Pocket aces and pocket kings eliminated by ace-deuce suited in massive three-way all-in
In one of the sickest hands ever seen live on stream, Daryl Boatwright’s pocket aces and Vincent Ciarrocchi’s pocket kings both hit the rail on Day 2 of the $1,100 PokerStars Open Philadelphia Main Event when a recreational player holding ace-deuce suited scooped a pot worth over 80 big blinds.
The brutal cooler unfolded at Live! Casino & Hotel Philadelphia on Tuesday night and instantly went viral across poker social media.
The Hand That Broke Twitter
With blinds at 2,000/4,000 with a 4,000 big blind ante, action folded to Boatwright in the cutoff. The Maryland regular, who already sat behind one of the biggest stacks in the room with roughly 385,000, raised to 9,000.
Ciarrocchi, a popular Philly-area player known as “Vinny the Fish,” three-bet to 28,000 from the button with pocket kings. The small blind folded, but the big blind – a recreational player who had been quietly accumulating chips – moved all in for 162,000 holding A♠ 2♠.
Boatwright wasted no time reshoving his pocket aces for 385,000 total. Ciarrocchi snap-called for his last 220,000 with kings.
Three players all in, ace-ace versus king-king versus ace-deuce suited. Nearly 750,000 chips in the middle – more than 185 big blinds.
The flop came 7♠ 6♠ 3♦, giving the ace-deuce the nut flush draw to go with its two live cards.
Turn: 4♥. Still no help for the underdog.
River: 5♠.
The recreational player spiked the flush on the river to make a seven-high straight flush, cracking both premium pairs in spectacular fashion.
Players Left Speechless
Boatwright stood up slowly, hands on his head, staring at the board in disbelief. The normally talkative Ciarrocchi simply gathered his backpack and walked straight to the payout desk without saying a word.
This was the definition of a $10,000+ bad beat – except the jackpot doesn’t pay out when you’re holding kings or aces.
The winner, who asked to remain anonymous but was later identified only as “Mike from South Jersey,” quietly stacked the mountain of chips that now put him among the chip leaders with over 750,000.
Tournament Context Makes It Worse
The hand occurred with just 74 players remaining from the 441-entry field. The money bubble had burst hours earlier, with 63 spots paying at least $1,944 and the winner scheduled to take home $94,960 plus a $30,000 Platinum Pass.
Both Boatwright and Ciarrocchi were in perfect position to make deep runs. Boatwright had been crushing souls all day, while Ciarrocchi carried the hopes of the local Philadelphia poker community.
Instead, they collected $3,456 each for their 72nd and 73rd place finishes.
Social Media Explodes
The hand immediately blew up across poker Twitter:
- Barstool Sports’ poker account posted the clip with the caption “This is actually criminal”
- PokerGO called it “one of the worst bad beats of 2024”
- Professional player Jonathan Little wrote “I’ve literally never seen aces and kings both lose to ace-deuce suited in a televised tournament before”
By Wednesday morning, the clip had over 500,000 views across various platforms.
This single hand perfectly captures why poker remains the cruelest game – where the best possible starting hands can become your worst nightmare in seconds.
The PokerStars Open Philadelphia Main Event continues Wednesday with 63 players returning at noon. The anonymous “Mike from South Jersey” returns with a top-five stack and suddenly finds himself in contention for the $94,960 first prize and the coveted Platinum Pass.
Sometimes in poker, the cards really do hate you. And sometimes, they love the guy with ace-deuce suited.
