“I don’t think there were any tighter players than me in the whole Main Event,” Tommy said. “I threw away, pre-flop, cards like AK and QQ. It might look stupid to you, but I was so motivated to pass the bubble, that when that moment came, I felt like I'd won the bracelet and 8,000,000 million dollars. It was one of the happiest moments of my life.”
Once he made it in the money, everything else was icing on the cake. He played as tight as possible to make it as deep as possible – finally getting dealt pocket Kings.
Going up against Ace-Jack wasn't exactly his dream hand, but he had the edge. Bang – Ace on the flop. It was a climatic end to a fairy-tale run for the Brit living in Rhodes. With a 486 place finish and a $19,500 pay-out, his 1 cent investment sure paid off.