McLean Karr knows

(Image from here.)

I was just reading in a poker magazine a wrap-up of the Bay 101 Shooting Stars WPT tournament held in March. I had not followed it as it took place. I was intrigued when I noticed how Hasan Habib was knocked out by the eventual winner, McLean Karr. Here's how the WPT live bloggers reported it (here):

Hand #113: Hasan Habib Eliminated in 4th Place ($234,300)

Level 26: 15,000-30,000, 5,000 ante

McLean Karr raises from the button to 75,000, and Hasan Habib calls from the big blind. The flop comes J22, Habib checks (it may have been in the dark before the flop), Karr bets 115,000, Habib check-raises to 300,000, and Karr thinks for about 15 seconds before he says, "I'm all in."

Habib thinks for about 45 seconds before he says, "Alright, I've gotta call you, man." Habib shows K10 for a club flush draw, while Karr turns over 42 for trip deuces. Habib needs to improve to stay alive.

The turn card is the J, the river card is the 4, and McLean Karr wins the pot with a full house, deuces full of jacks, to eliminate Hasan Habib from the tournament.

Does WPT champion McLean Karr know the power of the mighty Deuce-Four?

To quote one of the great lines from Star Trek, "He knows, Doctor. He knows."

Incidentally, this should also answer any remaining doubts about what happens when the Deuce-Four runs into crubs: the crubs are no match. Even if they had gotten there (which, it must be noted, they didn't), the Deuce-Four had made a full house anyway.