The Title Defense Comes to an End for "Riess the Beast"

Chad Holloway

Level 13 : 1,200/2,400, 400 ante

In 2013, Ryan Riess topped a field of 6,352 players to win the Main Event and etch his name in poker history. Riess returned this year seeking back-to-back titles, and he had an impressive showing making it all the way to Day 3. Unfortunately, that is where his title defense will end.

Riess, who began the day with 84,900, had been nursing a short stack for quite some time when he opted to move all in from early position for his last 20,400. With the ESPN cameras rolling, action folded around to Steve Brecher, who made the call from the big blind with the . Riess then tabled the .

It was a bad spot for Riess, and he needed a lot of luck to stay alive. The flop meant he needed either a four or running hearts, but the latter option disappeared when the appeared on the turn. Riess seemed to know his time was up and watched helplessly as the blanked on the river.

"Good luck guys," Riess offered before exiting the tournament to a nice round of applause. Riess then offered some final words on social media: "The dream is over. Good luck to all my friends and piece still in."