FiveThirtyEight founder Nate Silver was no stranger to seeing a long shot come in, and that’s exactly what he found himself rooting for on day six of the $10,000 fund. World Series of Poker The main event.
The 45-year-old political forecaster, statistician and journalist had already outpaced nearly 10,000 other players in the year’s most prestigious tournament, and had a strong streak with just ten tables remaining when disaster struck.
“I thought I’d go from 2,500,000 to 11,000,000 in my hands, maybe I’ll have to fade some streams,” Silver wrote on Twitter. “Rather penniless.”
Silver was sitting at the featured PokerGO table when he looked down at his pocket six. Henry Chan raised it to 250,000 with the blind at 60,000 to 120,000, and Silver made the call. WPT Commentator Tony Dunst also called out of the big blind, and saw all three players flip the 7
6
2.
Dunst and Chan checked, and Silver bet 330,000 with his middle group. Dunst folded, raising Chan to 1,400,000. Looking at the board with a heavy draw, Silver chose to move right then and there, only for the bad news to come out through an early call.
Chan had pocket sevens for a better range, leaving the silver graphic for just one on deck. According to the card player Poker Odds Calculator Silver had only a four percent chance of coming from behind.
Silver tried the “one time”, hoping for a single outside suction, but this time the odds were right as the dealer completed the board with a Q
and 3
.
Silver finished 87th overall, at $92,600.
You can watch the hand below, courtesy of PokerGO.
brutal end to
NateSilver538</a> who goes set under set against Henry Chan to be eliminated from the 2023 <a href="https://twitter.com/WSOP?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">WSOP The main event.Watch the live broadcast here: pic.twitter.com/yQWAYTSrMF
– PokerGO (PokerGO) July 13, 2023
Despite the coldness, Silver said he was still having fun. It was his sixth cash out of the series this summer, which included deep runs in a secret $10,000 bonus event and a 1,500 Monster Stack.
His best finish came in the $10,000 Limit Hold’em Championship of 2021, where he finished second for $151,842. The Michigan native now has nearly $800,000 in professional tournament earnings.
Silver used to be a professional poker player for a few years before working as a baseball analyst. The longtime poker enthusiast maintained his position as Editor-in-Chief at FiveThiryEight until May this year.
Visit the Card Player 2023 World Series of Poker page for schedules, news, interviews and the latest event results. WSOP Sponsored coverage Global Poker.
