Insane Poker Hand as Ausmus' Royal Flush Cracks Quad Aces
There was no bad beat jackpot, making the beat even worse for a poker player who hit quad aces in the PokerStars North American Poker Tour (NAPT) Main Event on Day 1, only to lose to a Royal Flush.
The hand took place Friday evening on Day 1b of the $5,300 buy-in no-limit hold'em tournament at Resorts World in Las Vegas, and the lucky recipient of the cooler was poker superstar Jeremy Ausmus, a six-time World Series of Poker (WSOP) bracelet winner. His opponent, Harlan Karnofsky, won nothing but a trip to rail and an unbelievable bad beat story to tell his friends.
Epic Hand of Poker
The most epic hand of the tournament may have already occurred, and it's only Day 1. Action began just after the dinner break concluded, as reported by PokerNews' Connor Richards, with Karnofsky raising to 1,600, exactly twice the size of the big blind, with A♥A♣.
Ausmus, the bigger stack, called with J♦10♦ to see a flop of K♦Q♦8♦, leaving pocket aces in deep trouble. Karnofsky, who bet 1,600 and received a call, picked up an interesting card when the A♦ appeared on the turn. He knew top set couldn't beat any flush, but he still likely figured he had full house outs. The only problem for him, and he didn't know it at the time, was he was actually drawing dead as his opponent turned a Royal Flush.
Both players, however, checked the turn, and the A♠ on the river was the cruelest card in the deck for pocket aces. Ausmus, seeking value with the nuts, bet 9,000, and then snap-called an all in bet. Karnofsky found out the bad news and was eliminated in the cruelest of fashions, especially considering tournaments don't offer bad beat jackpots, and this hand would have qualified as a BBJ at in virtually any card room that offers such a promotion.
Ausumus, at the time of publishing, was over 100,000 chips, more than 110 big blinds. The NAPT Main Event, a $3 million guaranteed prize pool operated by PokerStars, is being live reported right here at PokerNews.
A number of high-profile players joined the Day 1b field, including PokerStars ambassador Jennifer Shahade, PokerNews Podcast co-host Kyna England, Las Vegas tournament crusher Eric Baldwin, high-stakes legend David Peters, and Chip Leader Coaching founder Chance Kornuth, just to name a few.
