When Barstool Sports made its first foray into the world of live-streamed poker content last week, a Hand of the Week contender felt almost guaranteed. The 18-player tournament on Tuesday, September 2 provided no shortage of possible hands to highlight, but the $20,000 heads-up match between company founder Dave Portnoy and Eric 'Barstool Nate' Nathan bestowed a hand too wild to ignore.
Nathan, a longtime poker enthusiast and co-host of the now-defunct Cracking Aces poker podcast, spent the better part of two decades hunting Portnoy's action. When he finally got it, the match didn't exactly go his way. In the video above, Doug Polk presents an analytical breakdown of the key hands from the match – including PokerOrg's pick for Hand of the Week at the nine-minute mark.
'The worst thing I've ever witnessed'
With $17,000 of his $20,000 buy-in remaining in front of him, Portnoy started the action with a limp from the button with 
. Nathan peeled 
in the big blind and raised to $1,000. Portnoy came along for the extra $800 and the two players watched on as dealer spread the 
flop.
With $2,000 in the middle, Nathan continued for a $700 bet. Portnoy, confident with top pair and a strong kicker, raised to $1,700. After a brief exchange of words, Nathan made the call to bring in the 
river. In the face of a check, Portnoy downsized his bet to $1,000 and, despite the small sizing, Nathan didn't like the spot. Still, he recognized his hand was too strong to fold on the turn and made the call. The 
river completed the board and with $7,400 in the pot, Portnoy fired another $1,000 bet – less than 1/7th of the pot.
Eric 'Barstool Nate' Nathan had been dreaming of a heads-up match with Portnoy for years – but it didn't go as he hoped. It's at this point that the absurdity kicks in. Rather than make a quick call with his overpair to the board, Nathan went into the tank.
"You're so confident in this," Nathan said to Portnoy. "You flop a set?"
"Maybe, maybe not," came the reply.
"There's no way I'm good here," Nathan continued.
"If he folds, this is one of the worst folds I've ever seen in my life," said Brent Hanks from the commentary booth as Nathan slid his cards back to the dealer. "It's the worst fold in the history of poker. It's the worst thing I've ever witnessed."
Nathan's egregious fold isn't the only wild hand from the match. In an earlier clash, Portnoy mucked three-of-a-kind on the river as the first player to act. If that sounds impossible to believe, check out Polk's video above for the proof.
