Where could a poker player not make what might be the most important call of his poker career? As you probably predicted, the answer is… only at the World Series of Poker. A year ago, it was the 2019 WSOP Main Event and Dario Sammartino took on young hopeful Nick Marchington in a hand that will likely never be forgotten.

With just 11 players left in the 2019 WSOP Main Event, there was a lot of money at stake. That long into the world’s longest poker tournament, each pay jump is brutal. With just one player needing to bust to bring the final 10 players to the same table (albeit the unofficial table since nine is fine for the WSOP Main Event), Dario Sammartino was faced with an all-in from Nick Marchington.

The background to the hand warrants explanation, with Marchington very much the young pup looking to bark at the ankles of the big dog. Marchington three-bet all-in for a massive 22.2 million over the top of a fairly modest opening bet to 1.7 million from Sammartino. Sammartino doesn’t know the amount that Marchington is all-in for, however, so asks the dealer.

The answer comes: 17 million.