POTD #88 Chance Kornuth busts the WSOPME with 88

Chance goes directly to jail. Does not collect $15,000

I keep thinking of and forgetting to match the POTD number with the cards that are played in the hand. Naturally most hands I write about will have at least one card jack or higher, but I’ve written about hands where I’ve had 33, 44, 54, 55 (twice), 65, 66, 74, 75 (twice), 87, 95 and 99. If you are a savage who says the low card first, we could add even more potential matches. So when I began writing POTD #87 and realized it was about a hand where Chance Kornuth had pocket eights, I finally was able to do something I’ve been meaning to do from POTD #1, although I suppose couldn’t have done it until POTD #22. Sometimes things work out well.

Do you know what did not work out well? Chance Kornuth’s WSOP Main Event. I was doing commentary on this hand and had more information about Luke Chung’s style of play than Chance did. However, Chance fashions himself as a guy who knows what guys like Luke Chung are going to do before they know themselves. I did not think this was the biggest punt I saw on stream, but when Jared Bleznick, Brent Hanks, and Jeff Platt aggressively roast you on stream-- so much so that Thomas Keeling makes a video mocking your call-- I am willing to change my mind and downgrade this hand from “tough spot vs an unknown” to Punt of the Day. Just how big a punt was it? Read on to find out.

$10,000 Main Event | Day 3 | WSOP 2025 | Blinds 3k/5k/5k (BBA)

Preflop: Chance Kornuth (236k) makes it 10k UTG9 with 8♥️8♣️, it folds to Luke Chung (631k) on the button who makes it 30k with K♠️K♥️, it folds back to Chance who calls.

Flop (83k) 9♦️9♣️4♥️: Chance checks, Chung bets 30k, Chance calls.

Turn (133k) 6♣️: Chance checks, Chung bets 60k, Chance calls

River (253k) T♦️: Chance checks, Chung shoves Chance’s final 116k, Chance calls.