LAS VEGAS -- Greg "Fossilman" Raymer won the 35th annual World Series of Poker tournament Friday, winning a head-to-head showdown on the final hand worth $5 million.

Raymer, 39, battled with David Anthony Williams, a college student from Dallas, for the top prize. Both had full houses on the final hand, but Raymer had eights over twos, while Williams had fours over twos. Williams earned $3.5 million for his second place finish.

"I played well but I was the luckiest," Raymer said before embracing a mountain of cash that has become tradition at the conclusion of the world series.

Raymer had built up a monstrous stack of chips during the tournament's finale, making him the chip leader when he began the final table at Binion's Horseshoe Hotel & Casino. He then went to work toppling six of his eight competitors using solid pairs and hands of three tens and three queens.

It didn't take Raymer long to overpower Williams when the two played against each other. Raymer had a stack worth $17.1 million compared to the $8.2 million owned by Williams.

Raymer was crowned poker king about seven hours after play started at the final table. He had no idea how he planned to spend the prize money.

"I'm going to have to figure it out as I go," he told a crowd of spectators.

Williams, 23, was responsible for knocking out two other players, including a former World Series of Poker champion.

By mid-evening, the field was whittled down to three -- the college student, "Fossilman" and a 29-year-old professional poker player from Atlanta. The game is No-Limit Texas Hold'Em, in which a player can risk all his chips with every draw of a card, guaranteeing high-stakes action and big losers.

The final table of the wildly popular poker tournament got underway at the downtown casino about 1:30 p.m., after players spent six days battling each other for a chance to be crowned poker king and take home the $5 million first-place prize.

Friday's nine-person final saw unprecedented action as players repeatedly moved in all their chips, trying to gain the upper hand. But the players were little match for Raymer's enormous pile of chips, which he wielded like a schoolyard bully.

The first to fall was Mike McLain, 39, of Lemoore, Calif. Minutes later, Mattias Andersson, a 24-year-old Swede and the only foreigner in the final, also was knocked out by Raymer, whose nickname comes from his hobby of collecting fossils.

McClain and Andersson went home with $470,400 and $575,000, respectively.

It was then Williams' turn to be the poker slayer. He was the youngest player at the table and used a full house to send home Matt Dean, 25, of Woodlands, Texas. One of four 20-somethings at the final table, Dean finished in seventh place with a $675,000 prize.

Raymer then went to work on Al Krux, a professional poker player from New York state, and Glenn Hughes, a 38-year-old married father of two from Scottsdale, Ariz. Krux left with $800,000, while Hughes walked away with $1.1 million.

The last to leave before a dinner break Friday was 1995 World Series of Poker Champion Dan Harrington, who earned a $1.5 million prize. Williams, the college student, used a second, improbable full house to take out Harrington.

Harrington's fourth-place finish falls just short of his third-place showing last year.

It was the 2003 tournament that forever changed the world of poker when an accountant named Chris Moneymaker won the event after first qualifying in an online tournament.

Moneymaker was knocked out May 22 -- the first day of the tournament, which saw a recorded 2,576 entrants.