John Racener snuck into heads-up play with patient approach at World Series of Poker

By Case Keefer (contact)

Monday, Nov. 8, 2010 | 2:05 a.m.

At the end of the summer, a World Series of Poker questionnaire asked the nine members of the Main Event final table if they would take the $5.5 million second-place prize right away even if it meant having no shot at becoming the champion.

John Racener, a 24-year-old poker pro from Port Richey, Fla., was one of only three who answered no. Racener wanted the World Series of Poker gold bracelet. This is what he’s aspired to since he started playing poker nearly 10 years ago.

“Anytime anyone asks that question, I think it would be foolish to say you want second or would be happy with second,” Racener said. “Going into that final table I was fourth and I felt like I had the second-most experience and was one of the better players, so I was going for it all.”

Racener said his performance during Saturday’s 14-hour session showed he wanted it more than anyone else. Racener stayed steady the whole way to clinch his spot in tonight’s heads-up match with Jonathan Duahmel for the world championship, which starts at 8 p.m. at the Penn & Teller Theater in the Rio. The event will air on ESPN Tuesday night.

Racener had only about 10 percent of the chips on the table when three-handed play began with Duhamel and Joseph Cheong. But much to Racener’s approval, Cheong and Duhamel started going after each other.

It reached a breaking point when the two created the largest pot in the history of the World Series of Poker to cripple Cheong. It was the kind of action Racener stayed away from all day.

“That’s not my style of playing,” Racener said. “I didn’t want to get involved in something foolish like that.”

Racener’s strategy worked in getting him closer to the bracelet, but it’s going to take more than desire for him to take home the $8.9 million first-place prize. With only 30 million chips to Duhamel’s 188 million, Racener will need play perfectly and catch a little luck.

“I feel like if I double right away, it can be a (heck) of a match,” Racener said.

He has Duhamel’s attention. Racener was already having the type of career Duhamel aspired to at the beginning of the summer.

Although not one of the game’s most well-known pros, Racener had $1.5 million in tournament earnings before this year’s World Series of Poker and had won a WSOP circuit event championship in Atlantic City. Racener has played poker professionally since high school, when he turned a $50 online deposit into $30,000.

“I didn’t know him very well, but I saw a lot of him on ESPN,” Duhamel said. “He played very well. I can’t make mistakes if I want to win.”

With his 6-to-1 chip advantage, all the spotlight is on Duhamel. A media swarm surrounded the 22-year old Montreal, Canada, native at Sunday afternoon’s press conference, while the contingent around Racener was much smaller.

It didn’t bother Racener. As long as he has a chance at the title, he’ll watch from the shadows just like he did Saturday.

“Everyone else was too busy gambling in situations where it wasn’t necessary,” Racener said. “I wouldn’t have done a lot of the things I saw happen yesterday. I just waited it out and it worked for me.”

Case Keefer can be reached at 948-2790 or [email protected]. Follow Case on Twitter at twitter.com/casekeefer.