WSOP Wows Poker Fans With Epic Rematches

The World Series of Poker is considered to be the most significant poker tournament in the world by most of the card playing community. This year will be the 42^nd annual World Series of Poker, and to honor the series’ four decades of exceptional play they will be hosting a special event this year called WSOP Main Event Rematches. While these rematches won’t come with their own titles and obviously aren’t open entry, they’re nevertheless an epic way for millions of poker fans (and a handful of players) to relive some of the Main Event’s most significant matches.

There will be a total of three Main Event Rematches on the roster. The first is one that’s no doubt near and dear to the hearts of all aspiring online amateurs. The 2003 WSOP Champion, Chris Moneymaker, will once again take on runner-up Sammy Farha. Back when the match-up first went down, it was largely considered to be a David and Goliath battle. Moneymaker’s win marked a new era in poker, inspiring millions of hopefuls to take to the Internet and to the live tournaments in hopes of parlaying their skills into a real poker career.

The second match-up will pit 1989 WSOP Champion Phil Hellmuth against poker icon and 1989 runner-up Johnny Chan. While Hellmuth is largely considered to be one of the best heads-up Hold’em players in the game today, at the time of his WSOP Championship he was just a 22-year old start-up. Both he and Moneymaker have put in some serious practice since their life-changing wins, though Hellmuth’s success has been far more remarkable. It will be fascinating to see if history will repeat itself or if the old second bests will avenge their honor.

The third match has yet to be announced as the WSOP is currently offering it up for a public vote on their Facebook page. Fans can choose a double dose of Johnny Chan by seeing a repeat of his 1988 final table performance against Erik Seidel. They can put Greg “Fossil-Man” Raymer up against David Williams one more time. Jamie Gold and Paul Wasicka from 2007 are also willing to hash it out again, as are Jonathan Duhamel and John Racener from 2010.

All three rematches will take place on June 2. Moneymaker and Farha will run their table three times while the other two pairings will go at it only once. As with the rest of the WSOP, ESPN will be covering all three rematches and airing highlights on July 26. If you’re hoping to have your own epic WSOP moment, this year’s World Series of Poker will run from May 31 – July 19 and will encompass 58 different events, not including the Main Event Rematches.

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