John Racener, an American poker pro, was crowned as the winner of the WSOP $10,000 Dealers Choice Championship, taking home the largest portion of the guaranteed prize pool as well as his first World Series of Poker (WSOP) bracelet. After defeating 101 other entries, Racener dedicated the victory to his late mother, appearing with a white T-shirt with an inscription saying “For Mom” written in black marker.
The WSOP $10,000 Dealers Choice gathered a player field of a total of 102 entries. By emerging victorious from the event, John Racener was the one who was granted with a cash prize of $273,962 as well as with a gold WSOP bracelet.
The young player confessed that he was motivated to win his first bracelet for his mother, who passed away from liver cancer four years ago. He also shared that he had a lot of second and third places so far, so he had been really wanting the WSOP bracelet, which was the first gold for him so far.
Racener made himself popular on his domestic poker area a few years ago, when he finished second in the 2010 WSOP Main Event. He has made it to a total of 13 final tables until now, while he has managed to finish in the money 44 times. To date, the total live winnings of the 31-year-old poker professional are estimated to $9,516,468. His best live cash, which was generated exactly over the 41st WSOP in 2010, amounts to $5,545,955.
Most poker fans probably know Racener for the No-Limit Hold’em variation of the game, but the young American deserves an acknowledgement for his participation in different variations of the game. He himself revealed that he was a great mixed game player and he loves playing mixed games, as well as Pot-Limit Omaha.
Still, the prize did not come easily in John Racener’s hands. Despite his great motivation and skills, it took the player 10 hands and more than eight hours in order to eliminate the final three players remaining with him at the final table. The competition was literally brutal, but Racener has managed to stop Viacheslav Zhukov on his way to winning his third bracelet in a fierce heads-up battle, which however lasted one hand only.
With John Racener emerging as winner, taking home a cash portion of $273,962, Viacheslav Zhukov finished as a runner-up. He got a total of $169,323 for his efforts. The third position was occupied by Chris Klodnicki, who got a consolation prize estimated to $117,786.
Dennis Eichorn got fourth, followed by Mike Matusow, who occupied the fifth position in the WSOP $10,000 Dealers Choice. The sixth place was taken by Schuyler Thornton, who got a guaranteed prize pool portion of $43,707.
- Author