Three Party Poker qualifiers continue play on Day Six, and I caught up with two of them last night as play concluded for the day. Both men are obviously great players to have made it this far in the biggest WSOP field ever, but the similarities end there. Paul Raeburn has the mild-mannered demeanor of Clark Kent, while Richard Wyrick is an animated personality who is clearly thrilled to be here.
Paul Raeburn will begin Day Six with 1,385,000 in chips, which puts him in 26th place out of the remaining 45 players. Paul's been playing poker for eight months, after watching the WSOP on ESPN and deciding he wanted to give the game a try. He said he started out playing cash games and went broke, then moved on to sit-n-gos where he built his bankroll and practiced his tournament style. Paul had a couple of big hands on Day Five, including one where he doubled-up when he pushed all-in with Aces after a his big blind was re-raised by an opponent holding A-K. "Makes the decision easier" he said about being fortunate enough to have aces in that spot. Paul was ready to get some rest at the end of play, but did say before he left that his plan for today was to tighten up now that the money levels are getting bigger.
In contrast is Richard Wyrick, who announced to his table when he bagged up his 800,000 chips for the night that "this is the 5th night in a row that I'm the shortstack!!!" Richard said he's been unable to build a stack thus far, pushing all-in often, but not getting called. I asked if he was card dead, to which he replied with a wink "I'm not card dead when I'm all-in." He said the best hands he saw pre-flop were A-K and pocket jacks, but stated he was not here to sit around for money bumps - he wants to win the whole thing and stated several times that he was going to play the cards the way they should be played. While Paul is new to the world of poker, Richard is no stranger to a casino, having an affection for blackjack and also having won his way on the PartyPoker Millions cruise last year. Richard gained a railbird last night in his brother, who flew down to cheer him on despite having two children and trying to get a business off the ground.
As "Coach" Dan pointed out to Richard, today's play begins like a 45-player sit-n-go - a little less stressful for a short stack, and a drastic change from the field both gentleman started with. Here's hoping that their playing styles continue to serve them well as they make their way to the final table.
