Fielder Takes a Beat, Shakes it Off
Jeff Fielder open-shoved for 69,000 from middle position, and Mark Sykes immediately called all in for 53,500 next door. The rest of the table folded out of the way, and Sykes was heads up for his tournament life.
He was in a bad spot. Fielder opened up his , and Sykes' was dominated and drawing slim. The flop brought him a bit of light as it came to add another four outs to the straight. Sykes was not feeling it, though, and he slid his chair out and began to put his shoes back on his feet as the blank hit the turn.
River: ! "There's one," Josh Brikis said from across the table. Sykes could not believe it, sitting back down and apologizing for the suckout.
"Hey, don't ever be sorry at the table," Fielder turned to converse with him. "We're here to gamble. It's called poker. It's not called winning. Don't worry about it at all. Nice hand. I appreciate the gesture, but there's no need to be sorry."
Brikis commented that he loved the attitude from Fielder, and indeed it was refreshing to hear some genuine humility from a poker player. We'll see how long he lasts now, though; Fielder is left with just 15,500 chips after doubling Sykes up over 100,000.