Take a Second Look! That's Al Ollila Sitting Next To World Champ Ryan Reiss!
You NEVER know who you will be sitting with when you play in the World Series of Poker! Allen Ollila from Liquid Assets in Dickinson, North Dakota (pictured right wearing hat) recently realized the new World Series of Poker champion, Ryan Reiss, looked a familiar! Little did Allen (or anyone else at that table) know the player to his right, Ryan Reiss ("Reiss The Beast" pictured left) would go on to become rich and famous, winning $8.4 million dollars being crowned the World Champion live on ESPN! Who knew?!!
Allen was one of the 100 winners from around the league last summer who got a chance to play in a WSOP event. Reiss was moved to Allen's table about an hour into the tournament and played together for about 6 hours. Interestingly, both Allen Ollila and Ryan Reiss busted on the same hand in a big pot with about 1/3 of the field remaining. Reiss had moved in on a Kd-Qd-Jc flop, and Al, holding Jd-10d moved in over the top, and was called by a third player who held a set of queens. The Royal draw did not materialize for Allen and his tournament was over. Allen commented that Reiss was pretty quiet, but aggressive.
Allen Ollila has been playing in the league a little over a year. He qualified at the ND state championship for his seat in the FPN National Championship where he took 26th place and earned the WSOP entry.
Thanks to Scott White for these great photos!
The latest contest gives players a similar shot at the experience of playing in the WSOP and, of course, the opportunity to win MILLIONS! Hopefully, it will be an FPN league player who becomes the next world champ!!!