Poker Player Ryan Riess Close to Becoming Poker Millionaire
Ryan Riess, a former resident of East Lansing, beat an impressive field of over 6,300 players to become the finalist of the World Series of Poker (WSOP) Main Event. Along with 8 others, he will take part in the finals of the WSOP Main Event, which is scheduled to be held in November. The champion of the event will take home a massive cash prize of $8.4 million.
Riess started playing poker at the age of fourteen and continued to play it as long as he was a student at the Waterford Our Lady of the Lakes High School. Riess, an honors student, had excellent mathematical abilities. According to his younger sister Emily, Riess played small-stakes poker games in the basement of their house with his friends throughout his high school days. Once he completed high school, he played in local poker rooms such as the Card Sharks, which is located in Waterford. Riess, who graduated in Michigan in 2012, occupies the fifth rank in terms of chips in the list of WSOP Main Event finalists.
According to Emily, Riess had always had a passion for poker. He even got a hospitality business degree from Michigan State University as he had plans of running a poker room or casino. Emily said: “I always imagined my brother owing his own casino. Now that he has become a professional poker player, I imagine him continuing to do this for as long as he can.”
Riess also played a lot of online poker throughout his days in college. He met Emma Schlag, his girlfriend, just after winning $2k while playing an online poker tournament for the first time in Jan 2011. Emma said: “He lives life to the fullest and embraces every single day. He has truly changed my outlook on life in these past two-and-a-half years we have been dating. He doesn’t let things get him down and he doesn’t stress out or take things too seriously. He is also extremely generous and kind.”
Riess also continued playing at Card Sharks and won a number of poker tournaments. He took part in the WSOP Circuit for the first time in Oct 2012, finished second, and won $239,063. His girlfriend said: “He has always wanted to play professionally. He used to tell me that his goal in life was to be a millionaire by 25. He is 23 and he is already very close to reaching that goal.” Riess already has $27.875 million in the form of chips and now stands the chance of winning $8.4 million if he wins the WSOP Main Event. He defeated Rep Porter, who had won the WSOP bracelet twice, in order to emerge as the finalist.
Riess has been playing poker professionally for the past 10 months, but he has already won close to $296,918 in WSOP tournaments. Emily said that the entire family will fly to Las Vegas in November to cheer him during the finals of the WSOP Main Event, which will be covered live on ESPN.
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