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Phil Ivey Busts WSOP Main Event Final Table

Created By: Matthew Showell Posted in: WSOP Blog, Tournament Trail
2009 Nov 8
Phil Ivey

The poker world just had a knife plunged into its heart and that knife came in the form of a bad beat laid on Phil Ivey at the final table of the 2009 WSOP Main Event.

Ivey was the fan favorite, the best player not only at this table but at any table anywhere where poker is played.

We wanted him to win the Main Event and, chances are if you're reading this, you did too.

It wasn't to be however. He played well and despite losing a few key pots he put himself in a great spot to make a run at the title.

In the end he went out like so many of us have, holding the best hand and watching helplessly as the dealer laid his demise down on the felt.

A-K for Ivey against Darvin Moon's A-Q. A queen on the flop and it was all over.

Ivey gets seventh place and $1.4 million and change but the poker world gets nothing but a pervading sense of disappointment.

Ivey, our hats are off to you. You're still the man. Even if we now know for sure that you're mortal.

-- Matthew Showell

Comments

16

  1. Anthony Altemari

    2010-03-11

    Michael and whoever says this isn't a bad beat, you guys are idiots. If you knew anything about poker 72 off-suit has a better chance to beat AK than AQ.

  2. PokerPro

    2009-12-23

    Yeah!!!! I heard that Linda, the dealer that dealt Ivey the bad beat was fired recently for cheating. About time, she had no customer service skills.

  3. valulife

    2009-11-24

    matt.. please go over some basics.. any poker book will or any odds calc or a little more thinking will do.. the 8% you refered are true only on the river.. preflop its waaaaay different.. to be exact:
    Ivey: 72.35% win Tie: 4.68%
    Moon: 22.97% win Tie: 4.68%
    About the hand.. It is a question of definition of the term bad beat.. I know people who say 99 vs AA is bad beat (they having the nines). Also, from poker sites you may see BB JP which something like quads vs straight flush which is at the other end of the definition.. in my opinion it isn't a bad beat because hands like this are not so rare.. (I have a few million hands played online poker so I can say I have some experience). Of course Ivey was the favorite and played the hand right but we all know that playing right does not = always win. Toobad though for him because he had a great WSOP this year.. it would have been the perfect ending.

  4. larry

    2009-11-16

    bad beat or not, if you fold the winning hand because you choose not to pay atention you are asking for trouble.

  5. Matt

    2009-11-14

    This is for Sin and Mike and whoever else might have the thought that AQ in that situation was not a bad beat. If you play poker(I'm assuming that you do) you know that it's a game of odds and betting on those odds. In that particular situation with seven players at the table, the player with AQ needs to spike one of those queens in a deck of 38. There is roughly an 8% chance of that happening. Of course there are different ways that Moon could have won the pot but they are much longer shots(ie J 10 9 8 hitting the board). So the player with AK is a 92% favorite(I know some of you will disagree with that but I discount long shots) and to put that in perspective, Moon had about the same odds at winning that hand as the Cleveland Browns do of winning the Super Bowl. So, to say that you think that it was not a bad beat is to be screaming at the top of your lungs on top of the Luxor that you don't know poker, or gambling for that matter.

  6. Jim

    2009-11-12

    NOT A BAD BEAT???? Moon was playing 1 card and that 1 card wouldnt even do him any good if a king came. Not a bad beat?
    cluess donkey idiots, you guys are morons, low IQ fish, not a bad beat. Had him completely dominated why do you guys even bother opening your holes.

  7. Mary Beth

    2009-11-11

    AQ beating AK is a bad beat. If one of the remaining Aces hits then AK wins so Ivey has more obvious outs than Moon does. If none of their cards hits, Ivey still wins because he has higher cards. Moon hit one of three queens left in the deck to beat him. This is obviously a bad beat.

  8. Omar

    2009-11-11

    Sin, what are you talking about? It's not the fact that Moon had AQ, its the fact that it was against AK. Moon would've rather had 5 6 hearts against AK preflop over AQ cause his chances to win were much better.

  9. Rob

    2009-11-09

    I thought A Q was a loser? LOL!

  10. Mark Kendall

    2009-11-09

    It's not even remotely close on who the best player was at the final table. As everyone knows the amature players always seem to run good in the main event. Like some of the recent past winners Jerry Yang, Jamie Gold and Moneymaker who got his money in horrid on many occasions in the 2005 Main Event and sucked out. Ivey has showed the world his consistancy over the last few years which makes him the obvious pro and best player. It was just unfortunate that another amature got it in bad and lucked out. Nice tournament Phil!

  11. Sin

    2009-11-09

    Gary your so smart, you can say absolutely nothing and back it up with nothing.
    There is no such thing as a bad beat. Flushes, sets, straights all hands have to be played to win or loose.
    There's a good chance to win pre-flop with ANY 2 cards. Only AK has the Odds to win Unimproved to anything other than a pocket pair.
    Moon didn't call with 56 of hearts.

  12. robert

    2009-11-09

    Are you kidding. Bad beat. How 'bout a terrible beat. You are an extreme favorite to win the hand, AK over AQ. Flopped or not does not determine bad beat. Yes they are both quality hands. Ivey played his hand better and took a Bad Beat. I would just say the Moon would have switched hands with Ivey upon turning up his cards.

  13. Gary McCoy

    2009-11-08

    Are you actually kidding me??? Djezz and Michael you clearly know nothing about poker. Its not a bad beat hahahaha fucck up seroiusly i hate donkys voicing their opinions angers me you know NOTHING. only voice if you know what your talkin about.

  14. Djezz

    2009-11-08

    Michael is right, this is not a bead beat. It is only a matter of definition. A bad beat is when you are a huge favorite after the flop and your opponent hits his one or two outs.

    Otherwise everytime you're favorite preflop this might become a bad beat? Makes no sense. AK against AQ is very common preflop and the big issue here is that Ivey was covered by Moon....

  15. Ronald Strand

    2009-11-08

    Not a bad beat? Ever hear the term "dominated?" Where do you draw the line? AK vs AQ is a 5:2 favorite, it's as simple as that. Must we be a 3:1 favorite or better in order to consider losing a bad beat? I don't understand the logic behind your opinion. And the card that came off as Q does not matter. They got all the money in with five cards to come, simple as that. It might hurt more if it comes on the river but that shouldn't affect whether it is a bad beat or not. Bottom line is Phil was the favorite when the money went in, and he got unlucky to lose = a bad beat.

  16. Michael Lampel

    2009-11-08

    Losing AK vs AQ isn`t a bad beat beat in my opinion. Sure. His opponent must hit a Queen, but 3 Outs when 5 cards to come... could be worse. If the queen appears on the river...ok. But sad enough. I hoped also that Phil is going to win, but maybe next year.

    GL to all others and regards from Germany.

    Michael

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