Jamie Shaevel has made a habit of cashing in the WSOP Main Event for years, but this time around he has a legitimate shot to win life-changing money, and maybe a bracelet.
The Southern California native isn’t even a tournament player. He barely plays any tournaments outside the Main Event, yet he’s cashed in this tournament eight times since 2011, this being his first time reaching Day 8.
Shaevel’s Hendon Mob page shows just 35 total live tournament cashes dating back to 2009, averaging about two per year. Nearly a quarter of those cashes have come in one tournament. He’s only cashed six times in any tournaments since 2017, four of those in the WSOP Main Event, and he has an explanation.
“This is the only tournament I play all year, basically,” Shaevel told PokerNews. “It’s the best. There’s nothing even close to it.”
From Cash Games to the WSOP Main Event Final Table?
Shaevel doesn’t play the Main Event and then stop playing poker for 365 days. He plays regularly, but only in cash games at Commerce Casino in Los Angeles.
Despite limiting his tournament play to this specific event in Las Vegas, Shaevel has cashed in it half the time he’s played, and now he’s one of the final 21 players, guaranteed at least $325,000, and still within reach of the $10 million first-place prize. So, how is a cash game player having so much success in the most prestigious tournament in the world?
“I think it’s more suitable for my cash game background where it’s deeper than most tournaments. It’s a slower structure,” he answered.
Shaevel, 36, has competed in the Main Event every year since 2010 (excluding the 2020 COVID year). His previous best cash was for $54,851 in 2011 (100th place), and he’s only three cashes in the tournament away from tying Allen Cunningham and Johnny Chan for the record.
This deep run, he said, “feels very different to me than every other year that I’ve gone deep.”
“I’m really appreciating it more. Less stress, just being very grateful for the opportunity to be here, and everything that comes along with it,” Shaevel said.
Shaevel isn’t concerned with the pressure of running deep in the Main Event as the pay jumps become massive: “I feel as little pressure as you could feel given all of that. Obviously, there’s a bit. But, at the end of the day, my life won’t change at all. I’ve got a game on Tuesday at Commerce and I’ll be there either way. Hopefully, I’ll be there a bit wealthier. But it’s not going to change my life at all.”
Shaevel, who says he’s a “family man with two kids,” will return to action at 11 a.m. on Monday with 17,100,000 chips, good for 14th out of 21 remaining players. Malcolm Trayner bagged the Day 7 chip lead at 63,200,000. Reigning WSOP Player of the Year Shaun Deeb (31,300,000), 2019 WSOP Main Event champion Hossein Ensan (29,700,000), and Poker Hall of Famer Todd Brunson (7,800,000) are all still in the mix.
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