Beats in Poker” or something like that. In the hand, I’m obviously calling before the flop with , and he bets on the flop. It was low, and it felt like a continuation bet. The turn gave me a draw and put a scary card on the board because there could have been a four-card straight.

He bet, and I decided to raise three times, which committed I think three-quarter of my chips. He made a good read. Obviously I wasn’t used to playing live as much, and I’m sure I probably gave something away at that time that indicated that my hand wasn’t as strong as it could be, so he shoved. I was committed at that point so I called and thankfully the hits on the river. It was a pretty amazing river, definitely the best of my life.

Check out the hand here:

The last year the WSOP Main Event Final Table was held downtown at Binion's was 2005. We’ve heard it was quite cramped and very uncomfortable. What are your thoughts?

Yeah [laughs]. I mean it’s a small place, not really much you could do. I think they had it there because it was tradition. They said we could only have two passes per person to bring people in, so we ended up passing the passes back and forth. Everyone got in eventually, but yeah, it wasn’t a big room, but what are you going to do. Everyone was packed in there.

The final table has changed a lot since 2005, especially with the implementation of the November Nine. Is that something you would have liked back then?

I definitely would have like the November Nine. As I said, I hadn’t been playing tournaments that long, so I probably could have improved my game, you know, more than a lot of the other players. I’m a little more committed than a lot of players. The fact that I made a deal with PartyPoker the day of the final table, I know if I had the time to negotiate and talk to an agent, I probably could have worked out something long term or a larger amount to begin with.

I think it’s great for the game in terms of the players. They get more exposure. Obviously there’s a downside that players are going to change the way they play, but I like the upside of being able to do the other things.

After your $2 million score, did you make any big purchases?

Not so much. We unfortunately bought houses, which was a terrible idea for that year, especially in California as the housing market has been pretty bad since then. I wish I had just bought a couple Ferraris instead of a couple of houses, they’d probably be worth more right now, and I’d have a lot more fun.

In terms of fame, did you find yourself being recognized after your final table appearance?

Yeah, mostly at local events like in Tahoe or San Jose, a little bit at the World Series. I wouldn’t say it was anything close to what the other guys got, which really didn’t bother me too much, I’m more of a low-key guy.

To learn more on Kanter, check out this old-school PokerNews video featuring the “Giant Killer:”

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October 24 2011, Chad Holloway

Perhaps the most iconic or at least most watched World Series of Poker Final Table of all time was in 2005 when a former Australian chiropractor topped a field of 5,619 to claim the world championship and win $7.5 million. Joe Hachem became an overnight star, which continues to shine in the poker world; however, but for the turn of a few cards, another man could be donning the championship gold bracelet. I’m talking of course about Steve Dannenmann.

If you watched the 2005 WSOP Final Table, you no doubt remember the outgoing and awestruck Dannenmann. The CPA from Maryland was simply happy to be there and was looking to “have a good time.” It was the premiere event in poker, and Dannenmann acted as if he was seated in his home game playing for $20. It was that attitude, sprinkled with his childish bewilderment and aloofness, that endeared Dannenmann to millions, making him that year’s everyman.

The 2005 WSOP final table was filled by characters like Mike “The Mouth” Matusow, Andrew Black, Scott Lazar, and Aaron Canter, but none were quite as memorable as Dannenmann (with the exception of Matusow). We caught up with Dannenmann to find out what he has been up to since 2005 and how the final table changed his life.

Since your appearance at the 2005 WSOP Main Event Final Table, what have you been up to?

Nothing has absolutely changed in my life. I do everything that I used to do. Sounds boring doesn’t it? I have a CPA firm in Glenburry. I’ve been in the business like 21 years, so nothing has really changed except I play more poker tournaments. I was playing more $10,000 back then and I said, “I got too many tax returns to make up for $10,000,” so [I cut back]. Of course there aren’t as many $10,000 tournaments anymore, so I don’t play poker too much. I go to the Borgata and Vegas, that’s pretty much it.

I play my home game. I usually have a home game like Tuesday or Wednesday of each week, except for the summertime because I’m too busy at the beach and having a good time.

Were you at the WSOP this year?

I was. I did really good this year, I made it through a third day. I didn’t make any money, but I made the third day [of the Main Event].

As far as celebrity goes, did the 2005 WSOP final table propel you into fame?

Yeah, everyday of my life I get recognized by someone. Wherever I go, it doesn’t matter. I was in the Bahamas last week and there was a group of New Jersey police officers who recognized me. No matter where I go, someone pretty much always recognizes me on a daily basis, and Joe Hachem said, “No one ever remembers second place.”

Speaking of Hachem, do you keep in touch with him or anyone else from the final table?

Everyone asks the same question, do you keep in touch with Joe? You’re sitting at a poker table, it ended, you went about your ways, not like you exchanged numbers. What would you do, you’d call up and say, “Hey Joe, how’s it going? How’s the family?” No one really cares. To answer this, no I haven’t kept up.

