A hand just went down that could have shifted the balance of power in this tournament with just 16 players remaining... had Vladimir Peck simply mucked his hand without exposing his cards.

Obviously the faux pas was inadvertent, but when Peck folded the and accidentally exposed his cards to the table, everything changed for this series' defending Main Event champion Andy Hwang.

Here's what went down: Peck's cards went face up after Luther Lewis shipped his last 202,000 into the middle, and Hwang, who is one of the most experienced and talented players left in the field, decided to simply smooth call the bet. After folds around the table, Ray Ross - member of Pennsylvania poker crew Team Kitten - made his stand, however, moving all in over the top for 893,000 more.

Hwang was then put to a major decision, and he tanked for a long while trying to compute and calculate his way to the optimal decision. Eventually, after lamenting the fact that he had just been moved to a new table and put in such a difficult spot, Hwang decided to muck his hand, showing the table his in the process. Understandably, having seen the already moved into the discard pile, Hwang's affection towards his suited big slick had waned somewhat, and despite waking up with a monster he elected to get out of the way.

Showdown:

Ross:
Lewis:

Hwang's reaction was calm and composed when he saw the news, but when the arrived in the window on the flop of , it was obvious he was dismayed by the result. The turn () and river () changed nothing, and Ross won the hand with a pair of queens. Having had the perfect sequence of events transpire to keep him in the tournament, Ross stood up and exhaled, asking Hwang "can I thank you man, for being good enough to fold that hand?"

Hwang could only smile in response, remaining the consummate pro despite having missed a chance to put a stranglehold on the tournament.

Tags: Andy HwangLuther LewisRay Ross