Category: Cards

World Series of Poker winner jumps on table to celebrate near $1 million jackpot, first gold bracelet

$966,000 large ones.

Mike Jukich was so overcome with joy after his World Series of Poker win that he jumped on the table of the main stage. That’s what a jackpot of nearly $1 million will do.

Jukich earned his victory in the $1,500 Monster Stack, Event No. 21 of the 2022 World Series of Poker, after opponent Mateusz Moolhuizen went all-in on a pocket king and queen of clubs. With a high-card ace, Jukich claimed his first gold bracelet and a total of $966,577.

He was the last man standing out of a field that started with 6,501 entries.

Warning: NSFW Language 

In case you didn’t get a good look at it, here’s a freeze frame.

Jukich’s excitement comes with good reason. He’d apparently been chasing this moment since losing his chip lead and finishing 12th in 2013.

“So, what’s haunted me before was in 2013 I think I was chip leader with 12 left in a $1,500 event and $720,000 up top and I ended up getting 12th and was devastated,” Jukich said in a PokerGo press release. “So I didn’t get in the Thunderdome, didn’t mark it off the bucket list of making a WSOP final table, none of that. I was super disappointed. I just never really ran good any summer I was out here until I finally had a deep run in the Main Event after the 12th-place finish. But yeah, I was pumped this year.”

As the runner-up, Moolhuizen took home $597,362. Third-place finisher Francis Anderson won $449,912.

[listicle id=1911923]

[mm-video type=video id=01g5m2pg62j6j2b07bv4 playlist_id=none player_id=none image=https://images2.minutemediacdn.com/image/upload/video/thumbnail/mmplus/01g5m2pg62j6j2b07bv4/01g5m2pg62j6j2b07bv4-2c5646264c1c0edf9ee4aad7bae6157a.jpg]

Daniel Negreanu and Phil Ivey were involved in a wild $311K 3-way poker hand with a stunning ending

What. A. Hand.

The 2022 World Series of Poker is fast approaching, and hopefully we’ll get a hand like we saw on Monday’s High Stakes Poker soon enough.

This one involved Daniel Negreanu, Phil Ivey and Patrik Antonius. As always, we’ll dive in and break it down: There were four players before the flop, but what you need to know is Negreanu had a pair of 9s, Ivey had King-10 and Antonius had a pair of 5s.

The flop was 5-9-10. WOW. All three bet and Ivey called.

Another 10 showed up on the turn, giving Ivey three of a kind. But that gave a full house to both Negreanu and Antonius, with Daniel having the top hand. Antonius checked, Negreanu bet $26K, Ivey called and Antonius called.

The river? A Queen. There were checks until Negreanu bet $54K. Ivey smartly tossed his hand away. Antonius then went ALL IN.

And Negreanu, despite having the better hand, folded. WOW.

What a hand!

[listicle id=1315190]

Phil Hellmuth ignites poker world with controversial move that he says wasn’t a fold

This was totally a fold.

This may come as no surprise to those of you who know about Phil Hellmuth and his various controversial moments, but he’s involved in another controversy.

This time, it involves something known as “angle-shooting,” which I’ve described as the poker equivalent of balking in baseball — basically, if you make a move like you’re going to fold your cards and you’re not folding? That’s not OK, because then your opponents may react a certain way when they assume you’re folding.

Here’s the situation: During a live-stream of a no-limit Hold ‘Em game, Hellmuth had Ace-9 offsuit with an Ace on the board, and his opponent — a poker streamer known as “Slime” had Ace-6. Slime moved all-in, and Hellmuth let out a, “[Expletive], I just have no idea what to do here.”

That’s when he appeared to slide his covered cards toward the middle of the table. Most people — everyone? — would assume this was a fold.

It was not. And Slime turned his cards over. (WARNING: NSFW language ahead)

This is angle-shooting, in my opinion. Hellmuth should give this guy the money he won. And others agreed:

Hellmuth responded:

He should definitely give this guy something back.

[listicle id=1315190]

See the intense, monster 2021 World Series of Poker Main Event hand that won Koray Aldemir $8 million

What a hand, what a win!

Through all the wild hands, bad beats and some very wild moments, we have a 2021 World Series of Poker Main Event winner.

Koray Aldemir beat George Holmes to win a gold bracelet and a cool $8 million.

So how did he ultimately do it? The hand that won the whole thing was intense and pretty incredible.

