“It’s my turn to dance, gloat, and talk shit,” said Phil Hellmuth.
The 17-time bracelet winner was referencing a hand of poker he recently played against four-time NFL Superbowl champion Rob ‘Gronk’ Gronkowski. The two were battling it out on the most recent episode of The Big Game On Tour by PokerStars when Hellmuth made an impressive laydown.
The Hand
With blinds at $100-$200 with a $200 big blind ante, Gronkowski looked down at A♠A♥ and limped in from under the gun.
Antonio Esfandiari then raised to $1,000 behind him with A♦6♠. Hellmuth woke up with the case ace next to act and three-bet to $2,700 with A♣K♦.
Phil Laak, Nick Wright, and Rania Nasreddine folded.
With the action back on Gronkowski, he asked if he could raise again. He ultimately decided on a small four-bet to $5,000.
It was only $2,300 more to Hellmuth, who had Gronkowski’s $25,000 stack slightly covered.
“I don’t think I can show this hand, it will be too embarrassing,” Hellmuth said.
The Reaction
Just seconds later, he announced a fold, throwing his A-K across the table face up.
“Really?” exclaimed Gronkowski.
“You are so bad at poker,” said Laak.
“You are hopeless. It’s unbelievable how bad you are,” added Esfandiari.
Hellmuth was silent during the verbal beatdown as the dealer rabbit hunted the board, showing Gronkowski would have won.
“You know something,” said Gronkowski turning over his aces. “That’s why you are a 17-time world champ.”
The Poker Brat Laughs Last
“These guys are all idiots,” Hellmuth said victoriously. “They are like five steps behind me. These guys are so dumb that they gave me a world-class lecture, before you showed your hand.”
Hellmuth would end the session down $24,000, but ultimately minimized the damage with his fold. The big winners were Esfandiari and Nasreddine, who both won six figures.
You can watch this episode of Big Game On Tour on the PokerStars YouTube page.
The Big Fold Is Trending
Hellmuth’s fold comes amidst other viral laydowns in recent weeks.
Andrew Robl impressed viewers when he was able to correctly fold the second nuts on a recent live episode of High Stakes Poker. On the other hand, Kristen Foxen incorrectly folded pocket kings preflop in the Triton Poker Jeju main event.
YAY!!
Folks, I have been waiting for this hand to come out!!@NFL Legend “Gronk” has A-A, I have A-K and $32,000; the money has to go in! It HAS to go in!!
But, something isn’t right…My radar is BUZZING! I am alarmed! So, I listen to my instincts and fold A-K
I then show the… https://t.co/hfpmVtFmvz
— phil_hellmuth (@phil_hellmuth) April 6, 2026
