#5: Mike Matusow vs. Scott Lazar (2005 Main Event)
Let’s start with a hand I’ve talked about for years, one I still call my favorite hand in poker. There’s no genius bluff, no legendary hero call, not even any postflop maneuvering. But poker isn’t just about strategy. We live for emotion. And this hand had more emotion than most Hollywood films.
Mike Matusow reached the final table of the 2005 Main Event. Very early on, he got it all-in preflop holding pocket kings… against Scott Lazar’s pocket aces.
To make things even crazier, a third player, Steve Dannenmann, folded pocket jacks preflop. A disciplined laydown, and ultimately a correct one — Dannenmann would go on to finish 2nd in this event.
On the surface, it’s the most standard cooler imaginable. But coolers feel different when they happen at the final table of the Main Event, especially during the peak of the poker boom. The 2005 WSOP drew 5,619 players, and first place paid a then-record $7.5 million. The tension at that table was unreal.
And then this hand became straight-up cinematic:
Calling Mike's shove, Lazar said with a smirk, “It’s up to them,” as he pointed to the heavens.
The poker gods answered — brutally.
The flop brought a , and Matusow exploded with joy. He screamed, jumped, celebrated, convinced his luck had finally turned.
But it wasn’t over. The turn brought a , giving Lazar a flush draw.
And then it happened: the river brought a , giving Lazar the winning flush and shattering Matusow’s dream of becoming world champion. Matusow never mentally recovered from the blow and was eliminated in 9th place. Lazar didn’t get far either — the eventual champion was Joe Hachem.
A miracle , then a miracle runout of hearts. One of the most emotional rollercoaster hands in Main Event history.
#4: Erik Seidel vs. Johnny Chan (1988 Main Event)
Another cinematic hand — literally. This is the legendary final hand immortalized in Rounders. In Russia, the movie is confusingly called Sharper, though “Katala” would probably fit the tone much better.
In the 1988 Main Event, Johnny Chan — already the reigning world champion after winning in 1987 — faced a young, relatively unknown Erik Seidel heads-up.
On the final hand, Chan flopped a straight with . Seidel flopped top pair with .
On the flop of , Seidel checked. Chan, with the nuts, bet 40K. Seidel raised by 50K, which Chan called.
The turn went check–check.
On the river , believing he was ahead, Seidel moved all-in. Chan instantly called and became back-to-back World Champion — something only a handful of players in history have ever achieved.
Ten years later, Rounders recreated this hand almost card-for-card, inspiring the film’s protagonist, Mike McDermott (Matt Damon), to use the same slowplay strategy against Teddy KGB.
The hand became iconic twice — once in real life, once on screen.
There’s also a fun behind-the-scenes detail: Chan only agreed to let the producers use his real heads-up footage after his daughter — a huge Matt Damon fan — asked him to appear in the movie. He joked that he’d only sign over the rights if he got a cameo or at least got to introduce his daughter to Damon on set. In the end, he got both.
Rumors of a Rounders 2 script have been floating around for years. Damon and Norton have said they’d return to their roles. Even Daniel Negreanu once claimed he’d happily appear in a cameo. Whether it ever happens, we’ll see.
#3.5: Phil Ivey (2009) A Painful WSOP Main Event Exit
By the late 2000s, Ivey was widely considered the best poker player in the world. In 2009, he finally fulfilled a long-held dream — he reached the WSOP Main Event final table. This was during the “November Nine” era, so the hype was enormous. Nearly 6,500 players entered that year, and Ivey making the final table was front-page news in the poker world.
His elimination came at the hands of Darvin Moon, the soft-spoken logger from Maryland who entered the tournament as a complete amateur and ended up becoming the story of the year.
Ivey got it in with against Moon’s — a massive equity spot worth millions of dollars in expected value.
The flop brought a , and the entire crowd roared. But the board ( ) ran out clean for Moon, and Ivey was eliminated in 7th place.
What made the moment legendary, though, was Ivey’s reaction.
Not anger.
Not despair.
Just the most stone-faced bite of an apple in WSOP history.
That clip instantly became one of the most famous poker memes of all time.
Moon eventually finished second in the 2009 Main Event. He became one of the most beloved characters in WSOP history — a humble, modest, genuinely kind man who instantly won the community’s respect. And yes, he really was a literal lumberjack. After the WSOP, he took his entire $5 million payout and invested it into land, equipment, and growing his small business.
