If you are simply evaluating him based on past results, Zvi Stern was one of the least likely late chip leaders deep in the 2015 World Series of Poker Main Event. The Israeli had just two live cashes on his resume as shown on TheHendonMob.com: a 34th place finish at the 2015 PokerStars Caribbean Adventure High Roller Eight-Handed event and a 63rd place finish in the 2008 WSOP $1,500 Limit Hold’em Shootout, a combined total of under $50,000.

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But there he was a bit after 6:00pm Pacific on Day 6 holding 14.3 million chips, 2.5 million more than the nearest competitor. He looked the part, too, complete with requisite hoodie, sunglasses, and facial scruff. He looked every bit as much Unabomber as did Phil Laak when he received his nickname.

One of Stern’s most important hands of Day 6 came during the late afternoon. According to the WSOP.com play-by-play, Chad Power raised to 150,000 pre-flop and Stern called. On the flop of Kd-6s-Ac, Power bet 175,000 and Stern again called.

After the turn 6d, Power again led out, this time for 555,000, and just as before, Stern called to bring on the river 9s. Power continued to stay aggressive, betting 1.775 million, but this time Stern had other ideas. He immediately moved all-in for about 8.45 million. Power thought about it, but decided to fold, giving Stern the huge pot and the chip lead.

It seemed that much of Stern’s Day 6 was spent getting hit in the face with the deck, but not everyone can take advantage of that like he had. He also extracted over a million chips from Thomas Paul when his pocket jacks turned into runner-runner flush. He did slow down when the fourth diamond was dealt on the river, but when Paul mucked after seeing the jacks, Stern still saw his stack grow to over 14 million chips.

He entered the 2015 WSOP November Nine in second place.

Image courtesy WSOP