It's time for one last look at the sights and stories from the 2021 World Series of Poker, as captured by this extremely amateur photographer. After the Main Event, the last days of the Rio's stint hosting the WSOP rolled out to an admittedly quiet conclusion. Step by step, the trappings of the WSOP were packed up and readied for transport to the series' 2022 home at Bally's/Paris.
Michael Addamo (left) and Jason Koon chat during Day 2 action in Event #85, $50,000 HIGH ROLLER No-Limit Hold'em. Koon had the big stack here and rolled all the way to a fourth-place finish. Addamo didn't cash in this one, but he came back to win Event #87, $100,000 HIGH ROLLER No-Limit Hold'em, which began the next day.
Here's France's Leo Margets early on Day 3 of Event #83, The Closer - No-Limit Hold'em. Margets had a mid-sized stack at this juncture, though a few hours later, she had all the chips. Margets became the first woman to win an open event at the 2021 WSOP.
One might think that folding up and hauling off the WSOP-branded poker tables removes the last vestige of the WSOP's presence at the Rio. That's close, but not quite the end. One thing remains to be done -- lowering the room's ceiling lattice and removing the signs that denote each numbered table's precise location and make it easier for players to find their seats. Well before the series begins, each of the Rio's ballrooms is mapped out and marked (note the lines on the carpet at lower right) with tables and signs then laid out. At this point even the signs have been removed, though the WSOP continued on in the Brasilia and Amazon Rooms for another two days.
Media abounds as Trey Wingo (left) interviews the WSOP's newly announced Master of Ceremonies, Vince Vaughan. Daniel Negreanu's forehead is somewhere in there, too, adding some poker-pro flavor to the interview.
Minnesota's Everett Carlton has cashed 67 times at the WSOP over nearly 20 years of play in the series, but he's never captured that elusive gold bracelet. Carlton never came closer than here, on Day 4 of the $10,000 Razz Championship. Here, Carlton has unbagged and begun stacking his chips before he began his heads-up duel against England's Benny Glaser. Glaser began the day with more than a 3:2 edge in chips and was able to hold off Carlton, claiming his own fourth bracelet. Carlton was very germ- and virus-conscious during the series. As the primary caregiver to a 90-year-old relative, he sanitized his table area before play and was one of very few players at the series to sport both a mask and a face shield.
Frank "Morganna the Kissing Bandit" was at it again... almost. Three weeks ago, Poker.org caught him planting a wet one on Rep Porter's cheek. Here, Kassela is threatening Brian Hastings with the same, but Hastings is having none of it. A barely abashed Kassela said being spurned was okay, since he didn't want to get Hastings' mask wet anyway.
Ham, cubed. When last we encountered Pat "Flyin'" Lyons, he was rocking a very loud Hawaiian-ish shirt with an oversized jadeite pendant. This is just as special, we think, though his tablemates were unimpressed.
The crowds are gone, as are the vendor stands. It's mid-afternoon in the main hallway of the Rio Convention Center, but it's more how it looks at 3 am during the heart of the series. Action at the 2021 WSOP has almost concluded, and the hustle and bustle? As it existed at the Rio, those days are done.