I see Joe in the halls once in awhile and say, you know, “Hey Joe, how’s it going.” I bought him dinner one night anonymously, he never thanked me, but he never knew it either. It was like a $2,000 bill, like two years ago at the Italian place in the Rio.

I come across Matusow sometimes. I saw Matusow at the Rio this year during the WSOP in the bathrooms. He says, “Steve, how you doing? Where have you been? I haven’t seen you anyplace?” He says this all in like one sentence, he’s like, “I only have $400,000 to my name. I’m broke. How am I going to survive this Full Tilt thing?”

I’m like, “I don’t know, Mike, maybe you ought to go out and get a job like other people do.”

Aside from poker, what else have you been up to?

I actually do a lot of real estate now, I flip houses. Which is so cool, I’ve done 40 house. I buy foreclosed houses, go in, I managed contractors in fixing them up, and then sell them right away.

When I flip a house, it’s like making final-table money every time. Maybe not the World Series, but a nice-sized event. Every time I flip a house, I know it’s just like going right to the final table. Whether it’s a grand slam or a nice double, it’s just fantastic.

The thing about poker, poker’s boring to me. You’re sitting there at a table with 10 people, alright, and probably about two to three guys who are actually intelligent at the table, that can actually hold a conversation that’s meaningful. The rest of the guys care about poker, they’re grumpy, they’re not making any money, they’re getting bad beated, they think they’re the best poker players in the world and that they should win the tournament. They’re just grumpy people for the most part.

I’m there to have a good time. People ask me what I do for fun. I play poker for fun. I go to work to make money, I play poker for fun.

When you made the final table, did you get approached by any of the online sites for sponsorship?

No, no one came up to me. Back then, someone made a very interesting statement. He said 2005 was the best year ever in poker as far as the final table because at that point there was maybe one or two guys who had patches on. The other guys who didn’t have patches on, they actually had characters, you actually had people who had a personality. Andrew Black had a personality, Matusow, myself, Joe had a personality, Scott Lazar, all these guys pretty much had a personality.

Now, you look at the final table and their personalities are hidden behind their patches . . . Those patches have ruined poker, not what it meant, but the whole story of poker . . . you never saw a patch on me. Even afterwards, I turned down all the Internet companies. The other thing is, once you brand yourself, then that’s it, you’re Full Tilt. You’re associated with Full Tilt or something like that.

What was it like playing heads up against Hachem?

The truth of the matter is, I read that Dan Harrington book three days before I started the tournament, and when I got to the heads-up part I thought, “what the hell do I need this for?” That’s a true story [laughs]. I wrote notes as I was reading the book by the side of the pool, when I got to the heads-up part I was like, “What do I want to read this for, I gotta make it past the first day.”

During the final table you used a little globe that became quite recognizable. Do you still have that?

I do, it’s actually sitting on my island right now because I unpacked my backpack from the WSOP. I always take it to the WSOP. In fact I’m looking at it right now, still there. You think I could sell that on eBay and get something [laughs]? But then I’d be giving my luck away. By the way, I wasn’t good, I was lucky, and I’d rather be lucky any day of the week.

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October 17 2011, Chad Holloway

The 2003 World Series of Poker has been credited with sparking the poker boom when Chris Moneymaker won the Main Event that year for $2,500,000. Do you ever wonder how different things would be if the accountant from Tennessee didn’t win? What if poker pro Sam Farha had captured the gold bracelet? How about either poker pros Dan Harrington or Amir Vahedi? Heck, if things had gone a little differently, Tomer Benvenisti could have been the 2003 World Champ.

You might be wondering, “Who the heck is Tomer Benvenisti?” The old saying goes, “Nobody remembers second place,” so that certainly doesn’t bode well for the 2003 Main Event fifth-place finisher. If you can think back to the now classic ESPN broadcasts of that final table, you might recall Benvenisti as the jovial, visor-wearing, expedition entrepreneur who is a self-described “fat bastard.”

His fifth-place finish was impressive, especially for an amateur who qualified via a satellite, but his $320,000 prize wasn’t exactly life-changing money. This was still 2003 after all. Since that score, Benvenisti has racked up 16 cashes, primarily in small buy-in events throughout Las Vegas, his most notable being a fourth-place finish in a 2004 Festa al Lago III $1,000 No Limit Hold’em event for $17,560. Interestingly, Benvenisti was able to back up his performance in 2003 with another deep run the following year, coming in 190th in the 2004 WSOP Main Event.

PokerNews recently caught up with Benvenisti to see what he's been up to since the poker boom and how the final table changed his life, including his new passion — stand-up comedy.

What have you been up to since the 2003 WSOP Main Event Final Table?

Since then, many things have happened. Besides being in my business of sending people to Antarctica and things like that, I also got started in the stand-up comedy business. I’m doing stand-up comedy and having a great time. It’s better to make people laugh than to make people cry in poker.

