When Turning a Pair into a Bluff for $830K Goes Horribly Wrong

When Turning a Pair into a Bluff for 0K Goes Horribly Wrong

Matt Hanks attempted to turn his middle pair into what would have been an epic bluff in an $830,000 pot during the newest No Gamble, No Future episode on PokerGo. Unfortunately, for him, Eric Persson got sticky with an over-pair.

No Gamble, No Future, hosted by Jeff Platt and Brent Hanks, debuted last week. The cash game show’s first season features a table full of colorful characters such as Persson, Garrett Adelstein, and Jean-Robert Bellande, all playing some high-stakes no-limit hold’em.

During the third episode, which is available on-demand on the PokerGO platform, the most intriguing hand to date played out, and it was quite a doozy.

Persson, whom you might recall memorably engaged in some trash talking with Phil Hellmuth earlier this year, owns Maverick Gaming casinos across Nevada, Colorado, and Washington. In the following hand, he also took ownership of Matt Hanks, a high-stakes player he’s faced many times.

It’s safe to say that the fireworks are finally igniting in the premiere of No Gamble, No Future!

— PokerGO (@PokerGO)

Following a four-bet preflop at $200/$400 ($400 big blind ante) with {k-Spades}{k-Clubs}, Persson continued for $16,000 into a pot of $36,800 on a flop of {q-Hearts}{4-Diamonds}{7-Diamonds}. Hanks, holding {10-Hearts}{7-Hearts} and out of position, check-called with middle pair to see the {6-Diamonds} bring three cards to a flush on the board.

Hanks checked and Persson wasn’t concerned that his opponent turned a flush, so he fired out another $25,000 wager. With minimal hesitation, Hanks attempted to represent that flush and check-raised it up to $100,000. That didn’t scare pocket kings away as the raise received a call.

The river {6-Spades} paired the board, and with $268,000 in the pot, Hanks likely knew his opponent either had something like {a-}{q-}, a flush, or an over-pair. He also knew there wasn’t any chance of winning the hand if he didn’t jam all in on the river and turn his middle pair into a bluff. That’s exactly what he did, putting his remaining $280,000 into middle, desperately hoping he could encourage a fold and convince Persson he was nutted.

Persson, however, decided his kings were good, and he was right. He made the call and took down a pot of $830,600, the biggest thus far on No Gamble, No Future.

Fortunately, for Hanks, he’d make half of that back later in the show in a $400,000 pot against Alan Keating when his full house coolered trips. You can catch the full episode, along with all past and future episodes on the PokerGO app.

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