Joe Cada Looking to Become Poker's Fifth Two-Time WSOP Main Event Champ
After Day 1C of the 2018 World Series of Poker Main Event, which started players with 50,000, former champ Joe Cada bagged up just 16,500. He was near the button of the counts. Obviously, you can call it a comeback as he now finds himself among the final ten.
It marks the second time he’s been in this spot as back in 2009 he topped a field of 6,494 players to win the 2009 WSOP Main Event for $8,547,044. At the time, he was 21 years, 11 months old and became the youngest player in WSOP history to win the Main Event. Not only that, he did it by besting a final table that included Phil Ivey, Jeff Shulman and Darvin Moon.
An online poker player before striking it big, Cada, born November 18, 1987, still resides in Shelby Charter Township, Michigan.
He made headlines earlier this summer for two reasons. First, he bested a 363-player field to win the 2018 WSOP Event #3: $3,000 NLHE Shootout for $226,218 and his third bracelet. His other gold hardware came back in 2014 when he took down Event #32: $10,000 NLHE 6-Handed Championship for $670,041.
The other headline he grabbed was around Father’s Day, which is when he put his father, Jerry Cada, into the $1,000 Super Seniors Championship. The story was heartwarming as not long before Jerry spent over a month in a coma after suffering a stroke. During his recovery, Joe spent time teaching his dad the poker ropes. Joe was on his dad’s rail, but now it’s time for the father to root on son once again.
Cada's End of Day Field Position
| Day | End-of-Day Chip Count | Rank |
|---|---|---|
| 1c | 16,500 | 3,252/3,470 |
| 2c | 93,800 | 1,032/1,655 |
| 3 | 211,000 | 672/1,182 |
| 4 | 559,000 | 249/310 |
| 5 | 2,965,000 | 56/109 |
| 6 | 8,850,000 | 19/26 |
One of Cada’s pivotal hands came with 15 players remaining in Level 34 (200,000/400,000/50,000) when he three-bet jammed for 6.875 million holding ac-six suited. The initial raiser, Frederik Brink, called with ace-ten and Cada was in trouble. Fortunately for him, the board ran out with three hearts, including one on the river, to give him new life.
In another big hand, Cada executed a three-barrel bluff against Alex Lynskey, who had flopped top pair on a king-high board. Cada’s river shove sent his Australian foe into the tank and eventually, he folded. Cada’s brazen bluff lit up the Twitterverse and showed that he was willing to put it all on the line for another shot at the title.
If Cada were to win the Main Event, he would join the ranks of Johnny Moss, Doyle Brunson, Johnny Chan, and Stu Ungar as repeat winners. Similarly, a fourth bracelet would put him in company that includes Michael “The Grinder” Mizrachi, Brian Rast, and Amarillo Slim Preston, just to name a few. Finally, Cada is the first Main Event champ to return to the final table since 1995 winner Dan Harrington went back-to-back in 2003-04.
You can follow Cada on Twitter at @cada99.