Martin Kabrhel was eliminated after playing only one hand in the WSOP $25,000 High Roller event. He went all-in with pocket sixes against Nick Petrangelo's AK, but was hit with an Ace on the flop, resulting in his elimination.
That's right, that's exactly it. Poker's villain and fan favorite, Martin Kabrhel, was eliminated early in the 2026 World Series of Poker (WSOP) $25,000 High Roller 6-Max No-Limit Hold'em event, playing only one hand and earning himself a "free afternoon".
On the second day of the $25,000 buy-in event, dozens of players registered late, including Kabrhel. But his second (and last) bullet was quickly used up when he clashed with fellow high-stakes pro Nick Petrangelo, who described the hand as a "miniature version of Club Royal".
That's all for today.
This hand occurred at level 10, with blinds of 6,000/12,000/12,000. According to the PokerNews live reporting team, Kabrhel went all-in against Petrangelo with his starting stack of 150,000 chips. The two exchanged a few words before the showdown.
"It's just a miniature version of the Royal Nightclub," Kabrhel said. "Alright, Nicky boy, do you want a free afternoon, or me? What do you want? Do you want to win or lose?"
“I don’t care,” Petrangelo said.
"I'm kind of hoping for a free afternoon, so I haven't decided yet."
Martin Kabrhel: 6♠6♥
Nick Petrangelo：A♥K♠
Kabrhel may not have decided yet, but the dealer made the decision for him. The community cards were J♣A♣9♠4♣3♠, giving Petrangelo a pair of Aces.
"Alright, that's it for today. One hand, just one hand. Goodbye, Crocodile. I really enjoyed it."
One player joked that Kabrhel could sign up for the $2,000 No-Limit Hold'em event to earn Dream Points, but he should know better than to try to argue with this "King of Quotes".
"You're interesting, huh?" Kabrhel replied expressionlessly.
Kabrhel had a breakout year at last summer's WSOP, but has yet to achieve any significant results this year. His best finish so far is 28th place ($15,879) in Event #2: $5,000 No-Limit Hold'em 8-Max, and 17th place ($7,461) in Event #15: $600 Pot-Limit Omaha Deepstack.
This $25,000 High Roller event attracted 242 entries, with a total prize pool of $5,687,000. The top 37 players will receive prizes, with the minimum payout being $50,207 and the champion receiving $1,286,285.
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