There always seems to be that one player on Day 1 of the World Series of Poker (WSOP) Main Event who runs into a brutal cooler or bad beat to bust early. On Monday, Idan The One, who hails from Israel, was that player.
The 2023 WSOP Main Event kicked off at noon PT from inside Horseshoe and Paris Las Vegas. At the time this article was published, more than 800 players already registered for the first of four Day 1 starting flights.
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Busting on Day 1a of the Main Event is never fun, regardless of how and when it happens. After all, this is the most prestigious tournament in the world, and everyone who enters dreams of winning millions and being crowned world champion.
The One's dreams of achieving poker immortality are on-hold for at least another year thanks to two kings versus aces coolers in Level 2 ... against the same opponent. PokerNews Editor & Live Reporter Connor Richards caught up with members of the table to find out the cruel details.
According to the live reporting, The One, who was playing in his first Main Event, had already lost a big pot with kings when he ran into pocket aces against Ruben Correia. And then in a second hand, there were two limpers before Correia raised to 1,500 from the cutoff.
The button called before The One, who earlier in the level lost a heap of chips in a kings versus aces confrontation with the same player, three-bet to bring folds from the limpers.
Correia four-bet to 16,000 and the button folded before The One five-bet all in for his tournament life. Correia called with a bigger stack.
The One had KxKx only to once again run into the AxAx of Correia. For the second consecutive time, aces held up and this time around, The One was the shorter stack. He was sent home in Level 2 of Day 1a, a crushing blow to a poker player whose Hendon Mob results are only about three times the $10,000 Main Event buy-in.
Losing in the Main Event can be soul-crushing to many, and the Israeli showed off how devastating losing in such a cruel manner can be. Consoled by what appeared to be a friend or girlfriend, The One didn't immediately leave the tournament area and spent an hour seated on the floor, hands covering his face, disappointed in how it all went down. What a tough way to bow out of poker's world championship event.
