21 Feb 2026 Beginner This material is for beginner players The poker world is talking about a dramatic hand at the final table of the LAPC Commerce Classic. At the 2026 LA Poker Classic at Commerce Casino, the $1,200 buy-in event had a $1 million guarantee and attracted a massive field of 1,444 players. When the dust had settled, Fausto Valdez was the last man standing. He emerged victorious after defeating Erick Ordonez in a heads-up match and took home $252,840. However, an imaginable mistake at the start of the final table may have changed the outcome of the tournament. A $3.2 Million Chip Pot Slips Away There was a massive pot on the table, as the tournament had reached the final table, and only nine players were left. Pro poker player Jared Griener indicated there were 2,200,000 chips in the middle, which is about 10 big blinds. Griener tweeted about the hand on X. Interesting spot here. Huge ft.Experienced player mucks his hand not realizing it’s a chop. No one says anything before it hits the muck, then players try to chime in & I say it’s out of line for anyone to say anything.@kwansfull disagrees with me, what say you? @SavagePoker pic.twitter.com/SAqv6gS6I7— Jared Griener (@jaredgriener) February 18, 2026 The board fell . Duey Duong held , and Erick Ordonez had . Duong bet 500,000 chips, and Ordonez called. The fell on the river, putting a fifth diamond on the board. Things really got critical at this point. Neither player had a diamond. In this case, the best five-card hand was already in the game. The flush was on the board. According to poker rules, the pot should have been split. Both players checked the river. Ordonez turned over his set of queens, which had turned into a flush with the community cards. But Duong did not show his hand. He tossed his cards into the muck, face down. The dealer awarded Ordonez the entire pot of 3,200,000 chips after Duong mucked his hand. Duong walked away empty-handed in a pot that should have been split. Experienced Player, Expensive Error Duey Duong (Image courtesy of World Poker Tour) What shocked everyone about this whole scenario is that Duon is not an amateur player. According to The Hendon Mob, he has won more than $1.3 million in live tournament earnings. Duong heavily paid for his mistake. He would have had 4,375,000 chips if he had shown his hand, but mucking left him with only 2,775,000 chips and made him one of the shortest stacks at the table. On the other hand, Ordonez benefited from this blunder, and his stack rose to 8,825,000 chips, putting him above average. Duong's tournament life finally ended in sixth place, and he took home $52,050 for his efforts. Ordonez kept going until he was heads-up against Valdez. Ordonez started the heads-up battle with almost twice as many chips as Valdez, but he still came in second place and won $177,270. Valdez's pocket kings beat Ordonez's queen-jack to win the title. How would the split pot have changed the results in the end? We really do not know, but each chip is very vital in the poker game. It's clear that this one hand changed the game. Table Talk Creates More Controversy The mucked hand sparked a discussion about how players are supposed to behave at the table. During the Bally Poker Live stream on YouTube, Griener said what he thinks. Griener said that no one should ask a player to turn over their hand even if they muck it by accident. In the end, he said that kind of meddling was dirty. Some players at the table reportedly called out at Duong, telling him to table his cards. The discussion went on for a few minutes before the game continued. Players must reveal their cards to win the pot in tournament poker. The hand is considered dead once a player puts their cards face down in the muck. The purpose of that rule is to make things clear and manage the game fairly. Still, some disagree about whether other players should speak up in this situation. Poker Community Opinion Divided Many poker players and fans shared their opinions about the hand on social media. Some people thought the hand was over when Duong mucked his cards. All poker fans believe that every player should protect their hand. If you discard your cards without showing them, you lose your chance to win the pot. While most agreed it is fair to let the dealer handle clear chops without any help from the table. Some fans still believe it makes sense to speak out when things are not okay on the table. All in all, if you throw your cards face down, though, it should be considered a fold. Below are a few reactions from the poker community: @kwansfull: I don’t think it’s mandatory btw for people to speak up, but I think “cards speak” etiquette should apply to even a “board speaks” spot like this. Sucky to lose pots bc of brain farts.— Derek Kwan (@kwansfull) February 19, 2026 @jaredgriener: Ppl make all minds of mistakes due to “brain farts” in poker tho this is just one of them. Muck ur cards you lose imo, as brutal as it is.— Jared Griener (@jaredgriener) February 19, 2026 @TravisTPoker: If they clearly tabled their cards to the dealer, I will always speak up so that the right thing is done. If someone doesn't table their cards, I won't say a word, and let the person who showed their hand win. In fact, I'm all for a shotclock on people tabling their hands 😂— TravisT Poker Player and Streamer (@TravisTPoker) February 20, 2026 @brian_havoc: Not taking a side one way or the other but didnt EVERYONE go off on Maurice when he didnt see that one hand? And now people are saying dont say anything at all? So is this player dependent on saying stuff or situational? Honest question— Brian D (@brian_havoc) February 19, 2026 @BJNemeth: If a player clearly shows their cards and then mucks, I'd speak up. But tossing them into the muck is a forfeit. If they forfeit a winning hand, that's on them.I wouldn't speak up whether I was in the hand or not. However, I wouldn't be upset at someone who did speak up.— BJ Nemeth (@BJNemeth) February 19, 2026 LAPC Commerce Classic Final Table Results Rank Player Winnings 1 Fausto Valdez $252,840 2 Erick Ordonez $177,270 3 Phuoc Hong Nguyen $115,000 4 Thang Tran $85,210 5 Lihao Shen $64,380 6 Duey Duong $52,050 7 Jared Griener $42,990 8 Kevin Khuong $34,070 9 Kurt Esbenson $25,290
