Ranking the WSOP Champions since 2002 Part 1 of 2
A look at the World Series of Poker Champions prior to 2001 shows a list that is basically made up of not just poker professionals, but some of the best poker players of that time period. Even with total entries exceeding 500 and 600 players respectively the 2000 Champion was Chris Ferguson, and the 2001 Champion was Carlos Mortensen -with two Poker Hall of Famers as the runners up in Dewey Tomko and TJ Cloutier.
Since the 2001 WSOP every Main Event Champion has been more of a mystery than a known commodity, and including the runners up, only Sam Farha in 2003 was a “known” poker player. Although these players haven’t been household names when they won the WSOP, some have gone on to prove themselves worthy of the title -while some other have not.
In this article I’ll rank the nine players who have the Main Event since 2002 in terms of their poker ability, their impact on the game as an ambassador or spokesperson will not come into play. Here is a look at #’s 6, 7, 8, and 9:
#9 - Jamie Gold
Gold has done literally nothing since winning the largest prize in poker history in 2006 -he actually had better results BEFORE his WSOP win! How bad has it gotten for Gold? Well, he has basically gone back to playing tournaments with buy-ins measured in hundreds instead of thousands of dollars.
Gold has about $100,000 in Open event winnings since 2006.
#8 - Robert Varkonyi
Similar to Gold, Robert Varkonyi has done pretty much bubkus since his win in 2002; the only reason I rank him ahead of Gold is because Varkonyi doesn’t claim to be a world-beater and at least tries to represent the game as a former World Champion.
Varkonyi has about $250,000 in Open winnings since his 2002 WSOP win.
#7 - Jerry Yang
Yang is a likable guy who executed one of the best strategies in WSOP final table history with his all-in and bullying tactics in 2007 -and the poker gods rewarded him with a great run of cards. Since then Jerry has done less than any other Champion, but he has been working on his game lately, and appears to be improving by leaps and bounds.
Since his 2007 WSOP win Yang has about $45,000 in tournament winnings.
#6 - Joe Cada
When Cada won the WSOP title in 2009 he looked poised for greatness, but perhaps the critics that referred to him as a “luck-box” were right, considering the youngest Main Event Champion in history has cashed in only one tournament since. However, it’s still too early to give up on young Cada at this point, which is why he lands in the middle of the pack.
Since his WSOP win Cada has booked only a single $50,000 score in tournaments.
