Nosebleed stakes history
You ever buy in to a home game with $100, leave with $150, and spring for dinner like it was the best night of your life? Damn right you have. Hell, if I won a $5 sit-and-go, I was riding high for at least a couple hours. If I won nearly $2 million in a single pot like Patrik Antonius did on Sunday on PokerGO’s No Gamble, No Future’s “Cash of the Titans” show, I would uncontrollably sob for hours, then remind everybody of my feat daily for the rest of my life. And not only was the $1,978,000 pot amazing in and of itself, but it was also the largest pot ever in a US live-streamed poker game.
The blinds were $1,000/$2,000 with a $2,000 big blind ante, so right off the bat, every pot was going to be much more than schmoes like you and me could handle. Maverik Gaming CEO Eric Persson opened the pre-flop action with a raise to $7,000 with Q♥-9♥. Rob Yong called with A♣-2♣, after which Antonius re-raised to $30,000 with A♥-K♥. Persson and Yong both called.
On the flop of 3♥-3♣-8♥, Antonius bet $40,000, Persson quickly raised to $140,000, and Yong bowed out. Antonius, with his nut-flush draw and two overcards, raised again to $250,000 and Persson did not hesitate to make the call.
The turn was the A♠, locking it up for Antonius, though of course neither man knew that. Persson couldn’t make a full house or a pair that would best Antonius’ Aces (two-pair, technically, with the 3s on the board), and of course his flush draw was worse than Antonius’. Antonius bet $150,000, but either thinking he had it or that he could push Antonius off of his hand, Persson moved all-in for $692,000.
Reality hits
Antonius thought about it for a brief moment, wondering aloud what Persson could have, but a brief moment was all it was, as he called to see that his opponent was drawing dead.
For a second, Persson still thought he had a chance, saying, “Nine or a Queen,” but then realized his fate, sighing, and admitting, “Yeah, I’m dead,” and congratulating Antonius on a good hand. And with that, Patrik Antonius scooped an incredible $1,978,000 pot.
One of the interesting things about Sunday’s cash game was that it was also an excellent example of the ebbs and flows of poker and why you shouldn’t let your emotions get too high or too low, even at stakes that ridiculous. Sure, Patrik Antonius won a $2 million pot, but he also lost a $1.3 million pot to Andrew Robl later in the session.
And then, near the end of the show, Robl and Yong chopped a $1.7 million pot, which was the second-largest pot ever in a live streamed game.
In poker, it can be easy come, easy go. Enjoy your wins, lick your wounds on your losses, but remember there is always the next hand.
Image credit: PokerGO.com