The Final Countdown

The last two hands from Indiana's Main Event not only illustrate the lack of skill, but also the complete cluelessness of guys that finished 1st, 3rd and 19th in a 5K main event. These two hands summarize the main event perfectly and hilariously.

In at #2) This occurred at my third table on day 1. The level was 300/600 75 ante I believe. A guy in middle position opened for a standard 3x (incidentally he was wearing a Party Poker hat if that adds anything to the story for you ex-Party players). He had around 14K. It folds around to the big blind who shoves for about 12K. This guy is a good online player who had played the short stack patiently and well. The "Party" guy starts thinking for a little bit before asking for a chip count. Once he sees he has the guy covered by a little bit, he seems to semi-reluctantly call as he flips over AA!!!!! The big blind flips over AJ and is obviously furious at the slow roll. Nothing comes on the board and the AJ got eliminated. I wish this were the end of the story because that in itself is pretty bad. However, our whole table is kind of in an uproar over this hand. A red-headed guy in seat 9 then starts to say how bad of etiquette that was to the guy. Then the guy says "I've already lost 2 times with AA today, and if he had me covered I was going to fold." The sad thing is, I honestly believe he would have. In a fitting turnabout he was the bubble boy in the hand I described in #6 on the countdown.

Drumroll please.....................................................................

In at #1) With only the final three players left, this hand occurred. It may have been the funniest hand I have ever seen (even the ever respectful Tom Fuller lost it right near the table when this happened). My brother had just arrived after speeding for 4 hours trying to get to the event before I was eliminated. He had heard how bad the play was, and when he saw this everything we had been saying made sense. It occured at the 3K/6K 1K ante level. Carlos had a fairly big chip lead at this point with around 850K of the 1.45 million in play. Vito was the short stack with about 90-100K. Carlos completed from the small blind and Vito shoved in. It was a 15 to 16x shove, so this was fairly big. Carlos started saying, "I have nothing, I have nothing. Man Vito I have nothing." This went on for about 30 seconds before he finally added, "but I call." Carlos flips over 54 offsuit to Vito's JT off. The 54 call was bad enough, but that was just the tip of the iceberg. Carlos begins screaming, "Here comes the low cards! I'm going to flop a straight!" The flop comes K84 and Carlos takes the lead. He then keeps saying, "Keep it low!!" The turn is a K to pair the board. The river is an 8 putting two pair on the board to counterfeit Carlos's pair. However, Carlos begins celebrating with his friend there, and Vito just sits there seeming a little disappointed. About 5 seconds later when the announcer said "and Vito wins the pot with two pair and a Jack kicker," all of a sudden Carlos stops abruptly as he does a double take at the board. Instantaneously, Vito yells "ALRIGHT!!! Our group just lost it! These guys placed 1st and 3rd in a major event and still couldn't read a borad well. There you have the Indiana WSOP Circuit Main Event in a nutshell.