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WSOP Main Event player heroically folds a straight in a wild hand, appropriately celebrates

Sometimes, when it’s early in a tournament like we’re seeing with the 2024 World Series of Poker Main Event, you want to make that right call to stay in it.

But then you’re in a hand in which you’ve got a pretty darn good one, and it’s just the toughest decision whether or not to fold or to pursue it.

That was what Starr Valdez faced in the Main Event. She was holding 8-7 with the flop showing Jack-10-9. That’s right, she had a straight on the flop. But there were four other players in at that point … and maybe she knew that one other player at that point had a better straight than her with King-Queen.

So what did she do? She folded. The celebration when she saw the result was well-earned:

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A wild WSOP Main Event hand featured 2 heroic folds BEFORE the flop

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