Poker Player from Viral Bustout Video Explains What Happened
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Poker player Jordan Ludwick had a tournament bustout seen around the internet yesterday as he was eliminated from the 2026 PokerStars Open Philadelphia Main Event just a few spots away from the money.
Ludwick, a New Jersey-based sports betting content creator, had just had pocket kings cracked twice a few hands earlier. But he couldn't take it anymore and after being rivered for a chip-lead pot in a three-way all-in on the soft money bubble of the first flight of the $500,000 guaranteed event, which PokerNews is providing on-site live coverage of.
Oh, God!
As captured by PokerNews' Josh Noy, Michael Ciarlante moved all in on the Q♦7♣3♦ flop, only to see Angel Lopez shove his larger stack across the table. Ludwick also committed his stack, which he told PokerNews was around 180,000, and the table watched intently as the hands were tabled.
Jordan Ludwick: A♦7♦
Michael Ciarlante: A♣K♠
Angel Lopez: 10♦9♦
Ludwick and Lopez both turned over diamond draws, with Ludwick in the lead with a pair of sevens. The J♣ turn brough Lopez a straight draw, while the 9♣ river left him with the best pair.
Ciarlante sent his stack to Lopez, while Ludwick vented his frustration after seeing hand bested on the river to end his run short of the money.
"Oh my god. OH my god. Did that really just f***ing happen again? Did that really just f***ing happen again? Bro, just all day, that's it? I'm supposed to have four hundred and fifty thousand dollars!"
Ludwick Speaks About the Hand
It wasn't Ludwick's first bad beat of the day — or even the level. The east coast poker regular told PokerNews in an interview that he had just had pocket kings cracked twice in three hands, first against king-queen and then against ace-queen, both times on the river, after grinding up a stack up a stack over hours of play.
“And it crippled me down to right above starting stack," he told PokerNews.
He managed to grind back up to around 180,000 before the fatal confrontation just two players away from the money. “It was 13 hours of battling, we were right on the money bubble," said Ludwick, noting that he was an overwhelming favorite when the chips got in on the flop.
After video of his bustout blew up on social media, Ludwick said he wanted to make it clear that he is a friendly player — "a lot of the guys, we'd been playing all day" — and has a friendship with one player from the hand, Lopez.
He said it also hurt after his recent runner-up finish at the Borgata Summer Poker Open for $28,018, which, in addition to getting love from bracelet winner Nick Palma, showed just what he can do in a poker tournament when he has the chips.
“I definitely would’ve gotten top five or top three," he said about his tournament chances if had won the chip-lead pot. “I guess I’ll have to come back and prove it.”
