When Phil Hellmuth walked off the set of High Stakes Poker after dusting off his $100,000 stack, he did so with the underlying assumption that he would one day return to the PokerGO Studio to film more episodes of poker's most iconic television show.
For Kento Mori, however, the short time he spent on the High Stakes Poker felt was, apparently, the last time he would ever play the game of poker. On Monday evening's episode of High Stakes Poker, in a cutaway interview between hands, Mori told the cameras, "Today is the last day of my poker [career]. I will never touch the chips and the cards again."
While many poker players would see an appearance on High Stakes Poker as a longtime dream fulfilled, Mori's debut on the show instead represented his final sendoff from the poker world. Mori goes on to explain his impending exit from the poker world, telling the cameras that he wants "to become a psychologist and philosopher, to help others."
In the commentary booth, both Nick Schulman and AJ Benza were somewhat taken aback by Mori's revelation.
"Well, thank you for gracing us with your last day, Kento," Schulman said.
"I'm glad we made his dream come true. He played on High Stakes Poker, but he quit on High Stakes Poker. Phil Hellmuth says he quits and he comes back a week later. When Kento quits, he quits. Let's see if he can have some fun before he officially walks away," added Benza.
Mori goes out swinging
As it was his last session on the felt, Mori thrust himself into the mix with reckless abandon – aggressively playing essentially any two cards the dealer sent his way. On the final hand of the episode, Mori went out with a bang as he took on Justin Gavri with a less than stellar holding.
The action started with a late-position raise to $2,000 from Gavri, holding 
. Mori, on the button, looked down at 
and fired out a three-bet to $7,400, clearing out the players still left to act behind him. With the action back on him, Gavri matched the raise and the two players saw the 
flop – providing both players with something to work with.
In the face of a check from his opponent, Mori bet $11,200 into the $16,600 pot with his middle pair. Rather than call and hope to complete his flush or straight draws, Gavri took the initiative in the hand with a check-raise to $38,000. Mori considered his options for a moment, correctly deducing that he held the best hand at the moment, and then moved all-in over the top.
Gavri wasted no time in making the call and asked Mori how many times he wanted to run it.
"One time," came the reply from Mori.
When the hands were revealed, the table erupted at the sight of Mori's gutsy gamble with only middle pair. While he held the best hand at the moment, Mori was a slight dog to win the pot with only 48% equity against Gavri's big draw. With several players on their feet to watch, the turn 
put an end to the sweat as Gavri completed his flush and left Mori drawing dead to a misdeal.
"Sixty-nine never fails me," stated Gavri as he raked in the $235,000 pot.
High Stakes Poker airs Monday evenings at 8:00pm ET, exclusively on PokerGO.
