Ask any poker player about bad beats and they will likely tell you they have taken the worst of them imaginable. But the beat taken by Isaac Baron during the 2024 WSOP Online International Main Event may actually take the cake.
The hand in question took place at the final table of the $5,000 buy-in event, which drew 6,146 entries over 17 flights to leave just over $4 million up top for the champion.
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With four players remaining and blinds of 2 million/4 million, Russia’s Evgenii Akimov held a sizable chip lead and opted to open-jam on the button with 6♣4â™ . Baron then woke up in the small blind with K♣K♦ and called off with his stack of 77 million with the premium holding.
The American’s equity increased to about 97% as the flop landed 7♣J♣Kâ™ to give him top set, but the poker gods had other plans as the 5♣ turn gave his opponent an open-ended straight draw.
“Backdoors exist!” exclaimed Phil Laak from the commentary booth.
“He turned a sweat!” said fellow commentator Jeff Gross.
The river then brought the 8♦ to give Akimov the straight, delivering one of the worst beats of the year to Baron.
“This might actually be the worst bad beat I’ve ever seen,” reacted Will Jaffe on X.
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Instead of winning the 164 million pot that would have made him the chip leader, Baron bowed out in fourth place for $1.8 million, leaving millions of dollars on the table for the remaining players to fight over.
Akimov, who like Baron was playing the event from Mexico, wound up finishing runner-up for $3.1 million as Moritz Dietrich took home the bracelet and $4 million.
Watch the full final table stream on GGPoker’s YouTube channel and check out the gutwrenching hand around the 3:40:30 mark.
Editor & Live Reporter U.S.