History Repeats Itself

As tables in the tournament room break and balance, players get moved around the room and can ultimately end up playing with folks that they've seen before. This is the case late in Day 1a, as three players who final tabled this very event in 2012 are all seated around the same table once more.

Aaron Massey, who won the event and pocketed $651,559 for his efforts is still alive and thriving late in the day with approximately 85,000 in chips. Seated directly across from Massey is the man he defeated heads up for the title, Andy Robinson. Despite Robinson finishing just short of the title, he was still awarded an incredible $334,030 for his runner-up finish Robinson is sporting a stack size close to Massey's with about 92,000. Finally, Jay Merchant, 2012's fourth place finisher, is seated at the far end of the table. Merchant has roughly 88,000 to his name currently.

PokerNews was on hand for the 2012 River Poker Series Main Event. A full recap of the event can be found here.