The most amazing hand at the 15k Bellagio tournament (so far)

[John K]

So I arrive to the Bellagio last night to sweat my friend Ed who's playing
in the WPT main event. There are about 85 players left (50 get paid) and
he's one of the 10 biggest stacks. Luckily his table is next to the rail,
so I get to talk to him between hands. He comes up to me and tells me
about a hand that's pretty unbelievable. With about 90 players left, he
has about 140k (which is a little above avg) and is sitting in the #1
seat. The blinds are 1k-2k w/ antes. Early position guy makes it 7k to
go, the big stack in #9 seat reraises 15k w/ JJ (which is a pretty weak
raise in my opinion)..he's got about 240k, and Ed's got KK and makes it
45k to go, 1st raiser mucks, big stack in #9 seat w/ JJ calls. Flop is
999. Big stack leads out w/ about 40k bet; Ed decides if this guy has AA,
so be it, and moves all in for about 60k more. Big stack calls, and Ed
quickly opens his hand... and this is where it gets pretty amazing. The
guy sees Ed's KK and quickly slides his hand in the muck w/o seeing the
turn and river. Before the turn and river is exposed, everyone asks why
he mucked and what he had. He says he had JJ and I guess he must've
thought he was drawing dead or something. So his hand is dead but the
dealer's gotta burn and turn the 2 remaining cards, and what comes off on
the turn...a jack. River's a blank and my buddy doubles up in an
extraordinary way. When Ed tells me this hand, everybody on the rail
confirms it to me also, saying they couldn't believe it when they saw it.
Now the guy in #9 never showed his hand, but everyone believed him when he
said he had JJ, because 1) no obvious reason to lie 2)hand played out like
he had a big pr 3) for 1 hr after that, his face was red and it was quite
obvious he was very bothered and flustered, as he kept shaking his head every once in
awhile. About 30 mins later, day 2 of the tourney is over, and Johnny
Chan comes up to Ed and tells him how lucky Ed is. Johnny was on the
table next over and saw. He tells Ed, it's a million to 1, no, a billion
to 1 that Ed's still in the tournament, w/ a big stack. I agree it could be
a billion to 1, because let's look at the circumstances (these are facts
also): 1) The dealer is left-handed and the muck is on his immediate right
2) which makes the guy in seat #9 within arm's range of the muck 3) which
allows him to slide his hand quickly in the muck 4) when the final bet is
called, Ed quickly turns his hand over... instead of waiting to see the
other guy's hand 1st, and also the guy doesnt open his hand at any point
5) and this is the biggest reason why Ed's so damn lucky...because there
is no absolute way that any other player in the tournament makes that
mistake, after all this is a 15k buy-in WPT event. Anyway day 3 starts
today, and Ed's got the 6th biggest stack w/ 84 left, and I want to point
out that the other guy didnt bust out and is alive for day 3, albeit w/ a
shorter stack. Of course this hand doesn't have any meaningful importance
if my buddy doesnt make it in the money, but if he does, or goes pretty
far, this hand will be talked about for awhile.

[jslag]

That guy must hate himself, a lot

[PokerPaul]

why do these things never happen to me???

[TruePoker CEO]

"About 30 mins later, day 2 of the tourney is over, and Johnny Chan comes up to Ed and tells him how lucky Ed is. Johnny was on the table next over and saw. He tells Ed, it's a million to 1, no, a billion to 1 that Ed's still in the tournament, w/ a big stack. I agree it could be
a billion to 1,..."

I particularly liked the reported psyche by Mr. Chan .... That is foresight, belittling your friend before they even get to the same table.

Hey, give your buddy some credit ... he already HAD a big stack, when he went in large holding the best of it v a 2 outer.

(Curious tho, WHY does the dealer have to burn and turn .... the hand is already over from your description, save for Mr. Chan's post hoc commentary. Am I missing something ??)

[slickpoppa]

The guy's play was terrible from the beginnning. What the hell was he thinking when he called the huge reraise with JJ anyway. Classic small favorite or big underdog situation.

[burningyen]

[ QUOTE ]
(Curious tho, WHY does the dealer have to burn and turn .... the hand is already over from your description, save for Mr. Chan's post hoc commentary. Am I missing something ??)

[/ QUOTE ]

I guess the caller essentially "mucked blind" (i.e. his mucking wasn't effective until the river had come out).

[jayheaps]

i thought you were required to show a hand per TDA rules. They should have gone inthe muck for it.

[Gramps]

When you get a break like that, take full advantage. Hopefully your friend goes on to win the whole damn thing.

[John K]

To answer why the dealer burns and turns whether a hand has been mucked while the other is all in, Jan Fisher, a noted Cardplayer authority figure, says "The turn and river cards will always be turned up to insure, at least for the
visible cards, that the deck is not fouled. Had a duplicate card appeared, the
hand would have been voided and all bets returned to anyone who had a financial
interest in the hand including blinds.

Jan Fisher "

[Big Country]

Since it was already in the muck, even if they pulled it out it would be a dead hand.