NFL Player Busts World Series Of Poker Main Event Champion

Calais Campbell, a defensive end for the Arizona Cardinals, entered event no. 4 ($1,000 Top Up Turbo No-Limit Hold’em) this past weekend and ended up busting 2013 main event champion Ryan Riess.

According to WSOP live updates, the NFL star was holding pocket kings when a player in early position raised. Campbell three-bet to 800, and Riess decided to shove all-in. The original raiser folded, and Campbell called.

Riess had A-K and couldn’t improve. The hand took place around noon on Sunday.

Unfortunately for Campbell, he wasn’t able to use Riess’ chips to make the money in the event that paid the top 101 finishers. Campbell’s elimination hand came about two hours later when he moved all in with K 2 and was called by an opponent with A-Q.

The final table of the event plays out Monday.

Campbell, who has been in the NFL since 2008, has two lifetime tournament results. He finished third in an event at the Venetian casino in 2013 for $2,600 and 31st in another tournament there in 2015. He has also played in charity poker events.

NFL players are allowed to participate in poker tournaments, though they can’t be used in any way to promote the event. In early January of last year, three players were barred from playing in a $94 poker event in Florida after they were used on an advertisement for the tournament.

For more coverage from the summer series, visit the 2016 WSOP landing page complete with a full schedule, news, player interviews and event recaps.

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