Contrary to popular belief, not all NBA players will be bored stiff during an NBA lockout. Sure some may go overseas to play hoops, some may play in pro-am leagues, but others might just play cards. That’s right cards…and Texas Hold ‘Em Poker to be exact. For the last few days Celtics star Paul Pierce has been the center of attention at the Main Event $10,000 buy-in tournament at the World Series of Poker in Las Vegas. Not only because of his celebrity athlete status, but also because he was making waves in the tournament going very deep into Day 2 and outlasting more than 5,000 other players before finally being eliminated.
ESPN had this on Pierce’s Elimination yesterday:
With only 20 minutes to go in Level 9, Paul Pierce made his exit from the WSOP main event. The NBA All-Star had been the attention of all at the secondary feature table, even players like Dennis Phillips who asked him for an autograph during play. Pierce played a patient game, but seemed to get active after dinner and would ultimately find himself in a rough spot with 2-2 all-in preflop against the J-J of Allan Vrooman. The board ran clean for Vroonman (K-8-5-4-K) and Pierce stood up from his chair, grabbed his backpack and walked out the door with spectators and players giving him a round of applause as they announced his departure.
Pierce spent a total of 17 hours and 40 minutes in action and outlasted more than half of the field of 2,031 that began on Day 2A.
