06 30th, 2010
The Hijack Seat with hosts , who is asked some great questions from none other than Bernard Lee. Greenstein is one of the most popular professional poker players around and addresses that fact when asked about the upcoming Tournament of Champions event. He also answers hot-button questions like who he’d like to go toe-to-toe with for the Main Event if he ever got heads-up and which poker games he feels like he has the biggest edge in.
Greenstein is known as the “Robin Hood of Poker” and also signs over a copy of his book “Ace on the River” to anyone that busts him from a tournament. His work for charity is well documented throughout his career and is considered one of the best all around poker players in the game, whether it be in a tournament or cash game across many different poker disciplines.
Bernard Lee is the host of “The Hijack Seat” and guest columnist here at Poker News Daily. He is also co-host of ESPN’s Inside Deal and the official spokesperson for Foxwoods Casino.
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Defending () Main Event champion struggled in his debut on the .net-powered “Big Game,” whose Week 3 kickoff episode aired on Monday night on Fox. The series is shown nightly starting at 1:00am or 2:00am in most markets.
Russian born Nadya Magnus was this week’s “Loose Cannon” online qualifier and each player at the table bought in for $100,000. The lineup was noticeably quieter than in past weeks and, in one of the first major pots of the episode, Cada bet $9,300 on a flop of 6-J-4 holding 9-8 of diamonds for air. Fellow PokerStars pro , who flopped a set of sixes, called to bring a nine on the turn. Now with second pair, Cada bet $19,000 and Mercier slyly called behind. On a river three, Cada check-folded, sending the pot of more than $70,000 to Mercier.
The action is Pot Limit before the flop and No Limit thereafter. The “Big Game” features blinds of $200/$400 with a $100 per person ante that is paid entirely by the player on the button. Each “Loose Cannon” plays 150 hands and keeps whatever money they reel in over their $100,000 stake. Chris Rose and PokerRoad’s Joe Stapleton host the cash game series.
Then, with three-way action and the board reading K-10-8-4, Justin “” Bonomo bet $4,000 with A-Q and Magnus called with 4-3 for bottom pair. However, Bonomo spiked a miracle ace on the river and promptly fired out another bet, this time $10,000. Magnus came along and the dealer pushed the $35,500 pot to the Panorama Towers resident.
Magnus struck back, however, calling a raise from with K-Q. Alaei held A-4 of hearts and the flop came Q-J-3. Alaei bet $2,300 and Magnus wasted no time coming over the top for $6,200. Alaei mucked and Magnus scooped her first pot of the night. Alaei weighed in on Magnus’ facial expressions: “First she was giving me the stare down and then she broke into a smile. I can’t really figure that one out.”
Then, Magnus picked up A-6 and raised to $1,500 pre-flop. Mercier called with A-J and the flop came A-6-8. Mercier check-called a bet of $2,600 from Magnus and the turn was a four. Mercier once again reluctantly check-called a bet, this time of $6,100, and the river was another six, improving Magnus to a boat. Mercier checked, Magnus bet $13,200, and Mercier, despite seemingly smelling a rat, made the call. The pot was worth $47,600 and Mercier exclaimed, “God, I’m so f****** terrible.” Magnus moved out of the red and was up $7,700.
Magnus went from a VPIP of just over six during the first 15 hands of the night to 20 through Hand #25. However, she’d be the target of Cada late in the night. The 2009 WSOP Main Event champ raised to $1,500 pre-flop with pocket queens and Magnus re-raised to $4,800 with pocket jacks. Cada made the call, the flop came a harmless 8-2-3, and Cada check-called a bet of $8,100.
The turn was a seven and Cada once again checked. Magnus fired out a bet of $15,600 with the worst hand and Cada called to see an eight on the river. The action went check-check and Cada rebounded to end the evening, pulling in the $58,200 pot. It marked Cada’s first pot of the week and the show concluded.
At the end of Monday night’s action, Bonomo was up $47,400 and Cada was down $35,500. The PokerStars “Big Game” airs nightly during the week on Fox. Check your local listings for more details.
