Clement Tripodi came into the Day 7 of the 2013 World Series of Poker Main Event in the upper half of the leaderboard, sitting in 12th place with a 7.135 million-chip stack. Whether he emerged from the day’s play as a member of the next November Nine class or not, he still made more from the 2013 WSOP Main Event than he has in his entire live tournament poker career.

Hailing from Montesson, France, Tripodi only cashed in one other event prior to his deep run in Las Vegas. He was a part of the International Stadiums Poker Tour’s (ISPT) inaugural tournament on the grounds of Wembley Stadium in London, United Kingdom, at the end of May 2013. Finishing in 269th place in that unique tournament, Tripodi took down €755 for his efforts to earn his first ever tournament poker cash.

Tripodi had been hovering around the top of the leaderboard for it seems the entirety of the 2013 WSOP Main Event. He was the chip leader after Day 1B, topping such names as Dan “jungleman” Cates, Annette Annette_15Obrestad, Cliff JohnnyBax Josephy, and even the legendary Doyle Brunson.

While many expected Tripodi to melt down amidst the heat of the major tournament spotlight, he has instead thrived under the spotlight.

Tripodi was able to reach his tournament apex in a key hand on Day 6 that resulted in Tripodi eliminating Dan Owen from the tournament. After Owen moved all-in under the gun, Tripodi looked him up out of the cutoff. Once the cards were tabled, Tripodi’s pocket queens were crushing Owen’s Q-J offsuit, but, as always, there has to be a bit of a sweat at the WSOP. The A-K-7 flop brought a potential Broadway straight draw, but, after the turn and river blanked off, Tripodi had secured the knockout of Owen and moved over the seven million-chip mark to become a contender for taking down the Main Event title.

However, it wasn’t meant to be, as Tripodi was eliminated in 23rd place for $285,000.