The Bad Beat

It’s Day 3 of the 2004 World Series of Poker. 154 players remain and Derek Tomko, son of Dewey Tomko, is all-in ($82,000), with pocket cowboys heads-up against the A-7 suited Mike Matusow, a little nervous, but overall, pretty happy with the match-up.

Out flops J -7 -Q , giving Tomko an almost 76% chance of doubling up. He’s feeling a little better now - no Ace, no flush draw, but Matusow does catch a piece of the flop with a 7.

The turn shows a 6, which leaves Matusow looking at 5 outs and an 11% chance of winning the hand. Tomko is starting to get a little excited about doubling up and getting back in this thing!

“Winning this $5 million, ain’t gonna be easy,” quips Matusow.

No kidding, but this should be in the bag for Tomko now, or at least 9 out of 10 times you play it. But wait…

The river is 7 . Matusow exclaims, “I’m on fire…YES!” and breaks into a sort of victory dance. A dejected Tomko leaves the table, finishing 154th.

Tomko (All-in $82,000)	K  K 67.4%	75.9% J  7  Q 24.1%	88.6% 6 11.4%	7 WIN!
Matusow (Call $82,000)	A  7 32.6

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