Outstanding, Red Team, outstanding. Get ya a case of beer for that one.

Watching GGPoker's Poker After Dark: Game of Gold reminded me of the heyday of reality TV. The early 2000's were a great time for poker and a great time for reality television shows, so it was inevitable that the two would intersect. The following were the best performances on reality shows by players who had significant WSOP results before their appearance on the show (hence eliminating Boston Rob and many others from contention; poker-based reality TV shows are also excepted for the obvious reason that all the contestants are poker players):

WSOP Players on Reality Television

• 10. Beth Shak had reached two final tables, including a runner-up finish in the 2007 $3,000 No-Limit Hold 'Em for $328,683, when she was The Millionaire Matchmaker in 2010's "The House of Cards" episode. Shak also appeared on TLC's NY Ink in 2012.
  
• 9. Multi-bracelet winner Daniel Negreanu was The Millionaire Matchmaker in the 2013 episode, "Wounded Wally and the Mama's Boy". He may have found love, but it was over even before the episode aired.
  
• 8. Ronnie Bardah holds the record for most consecutive WSOP Main Event cashes, making the money every year from 2010 to 2014, and won a bracelet in the 2012 $2,500 Six-Max Limit Hold 'Em for $182,088. In 2019, he joined Survivor: Island of the Idols but was the first of the 20 contestants to take the walk of shame.
  
• 7. Garrett Adelstein, who had made two deep Main Event runs to the tune of just under $50,000 each, was appropriately a member of the "Brains" (Luzon) tribe on CBS's Survivor 28: Cagayan in 2014. His time in the Philippines didn't last long, however, as he was the second player voted out.
  
• 6. Jean-Robert Bellande had already found some WSOP Circuit success and gotten some air time on the World Poker Tour's Bad Boys of Poker II when he joined 15 other American contestants for Survivor: China in 2007. He lasted 24 days before being sent home in ninth place.
  
• 5. Tiffany Michelle went from poker reporter to the Last Woman Standing in the 2008 Main Event (17th place for $334,534) to one of the Worst Cooks in America in 2012, where she finished fifth out of 16 contestants.
  
• 4. Tiffany Williamson and Maria Ho had both been the Last Woman Standing in the Main Event (Williamson in 2005 and Ho in 2007 [later repeating in 2014 & 2020]), so they were a natural pairing for The Amazing Race 15 in 2009. They outlasted half the field, but busted out sixth of 12 teams.
  
• 3. Vanessa Rousso had already won the EPT Monte Carlo High Roller for $700,160 and reached two WSOP final tables when she entered the beach house for Big Brother's 2015 season. She lasted a while before being evicted in third place.
  
• 2. David Williams had already been a successful Magic: The Gathering player and an even more successful poker player, finishing second in the 2004 WSOP Main Event for $3,500,000 and winning the 2006 $1,500 Seven-Card Stud for a bracelet and $163,118. Could he start another career on MasterChef 7? The answer was no, but his culinary creations carried him to third place in 2016.
  
• 1. In 2004, Annie Duke won the $3,000 Omaha Hi/Lo for $137,860 and the non-bracelet Tournament of Champions for $2,000,000. Five years later, she was heads up with Joan Rivers on Celebrity Apprentice. Despite bringing in more charitable donations ($730,725 for Refugees International) than the talk show host, Donald Trump told her, "You're fired!"

Agree. Reminds me of this:

https://www.baseball-reference.com/b...99806210.shtml

For those of you not into baseball – which is probably 99 percent of you – the Reds fielded an outfield of Young, Frank and Stynes.

EDIT: Oh, and I once worked a college baseball game in which the first seven batters in the visiting lineup played center field, shortstop, left field, third base, first base, designated hitter and right field. Again, for non-baseball people, the numerical codes assigned to the positions made the lineup card read 8-6-7-5-3-DH-9. The local newspaper suggested the DH should get the numeral "0" just to really complete the novelty.

You made a mistake here. Tiffany Michelle and Mario Ho are bff’s and they were on the amazing race together (not Tiffany Williamson). Nice list!

Thanks for the correction. Why do I always get those two confused? (I had the right name when I blogged about that over a decade ago, so that was pure carelessness.)

I am a baseball fan, but I missed that one. They were even in the right order as left, center, and right fielders!

I wonder if that was intentional. Joe Maddon definitely did it on purpose while managing Tampa Bay in 2014.

