From Couch To Champ

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Despite a famous painting that screams to the contrary, dogs and poker generally don't mix. Event 46, $2,500 no-limit hold 'em, may have proven to be the greatest exception in World Series of Poker history thanks to eventual winner Joey Weissman, who hardly came alone to the Rio in search of his first WSOP bracelet.

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WSOP.comJoey Weissman won his first WSOP bracelet in Event 46 of the 2012 WSOP.

In addition to a raucous rail that cheered Weissman through the nine-hour final table, the friends of the 24-year-old native of Syosset, NY brought Revis, his service dog. Revis sat in the stands for part of the final table, watching as Weissman worked his way towards an eventual $694,609 first-place prize, then was invited onto the stage floor when floor man Charlie Ciresi brought Revis water. By all accounts, Revis behaved at least as well as the rest of Weissman's supporters.

Weissman's win came over a field of 1,607 players, who he lasted over the event's three days of play. The victory came when, virtually even in chips with heads-up opponent Jeremy Quehen, Weissman moved all-in over the top on the Qd-5h-3c 7h-Jh board. Quehen called and Weissman revealed Ah-Qh for the nut flush and the championship. The win was vindication for Weissman, who, at one point in heads-up play, was down to less than 30 percent of the chips in play.

"I was losing a little bit of hope," Weissman explained to WSOP.com. "I knew if I stayed positive and stayed on my grind, I was going to get it in good eventually and all I had to do was win something like a flip and get my stack back. And I knew once I evened out with him, it was over. Because I felt I was outplaying him the entire time and I was just getting a little bit unlucky, but other than that though it feels great to win a bracelet."

Weissman has been staying on a friend's couch for the summer and despite pocketing $694,609, he plans to stay there. This was Weissman's third WSOP cash, and his first final table. As for the dog being in attendance, Weissman was surprised and thrilled to have his support.

"It's just bad luck if you don't bring your dog," said Weissman. "I actually had no idea that he was going to come, but then Trevor, who's my roommate, goes, 'Yeah we're going to bring Revis to this thing.' And I just said that's amazing. That gave me a little spark, a little bit of inspiration."

Weissman's inspiration allowed him to battle through a tough field and a final table that included representation from six different countries.

Other notable finishers included bracelet winner Konstantin Puchkov (ninth), Vanessa Selbst (24th), Ryan D'Angelo (38th) and 2011 WSOP main event champion Pius Heinz (43rd).

Below are the complete results of Event 46 at the 2012 World Series of Poker:

Event 46: No-limit hold 'em
Buy-in: $2,500
Entries: 1,607
Prize pool: $3,655,925
Players in the money: 171

