The Truth Rejected from 2011 WSOP Main Event

donpeters

Paul Pierce's run in the 2011 World Series of Poker Main Event has come to an end. We're unsure if Allan Vrooman plays much basketball, but he just rejected one of the greatest players in the game on this hand.

Action folded to Vrooman and he raised to 3,000. Pierce reraised all in for approximately 18,000. When play folded back to Vrooman, he made the call and the cards were tabled as the production crew rushed to the scene.

Vrooman: {J-Diamonds} {J-Clubs}
Pierce: {2-Diamonds} {2-Clubs}

Pierce was in bad shape, but every pro athlete knows how to respond with their back against the wall. Unfortunately, there's not much you can do, but run let the cards out in poker sometimes.

The crowd swarmed the secondary feature table area and the ESPN cameras rolled to get the action. Pierce's number is 34, but he was looking to hit a deuce on this one to stay alive. Just a simple jump shot, right? All Pierce needed to do was get to the elbow and the game would be his as it has been so many times in his career.

The flop came down {K-Diamonds} {8-Spades} {5-Clubs} and Vrooman's defense was pretty good so far. The turn brought the {4-Hearts} and now it was do or die on the last shot. "Deuce! Deeeuuuccce! DDDeeeeeeuuuucccceeeee!" yelled the spectators and some others in the tournament area close by rooting for Pierce. Pierce was all smiles as the river card was prepared.

The final shot went up, but when it came down it was nothing but a brick with the {K-Spades} for Pierce. He was eliminated form the 2011 WSOP Main Event to a giant round of applause from the entire room.

It's not so often that an NBA superstar makes his way to the WSOP felt and Pierce performed very well in his first trip to the Main Event. Back in 2001, Shaquille O'Neal said about Pierce, "Paul Pierce is the (expletive) truth. Quote me on that and don't take nothing out. I knew he could play, but I didn't know he could play like this. Paul Pierce is the truth." Some of the players in this event may be feeling the same way about his poker game as O'Neal did about his basketball skills. Hopefully, we'll see him in many more WSOP events down the road along with many other high-profile athletes.