Kevin Hart And His Crazy Attempt At Making Poker Fun Again
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For the record, it’s meant to be used on one’s opponent. But Kevin Hart took table talk to a whole new level when he talked himself into calling an all-in with king-high in a hand that everyone is talking about.
The always-hysterical, often-verbose, and sometimes-lunatic Hart took part in PokerStars Championship Cash Game last year in Monte Carlo.
It was just your typical cash game with the likes of Daniel Negreanu, Faraz Jaka, Liv Boeree, Charlie Carrel, and qualifier Mila Monroe taking a seat at the table.
Yep. Just another typical cash game.
Hand #55
And then hand #55 was dealt.
What Negreanu described as possibly “the greatest televised hand in the history of poker,” indeed is one of the craziest we’ve seen in a while.
Watch @KevinHart4real show his big HART in this unbelievable hand from the brand new PokerStars Championship Cash Challenge Series. Catch more cash game action on @Channel4 at 00:05 Wednesday, January 10th. pic.twitter.com/2BL8CV0PrL
— PokerStars UK & IRE (@PokerStarsUK) January 7, 2018
It all started when Negreanu put on the straddle and Hart made the call holding king-high. The action folded to Monroe in the big blind, who put in a raise with six-high. Negreanu, proving that he’s been working on his game by folding more, got out of the way and Hart, again, made the call.
The flop did not improve either hand and Monroe continued her line by betting, and Hart continued his tale by calling as if he had something to prove.
The turn kept the two garbage hands intact. Monroe barreled again, and once again, Hart called.
The river paired the board, and again Monroe continued to paint the picture that she had a big hand. And here’s where the crazy begins.
Hart springs to life by putting in a raise.
Both Monroe and Hart are talking a big game. Watching the video with the hole cards on the screen, you have to admire Monroe’s courageous all-in bluff, knowing she’s going to take it down. Hart only has king-high after all.
But this is where the crazy happens.
Hart seems resigned to the fact that Monroe has a boat and is willing to give the qualifier his chips. He makes the call, and then the fun begins.
You have to watch it to believe it.
Say, what?
“King-high wins?” Hart says incredulously. “I don’t feel comfortable with that.”
The best part of this video has to be the faces of the other players when they figured out (or at least tried to figure out) what happened.
You can almost read their minds, “What the heck (or some other expletive)?”
Hart has heart
It was reported that Monroe’s ambition at the start of the day was to bluff Hart. It’s a bit sick that her ridiculously, brave all-in river bet lost. Because under most (if not all) circumstances, that move would have made it through had Hart not misread his cards.
The misread, Hart admitted to Express, “Actually showed how awful I am at the game.”
Well, he may be awful, but he has heart. Hart gave $15,000 back to Monroe to keep her in the game making it clear it was not a stake, but a gift.
It was genuine feel-good moment followed by a classic Hart one-liner, “I’m giving it to you so I can take it one more time.”
Hart and PokerStars making poker fun again
It was in Monte Carlo about eight months ago that Hart announced his partnership with PokerStars. “I have bullied myself into a partnership with PokerStars,” said Hart. “Why? Because I love the game. I’m deeply in love with the game. I’ve seen what the game is missing, and it’s missing me.”
And since then, Hart has been making appearances in some of the biggest televised games including the Super High Roller Bowl held in Las Vegas, Nevada last summer. With his over-the-top personality, he is hard to miss and definitely makes things interesting at the tables.
It’s probably a safe bet that while Monroe enjoyed her time in the game, it wasn’t all that fun to see your perfectly-crafted bluff called down by king-high.
The lesson in all this is to leave the table talk to the trained professionals lest you talk yourself into calling an all-in with a bluff.
The self-proclaimed ambassador of poker fun better learn to read his hands correctly. Otherwise, the fun will be short-lived.