Five of the Craziest Poker Hands from WSOP Main Event Day 1
There's no denying that the hand everyone is talking about from early in the 2017 World Series of Poker Main Event is Vanessa Selbst running a full house into the quads of Gaelle Baumann. If you missed it, you can catch the full recap (with video) here.
Still, bad beats, coolers, and one-outers have been happening with regularity throughout the Rio as the Main Event played host to three starting days. It can be a hard pill to swallow busting in such fashion during the early levels of the most anticipated tournament on the poker schedule.
We rummaged through the PokerNews Live Reporting Blog and picked out five crazy poker hands from the Day 1 to give you a taste of what's been happening out in the field.
1. "The Craziest Shit I've Ever Seen in My Life"
From the PokerNews Live Reporting Team:
Some awesome moments can be created at a poker table. A hand that just went down in the Brasilia room is a pure testament.
Erich Maumann opened to 1,300 from early position. One seat over, Alex Louro three-bet, making it 5,000. The action then folded to Eric Berger in late position and he cold-four-bet to 12,000. It folded back around to Maumann, who five-bet to 25,000. Louro wasn't done, either, six-bet jamming all in for about 32,000. Berger hadn't seen enough, so he seven-bet shoved over top for about 64,000, and Maumann, not wanting to miss out on the party, snap-called, having less.
Maumann: A♥A♠
Berger: A♣A♦
Louro: K♠K♦
An unreal collection of hands was displayed across the table, and Louro was in trouble.
The flop came 10♥J♥Q♥, giving Maumann a flush draw. The draw was completed when the 9♥ fell on the turn, surely giving him a lock on the hand.
His opponents were only drawing to a chop, which they had only one out and hope of hitting, the eight of hearts.
The dealer patted the table and swept out the 8♥, completing a straight flush on board.
All three pulled back their chips as the table, and surrounding crowd, were stunned at the ridiculous outcome.
"That was the craziest shit I've ever seen in my life," yelled one of the tablemates.
2. Royal Versus Quads: Laurence Grondin Claims the Crown
From the PokerNews Live Reporting Team:
Eric Baldwin opened from under the gun and picked up three callers including Laurence Grondin in the big blind.
The flop was 10♦2♠K♦and Grondin led out, picking up just one caller in Baldwin.
The turn was the Q♦ and Grondin bet again and Baldwin called once more.
The river was the 2♣ and a bet from Grondin saw a raise from Baldwin and then Grondin moved all in.
Baldwin was given pause for thought. He had more chips than Grondin, but if he called and lost, he would be left a lot shorter than the start of the hand.
In the end, Baldwin felt he could not fold and he called, That’s when the cards were turned over and the table, apart from the two players involved, went nuts.
Grondin : A♦J♦
Baldwin: 2♥2♦
“Royal versus quads,” the cry went up as players and cameramen and reporters rushed over to witness and record the hand.
Grondin and Baldwin looked stunned, but it was Grondin who went to the dinner break the victor in this rarest of rare poker hand outcomes.
Day 1c Update: Grondin ended Day 1c with nearly two times the starting stack and Baldwin continued on a downward trend, ending with 7,600.
3. Nanji Finds Huge Triple With Quads
From the PokerNews Live Reporting Team:
A lot of commotion was coming from one of the tables in Amazon Purple, so we rushed over.
"Oh my god! Oh my god!" Fatima Nanji exclaimed, excited about what had just happened.
"Is this your first time playing poker?" one player with sunglasses on asked sarcastically.
Nanji ignored the comment, took a photo of the board, and started texting with still a huge smile on her face.
French poker pro Francois Tosques was kind enough to fill us in on the details of the hand.
Nanji opened the action with a raise to 400 from late position and the player on the button called. The small blind called as well and so did Tosques in the big blind. Both blinds checked on 8♣5♥10♣ and Nanji continuation bet 800. The button and small blind called. Tosques folded.
The 4♥ hit the turn and would prove an action card. The small blind checked again and Nanji bet 2,200. The button raised to 4,400 and the small blind check-three-bet to 9,600. Nanji called and saw the button push all in for about 42,000. The small blind called all in for about 51,000 and action was on Nanji. She tanked for about five minutes, according to Tosques, before she called all in for about 40,000.
Nanji: 10♥10♠
Button: 7♥6♣
Small blind: 7♠6♠
Nanji needed the board to pair and it did just that with the 10♦ on the river! That gave a triple-up to Nanji, and the button and small blind were both decimated.
Day 1b Update: Nanji held onto most of her stack and ended Day 1 with 110,000.
4. Savage Runs Boat into Quads
From the PokerNews Live Reporting Team:
With the board reading 10♣6♥6♠7♠, Matt Savage and his opponent got all of their chips in the middle, and Savage was feeling great about it.
Savage tabled 10♠10♦ for the best full house. However, his opponent revealed the only hand better, 6♦6♣ for quads.
The 2♥ on the river completed the board and Savage was left with just 7,000 after running into the four sixes.
Day 1a Update: Savage went on to mount a small comeback but was eventually eliminated during the later levels.
5. Heads-Up Boss John Smith Loses to Quad Aces
From the PokerNews Live Reporting Team:
It's been a tough day for John Smith, but he's still battling in the Day 1c field of the Main Event.
In this hand, he opened to 700 from early position and was three-bet by Wyatt Ault to 1,400. Smith called and the flop came A♥A♣K♠.
Both players checked. The turn was the 6♣ and both players checked again.
The river was the 5♣ and Smith bet 1,000. Ault immediately raised to 5,000 and, after some consideration, Smith called.
Ault showed A♠A♦ for quad aces and won the pot.
"Can't beat that!" said Smith, mucking.
"It's hard to play that one," replied Ault with a smile.
Smith still has an above starting stack midway through Level 3.
Day 1c Update: John Smith rebounded nicely to end Day 1c with a healthy stack of 138,000 going into Day 2, illustrating that it's not the beat, it's how you handle it.
Poker can be a cruel game sometimes and the only weapon a player has is to make the best decision with the information they have at the time and hope it plays out in their favor. Even so, bad beats are part of the game and dealing with them is a skill in itself. The problem is no matter the skill level, bad beats tend to hurt a little more when they happen in The Main Event.
Keep following PokerNews' coverage to catch all of the sickest hands from the rest of the tournament!
