Twitter Dissects Adam Walton’s WSOP Main Event Move

This week’s Twittertainment couldn’t be anything other than a recap of the WSOP Main Event final table and the pivotal hand that propelled Daniel Weinman to victory. 

To put the hand in context, Weinman held the chip lead with three players remaining. He, like his tablemates Adam Walton and Steven Jones, had played their way to the final session of a record-breaking WSOP Main Event. 

A total of 10,040 players had fallen by the wayside and, on July 17, the final three were within touching distance of poker’s biggest prize. To say it was a pressure situation would be an understatement. 

However, the silver lining for Weinman, Walton, and Jones were their stacks. No one was in a desperate situation and, with the average stack being 100 big blinds, everyone assumed the finale would be a war of attrition. 

Walton Takes His Shot at Becoming WSOP World Champion

Adam Walton had different ideas and came out firing. His aggressive strategy seemed to be working until he made a fatal mistake with pocket eights. As you can see from the video below, Steven Jones raised from the button with Q♦ 6♦ to get the hand underway. 

Walton called from the small bling with pocket eights. Daniel Weinman woke up with aces in the big blind and, after pondering his options, he put in a three-bet. Jones postured to disguise the fact he raised with a less than premium hand before folding.

Then, without a moment’s thought, Walton moved all-in for more than 80 big blinds. Under any other circumstances, a shot that big might have been successful. Unfortunately for Walton, it was a fatal shot as Weinman called with bullets. 

Walton was far from dead and had a glimmer of hope as the flop ran out 7♣ 5♥ 3♣. However, it wasn’t the be. The 9♠ K♣ on the turn and river brought the dramatic hand to an end. Walton was stunned but took it all with good grace. He made a daring play and that’s what it takes to become a WSOP World Champion. It didn’t work out on this occasion, but he certainly got the trolls on Twitter talking. 

Twitter Reacts to WSOP Main Event Finale

Hans (@Hanseflats) said it best when he tweeted: “alright, let's head over to the comment section for some poker lessons.” It didn’t take long for those lessons to appear. Zurc.eth said they can’t understand why Walton moved all-in and called it a “total punt.” Chupacabra echoed that sentiment, describing the shove as a “mega punt.”

@BelgerNelson said that eights were so far down the range of hands he’d shove with that they should have been confined to the gutter. 

“It’s the Main Event. Even if he had kings he should have folded. Eights is a poverty hand,” tweeted @BelgerNelson.

Jonathon Hutzler pointed out that eights three-hand are strong and folding pre-flop would be nitty. That may be true, but was an all-in four-bet the right play? Eric Shunn thinks it wasn’t the worst move in Walton’s spot. 

“If it was a three-bet bluff, the all-in would have worked perfectly. Solid effort, just bad timing is all it was,” Shunn tweeted. 

John Masterpalo was slightly less forgiving and called it one of the worst moves he’s ever seen in poker, not just the WSOP Main Event. 

“Imagine playing for nine days, getting three-handed and then making that play. Wow. Just shows you how much luck is truly involved with getting through. One of the worst shoves I’ve ever seen, including our home games,” Masterpalo wrote on Twitter. 

The Deal that Crowned a WSOP Champion

Other than reflecting on the value of shoving pocket eights in that spot, much of the talk on Twitter revolved around the possibility of a deal being made. The WSOP doesn’t disclose any deals, not least because the Main Event is built on the idea of winning bigger-than-average prizes. 

However, based on the way Walton shoved all-in, some people are convinced the final three agreed to chop up the remaining prize money. 

“Tell me you all made a deal prior to the start without telling me you all made a deal prior to the start. Four-bet shoves eights into aces. Thanks,” tweeted @AlexChenevey. 

Deal or no deal, Walton’s move made the WSOP Main Event finale even more entertaining. It also gave Weinman enough ammunition to choose his spots and get the money in good against Jones heads-up. With that, the WSOP Main Event was over for another year and, based on how things played out this summer, people will be counting down the days until the next one.