Player bets on life coach

Rather than venturing into the Rio's poker room for a small stakes hold'em game or hiding out in his hotel suite to play online, World Series of Poker Main Event participant John Racener spent Friday evening away from anything associated with this weekend's final table and a potential payday of more than $8.9 million.

Instead, Racener delivered sacks of In-N-Out hamburgers to a Las Vegas homeless shelter.

The 24-year-old professional poker player from Port Richey, Fla., said he took the advice of his mind and life coach.

"He's been helping me with a steady hand, showing me how to be grateful for what I've been going through," said Racener, who enters play today in the World Series of Poker's $10,000 buy-in No-Limit Hold'em World Championship at the Rio's Penn & Teller Theater in fourth place.

The coach may not know the difference between a straight and a flush. But his work with Racener over the past six months helped his client earn one of the nine final table seats out of a field of 7,310 players, second highest in tournament history.

A victory at poker's most prestigious tournament could lead to other opportunities. Friday morning Racener had breakfast with the producer of HBO's "Entourage" about playing himself in an upcoming episode of the cable television series.

"That will motivate me because they would rather have the champion than the third- or fourth-place guy," he said.

Racener is the second best professional poker player left in the field behind his friend and fellow Florida resident Michael Mizrachi, who has $2.3 million in career tournament earnings and is already the owner of a gold championship bracelet, having won the World Series of Poker's Poker Players Championship event earlier this year.

Racener has won more than $1.5 million in tournament poker, including three cashes at World Series of Poker events this year. After qualifying for the final table, Racener used the four-month break to travel overseas. He made final tables in events at the World Poker Tour in Cyprus and the World Series of Poker Europe in London.

He also spent the time in between hands shoring up his endorsement opportunities. Racener signed deals to promote jewelry, energy drinks and other products at the Main Event final table.

"So much of this never would have happened if we had to play the final table the next day," Racener said.

Many on the poker blogosphere have made Racener a favorite to win the Main Event, even though he's seen online odds that have him listed with a 7-to-1 chance.

"Of course I see myself as a favorite," Racener said with confidence. "I'm fourth in chips with the second most experience and the second most career winnings."

The mind coach helped Racener turn calmness into success at increasing his chip stack. He never once over the week-long qualifying period had to put his chips "all-in."

"That shows I did a really good job of building my chip stack up slowly and surely," said Racener whose 19.05 million in chips trails first place Jonathan Duhamel of Quebec by almost 47 million. "That's just the style of my game. I take advantage of certain situations."

A high school athlete, Racener got into poker while attending college at Florida Southern University. He would play games online in between classes and late at night, using a $50 stake provided by his mother.

Within six months, he turned $50 into $30,000.

"She saw that and thought, wow, that was more money than she made in a year," Racener said.

When he turned 21, Racener finished third in his first live poker event in Atlantic City.

Three years later, Racener finds himself on stage in the biggest poker show around.

During the past few months Racener and his poker playing friends in Florida watched taped coverage of the tournament on ESPN and then set up a mock final table, playing out different situations. He's coming in with a strategy, but he knows that could change after the first few hands.

Mizrachi has garnered the bulk of the media attention for the final table, which in some ways, takes the pressure off Racener. All the players, he said, benefit from the attention.

The pair, along with second place John Dolan of Bonita Springs, Fla., means one-third of the final table hails from the Sunshine State.

"I always thought Florida had some of the best poker players in the country," Racener said.

Contact reporter Howard Stutz at hstutz@reviewjournal.com or 702-477-3871.