Scott Seiver, who got his 2022 World Series of Poker off to a great start by winning of the WSOP's early events for his fourth career gold bracelet, saw his fortune turn harshly the other way over the weekend in the preliminary eight-player "flips" that served as qualifiers into the second stage of the unique GGPoker-sponsored "Flip & Go" event. While American Christopher Chatman won his first-ever bracelet and $187,770 by taking down the event Monday night, it was Seiver's bizarre tough-luck story that stole most of the headlines and interest.
Seiver, who cashed for $320,059 in his Event #3 triumph, saw a healthy piece of those winnings sliced away when he went an amazing 0-43 in the eight-player flips that brought each winner a seat into the actual event, while already locking up a min-cash in those events as well. It was a riches-to-rags-and-rags-and-rags-and-many-more-rags experience for Seiver, who at $1,000 a flip, spent $43,000 for nothing at all before giving up on the whole adventure.
The odds on losing 43 times in a row, given random distribution of the winning hands, is greater than 310 to 1. That's in roughly the same range as being dealt a suited Big Slick (ace-king) in any single specific hand, which checks in at about 330 to 1.
The kicker to the tale, however, is that it takes a rare and tenacious pro to be able to fire 43 consecutive $1,000 bullets in such a situation. It's the new, if unofficial, record for futility in the flip-&-go event. Last year, an unnamed Japanese pro tried 21 flips but came up empty each time, while American pro David Williams was widely rumored to have gone 19 straight flips without a winner. Seiver's total exceeded both of those other tough runs combined.
'Flip' portion of event used Pineapple twist
It's not true that the "flip" sit-n-gos that the event used as qualifiers into the money are run in pure Texas hold'em style. More accurately, they're dealt as a form of Pineapple, in which each player is dealt three down cards rather than two. The three-card flop is dealt, and then the skill element comes into play, as each player chooses one discard. Which two cards to keep can be an unusual decision, as players who hit the flop heavily ride those cards, while less fortunate players search for a combination that might connect for a weird backdoor straight or miracle trips.
In Seiver's tough-run case, it didn't matter at all. When Ryan Riess asked Seiver on Twitter how many times he'd have won if he'd pitched different cards, Seiver simply replied, "0 lol." That's how some days run, straight to the bottom.
Don't feel too bad for the newly-minted four-time bracelet winner, however. Seiver was back in action on Monday, entering Event #28, the $50,000 Pot-Limit Omaha High Roller. Seiver finished the day in third spot, as 36 players survived from 106 initial entries. Seiver tossed just a brief note on his latest turnaround to his followers on Twitter:
Featured image source: Haley Hintze
