JJ Hazan was keen to get his dwindling stack into the middle for a double-through, exhorting the table to give him some action. “Blow me up,” he requested rather strangely, no one seemingly keen to explore what this would entail.
He did, however, get some action, picking up his small stack of chips and dumping it over the line when it was folded to him in the small blind. James O’Brien made the call and tabled Kh 2c, ahead of JJ’s Js 3s.
The board ran out Kc 5c 6d Jd 5h, and that was JJ Hazan’s day done. His frenemy from earlier, Abdullah Alshanti, cheered heartily in mock celebration. “Look at that ***t!” said Hazan in jest pointing at the K-2.
But his tournament was over. Alshanti offered to buy him a drink to show no hard feelings. “I don’t need it, I’m high on life” said JJ. He shuffled off to the cash desk to collect his €2,970 payout.