The last former champion alive within the 2016 WSOP main event was 2004 winner Greg Raymer, who sat with a typical stack with fewer than 160 left on Saturday.

For Raymer, who may need made the overall table again in 2005 had it not been for a brutal hand against Aaron Kanter, the title of last champ standing means nothing. Johnny Chan, the 1987 and 1988 winner, hit the rail in 180th place on day 5, which was good for a $42,285 payday.

“I was reading [a media report] this morning and it mentioned how he and that i were fighting to be the last champ standing,” Raymer said. "No, we were fighting to be the following champ standing. That’s the truth. I don’t receives a commission extra for being the last champ left. I’m looking to win the $8 million.”

Raymer won $5 million in 2004, and his 25th-place finish in 2005, which was the last time he cashed frequently event previous to this year, was good for $304,000.

“Fossil Man” is already excited about how great it might be for his second bracelet to be within the tournament that put him at the poker map right when the poker boom was beginning. However, the 52-year-old North Carolinian knows really well that you just can’t get too far sooner than yourself often event, otherwise you might blow up.

“There’s still up to now to go,” Raymer said. “In many of the tournaments I’ve won during the last several years, the starting fields weren’t much bigger than [160 players]. So, even supposing that is great and all, I still have like 331 million chips to go.”

When Raymer won the primary event the sphere size was a record 2,576, greater than triple the choice of players the year before when Chris Moneymaker altered the process poker history. The principle event field size reached a peak of 8,773 in 2006, nevertheless it has remained steady during the last decade. This year’s field size of 6,737 was the most important in five years.

Raymer said that the experience of being deep before allows him to play his A-game every now and then when other players may well be feeling the pressure of the lights and cameras, in addition to the large money jumps. He also knows you'll be able to dominate by almost going back-to-back after which not profit the development in over a decade.

“I think my edge is that, despite the fact that there are great players still within the field, a lot of them haven’t been on this situation before,” Raymer said. “It brings up more emotions, and it’s the sentiments that cause you to exhibit tells so you are easier to read. Emotion causes you to make mistakes that you just wouldn’t normally make.”

With such a lot of players and a good portion of the sphere being amateurs, the principle event is frequently described as a minefield, but, consistent with Raymer, that characterization applies to any tournament with a large field nowadays. The variation is that the primary event has such a lot money at the line and the psychological toll that comes from a nasty beat or a fatal mistake is lots to deal with.

“Because it’s the primary event you're feeling it much more when a kind of mines blows up to your face,” Raymer said of navigating thru a seven-day poker tournament.

Because it's been goodbye since his last deep run, Raymer said the memory of falling short in 2005 isn’t on his mind. The time has healed that disappointment, and now it’s about taking advantage of this chance. You'll be able to never anticipate a deep run happening again.

“I don’t think anybody tournament can redeem anything,” Raymer said. “You just play your best. It’s really hard to pass judgement on someone’s skill level in keeping with tournament results, to be honest. If someone has massively good results then they must no less than be really good, however it doesn’t mean they're the most efficient. Someone will have mediocre results for a time period and that doesn’t mean they aren’t an even player either.”

His remarkable runs in 2004 and 2005 were the fabricated from great play, but Raymer did enjoy big stacks inside the tournament in both years, and he used his chips and table image to seek out some spots where an opponent would disintegrate and basically gift him all their chips. He appeared to have an uncanny ability to spark a blowup from an opponent. This year, way to not having a top stack, he’s needed to adjust his play. But it’s also a distinct era of poker.

“I certainly still have [people playing back at me], but I’m undecided I AM GETTING it much more than people now,” Raymer said. “It happened more prior to now because in 2004 and 2005 I USED TO BE one of the most big stacks. I USED TO BE appropriately playing numerous hands. Also, the skill level of opponents back then was lower, so it was more correct to play more hands. Because people play better now, you almost certainly shouldn’t be playing a large number of extra hands despite the fact that you will have a large stack. The truth that I USED TO BE in those spots for a few years meant I USED TO BE in position to catch blowups.”

According to Raymer, tanking more often than not event, especially in its later stages, is best and worse than it was over a decade ago. That’s differently the sport has evolved.

“For the massive decisions, it was worse back then,” Raymer said. “You were more likely to have someone fascinated by one decision for 10 or QUARTER-HOUR if nobody called a clock. Today, even though it’s for all of your chips this deep by and large event, someone goes to name the clock by the point five minutes goes by. They aren’t going to offer you 10 or 15. But if it involves just the routine preflop decisions, it’s worse today. That’s really the most important concern I have, when you have someone taking 20 to 30 seconds for each preflop decision.”

Read More... [Source: CardPlayer Poker News]