2010 World Series of Poker

Event #57: $10,000 No-Limit Hold'em Championship
Event Info

2010 World Series of Poker

Final Results
Winner
Winning Hand
aj
Prize
$8,944,310
Event Info
Buy-in
$10,000
Prize Pool
$68,798,600
Entries
7,319
Level Info
Level
41
Blinds
800,000 / 1,600,000
Ante
200,000

No Eyes On Hamadani This Year

This time last year a young man by the name of Kia Hamadani was sitting quietly in the corner of the Amazon Room, minding his own business, during hand-for-hand play of the 2009 World Series of Poker Main Event. Unfortunately for Hamadani, there were three ESPN cameras, twenty poker reporters from various media outlets and 647 other poker players watching his every move.

You see, Hamadani was officially the "short stack" in the entire room as we all watched on, as his miniscule stack was slowly being blinded down, one ante at a time. We heard multiple stories of pocket kings being folded preflop on other tables while Hamadani sat there, praying that there would be a cooler of some description, somewhere, so that he could limp into the money.

It didn't happen, and the media were three-deep when Hamadani was all in for his single ante. He held a monstrous {4-Clubs}{3-Hearts} and was up against the {9-Hearts}{2-Clubs} of Reed Hensel. Running nines on the turn and river gave the pot to Hensel, the bubble burst and Hamadani's worst nightmare had come true. He'd just bubbled the WSOP Main Event.

The one shining light to come out of that day was that Hamadani received some small compensation for his misfortune, as the WSOP and sponsor Jacks Links offered to provide the entry for Hamadani into the 2010 WSOP Main Event.

Fast-forward twelve months and we're at that very moment once again. Are eyes on Hamadani this time? Well not exactly. In fact, it took us a while to recognize him. Perhaps it was because we're not used to seeing him with a mountain of chips! He has roughly 540,000 in front of him, and you'd think he would be pretty safe to avoid the same fate again this year. But then again, stranger things have happened!

Hopefully a deep cash is on the cards for Hamadani who is making the most of his second chance. He's experienced the very lowest point that poker imparts on a player, and is now well on his way to experiencing one of the highs.

Tags: Kia Hamadani