Chidwick’s One-Chip Stack in the PCA Super High Roller
One of the strangest hands has just been played in the PCA $100,000 Super High Roller. Stephen Chidwick bet leaving himself exactly one chip behind, then folded.
The PCA Super High Roller took place in the Bahamas between January 11th and 13th. Sam Greenwood emerged as the eventual winner. He earned $1.775 million for his victory. However, the story that got most people’s attention online is a hand that went down between the victor of the tournament and British high stakes poker pro Stephen Chidwick.
Chidwick’s Chip and a Chair
The field just got down to the ITM positions, all 8 players remaining were sure to cash in the PCA Super High Roller.
Chidwick opened to a little over 2 BB from Under the Gun with AJ off-suit. Greenwood defended his big blind with A6 of hearts. The flop fell K87, one heart, Greenwood check-called Chidwick’s 60,000-chip bet. The turn brought another heart, the deuce, Greenwood check-called once again – 300,000 this time. The Queen of diamonds on the river completed Greenwood’s flush who checked again, and this is when things got a little strange.
Chidwick bet 590,000 this time, leaving exactly a single 5,000 chip in his stack – 1/6th of a big blind at that late into the Super High Roller. It was less than the small blind or even the ante. Greenwood moved all-in with the nuts and Greenwood folded. Almost 300:1 pot odds weren’t good enough for his Ace high.
His last chip, unsurprisingly, didn’t last too long – he lost his next hand with 83 off and finished 8th in the PCA Super High Roller for over $236,000.
The Poker World Reacts
This hand got the online poker community talking with some of the biggest names chiming in. What made the whole situation even more bizarre is that PokerNews apologized for tweeting out a video of the incident with “an expression of disbelief”.
Yesterday, we tweeted a clip from the PCA $100k where Stephen Chidwick made a move we didn't understand. We accompanied this tweet with an expression of disbelief. In no way did we mean to imply anything out of line was going on. We apologize for the tweet and have removed it.
— PokerNews (@PokerNews) January 13, 2019
Why is this even a thing? Did someone’s feelings get hurt? Do we need safe spaces in poker? What was this tweet I feel like I need to know now. What in the actual…
— Daniel Negreanu (@RealKidPoker) January 13, 2019
They just didn't want people to think he was colluding (he wasn't, but the tweet induced dozens of confused randoms to accuse him of such)
It's a good thing that the media doesn't want to contribute to accidentally hurting an honest man's reputation
— Bonologic (@JustinBonomo) January 13, 2019
That tweet got a reaction from the two biggest live tournament winners of poker history. Daniel Negreanu was highly critical of PokerNews’ decision to apologize. Meanwhile, Justin Bonomo was more understanding and wrote the news outlet simply didn’t want to imply collusion. Some people thought it was a case of chip dunking.
Chidwick Explains
“I left a chip behind because in the event the bluff doesn’t work, if I manage to make it through the blinds doubling up once or twice, Steffen was on the other side of the table with a short stack, and there’s a non-zero chance he busts before I do and I get to ladder up” – the British cardplayer later explained the reasoning behind his unusual decision to PokerNews.
A Parallel in Poker History
Many pointed out the evident similarities between Chidwick’s hand one of the most famous stories in poker history.
During the 1982 WSOP Main Event, Jack Strauss pushed what he thought was his whole stack into the middle to make a bet. He got called and lost the hand. On his way out he noticed a single $500 chip was hidden under a napkin – he went on to win the Main Event.
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