In our Poker Hand of the Week we analyse the biggest pot in WSOP Main Event History, which was also the hand that decided the 2023 WSOP Main Event between Daniel Weinman and Adam Walton.
Poker Hand of the Week Setup
This spectacular poker hand was played on Day 2 of the 2023 WSOP Main Event Final Table with only three players left and a staggering $12,100,000 up top.
Daniel Weinman is chip leader with Adam Walton is not far behind him with effective stacks being 84 big blinds.
Poker Hand of the Week Action
Preflop:
Blinds are 1M/2.5M with a 2.5M Big Blind Ante. Steven Jones raises to 6,000,000 from the button with the Q♦6♦ and Adam Walton just calls with 8♠8♣ from the small blind.
Daniel Weinman looks at A♥A♦ in the big blind and makes it 27,000,000 to go. Jones folds, but Walton quickly 4-bet shoves for 209,500,000 total (84 big blinds) and Weinman obviously snap-calls. Pot Size: 427,500,000
Walton is in a lot of trouble with Weinman being a 4 to 1 ((0%/20%) favourite when the money went into the middle.
Flop:
The flop of 7♣5♥3♣ is of no help for Adam and only gives him a backdoor straight draw with Daniel now being an 84% favourite.
Turn:
The 9♠ on the turn gives Adam Walton a little bit of hope as he picks up a gutshot and four additional outs, but is still only 14% to win the hand.
River:
Walton needs a Six or an Eight, but the river is the K♣ and Daniel Weinman wins the biggest pot in WSOP Main Event history worth 427,500,000, while Adam Walton busts in third place.
Poker Hand of the Week Analysis
Let’s analyse the biggest pot in WSOP Main Event history and to be able to do so we are taking a look at the chip counts before the hand.
Weinman is chip leader with 227,500,000, Walton is close behind him with 207,500,000 and Jones is the short stack with 165,500,000. The next pay jump is worth a staggering $2,500,000, so there are big ICM implications.
Play is down to 3-handed, so the button raise from Steven Jones with Qd6d is fine. Adam Walton now sets a trap by just calling from the small blind with Pocket Eights.
Dream scenario for Daniel Weinman, who picks up Pocket Aces in the big blind. Weinman should raise big here to maximize his value and avoid playing against two opponents out of position. This is what he does with a large 4.5x raise.
Jones quickly folds, but Adam Walton snap-shoves All-In for 84 big blinds! 84 big blinds is way too much for shoving Pocket Eights in this spot, especially regarding that he is second in chips and the huge ICM implications.
In addition to that, Daniel Weinman has been playing very solid throughout the entire final table, so you have to ask yourself, which hands call an 84 big blind shove?
The answer is most likely only Pocket Aces, Pocket Kings, Pocket Queens and maybe Ace-King, which means you are way behind against three of them and flipping against Ace-King making this a bad shove by Adam Walton.
Poker Hand of the Week Conclusion
Shoving 84 big blinds with Pocket Eights against the chip leader with the next pay jump being worth a staggering $2,500,000 is clear ICM Suicide by Adam Walton.
Especially given the huge ICM implications as 3rd place pays $4,000,000, 2nd place gets $6,500,000 and the winner takes home a whopping $12,100,000.
That means most of the money is up top and ICM dictates that you shouldn’t play a big pot against the chip leader, when you are second in chips and the next pay jump is that huge.
This is why Adam Walton should have played small ball and try to control the size of the pot by just calling Weinman’s raise instead.
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Watch the Poker Hand of the Week here:
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