Here’s a run though of an incredible knockout punch delivered during the 2008 World Series of Poker tournament. Players at the table include the Russian Akopyan, Hellmuth and others. AK (as I’ll refer to him for short) opens the bet for $16K with a pre-flop hidden hand of 10, 9 off-suit (interesting, no?).
Player Ballande of CarbonPoker peeks at his Ace, Queen off-suit and immediate goes all-in. AK no doubt is wondering at this point if he made such a wise choice to put those initial chips in play on such a sketchy hand.
Hellmuth folds, which is great, we don’t have to hear or even see him much right now. The bet stands at about an additional $66K for AK to call. Bellande currently holds a 63% to 37% statistical advantage on the hand.
A head-shake-inducing quick call from AK follows. You have to wonder why he makes this call. It doesn’t make sense. Even if he feels Ballande is bluffing, which he’s not, the probability that he is beaten by just one higher card is high enough to significantly discourage this type of call on an all-in bet. My guess is AK was smarting from the feeling of being burned and let his emotions get in the way of his common sense. Too late to take it back now. Ballande eagerly flips his cards after the call.
The pot stands at $174,000. Ballande, after seeing what AK called with, makes a comment and then starts shaking in anticipation in his chair. Anyone else would do the same thing, as well as wearing the sizable grin on his face.
The flop is Ace, 2, 8….which puts Ballande at a massive 94% advantage now. Out of the corner of your eye, though, you have to peek at that 8 and wonder if weird things are afoot here. Nevertheless, the flop pulls an expected fist pump and cheer from Ballande.
The turn is a 6. It’s also worth nothing all 4 community cards are of a different suit, so there’s no chance of a flush. The Carbon Poker Pro Ballande was calling for “no jack and no seven” so the six was a welcome sight to him. Still, though, the advantage drops a few percentage points, and the lingering stink of an inside straight rears its ugly head.
The river is…do I even need to say it? Yes, a 7. Ballande rips his hat off and wipes his brow with his sleeve, his plastered grin suddenly replaced with a frustrated, disbelieving frown.
You hate to see that happen. But, as anyone knows, that’s poker.