Poker player settles for 2nd: $5.55M

John Racener's card-playing career began with a few bucks and the boys in the back of a Port Richey classroom. It climaxed Tuesday in Las Vegas with $5.55 million in winnings at the World Series of Poker.

"I'm just hoping it will set him up for the rest of his life or pave the way," said his mother, Janeen Racener.

Her son taught himself to play poker with friends and online. When he turned 18, he made the rounds at the Seminole Hard Rock Casino. On his 21st birthday, he won $103,527 at Harrah's Resort in Atlantic City.

The chips kept piling up until Racener, 24, landed at the world series' final table at the Rio All-Suite Hotel on Monday night, head to head against Quebec's Jonathan Duhamel, 23.

The pair had outlasted seven other members of the "November Nine" a few days earlier and a field of 7,319 over the last couple of months.

Behind Racener, nearly 40 friends and family members watched in rapt suspense. They ranged from his mother, a Pasco County mail carrier, to Antonio Tarver, the former light heavyweight boxing champion from Tampa.

Playing no-limit Texas hold'em, Duhamel entered the main event with six times as many chips as Racener.

Racener expected an aggressive opponent, but the Canadian played passive and slowly chipped away until he pulled an ace high and knocked Racener out after 43 hands and 90 minutes.

The crowd shouted Duhamel's name and "Ole! Ole! Ole!" as he took home the $8.94 million grand prize.

Racener turned and gave his mom a hug. It was her credit card that he had used at age 16, turning $50 into $30,000 online and a hobby into huge paydays.

"I told John I had never been to a final table and it was really something special," Janeen Racener said. "It's probably one of the best he's ever played."

Racener and his manager, Jeff Gigante, embraced, and Gigante told him that it was just the beginning. More wins, sponsorships and televised matches would follow.

Just after he lost, Racener tweeted a note congratulating Duhamel.

"Still very happy with 2nd place," Racener wrote. "Would have loved to win it tho. I'll be back to get it next year."

He had earned an additional $500,000 from a sponsor just for advancing so far.

"How much is that $6 mill going to earn me, pops?" Racener asked Gigante afterward.

The question showed Gigante just how much Racener had matured.

Before the pair had met, Racener had lived boom or bust, stuffing winnings in backpacks and safe deposit boxes, blowing thousands of dollars on huge bar tabs near his home in South Tampa.

One day a few years ago, Gigante ran into Racener, who was in a slump. Gigante, an avid poker fan, knew him from the casinos and offered some advice. Gigante co-owns South Tampa restaurants Ciccio & Tony's, Lodge, Lime and Daily Eats, and put Racener in touch with a financial adviser, then an agent and a life coach. He helped secure sponsorships from Full Tilt poker and drink supplement Fein Energy.

He taught Racener to make his money make money through investments. And that's the plan, at least his mother hopes.

The Associated Press and ESPN.com contributed to this report. Justin George can be reached at (813) 226-3368 or jgeorge@sptimes.com.