Haxton Making Money
Ike Haxton would leap four places on the all-time money list if he can close out this $50,000 Poker Players' Championship, but Haxton is not here for the trophy or even the bragging rights of taking down a tournament that so many players have declared as tournament all the top players want to win.
"“I’m not a big glory chaser. I’m just here to make money," Haxton told us as the players broke for 15 minutes with just three opponents standing in Haxton's way of the $1,395,767 top prize.
He's also not concerned about losing Daniel Negreanu early on in fifth place: “I’m just playing. I’m not particularly concerned with who is eliminated in what order. I just want to win.”
Despite strength in other areas, Haxton's hopes have been boosted by running well in a variant in which he's not so well-versed.
“Obviously, my best games are no-limit hold'em and pot-limit Omaha, but as it's turned out, I’ve run really hot in the stud games for some reason. There’s no justice in poker."
Haxton's specialties aside, he agrees that his edge against players in their weaker games may mean he has success in games that wouldn't be the ones he'd choose to press home his advantage.
"Of course, I’m thinking about how other people are playing [the different variants]. I have just under 9.2 million chips, so I still have the chip lead.
Can Haxton hold the lead all the way to winning his first WSOP bracelet? He may care more about the money, but he's in pole position to grab the gold, too.