Every year at the World Series of Poker, there are a few players deemed “amateurs” who defy the odds and make their runs toward history. There was the young accountant with the unlikely name of Chris Moneymaker in 2003; in 2006, it was an unknown Hollywood talent agent named Jamie Gold; and, in 2007, it was an unknown Jerry Yang who bashed his way to the title. Thomas Sarrawas looking to be the 2014 Cinderella story. He finished in 15th place for $441,000.

In 27th place with his 3.005 million stack as Day Six of the 2014 WSOP Main Event began, Sarra was looking to make his first tournament cash a huge one. It started for him upon walking into the Rio for Day 1C, which would turn out to be the largest Main Event starting field in history. Among the 3,768 hopefuls that started that day, Sarra seemed like one of the longest shots in the field, but would eventually emerge as the fifth largest stack (168,100) from the Day 1C festivities.

Even though he was in such a lofty perch for Day 2C, Sarra would find some tough sledding in finishing the day with 198,400 in chips. He had been able to find his groove over the next few days of action, finishing Day 3 with 477,500 in chips, Day 4 with 649,000, and Day 5 with his 3+ million stack.

The road to the November Nine, however, got tougher for Sarra, especially with the competition he faced at his table. Two members of the Top Ten for Day 6 – Bruno Politano(5.475 million) and Dan KingDanSmith (5.36 million) – were awaiting him, with Smith two seats to his left. Sarra also had to contend with Bryan Devonshire (3.83 million), who was on the button when Sarra was in the big blind.