WSOP Bad Beat : Full House versus Full House
I guess we all have our favorite bad beat stories we like to tell, but few can compare to this. It was the very first hand in the 2005 WSOP $10,000 main event and an incredible bad beat (or lucky flop, depending on which side of the table you were sitting!)
Sam Farha (the guy who Chris Moneymaker beat to win the 2003 WSOP and 2 times bracelet winner) was dealt Ace Ten offsuit and bet $200, then Oliver Hudson raised to $450 with pocket tens which Farha called, then came the flop…
Ace, Ace, Ten
Wow! Remember this is the very first hand of the tournament, and both players have just flopped a full house. At this point it’s already virtually all over for Hudson, I mean who would fold a full house in this situation?
Well both slow-play the flop, and then on thr turn Hudson bets $300. Farha raises to $1300 and Hudson goes all in. Sammy of course immediately calls with the nuts, and Hudson can hardly believe it when the cards are turned face up – he’s out of the tournament on the first hand, and has lost $10,000 in less than 2 minutes!
What can we learn from this hand?
Well you know what, I’m not so sure any of the best players in the world would have done things differently, I mean who could fold tens full of aces in this situation?
I guess there are 2 things to keep in mind. Firstly, you can’t win a tournament with no chips. If Hudson had only raised, rather than gone all-in then maybe Farha would have raised (thinking that if he went all in his opponent would fold) and Hudson would have only lots a huge stack, rather than the whole lot!
The other point is to always consider what COULD beat your hand. When you see a huge hand flop it’s very tempting to think only of your own hand, but if Hudson had thought about it he would have realised that Ace Ten would beat him, and that it’s a hand Farha would probably see the flop with so there’s a chance he could have it… Even so, it would have taken an amazing read and a lot of guts to lay down those tens after the flop!
