LAS VEGAS - Poker faces cracked into grins Friday as the field at the World Series of Poker main event narrowed to those who will take home a minimum of $19,000.
After a tense day of play, just 648 gamblers - the top 10 percent who get a payout - were left. Cheers went up and men in sweatpants jumped on their chairs as the final player was sent home empty-handed.
That unlucky gambler was Farzad Bonyadi, an Iranian pro who has played in the world series for more than 20 years, winning three bracelets.
"It's so disappointing,' he said, adding that he never would have entered had he known he would be knocked out so close to the money. "It takes it out of you.'
Bonyadi was having a great run when he decided instead to go all in. Cameras zoomed in on his face as his ace and jack lost to an ace and queen.
Tournament officials awarded a stunned Bonyadi free entry into next year's $10,000 buy-in, no-limit Texas Hold `em main event.
His loss ended an unusually hushed afternoon at the Super Bowl of gambling.
Servers walked among tables offering Red Bull to preoccupied players who watched countdown clocks on the walls.
Gamblers with shorter stacks of chips played cautiously and took full minutes to think about their cards while others at the table stared hard and clacked their chips against each other.
A monitor chastised Josh Prager, of northern California, for hassling a slow player. Prager wanted to get in as many pre-money hands as possible.
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