With 1,251 players left in the 2015 WSOP Main Event, anyone hoping to leave with cash has to survive at least 251 more eliminations.
Everybody but one person, that is.
Team PokerStars Pro Victor Ramdin has just become the first person to cash in the WSOP Main Event, and he still has an impressive 480,000 in chips.
This, as you might expect, requires some backstory.
There was once a man who liked to back Ramdin, a man who knew how to pick his horses and the best time to pick them. In fact, the last two times that benefactor put Ramdin into tournaments, Ramdin won them.
Fast forward to today where a few minutes ago, Ramdin got a message from his friend. The guy, perhaps feeling like he’d missed his shot at a big payday, wanted to get in on the action. He offered Ramdin $10,000 for ten percent of Ramdin’s winnings.
Before the tournament, Ramdin probably would’ve snap-called. As we mentioned yesterday, Ramdin’s discount store chain has seen better days, and Ramdin has turned to opening Italian delis in New York. He bought himself into the Main Event, and when we spoke on Thursday, his first order of business was trying to ensure himself a min-cash.
But now…well, now Ramdin has 200 big blinds and looks good to make the money. He could do a lot better than a min-cash for $15,000, so those chips are now worth a little more than $10,000. He couldn’t make up his mind, so gruff tablemate Farzad Bonyadi did it for him. Boynadi said Ramdin should ask for $15,000 instead.
Ramdin, maybe feeling like $15,000 might be a bit exploitive, split the difference and said he would sell 10% of himself for $12,000.
“I said $12,000 and he snapped me off!” Ramdin cheered.
And so now, Ramdin has given up 10% of his action, and in return he has been returned his entire buy-in plus $2,000.
“I feel like a thief now!” Ramdin said (then promptly loosened up his style and started bossing the table around).
Bonyadi grumbled under his breath. “You should’ve listened to me and got $15,000,” he said.
But Ramdin is happy. What’s more, he’s now got this gleam in his eye. After all, the guy who backed him did so when Ramdin went on to win. Could this backer be on to something?
“It’s creepy,” Ramdin said.
Time will tell. For now, The remaining 1,251 players are getting ready to sweat the money bubble while Ramdin sits back secure in the knowledge that he has already won.
Brad Willis is the PokerStars Head of Blogging
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