Eighty-Five Year Old Wins World Series Of Poker Seat

Richard Lornier won a seat to the World Series of Poker main event at a ripe young age of eighty-five.

What does an eighty-five year old poker player do when he has played blackjack all his life and only recently discovered the game of Texas Hold’em? In the case of Richard Lornier, he wins a seat to the most prestigious poker tournament in the world.

Richard Lornier, a Carnegie, Pennsylvania resident, won a $125 buy-in tournament at the Meadows Racetrack & Casino, and his prize was a seat in the World Series of Poker main event in 2011. In addition to the seat, Lornier also won $2,000 in spending cash for his trip to Vegas.

Despite the massive win, Lornier says he may sell the seat instead of traveling to Las Vegas. He claims that his favorite  game is blackjack, but he could have fooled the players who competed against him in the Meadows event.

When asked about his big win, Lornier acknowledged that he was concerned that he could not handle the grind of a WSOP main event that requires players to stay on the tables for upwards of ten hours a day.

“There’s a lot of people who would like to have it because it could be worth millions of dollars,” said Lornier, speaking of his WSOP main event seat. “To go by myself, I feel like I’d be lost because I can’t see too good, my hearing’s bad, and it would be tough for me.”

Meadows has confirmed that they would honor Lornier’s seat in the main event even if he was to sell the seat and the accommodations. Lornier has only played in two tournaments since 2003.