While Jason James’ stack had dwindled over the course of the last hour or so, with 400,000 chips he was still plenty dangerous. “Take a picture of me when my heart breaks,” he said, a big smile on his face. He had just been called on his preflop shove, with his pocket queens facing off against his opponent’s sixes.

He may have been joking at the time, but little did he know, he was dead on: it was heartbreak time.

The hand had started out with an 80,000 chip bet from Weldon Ward in late position. Jason shoved over top for his remaining stack. At first it looked less like a way to double up than as a way to protect his big blind which, now at 40,000, was not an insignificant sum. But Jason had queens, and he was way ahead.

Unfortunately, as if he had known what was coming, the board came down in the exact worst way, making his opponent’s set of sixes on the river. Jason was a good sport though, laughing it off. Weldon catapulted into the chip lead with that score, and Jason’s 26th place finish netted him $2,000. Better luck next time!

Play continues…