Kevin Schaffel talks about his pocket aces
The odds of getting dealt pocket aces are 220 to 1. But Kevin Schaffel was blessed with the best starting hand in poker twice within an hour.
It was one time too many.
Schaffel’s aces were cracked Saturday in the World Series of Poker by Eric Buchman’s four kings, knocking out the Coral Springs resident in eighth place in Las Vegas.
Schaffel, 51, isn’t cursing the fates, although when he went all-in with his pocket rockets he was an 80 percent favorite.
“You might as well get used to it because if you keep playing you’re going to have these kind of beats,” he said Tuesday. “It was still a phenomenal experience. Not just good. Phenomenal.”
His tough-luck elimination also has elicited plenty of sympathy, because poker players love bad beat stories.
“There is no training manual on how to make that long walk to the rail, but if you need an example of how to do it proudly, you can look to Kevin Schaffel,” says Brad Willis, of PokerStars.net.
Now Schaffel says he’s going to get some rest, play some golf and get ready to pay more poker.
“I’ll be back,” he said. “Absolutely.”
NICK SORTAL began playing 3-card "gut" and "Indian poker" on high school band trips, moved on to "night baseball" and "pass the trash" during a Dr. Pepper-infused midnight game in the 1980s at the St. Louis Globe-Democrat, and now play in a regular neighborhood Hold 'Em game in Plantation. I have been given the assignment of writing about the gambling life in South Florida casinos for the Sun-Sentinel...which means sitting around watching poker on TV now counts as research.
