by Craig Cunningham

Johan Backfjard started the day strong at $137,700, but by the time play went round by round, he was sitting on around $12,500. With blinds at $1k/2k with $300 antes, any pot would help him revive his fortunes and give him a chance to climb back into contention. Lose a pot, and Johan might very well leave out of the money, forfeiting $14,957.



In the small blind, Johan had a raiser in front of him and looked down at pocket queens. He struggled for at least three minutes, trying to decide if he wanted to risk that much cash. He was tortured, and ultimately he mucked the hand.


With the button, there were no callers to him when he again looked down at pocket queens. If he moved and was called, he could get knocked out if either blind called. Normally, both of these hands are no-brainers, but this was a special situation. He flipped his glasses up to his head, again his face strained under the immense stress that he was under. Ultimately, he moved all-in and looked away. The small blind folded immediately, but the big blind sat and pondered the move for probably a minute. He finally fired his cards into the muck, and Johan stacked the chips. He walked away from the table, now guaranteed cashing in the Main Event. Ten minutes later, the announcement came that indeed fourteen players had busted in the last round, and Johan's decisions had given him at least the $14,957 payout. He'll have to double through a few times now to move up.