1. Joey Weissman ($694,609)
2. Jeremy Quehen ($429,535)
3. Fernando Brito ($282,676)
4. Philip Meulyzer ($203,781)
5. Bradley Lipsey ($149,162)
6. Joe Gualtieri ($110,775)
7. Michael Gagliano ($83,428)
8. Joshua Pedraza ($63,686)
9. Konstantin Puchkov ($49,245)
10. Williams Reynolds ($38,716)
11. Stephen Reynolds ($38,716)
12. Mark Schmid ($38,716)
13. Joshua Hillock ($30,856)
14. Jimmy Fradettedufour ($30,856)
15. Frank Rusnak ($30,856)
16. Robert Castoire ($24,897)
17. Daniel Chamberlain ($24,897)
18. Larry Duplantis ($24,897)
19. Adria Balaguer ($20,327)
20. Fabrizio Gonzalez ($20,327)
21. He Huang ($20,327)
22. William Rogers ($20,327)
23. Yordan Jeliazkov ($20,327)
24. Vanessa Selbst ($20,327)
25. Nicholas Augustino ($20,327)
26. Jason Wheeler ($20,327)
27. Daniel Sindelar ($20,327)
28. David Randall ($16,781)
29. Scott Davies ($16,781)
30. Matthew Rosen ($16,781)
31. Steven Schwan ($16,781)
32. Derrick Yamada ($16,781)
33. Daichi Oda ($16,781)
34. Miachael Berra ($16,781)
35. Jason Duval ($16,781)
36. Ryan Franklin ($16,781)
37. David Elfan ($14,039)
38. Ryan D'Angelo ($14,039)
39. Orson Young ($14,039)
40. Scott Blackman ($14,039)
41. Andrew Youngblood ($14,039)
42. Pascal LeFrancois ($14,039)
43. Pius Heinz ($14,039)
44. Bobby Moore ($14,039)
45. Steve Chanthabouasy ($14,039)
46. Kenny Hallaert ($11,918)
47. Tyler Bonkowski ($11,918)
48. Rob Avery ($11,918)
49. Jia Liu ($11,918)
50. Michael Hill ($11,918)
51. Charly Grenet ($11,918)
52. Shankar Pillai ($11,918)
53. Gil Morgensztern ($11,918)
54. David Elyashar ($11,918)
55. Jonathan Little ($10,237)
56. Andres Garcia ($10,237)
57. Mark Tarich ($10,237)
58. Jonas Mackoff ($10,237)
59. Hunter Frey ($10,237)
60. Nick Rampone ($10,237)
61. Harry Hausman ($10,237)
62. Evan Jarvis ($10,237)
63. Scott Cole ($10,237)
64. Sofia Lovgren ($8,920)
65. Burt Boutin ($8,920)
66. Kenneth Hicks ($8,920)
67. Ferreira Sou Douglas ($8,920)
68. Gerardo Lubas ($8,920)
69. Aaron Jones ($8,920)
70. Hans Gaugelhofer ($8,920)
71. Philipp Gruissem ($8,920)
72. Alessandro Speranza ($8,920)
73. Anthony Gregg ($7,860)
74. Robert Peltecki ($7,860)
75. Brandon Wong ($7,860)
76. James Akenhead ($7,860)
77. Justin Conley ($7,860)
78. Henry Strasser ($7,860)
79. Steve Zolotow ($7,860)
80. Hoby Shapiro ($7,860)
81. Mike McDonald ($7,860)
82. Francisco Hernandez ($6,983)
83. Vadzim Markushevski ($6,983)
84. Paul Lieu ($6,983)
85. James Akenhead ($6,983)
86. Tro Southerland ($6,325)
87. Benjamin Martin ($6,325)
88. Samir Bhatia ($6,325)
89. Peter Gilmore ($6,325)
90. Jacob Cohen Nissan ($6,325)
91. Brent Wheeler ($5,703)
92. Michel Pomaret ($5,703)
93. Lisa Parsons ($5,703)
94. Nicolas Chappuis ($5,703)
95. David Tuthill ($5,703)
96. Roger Hardy ($5,703)
97. Hrvatsko Dominikovic ($5,703)
98. Chris Moorman ($5,703)
99. Michael Compolongo ($5,703)
100. Frank Werder ($5,703)
101. Sameer Aljanedi ($5,703)
102. John Harman ($5,703)
103. John Phan ($5,703)
104. Phon Huynh ($5,703)
105. Isaac Baron ($5,703)
106. Corwin Cole ($5,703)
107. Ubaid Habib ($5,703)
108. Rene Angelil ($5,703)
109. Randy Lew ($5,265)
110. Marco Liesy ($5,265)
111. Bobby Poe ($5,265)
112. Yury Gulyy ($5,265)
113. Kenichi Takarabe ($5,265)
114. Sandeep Pulusani ($5,265)
115. Aaron Virchis ($5,265)
116. Bradley Gordon ($5,265)
117. Gregory Gokey ($5,265)
118. Jozef Hentz ($5,265)
119. Hayden Fortini ($5,265)
120. Ying Tang ($5,265)
121. Steven Brackesy ($5,265)
122. Ludovic Lacay ($5,265)
123. Gaelle Baumann ($5,265)
124. Jonas Wexler ($5,265)
125. Jacue Lavadour ($5,265)
126. Barry Schmiess ($5,265)
127. Jason Tompkins ($5,265)
128. Justin Rice ($5,265)
129. John Harris ($5,265)
130. Roberto Watanabe ($5,265)
131. Michael Greco ($5,265)
132. Roy Thung ($5,265)
133. Kenni Nguyen ($5,265)
134. Harold Check ($5,265)
135. Luke Nettles ($5,265)
136. Leonard Tannenbaum ($4,826)
137. Jean Gaspard ($4,826)
138. Jay Hong ($4,826)
139. Ray Yee ($4,826)
140. Saleem Damania ($4,826)
141. Matthew Gouge ($4,826)
142. Karlajean Joviak ($4,826)
143. Marvin Rettenmaier ($4,826)
144. Michael Adamo ($4,826)
145. Kevin Allen ($4,826)
146. Bruno Macchialli ($4,826)
147. Yaacov Haviv ($4,826)
148. Gregory Hartwick ($4,826)
149. Steven Kelly ($4,826)
150. Nicolas Halvorson ($4,826)
151. Matt Keikoan ($4,826)
152. Steven Kerr ($4,826)
153. Getty Mattingsley ($4,826)
154. John Gravagna ($4,826)
155. Ryan Smith ($4,826)
156. David Dalesandro ($4,826)
157. Michael Reisner ($4,826)
158. Leo Wolpert ($4,826)
159. Peter Traply ($4,826)
160. Mike Leah ($4,826)
161. Ari Mutchnil ($4,826)
162. Vincent Wille ($4,826)
163. Gilbert Diaz ($4,826)
164. Oliver Gergely 165. Martin Malone ($4,826)
166. Guang Lu ($4,826)
167. Edward Teems ($4,826)
168. Kyle Menne ($4,826)
169. David Milby ($4,826)
170. David Emmons ($4,826)
171. Nicholas Schwarmann ($4,826)

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Gary Wise

ESPN Poker

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Gary Wise has contributed to ESPN.com since 2007. He is well-studied in the history of poker and presents a unique tableside view of the goings-on in the poker community.