It was clearly the decade for tournament poker. One of the biggest events of the decade was when a total unknown by the name of Moneymaker won millions in the main event at the World Series of Poker. The cost for him to enter was just a few dollars, as he won a satellite on an online poker site.
Here is a list of the 10 Best Poker Hands of the Decade.
No. 10. Losing $10,000 on the First Hand at the World Series of Poker.
You sit down and flop a full house on the very first hand at the World Series of Poker. You think you can't lose. Think again.
Sam Farha raises with Ace-10 offsuit. Oliver Hudson puts in a small re-raise with pocket 10's. Farha calls.
The flop is A-A-10.
Say goodby to Oliver Hudson.
No. 9. Phil Hellmuth Blows Up...Again!
Dragomir raises pre-flop with 10-4 suited. Phil Hellmuth re-raises with his A-K. Drogomir calls his bet.
The flop comes 10 high. Phil checks and folds when his opponent bets.
His opponent shows his cards, and Hellmuth goes nuts. Hellmuth calls his opponent an "idiot" numerous times. It is against the rules, but Hellmuth is given a free pass.
No. 8. Phil Ivey Folds the Winning Hand!
Phil Ivey raises pre-flop with pocket 8's; that is an 8s and an 8d. Jordan Smith re-raises with Ad-9c. Phil calls.
The flop is Qh-10s-5s. Both players check.
The turn is a Qs. Both players check.
The river card is an As. Ivey makes his flush. Smith checks. Surprisingly, Ivey checks his flush.
Smith shows that he hit a pair of Aces on the river.
Phil Ivey mucks his winning hand.
What?!
He should have glanced at his hole cards before folding. If he had opened up his hand for the dealer to see, he would have won the hand.
Ivey is considered the best poker player in the world, yet we now know that he too is human.
No. 7. Losing to a One-Outer on the River--Ouch!
Jennifer Harman is considered the top women poker player. In this hand, she opens pre-flop with a raise holding pocket Queens; the Queen of diamonds and the Queen of spades.
She gets called by Corey Zeidman who has the 9 of diamonds and 8 of diamonds.
The flop is Queen of hearts, Jack of diamonds, and ten of spades.
Harman hits a set, while her opponent flops a straight. Harman bets out, but gets raised by Zeidman. She calls.
The turn is a ten of diamonds. It gives Harman the full house and Zeidman's only out is the 7 of diamonds for a straight flush.
Zeidman bets and gets raised by Harman. Zeidman calls, reluctantly.
The river is the 7 of diamonds. Poker is a sick, sick game.
No. 6. Perhaps the Worst Play in the History of Poker.
It is down to 12 players left at the 2009 WSOP. The two big chip stacks get involved in a hand.
Billy Kopp has $20 million and Darvin Moon has $25 million. Both players are almost 100 percent guaranteed to get to the final table. That is, if neither of them donk off all of their chips.
Kopp raises from the button with the 5 of diamonds and the 3 of diamonds. Moon calls from the small blind with the Q of diamonds and J of diamonds.
The flop is K-9-2--all of diamonds. Both players hit the flush.
Moon checks. Kopp bets half the pot and Moon calls.
The turn is a 2. Kopp bets, and Moon check raises.
Kopp moves all-in!
Moon calls and Kopp is out.
Oh, don't feel too bad for Billy Kopp. He won almost $900,000 by finishing in 12th place.
No. 5. A Key Turning Point at The 2009 WSOP.
It is down to five players at the main event of the 2009 WSOP.
Joe Cada and Jeff Shulman are the smallest stacks. Shulman raises pre-flop with pocket Jacks. Cada moves all-in with his pocket threes.
Shulman calls. Shulman is an 80 percent favorite. If Cada loses, he is knocked out of the tournament.
A three hits the flop and Cada moves from elimination to on his way to winning the main event and over $8.5 million.
No. 4. A Greater Bluff By Phil Ivey.
Phil Ivey and Paul Jackson are heads-up competing for $1 million.
Jackson calls with 6-5 offsuit. Ivey checks with Q-8 suited.
The flop is J-J-7. Ivey acts first and bets out with his Q high.
His opponent raises Phil as a pure bluff. Ivey takes his time to decide his next move.
Ivey re-raises Jackson! Phil has nothing.
Now Jackson re-re-raises Ivey. A super aggressive move.
Ivey takes some time to decide his next move. His opponent only has $360,000 left. The pot is over $950,000.
Ivey moves all-in! Jackson folds.
No. 3. Perhaps the Greatest Bluff of the Decade
It is heads-up on a World Poker Tour event. Ryan Daut has a 2-1 chip lead against Isaac Haxton.
Daut has a 7-5 offsuit and calls. Haxton is in the big blind and checks with 3-2.
The flop is A-Q-4. It gives Haxton a possible straight. He checks. Ryan bets and Haxton just calls.
The turn is a K. Both players check.
The river is a Q. Isaac bets $700,000 into the $1 million pot.
Daut raises! He raises $2 million. He just has 7 high!
Haxton thinks about his next move. He moves all-in with the worst two cards possible in this hand!! His opponent insta-folds.
It is perhaps the greatest bluff of the decade.
No. 2. Negreanu versus Hansen for $575,000 in Cash.
This is High Stakes Poker where players bring hundreds of thousands of dollars in cash to compete in a no limit game of poker.
In this hand, Gus Hansen raises to $2,100 with pocket 5's. Negreanu re-raises to $5,000 with pocket 6's. Hansen calls the $2,900 bet.
The flop is 9-6-5. Both players have sets!
Negreanu bets $8,000. Hansen raises to $26,000. Daniel calls.
The turn is another 5! Hansen has quads! Hansen bets $24,000. Negreanu has a full house. Daniel calls.
The river is an 8. Hansen checks his quads. Negreanu bets $65,000.
Hansen moves all-in. It will cost Daniel $167,000 to call. The pot is over $400,000. Negreanu calls and loses almost $300,000.
No. 1. The One Hand That Changed Poker Forever.
In 2003, the main event of the WSOP was won by a total unknown, Chris Moneymaker. Moneymaker had the perfect name and the perfect story.
He could not afford to buy-in to this event since it cost $10,000. Instead, he won his seat playing an online poker satellite for a few dollars.
Millions of people watched ESPN's coverage of Chris beating the top poker pros at their game. If Chris could win, a player thought he could win as well.
Chris won $2.5 million at this main event in 2003. The popularity of poker skyrocketed from that moment on. The next year the winner received $5.0, and the year after that $7.5 million. Poker players became celebrities thanks to extensive TV coverage.
While Moneymaker never has had much success since his 2003 win, he will always be remembered as the everyday guy who reached the every guy dream of winning the big one at the WSOP.
This one hand is the great bluff Moneymaker made against the top pro Sam Farha. It is heads-up action.
Farha is playing Qs-9h. Moneymaker a Ks-7h.
The flop is 9s-2d-6s. Both players check.
The turn is an 8s. Farha bets $300,000. Chris raises $500,000 with his flush and straight draws. Farha has top pair and calls.
The river is a 3h. Moneymaker misses his draws but still moves all-in. Farha would have to risk all of his chips to make the call.
Farha folds.
This winning bluff by Moneymaker was the key hand that gave him the momentum to win the main event gold bracelet.
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