New York resident Kyle Bowker is arguably best-known for an absolutely astonishing fold that he made in the 2016 WSOP Main Event – where he folded QUADS. Laying down his pocket sevens on a Ks9sJs7d7h board, he mucked his hand face-up to the expectedly shocked faces of the players at the table. Assuming that his opponent had QsTs for the straight-flush, Bowker later revealed, ‘I felt like when I showed my hand I could see on his face that he was disgusted. I felt really confident that I was making the right fold anyway, and that just kind of confirmed it more’.
While folding quads is something that is always going to draw criticism, Bowker can’t be knocked too much. After all, he must be doing something right – his live tournament winnings exceed $3,000,000 and he has a WSOP bracelet on his list of achievements as well. He earned himself the bracelet the same year he made this controversial fold, taking down the $3,000 Pot Limit Omaha Hi-Lo Split 8-or-Better event for $294,960. One of the most complex games on the WSOP schedule, Kyle’s victory is proof that he has a phenomenal strategic understanding of poker in general.
His biggest win in monetary terms was in 2010, after Kyle finished third in the £5,000 No Limit Hold’em EPT Main Event in London for $469,469. He has achieved five other six-figure scores in his live tournament career, with these including a very deep run in the 2006 WSOP Main Event along with a circuit win at the $1,675 No Limit Hold’em Main Event in Philadelphia.
Although Kyle focuses predominantly on live tournament play, he had an immensely successful few years playing online MTTs during the golden age of online poker. His collection of scores in this realm exceed $1,800,000, and the American reached an all-time high of seventh on the international leaderboard for money earned through online tournaments in 2006.
