Seat 1: Billy Pappas (17,500,000 -- 43 BB)
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Born September 28, 1984, William Pappaconstantinou, also known as Billy Pappas, is one of the best players in the world — foosball players that is! In fact, the 29 year old from Lowell, Massachusetts has been playing table soccer since 2003 and has won numerous titles including seven world championships.
“Foosball is such a freaky thing. If you play foosball and learn a little bit, you’re hooked,” Pappas explained of his foosball origins. “My parents played, my mom still plays. It’s a cool connection, me and my mom are super close.”
The son of a professional golfer, Pappas supported his foosball dreams buy taking several jobs, one of which was as a poker dealer at the Rockingham Park Poker Room in Salem, New Hampshire. Foosball may have been his passion, but poker soon became a relaxing hobby.
Pappas wasn’t even going to play the 2014 WSOP Main Event, but a friend convinced him to at the last minute. Obviously that proved to be a wise decision for the only true amateur left in the field.
"I'm in shock. I never thought I'd play in this event,” Pappas said. “It's been my dream, and I've been saying 'this year' or 'next year' for like 10 years, just to play in an event, period. Now I get to play this, and I've never expected this at all."
This year marked the first time Pappas ever played in the “Big One,” and prior to his deep run his most notable tournament cash was a fifth-place finish in a $580 no-limit hold’em reentry event at the 2013 WSOP Circuit Palm Beach Kennel Club for $52,372.
Pappas’ road to the November Nine began on Day 1b, but it wasn’t an easy road to the November Nine. Pappas recently talked about that and more as a featured guest on the PokerNews Podcast, which you can listen to by clicking here.