Two years ago I had to pause the TiVo to take a picture of center Wesley French and guard Will Fries standing next to each other in the Indianapolis Colts huddle. Apparently this is not that unusual, as other NFL and NCAA football pairings that have been spotted include Dingle Berry, Clark Griswold, Coke Head, and Fish Fry.

The 1970s began with the Kansas City Chiefs winning their first Super Bowl, 8-track tapes, Laugh-In, and Earth Shoes, and ended with the Pittsburgh Pirates capturing their second World Series of the decade to the sounds of "We Are Family", the Sony Walkman, the Happy Meal, and the Iran hostage crisis.

The first decade of the World Series of Poker began in 1970 with Johnny Moss being voted the inaugural champion after a week of cash games and ended with amateur Hal Fowler surprisingly winning the 1979 Main Event.

Here's a look at the top players by bracelets, cashes, and money won from 1970 to 1979. (Since no WSOP event paid more than five places in the 1970s, this decade won't have a separate "Most Final Tables" list.)

Most Bracelets in the 1970s

• 10. Amarillo Slim Preston: 2 including 1972 Main Event
  
• 10. Aubrey Day: 2
  
• 10. Billy Baxter: 2
  
• 10. Howard Andrew: 2
  
• 10. Sailor Roberts: 2 including 1975 Main Event
  
• 10. Sam Angel: 2
  
• 7. Jimmy Casella: 3
  
• 7. Lakewood Louie: 3
  
• 7. Perry Green: 3
  
• 4. Bill Boyd: 4
  
• 4. Bobby Baldwin: 4 including 1978 Main Event
  
• 4. Puggy Pearson: 4 including 1973 Main Event
  
• 3. Gary Berland: 5
  
• 2. Doyle Brunson: 6 including 1976 & 1977 Main Events
  
• 1. Johnny Moss: 7 including 1970, 1971, & 1974 championships

Most Cashes in the 1970s

• 7. Amarillo Slim Preston: 3
  
• 7. Aubrey Day: 3
  
• 7. Billy Baxter: 3
  
• 7. Curtis Skinner: 3
  
• 7. Eric Drache: 3
  
• 7. Jimmy Casella: 3
  
• 7. Lakewood Louie: 3
  
• 7. Louis Hunsaker: 3
  
• 7. Perry Green: 3
  
• 7. Sam Moon: 3
  
• 6. Bill Boyd: 4
  
• 5. Bobby Baldwin: 5
  
• 2. Doyle Brunson: 6
  
• 2. Gary Berland: 6
  
• 2. Puggy Pearson: 6
  
• 1. Johnny Moss: 9

Most Money Won in the 1970s

• 10. Amarillo Slim Preston: $112,400
  
• 9. George Huber (TX): $114,000
  
• 8. Perry Green: $154,800
  
• 7. Billy Baxter: $155,000
  
• 6. Puggy Pearson: $219,200
  
• 5. Sailor Roberts: $245,850
  
• 4. Hal Fowler: $270,000
  
• 3. Johnny Moss: $366,150
  
• 2. Bobby Baldwin: $458,500
  
• 1. Doyle Brunson: $776,250

Johnny Moss and Doyle Brunson owned this decade. Moss had the most bracelets (7) and cashes (9), while Brunson took home the most money by far (not even counting whatever deal he negotiated at the end of the 1972 Main Event, which was probably $20,000 or maybe $32,500 but officially $0). Both won two Main Events, while Moss won a third championship by vote (money won in the 1970 cash games is also omitted as it was never reported).

Thanks for reminding me about Maddon. I think long ago I saw a NCAA hoops starting lineup pop up with a Young-Young-Johnson. Also fun discovering that John Ilway & Gerald Rice were teammates back in the 50s.

This was almost certainly intentional but still cool (the first time).

Bones Berland might’ve gotten off to the fastest start of any tournament player in history.

Bracelet
2nd in ME
Bracelet
Bracelet
2nd
Three cashes at Slim’s tourney including a 2nd & 3rd
Bracelet
Bracelet
3rd

Yeah, small fields, zzzZZzzz. Who knows how his health problems affected him (he died in 1988), if he focused on cash games later, etc. He did finish 3rd in the ‘86 ME. Definitely a shooting star, happily not forgotten thanks to S/S.

The 1980s began with the Pittsburgh Steelers capping off their fourth Super Bowl victory in six years, The Dukes of Hazzard, The Empire Strikes Back, compact discs, and the Rubik's Cube (my only brush with fame) and ended with the fall of the Berlin Wall, the debut of the Sega Genesis, The Simpsons, and the ascension of "We Didn't Start the Fire" & "Another Day in Paradise" to the top of the pop charts.

