Unbelievable Hands from 2012 WSOP

This summer, I spent about two and half weeks at the World Series of Poker (WSOP), once again chasing the dream of capturing a coveted gold bracelet. (By the way, congratulations to some of my friends on tour who won their first bracelet this summer including Chris Tryba, Ronnie Bardah, David “ODB” Baker, Brent Hanks, Ylon Schwartz and Andy Bloch). During my 2012 journey, I played in several bracelet events and a couple of mega-satellites, witnessing hundreds and hundreds of hands.

Most hands were fairly uneventful and straightforward, while others were pretty amazing (for example, two quads in one hand; pocket kings, queens, jacks dealt all in the same hand; three players all being dealt ace-king). However, then there were a few hands that were truly unbelievable that I wanted to share with you.

Flopping the Stone Cold Nuts:

The odds of flopping a straight-flush in no-limit hold’em is an astronomical 1 in 72,193. Having played on the tour for almost eight years, I have personally never done this or even seen this in person (I have actually only had two straight flushes on tour, one on the turn and the other on the river). However, I saw a hand this summer that was even more remarkable during a mega-satellite.

With blinds at 50 -100, an early-position player raised to 300. After a mid-position player and the button called, I did as well from the big blind with holding 6 5.

The dealer flopped K Q 10. After everyone checked it around, the dealer turned the 8. After I checked, the original preflop raiser checked as well. However, the mid-position player made a bet of 400. After the button folded, I tossed my hand into the muck, but the original raiser decided to call. Finally, the dealer revealed the 4 on the river. This time, the original raiser fired out a 500 chip, but his opponent did not bite and folded.

As the dealer was pushing him the pot, the original raiser couldn’t help himself as he had to show his hand, flipping over A J for a flopped royal flush! After everyone at the table oohed and aahed, I wondered what were the odds of this happening.

Answer: 1 in 649,740

Truly unbelievable!

Playing scared with Pocket Aces:

In no-limit hold’em, you get dealt pocket aces about one in every 220 hands. As the common saying goes, “With pocket aces, you either win a small pot or lose a big one.” However, you still should be pretty excited every time you are dealt “American Airlines” and need to take advantage of this good fortune. Nevertheless, the following player could only image monsters under the bed and just wanted to take the pot down.

During a $1,500 bracelet event with blinds 25-25 (the $1,000 and $1,500 WSOP bracelet events start with this blind level), I was sitting on the button with pocket sixes. After a mid-position player raised to 100 and the player immediately after him called, I was planning on calling and seeing a flop.

Suddenly, the cutoff player looked down at his hand and appeared as if he would reraise. He definitely did and then some. After a moment, he shockingly pushed his entire stack (about 4,500 chips) into the middle and declared, “All-in!” Of course, I mucked my small pocket pair and the remaining players followed suit, as all of us were slightly shaking our heads in disbelief. After the dealer pushed him this “huge” pot, he tossed over his A A and said, “I did not want any of you to catch up.” Well, I guess that is one way to prevent it from happening.

And of course, not wanting to tap the aquarium, I told the player, “Nice hand.”
Would Fold Aces, But Snap Call with Queens:

I really can’t fully understand the thought process of this player so I guess I will just describe the situation.

During a $1,500 no-limit event this summer, I had an awful first level. Losing several pots, my chip stack slowly dwindled down, while the big blow was when my A-Q was out flopped by the big blind’s Q-7 on a Q-7-3 board. After this particular hand, I was down to about 925 chips.

Shortly thereafter, during the 25-50 blind level, a mid-position player raised to 125. After several players folded, the button smooth called. When I looked down at 10 10 in the small blind, I felt this might be my opportunity to double up. Thus, I chose to reraise to 325, hoping one of the other players would shove all-in.

Almost on cue, the mid-position player pushed a big stack of chips into the middle. As I prepared to call, the button surprisingly pushed all-in.

Now, my hand did not look as good. However, being short stacked and desperately needing a triple up, I decided to toss in my remaining chips and flipped over my hand.

However, a couple of players jumped and told me to wait. Suddenly I realized that the mid-position player had not pushed all-in. Since the button had pushed in more chips, the mid-position player still had to call the button.

So I quickly covered up my cards.

The mid-position player asked what my cards were, but the button said that he had not seen the cards so it would not matter. Nevertheless, the mid-position player was slightly adamant to know what they were. After this exchange, I was thinking maybe the mid-position player had a marginal hand in which I was ahead.

After a few more moments, he finally decided to call.

Unfortunately, the button flipped over K K. And the mid-position player flipped over…A A.

WHAT?!?!?

What did it matter what my cards were? What rationale would there be not to snap call?

Anyway, poker karma has a funny way of playing out. The flop came 9 6 3, but the 10 on the turn put me into the lead. The 9 on the river sealed my triple up and put me back into the hunt.

After everyone barraged him with questions on why he needed to see my cards, he tried to justify his action by saying that he would have folded his pocket aces if I had more chips because it was early in the tournament. However, he was not calling me as I had less chips than him, but he was calling the button, who had a fairly large stack.

Later, the same player demonstrated how ridiculous his action and explanation were during the 75-150 blind level.

With about 3,500 chips, I looked down at K K in early position. After raising to 425, all the mid-position players folded. However, the same opponent chose to reraise me to 1,150 from the cutoff seat. After the button and blinds mucked, I shoved all-in and he snap-called, turning over…Q Q.

Now, his earlier rationale made no sense. Previously, he said he would have folded aces if I had a bigger stack, but this time, when I did have more chips, he immediately called with queens.

Please everyone learn a lesson from this ridiculous player: I realize that we all make mistakes and say silly things. However, if you make a foolish decision or play, just own up to it. Don’t try to justify a bad play with illogical rationale because you will just demonstrate later how bad it was.

Well, another memorable summer at the 2012 WSOP has come and gone. I love this time of year and I can’t wait until next summer. And as I always say at the end of my radio show…

May you always go in with the best hand…And may you never get unlucky. ♠

Bernard Lee is the co-host of ESPN Inside Deal, weekly poker columnist for the Boston Herald, ESPN.com, author of “The Final Table, Volume I and II” and radio host of “The Bernard Lee Poker Show,” which can be found on RoundersRadio.com or via podcast on iTunes. Follow Bernard Lee on Twitter: @BernardLeePoker or visit him at www.BernardLeePoker.com.