Chip and a Chair

1. A saying meant to designate the notion that "it's never over until it's over" in a poker tournament; even with one chip, a player can come back to win.

Origin

According to a story from The Biggest Game in Town, the term originated as the result of a tournament Jack Strauss won after thinking he had been eliminated when, in fact, he still had one chip left.

Chip and a Chair Story

Chip and a chair stories aren't far removed from bad beat stories at this juncture in poker history--everyone has one, no one cares about anyone else's.

Still, Poker Terms contributor Shane Schleger will be happy to tell anyone who will listen about his own chip and a chair story from the $300 rebuy event at the LAPC in 2006:

Having been crippled to 700 chips with the blinds at 400/800/100 with more than a hundred players left, he mounted an improbable comeback to ultimately win the entire tournament for a first prize of more than $200,000.