Jennifer Tilly, Now Playing Bad on FSN

I'd heard about this one, but hadn't seen it until this evening. Episode 18 of 20 in Season Three of Fox Sports Net's "Poker Superstars III" series. Six players at the table: Jennifer Tilly, Carlos Mortenson, Mike Sexton, Mike Matusow, Ted Forrest, and Jeffrey Shulman. Shulman had already clinched a spot in the quarterfinals, and Forrest had already been eliminated; each of the other four needed to finish in fourth or better in this episode to slide into the quarters.

Jennifer Tilly is a decent enough player, but even decent players make some bad plays, and those were on display here. Probably the worst was with Tilly in the big blind, with the blinds at $10,000 and $20,000 and she having about $150,000, called a 4x raise from Matusow for half her remaining chips with... J-T. Unsuited.

Out of the three possible plays she has, that one ranks fourth. No matter what hand she put Matusow on, given her own holdings, she must push or fold, since J-T is almost certainly going to be an underdog to whatever Matusow is playing. Worse, the odds lean toward a fold, because she knows Matusow's priced in with anything decent.

So she calls...? And folds immediately after the A-high flop, a flop that also missed Matusow, as if it mattered.

Well, she didn't last long after that hand, and she pretty much rushed from the set, mad at herself for her play. (I've been there and done that part, myself.) The chip giveaway also knocked her out of the quarterfinals of the overall series, arguing even more for a judicious application of aggression. Still, it's a bit painful to see a big name make an oops that basic. I'm still shaking my head at it.