Run it Back with Joe Cada | 2009 WSOP Main Event

Joe Cada won the 2009 World Series of Poker Main Event and did so by getting extremely lucky at the final table! On last night’s live broadcast of Run it Back, the Michigan native relives the entire final table and provides commentary on the hands he played, why he made the moves he made, and how this $8.5 million score affected his life and career.

“I was a luckbox, and I’m totally fine with that. My win at the final table as 99% luck,” Cada said about his win now more than 10 years ago where he managed to get lucky for his tournament life on numerous occasions. The story of Cada’s career, however, goes much deeper than just a few lucky hands at poker’s biggest final table. Prior to winning the Main Event at age 21 and taking the record of “Youngest WSOP Main Event winner” from Peter Eastgate who in 2008 bested Phil Hellmuth’s mark set in 1989, Cada was already a successful professional player who had made his way up the ranks during the height of the “Ultimate Bet era.”

“When I was 18, and partypoker had left the USA after the UIGEA, I made my own account on Ultimate Bet after having played under my mom’s name on partypoker. I deposited $600 and within four months I turned it into $400,000. Then, within a week, I lost $150,000 playing $50/$100 heads up and I cashed all the rest of my money out and went back to playing $5/$10. I couldn’t mentally rebound from that and I knew I was going to keep chasing my losses. Later I found out that I got super-used when I got a $55,000 refund into my account. While I did get refunded, getting super-used really hurt my confidence and prevented me from staying at those stakes and progressive at the highest stakes.”

For more on Joe Cada’s life story, his two WSOP Main Event final tables, and much more, watch Run it Back right now. Looking for more WSOP action? Watch all WSOP Main Events from 2003 through 2019 on PokerGO right now. Subscribe to our YouTube channel now and never miss another live show.