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Bruce Yamron, who is competing in the opening event at the Borgata Big, Big Series, was the runner-up in a historic World Series of Poker (WSOP) event 12 years ago.
The tournament was the $1,500 Eight Game Mix, so you might be wondering what was so historic about that event. Well, the player he lost to heads-up — Phil Ivey — became just the fourth player ever to reach 10 WSOP bracelets (Erik Seidel has since reached the double-digit mark).
Yamron, who has over $1 million in live tournament earnings and used to stake Ivey, spoke to PokerNews on a break during the $1,100 Big, Big Welcome H.O.R.S.E. tournament in Atlantic City to discuss that heads-up match with Ivey, widely considered the greatest poker player ever.
"The cards went his way in a couple big hands, and there was not a whole lot I could do," Yamron, who began heads-up play against Ivey with a slight chip lead, said.
Yamron said he wasn't intimidated playing against Ivey. He's friends with the Poker Hall of Famer and has played against him many times.
"We used to put Phil Ivey in (poker games) way back at the Taj," Yamrom said of Ivey's early days when he used to stake the young future poker legend.
Ivey got his start in poker right here in Atlantic City at the Trump Taj Mahal, a legendary poker room at a casino that is no longer in operation. He was known as "No Home Jerome" back then, a nickname given to him because he spent most of his time playing poker and didn't have a residence.
Yamron got off to a solid start on Sunday in the H.O.R.S.E. event on Day 1. He knows it's a "slow" tournament due to playing limit games, so he'll have to grind it out to win the tournament.