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Last night spectators were a witness to a serious meltdown by a great player and there was nothing he could have done to stop it anymore that the winner, Brock Parker, could have played differently to make a different outcome. This one was truly in the hands of the Poker Gods.

Daniel Negreanu began the final table as the chip leader in the Six Handed, Limit Hold'em Event #14 of the 2009 WSOP. As the hours passed and the field dwindled, he was in the lead most of the time with some shifts from time to time but while watching, you always had the feeling that he was in control. Being a Limit tourney, dramatic plays were seldom and skill and finesse were the order of the day with all the players on top of their game......of course the top of the game for some is not the same as for others but that said, they all played well.

When the play got to heads up, the first part was pretty routine with Brock and Daniel winning pots and the stacks going up and down. Brock Parker proved to be a very, very good player and has online stats to back it up. Daniel always seemed to be in control and just played masterfully.

After a while the wheels started to come off for Daniel. There was nothing that could be done. He had to play the hands he was dealt.....on a hand that he had QQ and dominated, the board produced a straight and the pot was split. When he played his AJ against the J4 of Brock, the 4 fell and he lost. In the last few hands, Daniel's opponent had an A in almost every hand and every flop/board had an A. Daniel had JJ.......no cigar, an A came and Brock had one in his hand. The shame was that each time Daniel got a piece of the flop and bet/called. His stack started to drop like a rock....it was really painful to watch...It ended this way and the only good thing was it ended quickly.

After it was over and both men were interviewed, Daniel was clearly upset and knew he had received some bad breaks and he said he had gotten lucky early in the tourney to get that far and had many coin flips go his way. It is no secret that luck is a factor and this was Limit.

In his exit interview, the soft spoken, Brock, said he had played well and was "running good" which had to be the understatement of the week. There is no doubt that this guy will be around for a while. He had a great table presence, never flustered and showed little emotion.....he did a great job and Congratulations to Brock Parker.......he played great and won over a great Champion of the game.

For the viewing audience and aspiring players everywhere, there is an important lesson to be learned here.......you can be the very best and be in the best position....but on any day or as in this case, in any half hour...the Spirits of the Poker World can have their way with you.....while you can avoid some situations in the early going......in the late stages of tourney, especially in Limit, there are times when the outcome is out of your control

For a fan, the ability to watch these final tables is a gift. While to some it is like watching paint dry, to many of us to watch every hand for hour after hour is a truly wonderful experience.