The second decade of the World Series of Poker began with Pat Callihan winning the $1,000 Limit Draw High twelve days before his daughter-in-law Debby Callihan captured the Ladies Championship and ended with Phil Hellmuth thwarting Johnny Chan's threepeat in the 1989 Main Event.

Here's a look at the top players by bracelets, final tables (defined as top 9 paid places for simplicity), cashes, and money won from 1980 to 1989.

Most Bracelets in the 1980s

• 7. A.J. Myers: 2
  
• 7. Artie Cobb: 2
  
• 7. Berry Johnston: 2 including 1986 Main Event
  
• 7. David Baxter: 2
  
• 7. Dewey Tomko: 2
  
• 7. Jack Keller: 2 including 1984 Main Event
  
• 7. Jim Doman: 2
  
• 7. John Lukas: 2
  
• 7. Johnny Moss: 2
  
• 7. Ralph Morton: 2
  
• 7. Sam Mastrogiannis: 2
  
• 7. Tommy Fischer: 2
  
• 2. Billy Baxter: 3
  
• 2. David Sklansky: 3
  
• 2. Don Williams: 3
  
• 2. Johnny Chan: 3 including 1987 & 1988 Main Events
  
• 2. Tom McEvoy: 3 including 1983 Main Event
  
• 1. Stu Ungar: 4 including 1980 & 1981 Main Events

Most Final Tables in the 1980s

• 8. Bobby Baldwin: 8
  
• 8. David Chew: 8
  
• 8. Don Williams: 8
  
• 8. Johnny Moss: 8
  
• 8. Mickey Appleman: 8
  
• 8. Seymour Leibowitz: 8
  
• 6. David Sklansky: 9
  
• 6. Stu Ungar: 9
  
• 5. Frank Henderson: 10
  
• 3. Berry Johnston: 11
  
• 3. Jack Keller: 11
  
• 1. Chip Reese: 12
  
• 1. Dewey Tomko: 12

Most Cashes in the 1980s

• 8. David Sklansky: 11
  
• 8. Seymour Leibowitz: 11
  
• 8. Stu Ungar: 11
  
• 4. Don Williams: 12
  
• 4. Frank Henderson: 12
  
• 4. Jack Keller: 12
  
• 4. Johnny Moss: 12
  
• 3. Dewey Tomko: 13
  
• 2. Berry Johnston: 14
  
• 1. Chip Reese: 17

Most Money Won in the 1980s

• 10. Jack Straus: $580,500
  
• 9. Dewey Tomko: $593,580
  
• 8. Frank Henderson: $643,485
  
• 7. Tom McEvoy: $758,820
  
• 6. Bill Smith: $788,800
  
• 5. Phil Hellmuth: $806,235
  
• 4. Berry Johnston: $983,910
  
• 3. Stu Ungar: $1,039,740
  
• 2. Jack Keller: $1,210,520
  
• 1. Johnny Chan: $1,857,000

Stu Ungar won all four of his bracelets in the first four years of the decade, while Johnny Chan crushed the second half, winning all three of his bracelets and earning $1,627,000 in just the last three Main Events. Chip Reese was strong throughout the decade, reaching at least one final table in six of the ten years.

Besides Hellmuth, the other Main Event winners who didn't win any other bracelets in the decade were Jack Straus (1982) and Bill Smith (1985).

I’ve always wondered about the % of 2+2ers over the years who’ve known little or nothing about David’s WSOP record.

Not too shabby with 3 bracelets (2nd), 9 final tables (6th), & 11 cashes (8th) in the decade.

But even as a poker historian, I think of Sklansky more as an author. Seven of his books are on my shelf!

• Hold 'em Poker
• Hold 'em Poker for Advanced Players
• Inside the Poker Mind: Essays on Hold 'em and General Poker Concepts
• No Limit Hold 'Em Theory and Practice
• Small Stakes Hold 'em
• The Theory of Poker
• Tournament Poker for Advanced Players

Don’t forget the Hi/Lo chapter in Super System. I wish there was a hand by hand transcript from when he was head up with Doyle.

Best of the 1990s

The 1990s began with Mr. Bean debuting in the U.K. and America's Funniest Home Videos in the U.S., the 49ers obliterating the Broncos in the Super Bowl, and Robert T. Morris and his worm single-handedly slowing down the internet and ended with Neopets debuting, Santana's Smooth topping the charts, Boris Yeltsin stepping down as President of Russia, and computer programmers scrambling to prevent Y2K disasters mostly caused by storing years in ambiguous 2-digit format.

