There have been many occasions where poker players have folded the best hand. In a heads-up duel, or against multiple opponents, any player in the world can be bluffed off a hand and figure they’re beat even when they’re not.
There’s no shame in it… unless it’s the nuts.
The nuts is the term that refers to the best hand available at that time, and no player should ever be folding the best hand when they know that it cannot be beaten at that time.
There have been other examples of players folding the nuts, one of the most infamous being Phil Ivey folding a winning flush on his way to the World Series of Poker Main Event final table. Another incident in recent memory is Phil Laak, who folded the nuts during a long cash game that saw him battle sleep deprivation as well as other professionals. Sleep got him, though Kevin Martin can’t make that claim when he was filmed for his Twitch stream folding the nuts.
Take a look at the clip in question thanks to Martin’s self-admonishing Twitter post:
Playing some really great poker lately! pic.twitter.com/XqgaDqsIB9
— Kevin Martin (@KevinRobMartin) October 16, 2020
With the mid-range tournament buy-in causing no panic, it’s odd to hear Martin say that the turn-card of the nine (exactly the card he would have been looking for) was “not exactly the card I was looking for.” Clearly, he was getting mixed up, and the player who has announced both his retirement and his ‘unretirement’ in recent months, has certainly attracted plenty of views to his channel after becoming a GGPoker ambassador.
“I’ll probably just have to fold.” Says Martin as the mouse hovers painfully over the fold button. It’s as if you can hear the thousands of viewers screaming “Don’t fold!!!” at their computer screens.
“I really have no idea how I missed turning the stone nuts,” tweeted Martin after the hand went viral. “This is the most embarrassing play possible.”
Plenty of fans and fellow players had their two cents’ worth of feedback for him.
“Still possible flush or board pair going to the river. I see what you did there. When it’s dangerous on the streets proceed with caution.” Said fellow Twitch poker legend Jeff Gross.
EPT Main Event winner and online legend Kevin MacPhee had to laugh, tweeting back “I believe this move is called reverse twilighting.”
A fan called Sean was all of us out loud when he commented “Thought you were trolling right up until you clicked the fold button.”
Martin recently signed as a sponsored GGPoker ambassador and will stream for the site from now on. Let’s face it, this move may not have been good for him in the hand, but it could be terrific for him in terms of subscriptions and new poker fans.
