Home / Poker News December 2012 / The Most Amazing Poker Moments of 2012 – Smirnov Mucks Quads
The Most Amazing Poker Moments of 2012 – Smirnov Mucks Quads
Posted by: Jo Martin - Thu, 2012-12-27 03:28
On the first day of the Big One for One Drop - the first ever $1 million buy-in
poker tournament in history - Mikhail Smirnov of Russia gave a whole new meaning to the phrase “not married to one’s hand”. The Russian did nothing less than to fold quad 8s – a move so unprecedented, it left the commentators of the event quite flabbergasted. The moment can definitely not be categorized as a “best” moment, neither is it a “worst” one, therefore we decided to simply call it what it truly was: an amazing moment.
Smirnov was up against UK businessman John Morgan in a hand, which ended up seeing a straight flush draw dealt onto the board. There were two eights on the table as well and two more of them in Smirnov’s pockets. Faced with a decision for his tournament life, Smirnov tossed his two 8s into the muck face-up for everyone to see. The move has been debated since, with some arguing that given Morgan’s range, the move was a reasonable one and others slamming Smirnov for being duped.
Poker pros like Phil Galfond tweeted out in the wake of the hand in disbelief. We may never know whether Smirnov’s move was the best fold in poker history or if it was simply a knee-jerk reaction to some perceived read he had picked up. What we do know is that Smirnov told the press he had noticed Morgan visibly excited about the hand. All the physical tells emanating from his opponent told him to make the easy fold.
Morgan himself chimed in, saying that Smirnov had made a good fold. It may be that the Russian has indeed made the toughest and the best lay-downs in the history of the game after all…
