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Michael ‘The Monster’ Dyer is dominating the World Series of Poker Main Event final table. The nickname comes from his friends Tristan Sweet and a female friend who prefers to be called ‘Mo.’ The pair has known Dyer since 2012 when they met grinding cash games in Las Vegas from the $1/$2 level to where they collectively are now.

Sweet is a poker dealer at a major property on the Vegas Strip, and Mo now lives in Colorado. Their vibe fits in with Dyer’s mum table presence. Dyer asked his friends and parents when they arrive to not cheer during hands.

Mo sits on the rail behind black wayfarer sunglasses and politely declined to share her name with USPoker.com or the ESPN production team.

Meet ‘The Monster’

The empirical observation of Dyer as an introvert is confirmed by how Sweet and Mo describe him.

Dyer lives in Las Vegas, NV and plays poker online. The time spent in the lab led to this moment, according to his friends. The aggressive style was cultivated through hours and hours of experimenting for a moment like the Main Event. Dyer played other tournaments this summer but did not cash. The variance now breaks his way at the best time.

Since acquiring chips, Dyer has bulldozed opponents and won huge all-ins despite not having the best of it.

“I don’t think it’s the money at all,” Mo said. “It’s the performance. He wants to be able to see how his game stacks up against a massive field.”

“It’s worth pointing out that he’s been working on his style for a decade, something like that,” Sweet added. “For him, this is his moment to test it.”

The Main Event is the final exam for all poker players and Dyer is flourishing. Per his friends, Dyer is playing with 100 percent of his own action. $6,000 of his tournament buy-in was accumulated through lammers won in sit-and-gos run at the Rio this summer.

The real man away from the table

Dyer’s table manner is consistent with how he is outside of the game. The leaning body and imposing eyes fill in with a profile emphasized by Sweet and Mo that they don’t much about him outside of poker.

“He’s the most terrifying person I’ve ever played poker against,” said Sweet. “What you see here, he’s that guy all the time. Playing $1/$2, whatever it is, he’s the most focused and fearless poker player I’ve ever met. It’s scary.”

Sweet notes that what the public is seeing of Dyer is how he is on a regular basis.

“This isn’t a different version of him. He’s quiet and super calm guy and very, very intelligent.”

Interviews have been tough to attain of Dyer through his Main Event run. Brief answers and an unwillingness to go into depth about his background prove the focus on achieving his goal.

“He’s very shy and more comfortable articulating through text,” Mo noted.

Sweet describes Dyer as, “The calmest human I’ve ever met in any tight situation. He only cares about the quality of the decision in the moment.”

Where does he go next?

Before the second day of the final table, Dyer sent a piece of quoted wisdom to Mo before rolling over for another hour of sleep. In a text sent to her, Dyer said he had a dream about the final table, woke up and found a stream of thought from poet T.E. Lawrence.

“All men dream, but not equally. Those who dream by night in the dusty recesses of their minds, wake in the day to find that it was vanity: but the dreamers of the day are dangerous men, for they may act on their dreams with open eyes, to make them possible.”

Dyer followed up the text by saying, “I like that quote. I try so hard to shape reality into what I want with my decisions. It’s difficult and something worth effort.”

The now-famous balloon hoodie shoulder by Dyer comes from the dinosaur comic strip called Qwantz. Once released, balloons fly to a freedom only they know the destination of. The $8.8 million dream is not equal and Dyer isn’t close to waking up yet.

“He will remain the same person. For him, this isn’t at all about the publicity or the prestige. For him, it’s the performance that matters.”

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A panel of Hall of Famers and media members have selected poker player John Hennigan and television executive Mori Eskandani as the 2018 inductees into the Poker Hall of Fame. The WSOP announced the selections as the final table of the WSOP Main Event got underway on July 12.

Hennigan is an underrated all-time great

John Hennigan enters the Hall of Fame in his first year as a finalist. Several notable professionals, including Daniel Negreanu, have called Hennigan the toughest opponent they have ever faced.

Hennigan’s nickname is “World,” purportedly because of his willingness to bet on virtually anything in the world. Prior to poker, he was a professional pool player.

Since picking up poker, he has earned over $8.1 million in tournament winnings alone. He holds five World Series of Poker bracelets and a World Poker Tour championship.

Hennigan remains a top professional today. In fact, he is likely to be the 2018 WSOP Player of the Year after making six final tables at this year’s series.

Those final tables include a win in the $10,000 HORSE event and a second-place finish in the $50,000 Poker Players Championship. Of all this year’s finalists, Johnny World was perhaps the most deserving.

Eskandani brought poker into your home

Mori Eskandani is the man largely responsible for bringing poker into your home. He is responsible for virtually every major poker program on television.

Eskandani is the creator of Poker After Dark, High Stakes Poker, The National Heads-up Championship, and several other game-based shows. He is now the producer for ESPN’s coverage of the World Series of Poker.

Eskandani began production company Poker Productions in 2003. Though he did not invent the hole-card camera, his use of it quickly became the standard in televised poker.

In fact, it is likely that his use of the hole-card camera had an equally profound effect on poker’s popularity as Chris Moneymaker‘s 2003 WSOP Main Event win. When viewers could “play” alongside the players, poker truly became a spectator sport, and it became possible to provide on-the-spot expert analysis of play, similar to other athletic events.

Eskandani’s affinity for poker stretches back decades. In fact, he was well-known as a high-stakes player in the 1980s.

However, his greatest impact has been away from the table. Nevertheless, he is clearly a deserving member of the Poker Hall of Fame.

A look ahead to the 2019 class

The 2018 Hall of Fame class arose from a ten-person list of finalists. Those eight men who were not chosen are eligible for consideration next year.

They are:

• Chris Bjorin
• David Chiu
• Bruno Fitoussi
• Mike Matusow
• Chris Moneymaker
• David Oppenheim
• Matt Savage
• Huckleberry Seed

According to the Hall of Fame criteria, inductees must be over the age of 40 and have made a lasting impact on poker, either at or away from the table. With that in mind, here are some people who might be nominated or will become eligible.

• Josh Arieh (age 43)
• Mike Caro
• John Cernuto
• Allen Cunningham (age 41)
• Antonio Esfandiari (age 39)
• Ted Forrest
• Gus Hansen
• Phil Laak
• Mason Malmuth
• Greg Raymer
• Barry Shulman
• David Sklansky
• Vince van Patten

The 2019 class will likely be a well-known group of players and poker professionals. Stay tuned.

Lead image courtesy of World Poker Tour/Flickr

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