Everyone who plays poker dreams of being in this moment.
You’re days into the World Series of Poker Main Event. Your table gets selected for the feature table for the world to watch. You look down at pocket aces, your heart beats fast, and you get a dream flop.
That was just the situation Kory Kilpatrick found himself in today. From Austin, Texas, Kilpatrick hasn’t played many poker tournaments in recent years, recently moving on to other ventures. He decided to hop into the record-breaking Main Event.
“Was incidentally in Vegas during the Main Event and decided to dust the cobwebs off and get in there,” said Kilpatrick on Twitter.
Unfortunately for him, the dream ended up turning into a nightmare.
From double-up dreams to a classy exit
Kilpatrick started the hand in middle position with about 20 big blinds. He looked down at pocket aces, just what he needed to build that stack back up. He opened to 2,500 and found three callers:
- Wisdom – Middle Position – 5h5d
- Dodd – Cutoff – QdJd
- Bogo – Big Blind – 9s9h
All three hands were very capable of cracking the pocket aces. One of them did so in the most brutal of fashions.
The flop came 9dAh9c. Indeed, Kilpatrick flopped a full house against the flopped quads of Bogo. Buy one set, get one free.
Somehow, against quads, Kilpatrick wasn’t drawing dead; he could still hit the last remaining ace to make quads himself. Still, the odds were only about 5% that it would happen.
Both Kilpatrick and Bogo slow played their hands, allowing Wisdom to test the waters with a flop bet. They both called.
The turn 7d checked through, no doubt disappointing both players holding monsters.
The river Jc was inconsequential. Bogo, ensuring the river wouldn’t check through, decided to lead for 11,000. Kilpatrick moved all in for 21,900. Of course, Bogo called immediately.
“I got you, quads,” said Bogo.
Kilpatrick held his cards up, showed them to Fedor Holz his neighbor, and had one good laugh before he had to exit the table. Sometimes, you can do everything right and still lose all your chips. I dare to say 100% of poker players would do so in that spot.
Yet, a very small percentage of players would handle such a bad beat with the class, sportsmanship, and attitude that Kilpatrick displayed; he put on a masterclass of losing with grace.
“Alright boys,” he said as he stood up. “I thought I was trapping you, sir,” smiled Kilpatrick.
No table slam, no cursing, no negativity to speak of at all. Utter disbelief at the realization, sure, but that was the extent of it.
It may not have been the result Kilpatrick was hoping for when he decided to hop back in the tournament streets. However, unlike many others who exited over the last few days, Kilpatrick will be remembered for this gross beat.
He won’t be remembered for a tirade, for tears, or for threats of burning the building down. Rather, he’ll be remembered for accepting the fate the cards held today and teaching us all how to lose with dignity.
Still, he understandably said, “I don’t miss this life, lol,” to close out his tweet on the matter.
Well done, Kory, and thank you for your great example in the worst of moments.
Feature photo courtesy of PokerGO
