Online poker makes history with $1.35 million pot

The world's most successful poker players maintain that in order to play the game at its highest levels, there must be a disassociation with the money.

Poker is a zero-sum game. All of the money won has to come at the expense of somebody that lost. So it doesn't matter if a player loses $50, $100 or $1,000 or more, as long as the ability (you have to be sure you are playing vs. opponents you can beat) and games exist to get it back.

Even with my total acceptance of this logic, it's hard to fathom what went down last week when Patrik Antonius and (screen name) Isildur1 played a single pot worth more than $1.35 million on FullTiltPoker.com. It set a record for the online poker industry and was played in a $500/$1,000 game of pot-limit Omaha.

Omaha is played similarly to Hold 'Em with the five community cards, but instead of being dealt two, players get four and must use two to make a five-card hand.

Pot-limit is just as it sounds, keeping players from betting more than the total value of the pot, but it's deceiving. It's common for pot-limit Omaha pots to exceed what is found in no-limit Hold 'Em, because every flop has the potential to make a wide variety of big hands and draws.

Here's how the historic hand went down, according to multiple online reports:

Antonius was dealt Ah-3s-Ks-Kh in the big blind, and Isildur1 had 6d-7d-8h-9s in the small blind.

Isildur1 was first to act and bet out $2,500. Antonius, playing the strength of his kings and double-suited hand, raised it to $8K. Isildur1 countered with a $24K raise. Antonius fired back $72K — we are now approaching starter-home figures.

Isildur1 calls, putting a whopping $162K into the pot to see a flop.

The cards come down 4s-5c-2h, giving Isildur1 an open-ended straight draw while Antonius' wheel straight held the lead.

Antonius bet $72K, triggering another back-and-forth battle. Isildur1 raised to $435K and Antonius fired back $688K.

Pot-committed, which is a fancy way of saying he can't fold due to the money involved, Isildur1 moved the final $162,473.50 remaining in his stack into the middle. Antonius called, swelling the pot to $1,358,947 and setting a new record.

The turn card was the 5h. The 9c fell on the river, giving Antonius the pot with his straight, besting Isildur1's 9s-9c-5c-5h-8h.

For such a historic pot, you'd think each player would have had more going for him.

Antonius is well known throughout the poker industry as one of the game's fiercest cash game players and a television staple. Still, that's a lot of money to risk with a small straight in a game like Omaha.

As for Isildur1, whoever finds out his identity will be the first. He's been a mysterious figure since arriving on the Internet scene months ago.

It's possible Isildur1 didn't know the rules of Omaha and thought he flopped the nut straight — a classic blunder.

It's clear he's comfortable playing for big money when you watch him in action, but this one had to hurt badly.

News Added: 05 December, 2009

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