Nate Silver’s great run at the World Series of Poker has come to an end.
More than 10,000 contestants vied to win the biggest poker tournament of the year — a new record — and by Wednesday Silver had made it into the final hundred.
Silver, the founder of Five Thirty Eight, had been issuing periodic updates on his poker exploits as he continued to advance in the tournament.
Shortly before his exit, he had even doubled up his chip stack, reaching over 5 million in chips, as his ace-jack hand prevailed over ace-10.
However, his good fortune was about to run out.
Silver held a pair of sixes while table-mate Henry Chan had pocket sevens.
The flop came: 6-7-2.
Therefore, Silver and Chan each held a set, with Chan’s being the far dominant position.
As Silver went all-in for 5,165,000 chips, he had just a 4 percent chance of winning the hand, as there was only one card in the deck that could plausibly save him on the turn or river — the remaining six.
Silver, a wizard of odds, knew immediately that he was facing a steep uphill climb, as he recoiled back with a look of anguish on his face when he saw Chan’s cards.
The two last cards, a queen and a three, were inconsequential.
“Just made a huge, correct preflop all in call in the prior hand,” Silver tweeted after he busted out.
“Thought I was gonna go from 2.5m to 11m in two hands maybe having to fade some flush outs. Instead busto. Used my ‘one time’ too and the case 6 didn’t come. F–king poker. 87th for 93k. Still so much fun.”
After winning the hand, Chan became the tournament’s chip leader at over 11 million.
Things weren’t all bad for Silver — he finished in 87th place and took home $92,600 in prize money, a nice little profit from his $10,000 entry fee.