Keating vs Wang
High Stakes Poker, Season 14, 2025. Three players see the flop.
A three-handed flop on season fourteen
The hand
Steve Swedlow, Peter Wang and Alan Keating.
Before the flop
- Blinds are posted. Wang has the button.
- Swedlow raises to 1.4K.
- Wang calls.
- Another player folds.
- Keating calls.
The flop
- Keating checks.
- Swedlow bets 4K.
- Wang raises to 13K.
Keating raises to 41K. Why
Keating. A check-raise from the big blind on an ace-king board represents a big hand. It can win the pot from two players who are often on draws themselves.
- Swedlow folds.
- Wang calls.
The turn
Keating bets 58K. Why
Keating. Keeping the story going: a check would give up the strength the check-raise showed, and a smaller bet keeps the pot in reach.
- Wang raises to 175K.
- Keating calls.
The river
- Keating checks.
- Wang bets 235K and is all in.
- Keating calls. The famous decision
The river
The famous decision
Keating. The spade flush missed, and Wang raised twice on a board full of draws. If he had an ace, a river all in into a check would scare away the bluffs he beats. Third pair is a bluff catcher, and this line has many bluffs.
Wang had a missed flush draw with a pair of sixes. The sevens were good.
The result
Keating wins at the showdown with Pair of Sevens.
- Wang6♠3♠
- Keating9♦7♦Wins
Why it is famous
Alan Keating called Peter Wang’s river all in of $235,000 with a pair of sevens, third pair on an ace-king board, and won a pot of about $911,000. Wang had a missed flush draw with a pair of sixes.
What to take from it
A hand that raised twice on a draw-heavy board and then shoves a blank river is often a draw that missed.
Sources
What the sources do not say. The blinds and the stacks are not documented, so the pot is not shown; both reports put the final pot at about $911,000. Wang’s stack is worked out from his bets and his all in; Keating covered him. One write-up puts Keating in the small blind and the pot at $910,000; the two reports of the episode have him in the big blind.
Quads is for adults, 18 and over. It teaches with play chips only: there is no real money, ever.