PCA Retrospective: Dan Shak Reaches Third Final Table in a Row in 2014
After a runner-up finish in 2012 for $846,700 and an eighth-place finish in 2013 for $228,960, the familiar face of Dan Shak returned to the final table for the third year in a row. This time he had done so in a field of 56 entries and found himself leading the final seven players into Day 3.
After a double elimination on the bubble to end Day 2 saw Paul Newey finish one spot outside the money in ninth place and Mike McDonald cash in eighth for $217,320, the group returned the next day to see Ole Schemion bust seventh, Tony Gregg go out sixth, and Matt Glantz finish in fifth. Antonio Esfandiari, who was the prior year's "bubble boy," fell in fourth place and earned $575,920.
In the final trio, Shak was joined by the tough competition of Vanessa Selbst and Fabian Quoss. Despite at one point holding the chip lead over her opponents and looking like she would go on to win, the tides turned for Selbst quickly when Quoss doubled through to to lead knock her to the bottom of the group. Shortly after that, she was all in against Quoss once again, and this time she was eliminated.
Quoss entered heads-up play with about a 2-1 advantage over Shak, soon extended the gap, and there wasn't much Shak could do. Shak was certainly hoping to improve upon his second-place finish from two years prior with a victory, but it would be another bridesmaid result for the semi-professional high-stakes poker player and hedge fund manager. This time around, Shak scored nearly $1.2 million for his result and brought his three-year total in this event from 2012-2014 over $2.25 million.
For Quoss, he banked over $1.6 million and ignited the best year of his poker career. When 2014 was all said and done, Quoss had won over $3.12 million.
The $100,000 Super High Roller in running for the sixth time at PCA. If you enjoyed this look back in time at a prior year of the event, click here to read about the other years from our PCA retrospective series.