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Norway’s Sigurd Eskeland earned his first ever () gold bracelet on Tuesday morning, defeating Steve Sung heads-up in the $2,500 Mixed Event. The former school teacher won $260,497 in his third career WSOP cash.
The Mixed Event features eight different games: No Limit Hold’em, Fixed Limit Hold’em, Pot Limit Omaha, Omaha 8/b, Razz, Stud, Stud 8/b, and 2-7 Triple Draw. Day 3 began with 20 players still remaining and Eskeland had a ways to go, sitting in 12th place. Aside from the chip leader, Nikolai Yakovenko, who had 310,000 chips, it was a fairly tightly grouped field.
Eskeland waited patiently through several eliminations before surging into the chip lead thanks to a series of double-ups. After eliminating Alex Wice in third place, Eskeland went into heads-up play with a 2-to-1 chip advantage over Sung. He expanded his lead quickly, but after about 40 minutes, Sung had pulled to even and looked like he was poised to make a run at the bracelet when he took the lead shortly thereafter.
Sung’s lead didn’t last long, though, and just over two hours into the heads-up match, he had all of his chips in the middle in a No Limit Hold’em round with Qd-Qs against Eskeland’s Ac-9s. The flop was harmless – 3d-9c-4c – and it looked like Sung still just needed to dodge an ace to double-up. The Jc on the turn gave Eskeland a flush draw, though, and the river was heartbreaker for Sung: 2c. That brought Eskeland a flush and the title.
2010 WSOP Event #48 $2,500 Mixed – Final Table Results
1. Sigurd Eskeland – $260,497
2. Steve Sung – $160,952
3. Alexander Wice – $102,314
4. Nikolai Yakovenko – $73,776
5. Stephen Su – $54,032
6. Scott Seiver – $40,175
7. Jared Jaffee – $30,319
8. Kirill Rabtsov – $23,223
Elsewhere around the Rio, the Tournament of Champions (TOC) wrapped up Day 2, albeit behind schedule. The plan was to play Day 1 last Sunday and Day 2 on Monday, at which point the final nine players would be determined. Play would then resume on July 4th. However, after Monday’s action, there were still 17 players left. Therefore, WSOP officials decided to bring everyone back on July 3rd to play down to the final table, which will still be played on July 4th. The schedule may be modified even further, though. There are two events taking place on July 3rd – the Ante Up for Africa charity tournament and the $25,000 Six-Max – so there is a chance that one or more of the TOC players will already be playing in an event. If that is the case, the TOC will resume on July 4th at 9:00am so that there is enough time to determine a champion. Here is a look at the current standings:
1. – 85,500
2. – 73,000
3. – 68,600
4. – 64,700
5. – 64,300
6. – 58,900
7. – 58,900
8. – 44,100
9. – 42,600
10. – 39,900
11. – 38,800
12. – 34,200
13. – 30,800
14. – 30,100
15. – 29,900
16. – 24,400
17. – 21,400
There were three other tournaments running on a busy day at the Rio on Monday. Event #47, $1,000 No Limit Hold’em, completed its second day with just 33 of the original 3,128 players remaining. Manuel Davidian tops the field with 889,000 chips, 176,000 more than his next closest competitor, Adam White. Of note is recent bracelet winner , who in 24th place is gunning for his second win of the 2010 WSOP. Here is what the top ten looks like:
1. Manuel Davidian – $889,000
2. Adam White – $713,000
3. Jason Riesenberg – $635,000
4. Owen Crowe – $607,000
5. Justin Young – $449,000
6. Laurence Stein – $442,000
7. Paulus Valkenburg – $439,000
8. Pekka Ikonen – $435,000
9. Shawn Busse – $432,000
10. Olivier Busquet – $377,000
Event #49, $1,500 No Limit Hold’em, is entering its second day with 315 of 2,543 players remaining, so the field is still 45 players away from the money. Giuseppe Zarbo leads the chase to the $609,493 first prize with 156,500 chips. Other players of note are still alive, including George “Jorj95″ Lind III (96,400), David “” Pham (83,300), J.P. Kelly (61,600), Mark Gregorich (55,600), Shane Schleger (54,800), (43,400), Roland de Wolfe (38,400), (36,600), and (35,000). Play will resume at 2:30pm local time.
