Did this Poker Player Angle Shoot at Lodge Final Table

A Controversial Hand at the Lodge Final Table

The Lodge Championship Series Half Milly event, a $500,000 guaranteed $400 buy-in no-limit hold’em contest at Texas’ The Lodge Card Club, attracted over $800,000 in the prize pool. During the livestreamed Day 2 session on the card room’s YouTube channel, as the final table played down to a winner, a controversial hand occurred.

Daniel Wojcik and Trung Pham eventually agreed to a chop, with Wojcik earning the trophy and $100,072, while Pham, the runner-up, received a slightly higher payout of $102,614. Pham’s path to the heads-up play was dramatic, as he needed to hit a flush in the wildest hand at the final table.

The Potential Angle Shoot

With five players remaining and blinds at 300,000/600,000, a potential angle shoot took place. Jose Gutierrez, in the cutoff with K♦Q♣, raised to 1,300,000 from his 10,300,000-chip stack. Pham, the chip leader and loosest player, defended his big blind with 6♠3♠.

The flop came 10♠K♠4♣, keeping both players interested. Pham checked his flush draw, and Gutierrez bet 800,000 with top pair. Pham then check-raised to 5,000,000, putting Gutierrez in a tough spot where he would likely be playing for his stack if he continued.

At this point, things got unusual. Within seconds after Pham’s raise, Gutierrez gathered up his entire stack and made a quick forward motion with it, stopping about an inch short of the betting line.

“And there’s the all in moment,” commentator Slick Rick said.

However, Gutierrez didn’t complete the all-in motion, reassembling his stack instead. A few minutes later, he did move all in for real, and Pham snap-called. Gutierrez needed to dodge a spade to stay alive, but the 7♠ on the turn eliminated him in fifth place for $33,971.

Pham became a massive chip leader and maintained that position until heads-up play began. Wojcik then closed the gap when he picked up pocket aces and coolered pocket kings for a full double-up, leading to the agreed chop.

The Lodge Championship Series at the Round Rock, Texas poker club, co-owned by Doug Polk, Brad Owen, and Andrew Neeme, began on February 16 and will conclude on March 4 with the $1 million guaranteed Main Event. The poker room recently won the Best Livestream award at the Global Poker Awards.