Will Kassouf Tanks For 10 Minutes With Second Nuts in WSOP Main Event
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Few players in poker divide opinion quite like Will Kassouf, and that isn’t about to change any time soon after the British pro went into the tank for more than ten minutes on Day 2d of the ongoing WSOP Main Event, all while holding the second nuts.
Complete with a trademark verbal barrage, Kassouf would halt action at the table for more than ten minutes with a king-high flush before opponent Sacha Cohen eventually called the clock, leading to Kassouf calling the Frenchman with his Main Event life on the line.
PokerNews' Liam Gannon was on-site to capture the drama, which ended with a big double-up for the trash-talking Englishman as Day 2d neared its close.
Check out the whole hand here:
Kassouf Tanks Ten Minutes, Makes Correct Call
Cohen would open to 3,000 from under the gun, and Kassouf defended his small blind with a call. The flop came 8♣9♦2♥, which Kassouf checked and, while maintaining his trademark table talk, called a bet of 3,000 from Cohen.
The turn brought the 7♥, which Kassouf would check again before Cohen increased the pressure with a bet of 13,500. Kassouf called once more.
When the river fell the 5♥, Kassouf launched into a familiar verbal monologue, saying “Wow, such a sick river. Flush, straight, everything gets there.” He'd also add, “Not one we can just check down.”
After a short pause, Kassouf led out for 29,500, sending Cohen into the tank. “Could be bluffing with the best hand if you're thinking this long,” Kassouf needled as the Frenchman considered his options.
Cohen eventually moved all in for 99,500, and Kassouf found himself in a deep tank of his own. The verbal warfare from Kassouf continued.
“Wow, it’s so sick. You’ve got the nuts and I’ve got the second nuts. You thought I was bluffing, but I was value betting.”
Kassouf kept talking, trying to get a read, while Cohen remained completely silent.
“You’ve got the ace of hearts, maybe ace-queen of hearts or something.”
As the table around him broke for the scheduled pause, Kassouf remained in the tank, still talking. Five minutes into the break, and ten minutes after Cohen's shove, the opponent would call the clock.
“Did you call the clock because you want me to call?” Kassouf asked.
“No, I called the clock because I want a break,” Cohen replied.
As the countdown continued, Kassouf began stacking chips.
“Well, if you’ve got it, you’ve got it,” he said, before sliding in the call.
Will Kassouf: K♥8♥
Sacha Cohen: K♣J♥
Kassouf’s king-high flush was good for the pot, giving him a valuable double-up in the final hand before the last scheduled break of the night, and ending ten minutes of agony for Cohen.
"Eight-High Like a Boss"
Kassouf’s ten-minute tank wasn’t the first notable hand involving the polarizing player captured on Day 2d. Earlier in the day, he bombed the river against American player Yifu He to scoop a big pot during today's Main Event action.
As he tossed in his bet, Kassouf told He, “In the words of Will Kassouf, if you got it, you got it... oops, there it is,” before drawing a call from his opponent.
Kassouf revealed a rivered wheel and couldn’t resist adding a few more lines.
“You let me get there, that was the money card!” he said. “I was going to bluff with eight-high like a boss. As it happens, I get there.”
Watch the hand below:
