$150 NLH $50,000 GTD (Day 2): There's Always One In The Crowd, Allen Stern With The "Chip And A Chair" Miracle Story

$150 No Limit Hold'em

$50,000 GTD

Level 19 (Blinds 5,000/10,000/10,000)

Total Entries: 754

Players Remaining: 54

Allen Stern (Boca Raton, FL) looked to be in line for a stone bubble performance, but is still alive in the field, with now (52) players remaining.

The good old "chip and a chair" story goes way back in the tournament poker community, so it's no longer "as much" of a surprise when it happens...but when it does, it is pretty special.  When play was on the money bubble, Allen Stern (Boca Raton, FL) lost two critical hands, which took a large chunk of his stack.  During the seventeenth hand of hand-for-hand play, Stern would be left with just enough to post his big blind (and big blind ante).  After it folded around to the small blind, he'd put enough to put Stern all-in (it was only another 3,000 chips), with Stern making the call.  Allen was behind with his 8♣ 5♠, but the 8♠ 8♥ 8♦ flop changed that (flopping four-of-a-kind), as his table mates would actually cheer his good fortune.  

From that moment, Stern has trended in the right direction, and turned the 14,000 chip stack into 140,000.  While he still sits with just over ten big blinds, it must feel like heaps to Allen, who was extremely lucky just to reach the money.

Allen Stern - 140,000 (14bb)