The top 5 greatest WSOP doubles
Following two double-bracelet winners last week, Barry Carter looks back at some of the most historic double victories at the World Series.
5. Chan wins back-to-back Main Events
It seems almost blasphemous to have someone winning the Main Event twice in a row only make the number five spot in this list, but it’s a sign of how much poker has changed.
There is no doubt a lot of history, prestige and talent that goes into winning the WSOP Main Event at any time, but poker simply was not the battlefield then that it is today.
Stu Unger also won the Main Event back-to-back in 1980 and 1981, but there were less than 80 entrants in both. By comparison Johnny Chan’s victories in 1987 and 1988 (And runner-up in 1989) are much more impressive as they fields had doubled in size to 152 and 167.
However, as we all know, poker is now so much tougher and the fields are so much bigger, it would simply be unrealistic to compare it with the following more recent feats.
4. Negreanu wins WSOP POY twice
Negreanu is the only person to win the WSOP Player of the Year twice, having won the first one in 2004 and the most recent one in 2013.
The nine-year gap between titles is interesting in itself, and proof that Negreanu has adapted to how poker has evolved over the last decade. I also like to include the WSOP Player of the Year simply because it's a big sign of consistency because it covers a whole series of events.
But another reason why this will always be one of the most impressive WSOP doubles is that Negreanu's 2013 POY included another unique double. He also became the only person to win both a WSOP APAC and WSOPE title in the same year.
3. Mizrachi wins Players Championship twice
Some people call the $50,000 Players Championship the 'real Main Event' because it features all the major games, rather than just No Limit Hold'em. It is also an event that is made up almost exclusively of professional players.
You may not become mega famous by winning it, but you will always have the respect of your poker peers. So the fact that Michael Mizrachi has won it twice is really something special.
He won it in 2010 for $1,559,046 and then again in 2012 for $1,451,527 (He also won a WSOPE bracelet and made the November Nine in the break between those two results).
The only reason this is not higher up on the list is that the event gets relatively low runners, 116 in 2010 and 108 in 2012.
2. Newhouse's November Nine double
With almost 7,000 entries every year, most people assumed Dan Harrington’s back-to-back Main Event final tables in 2003 and 2004 would be poker’s last repeat visitor in the biggest stage of all (And had this not happened, Dan would have made this list).
But last year Mark Newhouse stunned the poker world by making the November Nine twice in a row. This was in a field of 6,684 in 2014 and 6,352 in 2013.
Unfortunately for Newhouse, he came ninth both times. A fact which no doubt hurt, but it’s still an achievement which will never be forgotten in poker.
1. Merson's No Limit Championship double
This one will surprise a lot of people, but frankly, I think it didn't get anywhere near the attention it should have when it happened.
It was probably because the first ever $1 million buy-in One Drop tournament took place the same year that it took attention away from this achievement. That may have been the biggest No Limit event of all time, but it's not the toughest.
The two toughest No Limit events of the year have to be the $10,000 Main Event and the $10,000 Six Handed Championship. The Main Event obviously because it has the biggest field, the Six Handed because it is the most pro-concentrated and is highly coveted by the online players.
And in 2012 Greg Merson won both of them. In fact the Main Event was the next event he played after the Six Max event, so it really was a back-to-back victory.
It is just unfortunate that the attention from the Main Event was so big it managed to overshadow his Six Handed victory, which is a shame because it is a unique double that amazingly didn't get much acclaim when it happened.
Did I miss a classic double? Let me know in the comments.
