How a Missed Combo Draw Cost Alan Keating $700,000 in High-Stakes Poker Game
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Alan Keating lost far more than a $400,000 pot after a combo draw didn't come through on Day 3 of PokerGO's Cash of the Titans. But he still walked away with a massive win.
The high-stakes cash game show had an extra element in play where the overall winner received an additional $300,000 bonus, and it created some crazy action down the stretch.
Six players bought in for $100,000 on Day 1, and played five two-hour levels before the final untimed level of 90 hands. Blinds increased up to $500/$1,000 ($1,000 big blind ante). Each player could only rebuy six times, meaning once a player lost $700,000, they were out of the game.
Darin Feinstein didn't make it to the final day and lost the maximum. Andrew Pacheco quit after booking a $200,000 loss. Five players returned for the final session, and Keating, up $454,300, held a sizable lead over the rest of the table. But he'd need to hold off Andrew Robl, one of the best high-stakes cash game grinders ever, and it was a tough task.
High-Stakes Poker Pros Battle to the End
Holding off Robl and Justin Gavri, who entered Day 3 up $306,000, became quite the challenge for Keating, partly for reasons out of his control.
Keating started off strong and increased his lead, but he'd run into a rough patch that included a hand he didn't even enter. Robl raised to $3,000 with J♥J♣ and then called a three-bet to $15,000 from Shawn Madden, who had A♥A♦.
The flop came 6♠7♥10♠, no improvement to either player. Madden continued for $12,000 with the best hand, and his opponent called to see the 6♣ pair the board on the turn. A $35,000 wager with pocket aces would follow. Robl, still holding an over pair, made the call before hitting the J♦ on the river.
Madden, still with no reason to believe his aces weren't good, fired out one last bet of $65,000. Robl, who had just hit a two-outer, put his opponent all in for $267,000.
That raise was enough to convince Madden to fold, but the hand helped Robl inch closer to Keating's profits. Keating would later lose an even bigger pot of his own.
Gavri began the hand with a raise to $3,000 on the button with K♥7♥. Madden, who looked down at A♠K♠ in the small blind, three-bet to $13,000. Keating made it $35,000 to go with K♦4♦ in the big blind, forcing Gavri to fold.
Madden called with Big Slick, and both players got a big piece of the A♦Q♦J♣ flop. The small blind checked top pair, and his opponent bet $35,000 on a combo draw. That bet was followed by a check-raise all-in for $162,000. Keating, who was in a position to all but wrap up a Cash of the Titans victory, made the call needing to hit a diamond to win the $398,000 pot, or a 10 for a chop.
The turn was the Q♠, pairing the board. And the 8♣ on the river sent the pot in Madden's direction. Losing that hand was costly to Keating in multiple ways, as it brought Gavri into the overall lead for the $300,000 bonus.
Robl Finishes the Comeback
Gavri, however, would not hold that lead after Robl hit a flush on the river to crack Keating's straight in a $251,000 pot. Keating, as the 90-hand mark approached, began forcing the action with some added equity in play.
But the awful Day 3 run continued with $137,000 in the pot on a board of K♦A♠7♣5♣. Keating had A♣2♣ and had Robl, holding Q♠J♠, drawing to just three outs. The Hustler Casino Live fan favorite bet $35,000 and received a call before the cruel 10♠ hit on the river.
Robl, who rivered the nuts, went for the slowplay and checked. But his opponent didn't fall for the trap and checked behind. Although Keating avoided complete disaster in that hand, he couldn't overcome Robl's late heater.
Keating still won $335,800 across three episodes of Cash of the Titans, while Robl was the biggest overall winner for the second time on the show, up $573,200. He also received an extra $300,000 as a nice bonus. Gavri, who faded late, won $128,700, while Madden finished with a $249,200 profit.