The third decade of the World Series of Poker began with Mike Harthcock winning the $1,500 Limit Hold 'Em for $252,000 and his second bracelet and ended with Noel Furlong winning the Main Event, whose first prize was $1,000,000 for all but the first year of the decade.

Here's a look at the top players by bracelets, final tables (defined as top 9 paid places for simplicity), cashes, and money won from 1990 to 1999.

Most Bracelets in the 1990s

• 9. 26 players: 2 (Artie Cobb, Barbara Enright, Berry Johnston, Brent Carter, Buddy Bonnecaze, Chau Giang, Dan Harrington, David Chiu, Doyle Brunson, Eli Balas, Hamid Dastmalchi, Hilbert Shirey, Huck Seed, Humberto Brenes, Jay Heimowitz, John Cernuto, Johnny Chan, Lyle Berman, Marty Sigel, Mickey Appleman, Paul Clark, Ray Rumler, Rod Pardey, Scotty Nguyen, Susie Isaacs, and Vasilis Lazarou)
  
• 4. John Bonetti: 3
  
• 4. Max Stern: 3
  
• 4. Mike Harthcock: 3
  
• 4. T.J. Cloutier: 3
  
• 4. Ted Forrest: 3
  
• 2. Erik Seidel: 4
  
• 2. Men Nguyen: 4
  
• 1. Phil Hellmuth: 5

Most Final Tables in the 1990s

• 10. Chris Bjorin: 12
  
• 10. John Cernuto: 12
  
• 9. Mike Sexton: 13
  
• 5. Berry Johnston: 14
  
• 5. Brent Carter: 14
  
• 5. Erik Seidel: 14
  
• 5. Phil Hellmuth: 14
  
• 4. John Bonetti: 15
  
• 3. An Tran (LV): 16
  
• 1. Men Nguyen: 19
  
• 1. T.J. Cloutier: 19

Most Cashes in the 1990s

• 7. Chris Bjorin: 20
  
• 7. Erik Seidel: 20
  
• 7. John Bonetti: 20
  
• 7. Ken Flaton: 20
  
• 5. Berry Johnston: 22
  
• 5. Brent Carter: 22
  
• 3. Mike Sexton: 23
  
• 3. T.J. Cloutier: 23
  
• 1. An Tran (LV): 24
  
• 1. Men Nguyen: 24

Most Money Won in the 1990s

• 10. Brad Daugherty: $1,112,479
  
• 9. T.J. Cloutier: $1,212,806
  
• 8. Mansour Matloubi: $1,214,062
  
• 7. Scotty Nguyen: $1,254,607
  
• 6. Phil Hellmuth: $1,257,875
  
• 5. Dan Harrington: $1,277,608
  
• 4. Erik Seidel: $1,297,146
  
• 3. Hamid Dastmalchi: $1,324,850
  
• 2. John Bonetti: $1,417,117
  
• 1. Huck Seed: $1,614,844

Five different players led the four categories, with two ties. Phil Hellmuth jumped into the bracelet race by increasing his total to six, T.J. Cloutier made 19 final tables and was matched by Men Nguyen, who tied An Tran for the cashes lead with 24, while Huck Seed won a tight money race, finally opening up his small margin with a sixth place finish in the 1999 Main Event.

Of the ten Main Event champions, four won one other bracelet in the decade (Dan Harrington, Hamid Dastmalchi, Huck Seed, and Scotty Nguyen) while the other six did not (Mansour Matloubi, Brad Daugherty, Jim Bechtel, Russ Hamilton, Stu Ungar, and Noel Furlong).

Poor TJ. He played so well for so long, and the one time he got frustrated (final 3 in ‘’98) it cost him. And he got very unlucky headup against Ferguson two years later. So close to a history altering double.

But thatÂ’s oker.

Nvm

Best of the 2000s

The 2000s decade began with America Online buying Time Warner for a record $162 billion, the Dot Com bubble peaking, the Greatest Show on Turf winning the Super Bowl, and the PS2 adding a DVD player to a powerful video game console and ended with Angry Birds pummeling pigs on iPhones, "NCIS" spinning off to Los Angeles, Avatar advancing the art of motion capture enabled CGI, and Jay-Z and Alicia Keys topping the charts with "Empire State of Mind".

The WSOP introduced the $500 Dealers Tournament to kick off the 2000 World Series of Poker, with Dave Alizadeh taking the $21,800 first prize before the event was opened up to all casino employees in 2001. Barry Shulman won the final event of the decade, the World Series of Poker Europe Main Event in London.

Here's a look at the top players by bracelets, final tables (defined as top 9 paid places for simplicity), cashes, and money won from 2000 to 2009.

Most Bracelets in the 2000s

• 10. Barry Greenstein: 3
  
• 10. Daniel Negreanu: 3
  
• 10. Nani Dollison: 3
  
• 10. Scotty Nguyen: 3
  
• 7. Erik Seidel: 4
  
• 7. Jeff Lisandro: 4
  
• 7. John Juanda: 4
  
• 2. Allen Cunningham: 5
  
• 2. Chris Ferguson: 5 including 2000 Main Event
  
• 2. Johnny Chan: 5
  
• 2. Layne Flack: 5
  
• 2. Phil Hellmuth: 5
  
• 1. Phil Ivey: 7

Most Final Tables in the 2000s

• 10. Howard Lederer: 14
  
• 9. Thor Hansen: 15
  
• 8. Erik Seidel: 16
  
• 6. Allen Cunningham: 17
  
• 6. Men Nguyen: 17
  
• 5. Daniel Negreanu: 21
  
• 4. Phil Ivey: 22
  
• 2. Chris Ferguson: 23
  
• 2. John Juanda: 23
  
• 1. Phil Hellmuth: 24

Most Cashes in the 2000s

• 10. Erik Seidel: 36
  
• 10. Phil Ivey: 36
  
• 9. Thor Hansen: 37
  
• 8. Barry Greenstein: 38
  
• 7. Allen Cunningham: 39
  
• 6. Men Nguyen: 40
  
• 4. Daniel Negreanu: 41
  
• 4. Tony Cousineau: 41
  
• 2. Chris Ferguson: 48
  
• 2. John Juanda: 48
  
• 1. Phil Hellmuth: 52

Most Money Won in the 2000s

• 10. Darvin Moon: $5,182,928
  
• 9. Paul Wasicka: $6,217,738
  
• 8. Ivan Demidov: $6,461,252
  
• 7. Greg Raymer: $6,487,512
  
• 6. Allen Cunningham: $6,709,684
  
• 5. Joe Hachem: $7,978,884
  
• 4. Jerry Yang: $8,250,000
  
• 3. Joe Cada: $8,575,256
  
• 2. Peter Eastgate: $9,221,395
  
• 1. Jamie Gold: $12,068,750

With the explosion of Main Event entries and prizes, the entire money leader board consisted of players who ran deep in a Main Event (6 winners, 3 seconds [#10-#8], and 1 fourth [Cunningham]).

Phil Ivey tied Johnny Moss's 1970s record with 7 bracelets, and Phil Hellmuth snagged the most final tables and cashes as both of those records continue to soar with each decade.

Chris Ferguson won four other bracelets to go with his Main Event title while the other nine Main Event champs collectively won zero: Carlos Mortensen, Robert Varkonyi, Chris Moneymaker, Greg Raymer, Joe Hachem, Jamie Gold, Jerry Yang, Peter Eastgate, and Joe Cada. [Only Mortensen and Cada have won another bracelet in their careers.]

Cunningham had an excellent chance of doubling through Gold late in the ME, or winning a lot more off him, though thatÂ’s always easy to say in hindsight. Maybe bet 1M on the turn and/or raise to 5M on the river?



I remember on ESPN replay Gold moaning in shock and horror when AC showed his hand, and Johnny Chan glaring at him from behind the ropes. A railbird posted that Gold ran over to a trash can and puked. AC wouldÂ’ve joined the nine other ME winners who also won a preliminary event.

Gold was playing pretty loose. Checking the turn was a pretty safe slowplay. Min-raising the river was probably meant to extract some value from trips and two pairs with a weaker flush being somewhat unlikely.

But what do I know? Here's an old thread on the hand.

AC was at his peak in 06 so we have to assume he played it correctly. The X factors are GoldÂ’s enormous chip lead, AC having been very aggressive lately, down to two shorthanded tables, and AC being the one guy Chan and everyone else had warned Gold about.

My thoughts have always been based on the video, where Gold wasnÂ’t his usual smiling jabbering self. He took so long on the river because he was thinking about reraisng. Had AC raised to 4-5M he might have.

This comment is hilarious. There is no galaxy where AC or anyone else is snapfolding the nut flush in that situation lol.