Amateur Goes All In Blind for Potential Life-Changing Money

A recreational poker player played a potential life-changing pot, and he didn’t even look at his cards.

Andy Taylor, the “Loose Cannon” in Season 3 of the PokerStars Big Game on Tour, had one final hand to turn a profit. It didn’t even matter what two hole cards he held, he had to gamble.

The Loose Cannon is a recreational player staked $50,000 to compete in a high-stakes cash game against some well-known pros and celebrities. But the only money Taylor could take home were profits accumulated over exactly 150 hands. If there were no profits, he wouldn’t get any money. So, the final hand he played, a massive pot, meant everything to him.

Can Loose Cannon Win Six-Figure Pot?

After 149 hands, Taylor had $48,400 in his stack, meaning he needed to win greater than $1,600 on the 150th hand or he’d go home empty-handed. With that in mind, there really wasn’t any point in the Canadian poker player looking at his hole cards. He had to play the hand, and he had to win the hand.

Jason Koon, a PokerStars ambassador, straddled for $400. Taylor blind-raised to $800, followed by a blind raise to $1,600 from Shaun Deeb, before UFC fighter Sean O’Malley made it $6,500 to go without looking at his cards.

Matt Berkey, realizing his A♦10♣ in the big blind was a favorite against blind hands, five-bet to $20,000. Koon and Deeb folded, while the Loose Cannon went all in. O’Malley called off his final $8,300 total, while the biggest stack at the table, Berkey, called the all-in bet.

Three players — two hadn’t even looked at their cards — would go to a flop with $107,300 total in the pot ($80,200 was the side pot). Taylor still didn’t want to see his cards before the community cards were exposed. But Deeb gave the Loose Cannon a compliment, telling Taylor, “you held your own, you broke even in this game with the killers. You got f****d every single hand. You should be so proud of yourself.”

All hands were required to be tabled before the flop was dealt, but Taylor didn’t want to know what he had, so he turned his back to the table. The cards he held were J♦10♥, and he’d pick up a sweat on the turn when the first four cards came out A♥9♠7♣K♥.

O’Malley, who had 9♦8♦, could only hit a 9x on the river to win the main pot against Berkey. But Taylor had a double-gutter. If the straight would come for him on the river, he’d go home with over $50,000 in profits. If not, he’d leave with nothing.

The K♣, however, appeared on the river, sending the entire pot to Berkey, the biggest winner in the game with $193,900 in profits. Taylor, who put up a valiant effort against some top pros, went home empty-handed, but with an incredible story to tell for the rest of his life.

PokerStars Big Game on Tour Season 3 Final Results