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At the 1982 WSOP Main Event, Jack Straus introduced the phrase “chip and a chair” to the poker lexicon by coming back from just one chip to win the tournament. More than four decades later, Jason Simone is trying to follow in those footsteps.
Simone should’ve had a short stay inside the Borgata Hotel Casino & Spa poker room today on Day 2 of the Fall Poker Open $600 Kickoff. He was down to just 2,000 chips on one of the first hands, less than a small blind. But he kept battling, kept doubling up, and kept knocking out opponents until Simone found himself second in chips going into tomorrow’s final table.
Simone bagged 10,200,000 as the final nine players will return tomorrow at noon local time to compete for the title. He’s trailing only Sebastian Crema, who takes the chip lead into the final table with 15,525,000. Crema made a straight on the river to bust Mukul Pahuja in 18th place, then picked up two aces and got Hamza Azim to call off his last chips with top pair near the final table bubble.
Final Table Chip Counts
| Rank | Player | Country | Chip Count | Big Blinds |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Sebastian Crema | Canada | 15,525,000 | 104 |
| 2 | Jason Simone | United States | 10,200,000 | 68 |
| 3 | James Calderaro | United States | 7,250,000 | 48 |
| 4 | Spyros Malkotsis | United States | 6,925,000 | 46 |
| 5 | Thomas Yarbrough | United States | 4,300,000 | 29 |
| 6 | Jason Nguyen | United States | 3,850,000 | 26 |
| 7 | Rick Zhou | United States | 3,400,000 | 23 |
| 8 | Chadd Beatty | United States | 2,375,000 | 16 |
| 9 | Nicholas Cassese | United States | 2,000,000 | 13 |
Simone’s comeback began when he hit quads to bust an opponent. He won a massive flip for more than 6,000,000 with ace-king against Pahuja’s jacks, then hit a straight to beat Simone Zaino’s two pair for a bustout. In an ironic turn, he spiked a set of queens to crack the aces of Willard Hunt, the same opponent who had left him short early in the day, and send Hunt to the rail in 15th place.
“Roller coaster. It didn’t start off great and just kept in there and got lucky. That’s all I got. It was nice to go from where I was to bagging,” Simone said at the end of the day.
“I mean, it’s a chip and a chair. It’s the definition of a chip and a chair. I had one-sixth of a big blind, and then we wound up as chip leader. Now second on the final table. Any stack can get there. Just keep grinding.”
The finance professional from New York City has spent years watching big final tables on television and hoping to get there himself one day. He’ll have the opportunity tomorrow as the final nine players chase the $163,000 first prize. “I can’t wait. I’ve seen a bunch of these streams. So I’m excited to now be on it. I hope the skill level isn’t too diminished with my presence on there,” he said.
The rest of the final table lineup includes James Calderaro, already a WSOP bracelet winner and WPT champion with more than $6 million in career earnings. Calderaro rounds out the podium with 7,250,000, while Spyros Malkotsis sits in fourth place with 6,925,000 after earning a fortuitous double up with a river ace near the final table bubble. Thomas Yarbrough (4,300,000), Jason Nguyen (3,850,000), Rick Zhou (3,400,000), Chadd Beatty (2,375,000), and Nicholas Cassese (2,000,000) will also return tomorrow.
Day 2 began with 152 players returning out of 1,862 entries. Among the first bustouts were Michael Marder (146th), Vinny Pahuja (137th), Lucas Vergara (119th), BetMGM online qualifier Rishi Mehta (118th), and Brazilian star Rafael Reis (53rd). Justin Arnwine (47th), BetMGM qualifier Joseph Cutler (39th), Yaser Al-Keliddar (37th), Jo Kim (31st), Will Failla (24th), and Bin Weng (22nd) also fell short of the final table.
Final Table Payouts
| Place | Player | Country | Prize |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | $163,000 | ||
| 2 | $110,750 | ||
| 3 | $75,625 | ||
| 4 | $50,225 | ||
| 5 | $34,245 | ||
| 6 | $26,175 | ||
| 7 | $20,325 | ||
| 8 | $16,150 | ||
| 9 | $12,650 |
The remaining nine players have locked up $12,650 out of the $899,200 prize pool. The action will pick up with 10 minutes remaining in Level 29 with blinds of 75,000/150,000 and a 150,000 big blind ante. Levels remain 40 minutes at the final table.
PokerNews will be back tomorrow following all the action at the final table, so be sure to tune in for all the updates.
