Joe Cada, a 21 year old from Michigan has just taken the richest prize in poker, World Series Of Poker 2009.
Cada outlasted Darvin Moon in the final heads up action taking the last hand with an all-in play on pocket nines. Moon called with the Jack and Queen of diamonds and neither players hit on the flop.
The win for Cada earned him a whopping $8,547,042, which he will now share with investors who bought him into the tournament. It's a remarkable achievement not only because of his age - at 21 he becomes the youngest ever WSOP Main Event Champ - but also because of his precarious position early during the final table action.
After taking a few early losses, Cada was down to 2 million chips and looking like being one of the first to bow out. But a string of double ups and aggressive plays saw him claw his way back and actually go into heads up with the chip lead, 135.9 million to Moon's 58.8 million.
Cada was understandably elated with his win, telling reporters,
'Darvin Moon played great. He really put me in some tough spots early on and I got off to a bad start. Before I knew it I was playing from behind again. But I was able to stay composed, battle back and here I am. It's an incredible feeling'.
Moon, a logger from Maryland who shocked the poker world by going into the final 9 table as the overwhelming chip leader, also leaves the tournament a very happy man. Just over $5 million richer and well and truly on the poker map, I daresay he may never cut down another tree. He told the media shortly after the outcome, 'I'll be back. This was quite an experience. I love poker. I'll keep playing in tournaments here and there and I'll be back for the Main Event next year for sure'.
Bookmakers around the world breathed a collective sigh of relief when Phil Ivey, rated by many as the world's best poker player and backed heavily to win the tournament, went out in 7th place, unable to get anyone involved in large pot plays, until a desperate all-in play was called by the Moon.
The final 9 placings, in order were as follows:
1 Joseph Cada $8,546,435
2 Darvin Moon $5,182,601
3 Antoine Saout $3,479,485
4 Eric Buchman $2,502,787
5 Jeff Shulman $1,953,395
6 Steven Begleiter $1,587,133
7 Phil Ivey $1,404,002
8 Kevin Schaffel $1,300,228
9 James Akenhead $1,263,602
Congratulations!
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