The Chinese whale relayed through his translator that he would like the gentleman in Seat 4 to double his rebuy¹, another $10k. Worried looks crossed the table among the eight pros, myself included. This was the second time the whale had relayed this message.

When I say poker people might imagine players sitting next to bricks of cash at a final table on television. The stakes were high but often not as high as it appeared — at least for the pros. Professional poker players with few exceptions have been staked, swapped, cross-booked or sold action. In a $10,000 buy-in tournament, like the World Series of Poker (WSOP) main event, even a successful¹ pro might swap or sell action to diversify or hedge risk.