Tony Miles knocks out Joe Cada, seizes control of WSOP Main Event final table

By Case Keefer (contact)

Saturday, July 14, 2018 | 2:30 a.m.

One of the golden rules of poker is to not show emotion at the table while in the middle of a hand.

It’s an extenuating circumstance, however, when a player is forced with a big decision heads-up against an all-in opponent. In that case, they’re free to visibly agonize.

Tony Miles found himself in such a situation during the second night of the World Series of Poker Main Event final table Friday night at the Rio, and squirmed in his seat for more than five minutes. He got into a pre-flop raising war with former champion Joe Cada, who accelerated the action by committing all 47 million of his chips and sending Miles into deep contemplation.

Miles paraded through mannerisms — raising his brow, rubbing his eyes, scratching his forehead and exhaling a deep sigh among his actions — before extending a stack of chips in front of him to signal a call.

“We’re playing for a lot of money up here; there’s a lot of pressure,” Miles said. “I just wanted to take my time and get the decision right.”

Calling turned out to be a fortuitous choice. Miles held Ace-King to Cada’s pocket 10s, and was able to pair his King on the flop to win one of the biggest showdowns of the tournament.

The 97 million chip pot started an ascent up the leaderboard for Miles that never stopped for the final five hours of Friday night’s session.

The 32-year-old professional based in Jacksonville, Fla. will return at 5:30 p.m. tonight for the tournament’s final round of three players with 238.9 million chips. That’s 84 million more than fellow finalists John Cynn and Michael Dyer have combined, making Miles a big favorite to win the world championship bracelet and $8.8 million first-place prize.

Each of the three players are guaranteed at least $3.75 million for third place. Second-place pays $5 million.

Cada, who looked to make history by repeating after winning the $10,000 buy-in event in 2009, had gone on a run and chipped up to his highest stack of the tournament before Miles sent him to the exits — literally. Cada, who won $2.15 million for fifth place, slipped out of the Rio as soon as he was defeated, declining to even take part in to the customary ESPN post-game interview.

“I’ve done so many (interviews) and the spotlight is on those guys now,” Cada said in a text to ESPN that was read on air. “It was my turn to exit. I think it’s a great group of guys I played with, and it was a blast with zero regrets. It was my turn to lose a flip.”

Once Cada busted, however, the spotlight rarely strayed from Miles. The only time the focus centered on other players was when Miles was taking chips from them — something he did frequently.

Much like Michael Dyer on the first night of the final table, Miles benefitted from a fortunate run of cards and was able to maximize their value with shrewd betting. He overtook the chip lead from Dyer less than 30 minutes after jettisoning Cada when he flopped three-of-a-kind with pocket 3s, which turned into a full house by the river.

Miles bet a relatively small amount on the river — 27 million into a pot of around 100 million — to entice a call from Dyer, who held only a small two-pair.

He credited much of his success to his, “camp,” headed by French pro Pierre Calamusa, whom goes over strategy with Miles each day before play begins.

“Every single day I come here, I feel well prepared and then I’m able to execute,” Miles said. “I feel like I was able to do that tonight as well.”

Miles might have the most boisterous set of fans left in the Main Event. That’s because many of his poker-playing pals watching live also staked him in the tournament, and are seeing their returns increase with every elimination.

Miles felt so confident about the way he was playing leading up to the event that he sought out investors and sold them on his belief about making a deep run at the title.

“I’m glad that I’m able to share not only the joy, but the profits as well,” Miles said.

On the other end of the spectrum at the final table on Friday, Dyer lost as many chips as Miles gained. The 32-year-old Houston pro never got into as lethal of a rhythm as he managed the night before, and made a few questionable calls against Miles to exacerbate the problem.

Dyer was neck-and-neck with Nicolas Manion for the shortest stack early Sunday morning, but Cynn ensured he was able to move another step up the pay ladder.

Manion went all-in with Ace-10 and Cynn called with pocket Kings, and the latter’s lead held up to suspend play until Saturday evening. That pushed Cynn, a 33-year-old Indianapolis native, up to 128 million chips, an amount that has Miles’ attention.

Counting winnings before securing them is one gambling rule Miles won’t break under any circumstances.

“I want to be humble,” he said. “Anything can happen in this game.”

Case Keefer can be reached at 702-948-2790 or [email protected]. Follow Case on Twitter at twitter.com/casekeefer.