Greg Mueller Will Start WSOP Main Event Final Table Fourth in Chips
The former hockey player has 48.5 million, at least $1 million locked up and a reunion with the rail coming in August.
Greg Mueller will start the WSOP Main Event final table fourth in chips, with 48.5 million. He has already locked up at least $1 million in the $10,000 no-limit hold’em world championship in Las Vegas, and that is more than twice his previous biggest tournament cash.
At 55, Mueller is a Canadian former hockey player and a three-time WSOP bracelet winner. PokerNews described him as the most experienced player left in the field, while Card Player called him the most recognizable name among the final nine.
His run began on Day 1D after he was still on the fence about entering, according to Card Player. A conversation with longtime friend Shawn Buchanan pushed him to play, and Mueller said Buchanan is “the best no-limit tournament player in the world.”
The stack kept climbing from there. He ended Day 1D with 100,000 chips, Day 2D with 175,000, Day 3 with 1.124 million, Day 4 with 1.5 million and Day 5 with 4.415 million. He bagged 10 million heading into Day 7, finished that day with 13.2 million, and then kept rising through the late stages.
Card Player said Mueller survived his first all-in on Day 6 when his pocket kings held against Tal Herzog’s ace-queen. On Day 7, he chopped with ace-king, then hit a rough patch when Brock Wilson made a runner-runner king-high straight to double through him, leaving Mueller among the shorter stacks by the end of the day.
Day 8 changed everything. He flopped a queen-high straight early, then surged past 30 million when his pocket aces beat Romain Lewis’ pocket kings and sent Lewis out in 17th. With 13 players left, his pocket jacks held against Rami Hammoud’s pocket nines, and with 11 left he got queens in against Michael Gagliano’s ace-king to clinch a spot at the final table.
The late run got him up to more than 60 million before he bagged 48.5 million. The Review-Journal said he briefly sat third with 62.5 million at the 9 p.m. break, then the field paused with nine players remaining.
Mueller said the run has brought back his love for the game. “For this tournament, absolutely. I don’t know after the tournament if I’m gonna love poker again, but I’ll tell you right now, I love it,” he told PokerNews. He also said the August final table should draw a rail from White Rock and Vancouver.
The final table resumes Aug. 3. ESPN2 carries the first night of coverage at 9 p.m. ET, ESPN takes over Aug. 4 at 9 p.m. ET, and the finale airs on ESPN at 10:30 p.m. on Aug. 5.
