2016 WSOP Finalist: Cliff "JohnnyBax" Josephy

On October 30th, Cliff Josephy returns to the WSOP Main Event final table with many viewing him as the player most likely to take down the most coveted title in tournament history, as well as its $8 million first place prize. It’s not simply due to the fact Josephy is the chip leader, though, but more importantly that the 2-times WSOP bracelet winner has far more experience than any of the other players seated at the final table.
At 50-years of age, Josephy is at least 11 years older than the next oldest November Nine player, with the veteran pro having been ranked online poker’s best player as far back as 2005. Amongst the long list of accomplishments Josephy has achieved over the years is amassing $2,641,620 in live career earnings, as well as a further $4,120,232 playing online tournaments under the screen name JohnnyBax.
In addition to being an accomplished pro, Cliff Josephy is also widely recognized as one of poker’s best teachers, with the pro continuing to offer top class instruction via the website he founded, PokerXFactor.com. Analysis and instruction would also appear to be in his DNA, having worked as a New York analyst stock broker in 2003 before turning his considerable talents towards poker. As Josephy explained to pokernews recently:
“I got some training from some very bright people and soon I began to understand the reasons behind the different stock moves. I learned how to analyze stocks and I essentially became an analyst. I did a lot of business with a lot of the different hedge funds in New York, and then, one day, I fell in love with poker.”
Cliff “JohnnyBax” Josephy subsequently found instant success in his new career of choice, and throughout his time as a pro has also been able to spot winners, with his backing of such players as 2008 November Niner Ylon Schwartz, and 2009 WSOP ME champion Joe Cada having paid handsomely.
Now, the family man with three children is on the cusp of taking down the biggest prize in poker tournament himself, and as he explains:
“This is the greatest. This is my own accomplishment. This was the dream. The dream isn’t to have a piece of somebody at the final table or to win it. But the dream is to win it myself.”
Final Table Chip Counts:
1: Cliff Josephy – 75,000,000
2: Qui Nguyen – 68,075,000
3: Gordon Vayo – 50,450,000
4: Kenny Hallaert – 43,325,000
5: Michael Ruane – 29,800,000
6: Vojtech Ruzicka – 27,450,000
7: Griffin Benger – 26,175,000
8: Jerry Wong – 10,325,000
9: Fernando Pons – 6,225,000