Logger, young pro chase title, $8.55M

LAS VEGAS – A western Maryland logger who plays no-limit Texas Hold ’em for fun is matching wits with a 21-year-old from Michigan who has logged more hands online than most people his age. At stake is a World Series of Poker main event title, and $8.55 million.

Joe Cada of Shelby Township, Mich., entered heads-up play Monday night with a 2-1 chip advantage over 46-year-old Darvin Moon, who led when the nine-way final table began Saturday.

With a stack of cash and a gold bracelet on the felt, and nearly 1,500 screaming fans in a capacity crowd at the Rio All-Suite Hotel & Casino, Moon and Cada began a tug-of-war to end an epic tournament that began with 6,494 players in July.

If Cada wins, he would become the youngest main event winner in the
40-year history of the World Series of Poker, breaking a record set last year by Peter Eastgate.

“For the last four years, I’ve been waiting to play this tournament,” Cada said. “Now, it means everything.”

Cada and Moon were the last players left after a 276-hand, 14½ hour chip-shifting final table marathon halted Sunday morning with Cada eliminating French poker professional Antoine Saout when a dealer turned a king on the final card of the final hand.

Before that card, Cada had a 13 percent chance to win the hand.

The pair of kings capped a run for Cada that shocked his opponents as he built from holding as little as 1 percent of the chips in play to a dominant chip lead.

“I can’t even tell you how lucky I got at that final table, but sometimes you do get lucky and that’s the thing about poker,” Cada said. “I didn’t sleep that night.”

Moon entered heads-up play with slightly fewer chips than what he started with at the nine-way final table, making him an underdog for the first time all tournament.

When asked what his strategy was to outplay Cada, Moon said: “Win. Just win.”

Unlike Cada, Moon hasn’t played a single hand of online poker.