Sadly, Darvin Moon passed away in 2020 from complications following surgery. He was only 56. A true gentleman — and a true original — gone far too soon.
#3: Daniel Negreanu’s Heartbreaking 2015 Exit in 11th Place
Now let’s recall another unforgettable, gut-wrenching WSOP moment — this time from Daniel Negreanu. It wasn’t at the final table but at 11th place, and it remains one of the most dramatic eliminations in Main Event history.
In 2015, Negreanu had his best chance in more than a decade to reach the Main Event final table. The entire poker world was rooting for him. But in the pre-final stage, he ran into future world champion Joe McKeehen.
On the turn, McKeehen picked up a gutshot and a flush draw — a massive combo draw — and the river completed his straight. Daniel collapsed backward onto the floor, hands covering his face in disbelief.
Even worse? Daniel had finished 11th place once before, back in 2001. Fourteen years later, history repeated itself in the cruelest possible way. He also finished 11th in the $10,000 WSOP Seven Card Stud event in 2008.
The poker gods have a dark sense of humor. And realistically, it’s unlikely Negreanu ever gets another shot this deep in the Main Event. But as always, he handled it with grace.
#2: Scotty Nguyen’s Legendary Line — “You call, it’s all over, baby!” (1998)
Now let’s jump back to the 1998 Main Event — one of the most iconic heads-up duels ever played. It featured Scotty Nguyen, already becoming a fan favorite, and Kevin McBride, an inexperienced amateur who entered heads-up as a massive underdog. Scotty had the chips, the experience, and all the confidence in the world.
And then came the hand.
McBride limped, Scotty checked his big blind.
The flop came . McBride bet.
The turn brought an , pairing the board again.
McBride bet once more. Scotty paused… then called again.
And the river?
The dealer peeled off another — putting quad eights on the board with a nine kicker.
The communal board now read: .
In a situation like this, the board usually plays for both players, leading to a chopped pot. But not this time.
Scotty instantly shoved all-in.
McBride froze. He didn’t have many chips left. The final decision was likely the tournament itself. If Scotty had a nine, Kevin was dead. If Scotty was bluffing, Kevin would win the Main Event.
Then came the line that entered poker immortality:
“You call, it’s all over, baby!”
He wasn’t just talking to McBride.
He was talking to anyone who ever sat across from him.
The image still lives in poker lore:
Scotty in an open shirt, gold chain, sunglasses, cigarette burning, and a bottle of Corona in his hand. You simply couldn’t script a better representation of the golden age of poker.
McBride eventually called, and just like Scotty promised — it was all over. Nguyen held , giving him the winning full house.
#1: Chris Moneymaker vs. Sam Farha (2003)
We’ve mentioned the poker boom several times in this list, and we finish with the hand that started it all — the most consequential hand in WSOP history.
In 2003, a 27-year-old accountant from Tennessee named Chris Moneymaker won a satellite on PokerStars to qualify for the $10,000 Main Event. He didn’t even realize at first that he’d won a full WSOP seat. He didn’t have money for the flight or hotel — he had to borrow from his father just to get to Las Vegas.
But once he arrived, something magical happened.
Moneymaker went on a stunning run, knocking out several pros — including Johnny Chan — and even eliminating Phil Ivey in a massive all-in that sent shockwaves through the tournament room.
Was he playing perfect poker? No. He was inexperienced, often unsure of the action, occasionally forgetting when it was his turn.
But he had heart.
And he had luck.
And sometimes — that’s enough.
Finally, he reached heads-up against Sam Farha, a polished, intimidating professional straight out of a Scorsese casino scene — open shirt, cigarette, Lebanese swagger. Against him sat a quiet accountant in a baseball cap.
No one expected Moneymaker to win.
And then came the hand.
Stacks: Chris Moneymaker (5,690,000) vs Sam Farha (2,700,000)
- Preflop — Farha opens to 100k with and Moneymaker with calls.
- Flop — . Moneymaker checks, Sam Farha bets 175K. Then, Moneymaker raises 300K, and Farha says "Let's go" and shoves all in. Chris calls.
- Turn —
- River —
The effect was immediate and world-changing. An unknown amateur who qualified online had won the biggest tournament in the world. Millions of people suddenly wondered: “If he can do it… why not me?”
Online poker exploded.
Live poker exploded.
A global poker boom began — and those golden years shaped an entire generation of players.
And on that nostalgic note — we’re done.