Aldemir was ahead of Holmes in chips with over 205M to 194M. Aldemir was dealt 10-7 of diamonds, Holmes got King-Queen offsuit. Holmes raised to 6 million and Aldemir called.

The flop was a big one for Aldemir: A 10-2-7. He flopped two pair and Holmes might have felt pretty good thinking there wasn’t much that was dangerous on the board. Aldemir checked and Holmes bet 6 million again.

So how do you play this? Show too much strength and Holmes will fold. Aldemir raised to 19 million and Holmes called.

The turn was the nail in the coffin: A King. Hooooo boy. Holmes had what he thought was the top pair there … but little did he know that his hand was weaker.

Aldemir came out firing with 36.5 million, Holmes called.

The river was a 9 of clubs. Holmes was probably relieved it wasn’t another heart that would represent a possible flush for Aldemir, but maybe he wondered if there was a straight.

Aldemir checked … and Holmes went all in. Aldemir called AND HE’S A MAIN EVENT CHAMPION!

Whew, what a hand!

[mm-video type=video id=01fmqasqmth730w6nwh3 playlist_id=none player_id=none image=https://images2.minutemediacdn.com/image/upload/video/thumbnail/mmplus/01fmqasqmth730w6nwh3/01fmqasqmth730w6nwh3-51f350b9e80f42998b8a0965a24063d4.jpg]

[listicle id=1226180]

The World Series of Poker Main Event final table leader won 136.5 million chips in wild hand

Whoa what a hand!

If Koray Aldemir wins the 2021 World Series of Poker Main Event — he’s the chip leader heading into Wednesday night with three players, Jack Oliver and George Holmes are the others — he can look back on this hand as a huge reason why.

He’s currently at 264.6 million chips, far ahead of Oliver (77.3M) and Holmes (57.4). At the time of this hand, he had nearly 140 million.

Alejandro Lococo was dealt a pair of 10s and raised to 2 million. Aldemir had a pair of 9s and three-bet to 5.6 million, which Lococo called.

The flop? Two Jacks … and a 9. He flopped a full house! Lococo checked, and Aldemir decided to bet 3.9 million. Not a huge bet, but a small enough one to entice Lococo to throw in some money with two pair. Lococo called.

An 8 on the turn gave Lococo a straight draw, and he checked again. Aldemir threw in 11.4 million which got called.

The river? A harmless 3. Lococo with one more check … and Aldemir put him all in, which Lococo called. OOF.

Lococo was out and Aldemir is going into Wednesday night with a HUGE lead.

[listicle id=1226180]

A horrible had beat came at the worst time during 2021 World Series of Poker Main Event final table

Oh no, this is brutal.

And then, there were three.

Just a trio of players — Koray Aldemir, Jack Oliver and George Holmes — are left at the final table of the 2021 World Series of Poker Main Event. And although Joshua Remitio finished fourth (don’t be TOO sad, he ended up with $2.3 million for his efforts), this hand is an all-timer that he may not forget.

With five players left at the table, Ozgur Seclimis — who was involved in a quads beating quads hand earlier in the tournament — and his 40 million-plus chips got dealt pocket Kings. Remitio had 16.1 million, which meant he needed to make a move at some point. He got the 10-9 of diamonds, a decent spot to make that move. Seclimis raised to 2.4 million … and Remitio went all in.

Check out that flop …

Two 10s!! THE CROWD GOES WILD! Seclimis lost and would eventually end up in fifth place, taking home $1.8 million.

We’ll see who wins the whole thing soon enough.

[listicle id=1226180]

A World Series of Poker Main Event player won the most ridiculous hand on a dangerous bluff

WOW.

We’ve seen an intense hand from the 2021 World Series of Poker Main Event, a bad beat … and now we’ve got ourselves a memorable one that involves one of the riskiest bluffs I’ve ever seen.

This involves Nicholas Rigby and Ronald Jensen. Rigby had nearly 10 million in chips and Jensen had just over 5 million.

Jensen raised to 325,000 chips with a pair of Kings … and Rigby RAISED AGAIN with a 3-2 offsuit.

Now, let’s pause. I had to look this up, because why would Rigby do that with such a weak hand?

Per Poker News, that’s a combo he loves to play because the hand known in his native Pittsburgh as the “Dirty Diaper” is a thing for him: “Rigby’s friend continued to explain that they play the 3-2 game in Pittsburgh like others play the 7-2 game, where everyone at the table must ship a chip to a player who wins a hand with 7-2. In their case, the bounty is on for when a player takes down a pot with the 3-2.”

