William Pappaconstantinou

William Pappaconstantinou was born on September 28, 1984, in Lowell, Massachusetts. The son of a professional golfer, he was introduced to foosball (table football) by his parents, who played regularly. He began playing competitively in 2003 and quickly rose to prominence. Pappas won the Tornado format Men's Singles ITSF World Championship in 2005, 2006, 2009, and 2013, and also claimed the Men's Singles Tornado Champions title in 2009 and 2011. He has been ranked among the best Tornado table football players in the world since the age of 20, often partnering with Tony Spredeman and Glen Murray for doubles matches. Known for his signature green Yoshi cap—a reference to the video game Super Smash Bros.—he became a fixture in the foosball community.

To support his foosball dreams, Pappas worked as a poker dealer at the Rockingham Park Poker Room in Salem, New Hampshire. Poker started as a relaxing hobby, and his first live tournament cashes came in 2010 at the World Poker Finals at Foxwoods: a 69th-place finish for $1,038 and an eighth-place finish for $15,342. His largest cash before the 2014 WSOP was a fifth-place finish in a $580 no-limit hold'em reentry event at the 2013 WSOP Circuit Palm Beach Kennel Club, earning $52,372.

Pappas entered the 2014 World Series of Poker Main Event on Day 1b and doubled his starting stack to 68,775. By Day 2 he had 104,900, and after a strong Day 4 he bagged 757,000. On Day 5, a pivotal hand saw him move all-in under the gun with 4♠4♣ for 425,000; after multiple callers and a raise, the flop came 10♥4♦9♦ to give him a set, and he eliminated two opponents to surge to 3.37 million, 24th out of the remaining 79 players. He later described his feelings: "I'm in shock. I never thought I'd play in this event. It's been my dream, and I've been saying 'this year' or 'next year' for like 10 years, just to play in an event, period. Now I get to play this, and I've never expected this at all."

Pappas entered the 2014 WSOP November Nine as the sixth-largest chip stack with 17,500,000. Betting odds gave him a +1000 line (a $100 bet would win $1,000 if he won). The final table included chip leader Jorryt van Hoof, Felix Stephensen, Mark Newhouse, and others. Ultimately, Pappas was eliminated in fifth place, earning $2,143,794. This was his only WSOP cash, and he has not won a WSOP bracelet. The result made him a poker sensation, especially given his background as a foosball champion. As of 2016, his live tournament winnings exceed $2,150,000.

Despite the life-changing score, Pappas remained grounded. In a 2015 interview, he discussed how the money didn't dramatically alter his lifestyle: he continued playing foosball and remained active in the poker community. He is known by the nickname "Bony Fish" and his distinctive Yoshi cap. His journey from foosball world champion to WSOP Main Event finalist remains one of poker's most unique stories. Pappas has not recorded any other major poker results since 2014, but his run at the November Nine cemented his place in both foosball and poker history.