Ex-NFL star Richard Seymour in 35th place at WSOP Main Event
Richard Seymour won three Super Bowl rings with the New England Patriots and is bidding to add a World Series of Poker gold bracelet to his jewelry collection.
Seymour, 39, was one of 354 players to survive Day 4 of the WSOP Main Event on Tuesday at the Rio Convention Center. The former All-Pro defensive lineman enters Day 5, which starts at noon Wednesday, in 35th place with 2.75 million in chips.
Seymour, who entered poker’s most prestigious event with $578,998 in total live earnings, already is guaranteed to have the highest finish of a pro athlete in the Main Event. The winner will walk away with $10 million.
Former Main Event champions Chris Moneymaker, Johnny Chan and Qui Nguyen busted on Day 4, ensuring a new winner will be crowned in the $10,000 buy-in No-limit Texas Hold’em World Championship.
Dean Morrone of Dawson Creek, British Columbia, is the chip leader (4.98 million) after qualifying for the Main Event through a $100 buy-in satellite event.
“This is absolutely unbelievable. I’ve been watching this tournament for years and finally got the opportunity, satelliting in online,” he said. “It’s been everything I ever wanted and more.”
At the end of the night, Morrone snapped photos of his huge stacks of chips to send to family and friends.
“My family is spread out throughout BC and they’e been the most unreal support group,” he said. “They’ve sent (lots) of energy at every stage and I can’t wait to make them very proud.”
Notable poker pros who are still alive include Todd Brunson, Antonio Esfandiari, Dario Sammartino, Alex Foxen and Eric Froehlich, who busted Chan, the two-time Main Event champ.
The field will be whittled down to the final nine players on Friday, with the winner to be crowned Tuesday.
Contact reporter Todd Dewey at tdewey@reviewjournal.com. Follow @tdewey33 on Twitter.