The 2022 U.S. Poker Open has given poker enthusiasts around the world some truly incredible moments. Chief among them is a hand played by Phil Hellmuth that sent everyone into a frenzy. Hellmuth was at the final table of Event #9: $25,000 No-Limit Hold’em when he played queen-four offsuit for all of his chips. Is this the worst call in poker history? Is this the worst hand Hellmuth has ever played? You can be the judge.
With the blinds at 30,000-60,000 with a 60,000 big blind ante, there were five players remaining in the event and chip leader Alex Foxen opened with a raise on the button to 125,000 with pocket nines. Hellmuth was in the big blind with a stack of 890,000 and reraised to 350,000 with queen-four offsuit, which was nearly 40% of his stack. Foxen got a look at Hellmuth’s stack, studied for a few moments, and then moved all in. Hellmuth immediately began to count his stack in what looked like nothing more than posturing.
Hellmuth even said, “You caught me making a move.”
Time started to pass and it became more and more real that Hellmuth wasn’t just posturing. After more than two minutes in the tank, Hellmuth pushed his chips in and made the call.
“I guess I better player to win,” Hellmuth said.
The rest, as they say, is history. Hellmuth flopped a queen to take the lead and rivered trips to secure the double up. Foxen could only send 890,000 over to Hellmuth with his mouth agape. Check out the full clip of the hand below.
From there, Hellmuth would go on to place second in the tournament after he got heads up with Erik Seidel. Seidel won the title for $472,500, with Hellmuth picking up a cash prize of $315,000 for the runner-up result.
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