$8.5 million? Not bad for a game of cards
Poker player Greg Merson is a very wealthy man after winning a
staggering $8.5 million (£5.26 million) in the game's most prestigious
event — the World Series of Poker.
To put that into context that is more than double the winners of
Wimbledon ($1.857 million), the Open Championship ($1.452 million) and
the Tour de France ($583,680) get combined.
Whether or not you think poker is a 'sport' is open to debate, but you can't deny it is a staggering achievement.
Here Martin Rodgers of Yahoo! Sports tells the story of Merson's
amazing win and how he had a helping hand from a certain Olympic legend.
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A series of supportive messages from Olympic swimming legend Michael
Phelps helped poker professional Greg Merson clinch an $8,531,853 payday
and the title of world champion.
Merson survived a marathon session of nearly 12 hours before finally
eliminating his last two competitors from a field of 6,598 in the main
event of the World Series of Poker — the most prestigious prize in the
game.
Phelps and Merson both hail from Maryland and are long-time friends,
and the swimming superstar sent his pal several tweets and text messages
before and during the closing session of the final table, before
conveying his congratulations at the end of the dramatic event.
Merson invited Phelps to join him at the Penn and Teller Theater at
the Rio in Las Vegas, but the 18-time gold medalist was unable to make
the trip as he was returning from a charity event in Brazil, where he
was teaching swimming to under-privileged youngsters in a Rio de Janeiro
slum.
"It is pretty cool to have someone as successful as he is supporting
you," Merson told reporters. "He obviously has the mentality of a
champion. That is the mentality I tried to keep through this whole
thing."
Phelps retired after the Olympics in London this summer and has spent
much of his time since traveling and golfing. He is also a keen poker
player and has previously taken part in celebrity events.
Merson and Phelps bonded over their mutual love of Baltimore sports
teams, with Merson wearing a different athletic jersey for every day of
the main event, eventually winning while sporting a replica jersey of
Orioles' center fielder Adam Jones.
While the 68 tournaments comprising the World Series of Poker are
played over the middle of the summer, the main event went into a 103-day
break once the final table was set. Such as move has been typical for
the past four years to build interest ahead of the ultimate showdown,
though this time it was brought forward from its typical November slot
due to the Presidential election.
Merson's to-and-fro tussle with Jesse Sylvia and Jacob Balsiger made
this year's version the longest final table in history, one that lasted
399 hands and was not completed until 5:44 am.
Sylvia's second place was worth just under $5.3 million, while
21-year-old Balsiger, who was in contention to become the youngest
champion in event history, earned himself $3.8 million.
Martin Rodgers / Yahoo! Sports
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