2012 World Series of Poker

Event 55: $1,000,000 Big One for One Drop
Day: 1
Event Info

2012 World Series of Poker

Final Results
Winner
Winning Hand
75
Prize
$18,346,673
Event Info
Buy-in
$1,000,000
Prize Pool
$42,666,672
Entries
48
Level Info
Level
22
Blinds
400,000 / 800,000
Ante
100,000

Marchese, the Riddler

Level 8 : 15,000/30,000, 5,000 ante
Tom Marchese
Tom Marchese

We came on a hand in which the board showed {2-Spades}{4-Clubs}{4-Spades}{10-Clubs}{4-Hearts}, Tom Marchese had just fired a river bet, and Ben Lamb was deep in the tank contemplating what to do. At last Lamb folded, and when he inquired of Marchese what he had, Marchese had an excuse for why he couldn't show his hand.

"I would have to give him $1,000," said Marchese, jerking a thumb toward Vivek Rajkumar sitting on his right. When Lamb pressed for details, it sounded like it the pair had made an agreement that if Marchese showed a hand, he'd owe Rajkumar a grand (and not vice-versa).

"I gave him a freeroll," said Marchese. Then he added, "That river was very bad for me."

Nick Schulman leaned forward at that. "Gotta solve a f*ckin' riddle every time... what did you have?!?"

The table laughed at Schulman's exasperation as the next hand began, during which they became aware that Paul Phua had busted in 44th. At that news, Marchese pulled out a small wad of hundreds fastened with rubber bands and tossed it to Lamb, settling yet another side wager.

Not sure exactly what the payment was... perhaps $10K? To those of us watching without much practice handling or wagering such sums, it's a riddle.

Tags: Ben LambTom Marchese