Out of Retirement, Again
Allen Bari is about 20 years younger, three feet shorter, and possesses one fewer Super Bowl ring than the legendary Brett Favre, but just like No. 4, Bari has once again "come out of retirement" for a shot at glory.
Bari, who has one more gold bracelet than Favre, winning Event #4: $5,000 No-Limit Hold'em at the 2011 World Series of Poker, says that poker remains on the back burner as he focuses on other aspects of his life. He attended culinary school for four days before contracting a severe case of food poisoning, which ended up putting him in the hospital. It was during that time that he decided not to attend culinary school, resulting in him dropping out of culinary academics.
“For what I plan on doing, I don’t need to be a chef,” Bari told PokerNews last summer. “So I went to restaurant management instead. I attended French Culinary Institute and just graduated in May."
Bari plans on opening his own restaurant, but still spends time grinding in mixed cash games in both Atlantic City and Pennsylvania. The bracelet winner still believes he is one of the best ring players in the world.
“I still think I’m good, but now I just think that everyone else has gotten really good,” said Bari. “I think no-limit hold’em tournaments are really tough and the style people play has increased the variance. I think I am probably one of the top 10 cash-game players in the world, but it doesn’t really matter in tournaments. Now, you have to run good. Playing good poker can only get you so far; you need luck.”
Will Bari run it up here on Day 1b and make a push at his second major title, or will he simply throw a late interception to Tracy Porter and fade into the ether? Only time will tell.