OK, fine, but why do it in The Main Event? And he played it earlier in the tournament!! Whatever! Onward!

Jensen raises again to 2.1M and Rigby calls.

The flop? It’s close to perfect: Ace-4-4. It gives Rigby a straight draw, but Jensen must immediately wonder if Rigby is holding an Ace, which would doom his pair of Kings. Jensen checks and Rigby bets 3.01M.

After considering it, Jensen folds and Rigby triumphantly showed his absurdly bad hand!

IT WORKED! Rigby didn’t end up winning it all but he took home $136,100 for his efforts in the Main Event. And that hand helped.

[listicle id=1226180]

A World Series of Poker Main Event player with quads suffers a horrible bad beat … against quads

This is brutal.

OH NOOOO.

If you know what the headline is all about, you already know this is going to be one of the more painful hands you’ll ever see.

If you don’t? I’ll walk you through it.

Chang Liu and Ugur Secilmis were on the bubble of making it into the guaranteed money portion of the 2021 World Series of Poker Main Event. Liu started off with a pair of 4s and Secilmis had a pair of 6s.

Others were in the hand initially, but all you need to know is both of them called an 11,500-chip bet to see the flop … which was 6-4-4. OH MY. Liu ended up with four of a kind, or quads. Seclimis had three of a kind. Yet EVERYONE CHECKED. You can’t blame Liu for trying to slow play here.

The turn? A 6. An epic disaster to say the least — Seclimis then had a BETTER quads than Liu. Eventually, Seclimis put in Liu all-in, who called … and saw the bad beat.

Liu went home without any money, but he played it all the right way!

[listicle id=1226180]

Chris Moneymaker won an intense, huge World Series of Poker Main Event hand, is among chip leaders

Could he win AGAIN?

It was 18 years ago that Chris Moneymaker took home the 2003 World Series of Poker Main Event bracelet and effectively changed the game as someone who went from online player to champion.

And as of Friday morning, he might be making ANOTHER run.

OK, it’s a little premature to say that. But Moneymaker and a bunch of other players remaining are in the money … and the ex-champ is among the chip leaders.

Part of that is due to a HUGE hand on Thursday. Moneymaker and Bryan Reyes went head to head with two monster hands: Reyes had a pair of Kings and Moneymaker had Aces. The two went back and forth with a four-bet before the flop that Reyes called.

The flop was Queen-6-6. Reyes checked, Moneymaker bet 25,000 and Reyes called. The turn was a 5, and the same thing happened: A check, and this time Moneymaker bet 65,000.

Reyes took a while … AND WENT ALL IN.

Now: This is a TOUGH call for Moneymaker. The way Reyes bet pre-flop indicated strength in a big way — either Kings … or Queens. And if it was Queens, Moneymaker’s Aces would lose.

But Moneymaker — who had over 313K in chips — called the 203K bet, Reyes cursed, and Moneymaker won:

As of Friday morning, he’s 12th in chips with 1,432,000. And the wild thing is he almost didn’t play the Main Event! Per Poker News:

Three months ago, Moneymaker announced on Twitter that he would skip the series altogether due to COVID-19 concerns. He worried that he could potentially bring the virus back to his family in Mississippi even though he’s vaccinated. The former Main Event winner told PokerNews at the time that he expected that he’d be exposed to the virus in the crowded Rio, which forced him to make a tough decision.

Over the past few weeks, Moneymaker began to tease the idea of competing in the Main Event due to the vaccination requirement at the WSOP. But he hadn’t announced his official decision to play publicly until Monday.

We’ll see if this keeps up.

[vertical-gallery id=1028959]

Phil Hellmuth dresses as Gandalf in his latest World Series of Poker Main Event entrance stunt

Another year, another costume.

Phil Hellmuth is a poker legend, and aside from the foul-mouthed rants he’s known for, there’s another signature of his in recent years: An over-the-top costumed entrance into the World Series of Poker Main Event.

He’s been Thor, he’s been a boxer, a general … and this year? He walked into the Main Event dressed as Gandalf the wizard from Lord of the Rings.

You can see the footage below, along with a compilation of so many of these grand entrances. We’ll see if he can back up the spectacle at the table!

Here’s the, er, magical moment from this week:

And the compilation:

Wild.

[vertical-gallery id=1028959]