In our Poker Hand of the Week Patrik Antonius and Eric Persson clash at a $1,000,000 buy-in cash game resulting in the biggest pot in US TV poker history worth $1,978,000!
Poker Hand of the Week Setup
This hand was played on the final day of the $1,000,000 buy-in Cash of the Titans cash game, which had an escalating blind structure.
The blinds are $1,000/$2,000 with a $2,000 big blind ante and both Eric Persson and Patrik Antonius have one million dollars standing in front of them with Persson slightly covering Antonius.
Poker Hand of the Week Action
Preflop:
Persson raises from UTG to $7,000 with Q♥9♥ and Rob Yong calls on the button with A♣2♣. Patrik picks up AK in the small blind and 3-bets to $30,000. Eric and Rob both call. Pot Size: $94,000
Flop:
3-way to an action flop of 8♥3♣3♥, which gives Patrik and Eric a flush draw. Patrik Antonius chooses a relatively small continuation bet sizing of $40,000 and Persson snap-raises to $140,000.
Rob Yong folds, but Patrik comes back over the top making it $250,000 to go and Persson calls with the words: “Let’s go”. And just like that there are a staggering $594,000 in the pot before the turn is even dealt!
Turn:
The A♠ on the turn is a great card for Antonius as now he has a made hand to go alongside his nut flush draw.
Once again the Finn picks a small second barrel sizing of $150,000 (25% pot). Eric Persson shoves All-In and Patrik calls relatively quickly to see that he has Persson drawing dead! Pot Size: $1,978,000
River:
A meaningless J♠ on the river and Patrik Antonius win the biggest pot in US TV poker history worth an incredible $1,978,000!!
Poker Hand of the Week Analysis
One of the biggest cash game pots of all time. Let’s go through it step by step.
Preflop is pretty standard in a 6-max game. The only debatable play is Eric Persson calling a 3-bet pre with Q9s after raising Under the Gun. Once he calls Rob Yong has to call as well with a suited Ace.
There is a whopping $94,000 in the middle preflop and when the flop brings 3h3c8h giving both Antonius and Persson a flush draw it is clear that it will get bigger.
Interesting is Patrik’s small cbet sizing of only 42% pot, which has the intention of inducing a raise from Persson and that is exactly what happens. Eric raises to $140,000 and Patrik now has two options just call or raise as he is not only drawing to the Nut Flush, but also has the highest possible overcards.
Given the strength of his hand, Antonius decides to put more money into the pot making it $250k to go and Eric snap-calls.
Before the turn there is already a staggering $594,000 in the pot. The Ace of Spades is a very good card for Patrik as now he has top pair top kicker together with the Nut Flush Draw.
Once again he picks a very small sizing of only 25% pot as he knows that Persson is very loose-aggressive and once again he manages to induce a raise All-In by Persson.
Very questionable play by Eric Persson as Patrik only has 542K behind and there are already $1,436,000 in the pot, which means Antonius is basically pot-committed.
Patrik quickly calls and sees the good news, when Persson turns over his cards, namely that he has him drawing dead in one of the biggest cash game pots of all time!
Poker Hand of the Week Conclusion
This hand is a good example, why overplaying your hand and draw is a recipe for disaster.
Eric Persson makes several mistakes in a single hand and gets punished by losing almost one million dollars!
Calling a 3-bet preflop after raising yourself UTG with Q9s is already debatable, but calling a 4-bet on the flop and then showing the turn on a paired board against an opponent, who is already pot-committed with only a Queen-high flush draw is suicide against solid players like Patrik Antonius.
- Get the best rakeback deals
- View all poker strategy articles
- View the latest poker news
Watch the Poker Hand of the Week here:
Terms and conditions apply. New customer offer and 18+ only. Please gamble responsibly! Should you require help regarding your betting pattern, visit www.begambleaware.org
