Sindelar never gets comfortable, finishes seventh at WSOP Main Event

11 November 2014

By Aaron Todd

Most of the time, when you've been in a profession for almost a decade, you've had enough experiences to be prepared for just about anything.

That doesn't apply, however, to professional poker players who play under the lights of the ESPN stage as a member of the November Nine.

Dan Sindelar never got comfortable at the 2014 World Series of Poker final table and exited in seventh place, winning more than $1.2 million.

"All the delays and commercial (breaks) that we were going through, it was really tough for me to get focused and get in the zone," said Sindelar. "I kind of had a hard time adjusting to that."

Sindelar, a 30-year-old poker pro originally from Nebraska, was continually frustrated as he was three-bet when he opened pots, and was four-bet all in when he three-bet.

"I don't know if they had it, but I had a pretty good feeling that they did," he said."

He finally got a chance to take a stand when he four-bet shoved with pocket jacks and was called by Jorryt Van Hoof, who had three-bet with A-3 of hearts. Things looked good for Sindelar, until the flop; Van Hoof flopped the world, hitting his ace as well as the nut flush draw. Sindelar was drawing to just the jack of spades, and when it didn't come, his tournament was over.

Regardless, the score is Sindelar's largest by far; his previous best was $105,312 for winning the $1,080 championship event at the 2007 Fall Poker Classic at Canterbury Park in Shakopee, Minn. In fact, Sindelar's Main Event cash now makes up 78.6 percent of his live tournament earnings.

"It's one of the best moments of my life," Sindelar said of the experience. "Hopefully I can come back again next year and make another deep run."