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Table talk is a strategy that players use to get information or encourage the action they are secretly praying for.For the record, it’s meant to be used on one’s opponent. But Kevin Hart took table talk to a whole new level when he talked himself into calling an all-in with king-high in a hand that everyone is talking about.
Star of the biggest blockbuster Hollywood films of the last ten years, Kevin Hart needs no introduction. But no matter how busy he is, the man from Philly always finds time to play poker! And Kevin isn’t just a celebrity player - he's an active member of the poker community too. Antonio Esfandiari is well-known for both his poker prowess with nearly $28 million in live tournament cashes as well as for making outlandish prop bets. Back in July 2018, Magic Antonio revealed a.
- Kevin Hart wins a $40,000 poker pot only from misreading his own hand and decides to give almost half back to the other player.
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The always-hysterical, often-verbose, and sometimes-lunatic Hart took part in PokerStars Championship Cash Game last year in Monte Carlo.
It was just your typical cash game with the likes of Daniel Negreanu, Faraz Jaka, Liv Boeree, Charlie Carrel, and qualifier Mila Monroe taking a seat at the table.
Yep. Just another typical cash game.
Hand #55
And then hand #55 was dealt.
What Negreanu described as possibly “the greatest televised hand in the history of poker,” indeed is one of the craziest we’ve seen in a while.
Watch @KevinHart4real show his big HART in this unbelievable hand from the brand new PokerStars Championship Cash Challenge Series. Catch more cash game action on @Channel4 at 00:05 Wednesday, January 10th. pic.twitter.com/2BL8CV0PrL
— PokerStars UK & IRE (@PokerStarsUK) January 7, 2018
It all started when Negreanu put on the straddle and Hart made the call holding king-high. The action folded to Monroe in the big blind, who put in a raise with six-high. Negreanu, proving that he’s been working on his game by folding more, got out of the way and Hart, again, made the call.
The flop did not improve either hand and Monroe continued her line by betting, and Hart continued his tale by calling as if he had something to prove.
The turn kept the two garbage hands intact. Monroe barreled again, and once again, Hart called.
The river paired the board, and again Monroe continued to paint the picture that she had a big hand. And here’s where the crazy begins.
Hart springs to life by putting in a raise.
Both Monroe and Hart are talking a big game. Watching the video with the hole cards on the screen, you have to admire Monroe’s courageous all-in bluff, knowing she’s going to take it down. Hart only has king-high after all.
But this is where the crazy happens.
Hart seems resigned to the fact that Monroe has a boat and is willing to give the qualifier his chips. He makes the call, and then the fun begins.
You have to watch it to believe it.
Say, what?
“King-high wins?” Hart says incredulously. “I don’t feel comfortable with that.”
The best part of this video has to be the faces of the other players when they figured out (or at least tried to figure out) what happened.
You can almost read their minds, “What the heck (or some other expletive)?”
Hart has heart
It was reported that Monroe’s ambition at the start of the day was to bluff Hart. It’s a bit sick that her ridiculously, brave all-in river bet lost. Because under most (if not all) circumstances, that move would have made it through had Hart not misread his cards.
The misread, Hart admitted to Express, “Actually showed how awful I am at the game.”
Well, he may be awful, but he has heart. Hart gave $15,000 back to Monroe to keep her in the game making it clear it was not a stake, but a gift.
It was genuine feel-good moment followed by a classic Hart one-liner, “I’m giving it to you so I can take it one more time.”
Hart and PokerStars making poker fun again
It was in Monte Carlo about eight months ago that Hart announced his partnership with PokerStars. “I have bullied myself into a partnership with PokerStars,” said Hart. “Why? Because I love the game. I’m deeply in love with the game. I’ve seen what the game is missing, and it’s missing me.”
And since then, Hart has been making appearances in some of the biggest televised games including the Super High Roller Bowl held in Las Vegas, Nevada last summer. With his over-the-top personality, he is hard to miss and definitely makes things interesting at the tables.
It’s probably a safe bet that while Monroe enjoyed her time in the game, it wasn’t all that fun to see your perfectly-crafted bluff called down by king-high.
The lesson in all this is to leave the table talk to the trained professionals lest you talk yourself into calling an all-in with a bluff.
The self-proclaimed ambassador of poker fun better learn to read his hands correctly. Otherwise, the fun will be short-lived.
We've seen Kevin Hart participating in various high roller events for more than a year now. The actor and comedian has provided a lot of fun at the tables in the events he's entered while also allowing non-pros to experience vicariously the daunting task of competing against the world's top players. That's a topic we explored here a while back in 'Poker and Comedy: Kevin Hart Among the Super High Rollers.'
Recently Hart joined forces with PokerStars School to deliver a new series of strategy videos that combine entertainment with education. The initial episodes of 'Kevin Hart's How to Play Poker' series are online now, with the first one covering a few points of etiquette for those new to the game. Take a look:
In most games — those not involving Hart, anyway — you'll likely avoid getting popped for committing any of these violations of poker etiquette. Then again, you may risk raising the ire of your fellow players, thereby reducing the enjoyment had both by you and others.
Robert Woolley's excellent 'Casino Poker for Beginners' series covers all of these same topics and more as part of its comprehensive advice to those new to live poker.
Just this week we shared his recommendations regarding 'Etiquette When Sharing Space at the Table.' Woolley has also covered other basics like the order of play, rules and etiquette regarding poker chips, what it means to 'protect your hand' and when to keep your hole cards covered, among other topics useful both to new players and those with experience.
The second episode of Hart's series tackles the subject of giving off tells at the table:
Here Hart more specifically addresses how players should work to avoid giving off tells themselves rather than talk about trying to discover others' tells. This is in fact good advice, especially for new players — namely, to focus more on minimizing your own potentially revealing actions than worrying about what tells others might be giving away.
Author and PokerNews contributor Zachary Elwood has written multiple books on the subject of tells in poker. In his article 'Poker Tell Advice for Beginning Players,' Elwood suggests that while new players should focus more on learning basic strategy than reading tells, they also can help themselves a lot if they 'concentrate on being as 'unreadable' as possible.'
Elwood has additionally written here about other behaviors touched on by Hart in the video, including hesitating or looking worried, feigning relaxation as a false tell, and eye contact.
The third episode Hart's series covers 'How to Bluff' — a timely topic, since being able to sort out when a person is bluffing can potentially help you win a Platinum Pass worth $30,000 in PokerStars' new 'Truth or Bluff' promotion — read more about that here.
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Kevin Hart Poker Scene
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