How do you like doing stand-up comedy? It seems like that could be tougher than being on poker’s biggest stage.

It’s a frightening thing at the beginning, but when you get people to belly laugh, it really feels good. In fact, we’re starting a nationwide tour, my friend Mike and I, and we’re calling it the Fat Bastards of Comedy — Heart Attack Tour.

Do you still live in Las Vegas?

Yes, I’m still in Vegas and I still play poker. I mostly play live poker as opposed to tournament poker. When I played that tournament, first of all I didn’t know what I was getting myself into, because I didn’t even know it was going to be filmed. I did it because I loved the game. Like everybody else, my dream was to be at the World Series of Poker and experience it, and things were just working out perfectly.

Did you buy into the Main Event that year or did you satellite in?

Oh no, it only cost me $125 from a satellite that they used to have that were great. It was a two-table satellite. They gave you a ton of chips. It took hours to finish, but at least it showed some skill level. That was fun.

What are your thoughts on Internet poker?

Like everybody else, I was disappointed with what happened with the Internet situation. It’s only getting worse before it’s getting better. The situation with Full Tilt Poker is sad, but it’s not really surprising because whenever there’s big money involved, monkey business goes on. It’s human nature.

We understand that your wife, Joanne, also plays poker?

Oh yeah, she is an excellent player, she loves to play. She loves to play limit hold’em especially, and some of the mixed games. She was really sad when the Internet went down because she used to play everyday at home. H.O.R.S.E., she used to love playing H.O.R.S.E. She went through withdrawal symptoms.

How long have you both been playing poker?

I’ve been playing since 1980, limit hold’em and 7-card stud, and I’ve been playing a lot. I’ve played with some of the best in the world when it comes to limit hold’em. When we met, I taught her the game and she loved it, she had the natural ability, plus being a woman she could take advantage of it more.

Was 2003 the first time you played the Main Event?

It was the first time I played at the Main Event. I only played no-limit hold’em for a year before that. I always looked at tournaments differently. I think I was proved to be correct when I got to see the inside workings of tournament play after I came in fifth.

Tournaments are fine and dandy and all that, but I think in reality it’s not a good business model. It’s not a good way to make money for players, most of them lose a ton of money, especially now with the rakes that they have. I have a problem with tournaments in general, that’s why I haven’t played a lot of tournaments afterwards. People expect that since you came in fifth that now you should be playing every tournament there is, just because you came in fifth, you should try for the gold. I never thought about it like that. So I played a lot less tournaments afterwards actually.

When was the last time you played at the WSOP Main Event?

Not this year, but the last year, and I came very close to the money. That was frustrating. I only play if I win a satellite, I don’t take $10,000 out and hand it to them. I refuse. If I win a satellite, I’m in. If I don’t win a satellite, I’m out. That’s it.

Did making the 2003 WSOP Main Event Final Table change your life at all? Did you make any big purchases?

I bought a newer car, but it didn’t change my life financially at all. I mean, we were doing pretty well before that. What changed my life was suddenly I was signing autographs for being a poker player. I’ve never heard of such a thing. I was stunned the first time that I was asked.

The other thing that changed was that on the Internet, I heard every fat joke in the history of the world, things I didn’t even know existed. I have a think skin, and playing poker, I developed a big stomach.

If you would have won in 2003 instead of Chris Moneymaker, do you think things would be the same? Would there still have been a poker boom?

Well, the name Moneymaker, that was the key. On the other hand, I only paid $125 and I look like a Joe Schmoe. I don’t know if it would have changed much actually, I don’t know. I wasn’t known either. I can’t tell you. Of course I wanted to win. Whether it was going to make poker good or not, I don’t really care, I wanted to win.

Was the final table nerve wracking, playing on poker’s biggest stage?

What was funny, playing on the first day, at the end of the day, that’s when I was first filmed. That’s when it was shocking, when I was put on a table with Scotty Nguyen and he was going on and on. I was stunned [about the cameras]. I realized I had to do something funny, and that’s when I sat down with my book, Poker for Dummies. That was a good laugh.

What are your thoughts on how the WSOP has changed since 2003?

It’s become a giant corporate affair. I think it has lost its soul. The competition is really high, these young kids are brilliant. They’ve seen so many millions of hands that we, the old schools guys, couldn’t have gone through. They’ve come up with some very good theories.

What’s your opinion on the concept of the November Nine?

Personally, I don’t like it as a player. Now, as a promotion thing, as a business thing, sure, why not? It sounds like a good idea. As a player, I would rather play the next day or a day-long break and then play. To wait all that time, I don’t know. I’m always imagining people putting hits on each other before the time comes [laughs].

*You can catch Benvenisti on the Fat Bastards of Comedy — Heart Attack Tour, which kicks off on Nov. 4 in Portland, Oregon.

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