Metro

‘Straight’ to the top

Sometimes you have to let the chips fall where they may.

Former Bear Stearns honcho Steve Begleiter — who helped engineer JPMorgan’s takeover of his Wall Street investment firm last summer — was devastated after the 2008 collapse of the only company he had ever worked for.

“I’d been there for 25 years and it was really unfortunate. I didn’t know what I was going to do next,” Begleiter, 47, said.

But the former Wall Street managing director soon learned that unemployment can do wonders for your poker skills.

On Saturday, the Chappaqua resident will be one of nine finalists who beat out 6,494 poker players to take a seat at the final table in the Main Event of the World Series of Poker in Las Vegas.

Begleiter is already guaranteed at least $1.25 million in the high-stakes Texas Hold ‘Em tournament. If his luck holds, he’ll hit the jackpot of $8.5 million — and the potential to win millions more in sponsorship deals.

He’s an unlikely card shark.

“I never played that much,” Begleiter said. “Bridge was the big game at Bear [Stearns] and there were some prominent card players there, but I only played socially and I wasn’t known as a poker player.”

In 2006, Begleiter’s neighbor, a buddy he met when he was a student at Haverford College in Pennsylvania, organized a poker night in his basement. Every three weeks, 21 men and one woman would head downstairs for a friendly, low-stakes game around two tables. On a big night, the winner would take home $500.

Begleiter was one of the better players on the suburban basement circuit.

But when he decided on a lark to buy into a $2,000 poker competition while visiting Las Vegas in 2006, he “had his head handed to him.” By his own admission, he bluffed too often, folded too late, and was quickly shown the door.

“I realized I didn’t know what I was doing,” he said.

He came home determined to perfect his poker face.

“I wasn’t getting any action when I had a big hand because it was clear to my opponents what I had,” he said.

He became “obsessed” about his game, polishing his skills at Foxwoods Casino in Connecticut.

Last year, he used his Chappaqua league winnings to buy into the World Series of Poker.

“The close of the Bear [Stearns] deal was June 1 of last year and I was thinking about what to do next. I said, ‘What the hell, I’m going to go to Vegas,’ ” he said. He was eliminated after three days, with 1,100 players still left in the tournament out of an original 6,800 entrants.

“My goal was to get in a position where one bad beat doesn’t knock you out,” he said. “I’m still not one of those guys sitting with bricks of $100 bills in front of me. The most I ever lost in one trip was $5,000.”

Competing in the World Series this past July, Begleiter followed a strict regimen. Every morning, he ran four miles and lifted weights. Breakfast never varied: He ate two eggs and a bowl of fruit before heading to the poker table. Every day, he snacked on Odwalla energy bars.

“I lost seven pounds in a week,” said Begleiter. “But when you’re on a streak, you have to respect the streak until circumstances dictate that you change.”

He faces the big showdown next Saturday, when he will play at the same table as Phil Ivey, widely considered the best player in the world.

“I’m concerned about all of the players,” said Begleiter. “Anyone who makes it to the final nine knows how to play the game.”

For now, he’s just trying to rest and relax.

“I sleep in as late as possible,” he said. “I don’t set an alarm clock anymore. The tournament starts at noon and we could be playing until after midnight. I’m playing with guys in their 20s and I have to be up to snuff and well conditioned.”

He’s also been making routine trips to Foxwoods to practice.

Begleiter’s poker buddies from Chappaqua plan to head west to cheer him on next weekend. They’re especially thrilled since he gave the group 20 percent of his $1.25 million winnings.

His former pals at Bear Sterns — where he served on the management and compensation committee amid its demise — also can’t believe his luck.

“There’s overwhelming excitement from my former colleagues at Bear Stearns,” he said. “There’s shared pride in what we were, and a lot of them are coming out to Vegas to watch. They never thought it would be me in a poker tournament.”

akarni@nypost.com