Ryan Lenaghan - 2011 WSOP Poker Player Profile
Ryan Lenaghan entered Day 7 of the 2011 World Series of Poker Main Event as the chip leader at 12.87 million. The poker player from Mobile, Alabama now living in New Orleans is a graduate of the Southeastern Conference powerhouse Louisiana State University, where he majored in General Studies. He recorded his first in the money finish during the 2011 WSOP in the Main Event. Lenaghan was the only player to pass the 10 million mark heading into Day 7 and stood ahead of Ben Benba Lamb’s chip stack of 9.98 million.
Lenaghan ultimately landed in 16th place in the 2011 WSOP Main Event and cashed for $378,000.
In February 2011, Lenaghan final tabled the $1,600 No Limit Hold’em Main Event of the WSOP Circuit stop in West Palm Beach, Florida for $53,000, a tournament that eventually saw John Riordan come out on top for $210,000.
According to the Hendon Mob database, his first in the money finish in a major live tournament came in 2006 in the WSOP Circuit Main Event in Tunica, Mississippi. In the Southern casino, Lenaghan finished in eighth place and banked $28,000.
He had been playing poker for two years prior to this year’s Main Event, a true testament to the up-and-coming players of the game.
On Day 6 of the 2011 WSOP Main Event, Lenaghan 6bet all-in before the flop with pocket jacks and was met with a call from Bryan Follain, who held A-Q. Lenaghan’s hooks held on for the win and he skyrocketed up the leaderboard in one of the largest pots of the WSOP Main Event to that point.
On the jacks versus A-Q hand, Lenaghan told Bluff Magazine, “I definitely wasn’t trying to flip for that many chips. It was just a spot where I thought he could have a lot of hands and try to make a play on me because of our history, so I just went with it. It worked out well and I just got a little lucky, I guess.”
Also on Day 6, Lenaghan came out on the winning end of a race with A-Q against the pocket nines of Amanda manderbutt Musumeci. Lenaghan was behind against Musumeci when the flop came ten-high, but a queen on the turn vaulted him into the lead, where he remained for good.
The bearded Lenaghan was 1,916th on Bluff/ESPN’s Power Rankings heading into the 2011 WSOP and surely solidified a name for himself in the poker world despite falling short of the 2011 WSOP November Nine this year.
