wsop.com
Barny Boatman had a familiar-sounding quote for any Syracuse basketball fan after winning the World Series of Poker.
“It’s only money, right? It’s only a piece of jewelry, right? But wow, it’s the most amazing feeling in the world.”
The Rio was slammed on Saturday as Boatman became the champion of the $1,500 no-limit hold ’em Event 49 at the 2013 WSOP poker. You think about what the ’03 national championship meant for the Syracuse program. It’s not about the trophy (although that is on display at the Carrier Dome). It’s not about the donations it helped push through from fans and boosters.
It’s about everything else that comes with it. The memories. The highlights. The change in expectations. The recruiting. The facilities. Everything BUT the hardware.
Boatman is a British poker icon and writer. Interestingly only three of his previous 24 WSOP cashes had resulted in a final table. All of his close calls were forgotten this weekend. He was the final man standing in a ridiculously huge field of 2,247 and earned a career-best wad of $546,080.
The 58-year-old Boatman had a few heartbreaks as well leading up to his win, just like Jim Boeheim’s SU squad. He had made the annual trek from London to Vegas for the past 14 years. He entered the final table fifth in chips, but took the lead after an early double against Paul Dasilva. Maybe it’s not quite the Final Four losses in ’87 to Indiana and ’96 to Kentucky, but it’s always sweeter when you’ve fallen just short before you finally win it all.
Here’s how the top 10 looked:
Below are the complete results of Event 49 at the 2013 World Series of Poker:
Event 49: No-limit hold ’em
Buy-in: $1,500
Entries: 2,247
Prize pool: $3,033,450
Players in the money: 243
1. Barny Boatman ($546,080)
2. Brian O’Donoghue ($338,745)
3. Van Tran ($239,339)
4. Taras Kripps ($172,087)
5. Aditya Prasetyo ($125,372)
6. Robin Ylitalo ($92,550)
7. Paul Dasilva ($69,192)
8. Noah Sandler ($52,387)
9. Roger Lussier ($40,162)
10. Michael Quick ($31,153)
