"I've Bubbled Worse..."
With the remaining 118 players standing in anticipation of the next elimination, which would officially burst out money bubble and guarantee the survivors a WSOP cash for their ten hours of hard labor, we just watched an all-in hand worthy of the ESPN cameras.
Dean Hamrick, a WSOP bracelet winner with over a million dollars in live cashes to his credit, shoved his last 14,000 or so chips forward in a highly unexpected development, as he could easily have folded his way to the cash. As Hamrick told his tablemates, however, he has bubbled in bigger spots before during his decorated poker career.
As the man with the ignominious distinction of having been the first player to bubble the "November Nine," Hamrick showed no fear in a situation that would buckle the knees of most amateurs. Holding , Hamrick moved all-in before the flop, telling the table and assembled onlookers "well, we're either going on break or I'm going home, better pack up my stuff either way."
Sitting on one of the largest stacks in the room, fellow pro Keven Stammen elected to look Hamrick up with his , and the two stood to watch the dealer fan the flop, one which likely meant much more to others in the room desperately trying to ride their short stacks to a min-cash.
While the classic aces vs. kings situation so common in Hold'em is fairly straightforward, with only two outs separating the victor from the vanquished, both players knew that Pot-Limit Omaha was not so simple.
Flop:
Hamrick had survived the first three board cards, even finding a flush draw to solidify his position, but the on the turn changed things entirely.
Stammen now held an open-ended straight draw, adding outs to his arsenal, but the on the river was not one of them. Hamrick retook his seat with more ammunition to make a final table run, while Stammen was left shaking his head at having been left on the short end of this cooler situation.
Player | Chips | Progress |
---|---|---|
Keven Stammen |
103,000
-19,000
|
-19,000 |
|
||
Dean Hamrick |
32,500
32,500
|
32,500 |
|