Bidding adieu to the bubble

Just before 8:15pm, in a quick series of all-in bets and bust outs, the big projection screen in the middle of the room changed ever so slightly. Only one number had changed, but the difference meant $11,600 to every player in the room.

81.

It was simultaneously a place so far away from the big money and a precarious edge between something and nothing.


If there was an actual rail in the room instead of a row of chairs and tense security gaurds, it would've been crushed. In a tournament that has had its share of looky-loos, this moment was the first where a single hand was going to mean the difference for everybody in the room.

At 8:15, Tournament Director Mike Ward told the room they would be playing one hand at a time. At 8:16 the room fell into some odd realm of complete chaos and complete control. At 8:17 I noticed Maurice Hawkins' seat was empty. Curiously empty. I'd been watching Hawkins primarily because, as nice as he is, he's rarely not talking and when he's talking, you can usually hear it acoss the room. Now, though, his seat was open. His small stack of chips was there, but he was gone, baby, gone.

I found him sitting near the rail.

"Not playing, Maurice?" I said.

"Nope. Aces aren't going to cost me $11,000," he said plainly.



As I walked away, Maurice stole one of a thousand looks he would take at the projection screen. The look said everything: one more to go, and it ain't going to be Maurice.

By 8:26, I happened upon the first all-in bet that would've made the bettor the bubble boy. It came from none other than Greg Raymer, all in with AK. Daniel Negreanu called with AQ. A king on the flop and a king on the turn made the queen on the river all the more funny. Raymer, in a desperate attempt to rebuild his depleted stack, doubled up and crippled Negreanu.

Keep in mind, Negreanu has cashed big several times in the past year, and bubbling for a loss of $11,600 wasn't going to be a very big deal for him financially. Still, he maintained a keen interest on each table every time there was an all-in bet.

At 8:41, this guy pushed in the rest of his very short stack on the button. The BB had more than $100,000 in chips in his stack and only had to call about $3000 more. Every player in the room crowded around the table. The BB thought for about a minute then mucked, sending Negreanu into a cackling fit that really should've been recorded.

From a table away, I heard the dealer say, "All in and a call."


I made it to the edge of the table and found that a guy had called for the rest of his stack with AJ. He had to be happy to see his opponent's K9, until the board turned simply dreadful. The opponent, turned hero when he paired his king. The news spread like a gasoline fire and cheers rose up from the crowd.


David aka pecale, the man who killed bubble boy

***

There was only one unhappy person in the entire room. I wish I gotten his name. I wish I'd gotten his picture in focus. I wish there wasn't such a thing as a bubble. It's like watching a sick puppy get sicker. It's just sad.


Bubble boy, we hardly knew thee

At least he can say he got his chips in with the best hand.

Now, there are 62 players left. The concept of bubbling is gone. Every remaining player goes home with more than the buy-in.

Except bubble boy.

If you're out there, bubble boy, I'm sorry. While I had nothing to do with the hand, I hate that it had to be documented for everyone to see.

Well, sort of.