A life changing hand

News / Matthew Pitt / 16 October 2008 / Leave a comment

At 0328 on Tuesday 15 July, a hand of poker was played at the Rio Hotel in Las Vegas that would change the lives of ten men forever, writes Matthew Pitt.

After seven long days, the 6,844 hopefuls, who had paid $10,000 to play in the 2008 World Series of Poker Main Event, had been whittled down to just ten players. Each of them were guaranteed $591,869 in prize money but all of them were more than aware that making the final nine could mean they were financially secure for life.

For the 2008 Main Event, the decision was made to pause the tournament once there were just nine players remaining in order to promote the WSOP and allow the players to negotiate huge sponsorship deals that could eclipse the prize money on offer. The nine players at the final table would be marketed as the 'November Nine' and would return to Las Vegas on November 9 to play out the rest of the tournament.

None of the players wanted to become famous for "bubbling" the final table, so most pots were won without seeing a flop. However, one hand unfolded that was destined to go all the way.

With the blinds at 120,000/240,000 and a 30,000 running ante, Dean Hamrick went all-in for his entire 3,420,000 stack. Craig Marquis pondered his options for a short period before re-raising all-in himself! The rest of the table quickly folded, knowing this could be the hand that saw them make the final nine.

Marquis was a 72% favourite preflop with his pair of queens against the As Jc of Hamrick. A flop of Kc Th 3d gave Hamrick two extra outs but when another ten, this time of diamonds fell on the turn he would need an ace and only an ace to save his tournament life.

As the king of spades fell on the river, the players at the supporters burst into rapturous support as the November Nine were set. Hamrick took home $591,869 for a week's work but he knows all too well that he could have had a real shot at the $9,119,517 prize for finishing first, an amount of money that will put the winner second in the all-time WSOP money list.

Play resumes on November 9 with play being paused again once the play reaches heads-up. The final two players of the 2008 World Series of Poker will battle it out for the massive monetary prize and the priceless bracelet on November 10.