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In Event #39 of the 2009 World Series of Poker (WSOP), a $1,500 buy-in No Limit Hold’em tournament, PocketFiver Ray WirdPair Foley (pictured at right) ripped through a field of 2,715 players en route to a $657,000 payday. It marked one of the largest cashes by a member of the online poker community to date during the 2009 Las Vegas tournament series. To end the event, Foley knocked off WSOP bracelet winner Brandon Cantu in a final table that also featured PocketFiver Alex alexjacob Jacob. Foley made deep runs in $2,000 buy-in No Limit Hold’em tournaments in 2005, 2006, and 2008, finishing 22nd, 15th, and 21st, respectively, for a combined $74,000. He sat down with PocketFives.com shortly after his bracelet win to share his story.

PocketFives.com: Tell us how you qualified for the 2009 WSOP.

Foley: We hold a 30-man league where we send nine players each year to the $2,000 buy-in event. I’ve qualified four of the five years we’ve done it. Three of the years I went, I cashed. This year, I got bounced in fifth level of the $2,000 buy-in event. I played in a Grand Poker Series tournament at the Golden Nugget, finished fourth for $2,500, and figured I might as well go play in the $1,500 buy-in tournament at the WSOP. It’s all still very surreal.

PocketFives.com: Can you talk about playing alongside Brandon Cantu (pictured at right) and Alex Jacob?

Foley: I got super lucky with my seat draw. I had Alex Jacob on my immediate right and Brandon Cantu two to my right, so I was able to get from the final nine to the final three or four pretty risk-free. I opened very few pots and 3bet very little. When they both folded, I opened about 70% of the time. I was certainly conscious of whether they were in or out of a pot.

PocketFives.com: You’re a 37 year-old Chrysler Financial employee. Did being older than several other players at the table factor into the win?

Foley: I don’t feel old. A lot of people think I’m younger than I am because I wear a hat when I play. I have some guys who are my age that I talk with, but I also have guys who are 25 that are good online players that I discuss strategy with. I never thought about it as me being older.

PocketFives.com: How did you get started in poker?

Foley: I’ve been playing since I was a kid. My dad got me into a game called Banker’s Broker. We started playing that with my brother when I was five and then I played kitchen table poker with my friends. The movie “Rounders” made me aware of Hold’em and then Chris Moneymaker’s win prompted me to put money online.

PocketFives.com: Can you talk a little bit about what you enjoy playing online?

Foley: Even before my WSOP bracelet win, I was contemplating playing full-time online and the decision is still up in the air. I started grinding the 45-man $26 tournaments. I played 600 of them over four months and had a 30% ROI. I moved up to the $69 tournaments a month ago and have been breaking even, but I think that’s because of variance. I haven’t been playing too many multi-table tournaments, but in March, I won the $28,000 Guaranteed on Full Tilt Poker for $6,600. That might have been the first MTT I played since New Years.

PocketFives.com: You’re from Northfield, Michigan. Can you talk about some of the poker talent coming out of the Great Lakes area?

Foley: There’s more talent in Chicago and Detroit than is portrayed. I sat next to Mohsin chicagocards1 Charania, who is from Chicago. Kevin BeL0WaB0Ve Saul is from there, too. There’s a lot of talent in the middle of the country.

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* The 5th Annual PocketFives WSOP Party will be held tonight, July 1st, from 7:00-10:00 p.m. at New York New York Casino - Las Vegas, in the Staten Island Ball Room.  All our readers are invited to attend and enjoy free cheeseburgers, hot dogs, New York Cheesecake and soft drinks courtesy of PocketFives (there will be a separate cash bar for alcoholic drinks).  For more information, read the P5s Party Thread in our Poker Discussion Forum.

Relive the entire 2009 WSOP and watch the Main Event unfold on PocketFivesLive.com.