Insane Way to Bubrummyearnble a High Roller Poker Tournament

A hand on the stone-bubble of the PHP 150,000 (USD $2,600) High Roller at the Asian Poker Tour (APT) Manila Classic took quite the dramatic turn after the flop.

The single-day no-limit hold'em side event on Feb. 13, which attracted 85 players, had a PHP 11 million prize pool (USD $190,000 approximately). Kunal Patni won it for just over $50,000, his second victory and fourth cash of the series. He defeated Nopparut Piyatassakorn heads-up for the title. But this event gained attention because of one wild bad beat.

Poker is Cruel Sometimes

The tournament had approached the money bubble with 12 players remaining. Sparrow Cheung, the short stack, moved all in with A♦A♠. Patni called from the small blind with AxQx, only to make a disciplined fold when the big blind moved all in with K♥K♣, according to the account of Lloyd Fontillas on Facebook.

Cheung, who has over $2.7 million in live tournament cashes, was in great position to earn a double-up to help him survive the bubble. Things got even better for him when the flop came out 2♦J♥A♣, leaving the big blind drawing exclusively to some unlikely runner-runner combinations or the short stack would survive.

The K♦on the turn gave the player with pocket kings a bit of hope, but still only with about a 2% chance of winning the hand. But the K♠on the river created the runner-runner quads, sending Cheung home in 12th place, one spot shy of the money, on a hand that would qualify for the bad beat jackpot in many cash games. But not in tournament poker.

The APT Manila Classic began in the Philippines Feb. 7 and runs until Feb. 16. Russia's Ivan Govorov took down the Main Event on Saturday for PHP 11,069,680 (USD $190,201). He outlasted a massive field of 1,202 entrants, making it the largest APT Main Event ever. Govorov, at one point during the final table, was down to just three big blinds before going on a heater.

Royal Flush on the River Disqualifies Bad Beat Jackpot at Texas Poker Room?

*Feature image courtesy of Lloyd Fontillas/Facebook.