Finally, Event #50, $5,000 Pot Limit Omaha, also concluded its first day. Almost half of the original 460-player field is still alive, so it is a long way until the cash bubble bursts. , a member of last year’s November Nine, leads all players with 178,900 chips. Also among the leaders are Jarred Solomon, who just made the final table of the $2,500 Mixed Hold’em event, 2005 Main Event final tablist and this year’s $1,500 Pot Limit Omaha champ John “Tex” Barch, 2010 $5,000 Pot Limit Omaha 8/b runner-up Dan Shak, and inaugural WSOP Europe Main Event champ Annette “” Obrestad. First place pays over $500,000. The players will be back at 3:00pm local time to continue their quest for a bracelet.
Stay tuned to Poker News Daily for more updates from the 2010 World Series of Poker.
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06 25th, 2010
English pro Steve Jelinek is the latest British bracelet winner, taking down the $1.5k PLO High-Low Split event for a payday of $245,871.
He joins fellow countrymen Praz Bansi, James Dempsey, Richard Ashby, and Mike Ellis in the esteemed group of victors.
Jelinek’s victory didn’t come easy. For a moment it looked as though Hellmuth could be on the verge of a record setting 12th bracelet, especially when he hit a two outer on the river to stay alive at the final table. The cards didn’t fall right for Hellmuth after that and he was eventually eliminated in 7th place.
06 25th, 2010
gary clarke was hit by the river after flopping a set against maurices flush draw after getting it all in on the flop
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06 24th, 2010
In a previous article, I gave you a . Nothing fancy, just the nuts and bolts to get you started. This week, I want to continue the lesson with some Fixed Limit Stud beginner strategy.
My starter lesson today is the one I try really hard to remember every hand: play tight. Don’t play so tight that you limp into one pot every 50 hands since you have to pay an ante, but concentrate on using sound starting hand selection. It is much harder to get away with poor starting hands in Stud than it is in Hold’em or Omaha, so make sure you are selective. Let’s look at starting hands you will want to consider.
Rolled Up Trips
“Rolled up” is a Seven Card Stud term that refers to a three-of-a-kind on the deal, a pair in the hole and a matching third card as your door card. It is a monster starting hand for rather obvious reasons: three-of-a-kind is the best hand you can have with only three cards and the fact that two of the three cards are hidden from your opponents makes it quite deceptive.
This is probably the only hand in Seven Card Stud that you can risk slow-playing right off the bat, as it might be able to hold up all the way to the river. Keep in mind I said it “might” be able to hold up. If you see straights or flushes developing in your opponents’ hands, be careful. Do not let people draw cheaply to these hands. Additionally, if you have a low set, opponents are more likely to be willing to chase their draws, even draws to better sets, as the card you have showing will not scare them off.
Pairs
One thing that makes Stud unique is that starting pairs come in two different flavors, split pairs and buried pairs. Split pairs are ones in which the exposed card matches a down card. Buried pairs are pairs that are made with both hole cards, with the up card used as a kicker. Buried pairs are obviously stronger, as your opponents will have no idea that you have one, similar to how sets are stronger than trips in Hold’em.
Having a suited kicker (or, at the very least, a connector) makes a pair stronger, as it gives you a backdoor draw; the higher the kicker, the better two pair you can make. Two pair is a very common winning Stud hand. In fact, I almost never see someone win with less than two pair if the hand goes all the way to showdown. Be very aware of your opponents’ door cards, though – your fantastic buried pair of queens is not so fantastic if someone else is showing a queen. If someone showing an overcard to your pair raises, you may also want to tread lightly.
Three-Card Flushes
People love trying to hit flushes in low-stakes Seven Card Stud games. Why not? Flushes are both strong and easy to recognize. While not a made hand like trips or pairs, three-card flushes are very strong. If you complete the flush, you will win most of the time. While you want as strong of a flush as possible, it’s not incredibly important, as it is unlikely that someone else will also score a flush. Remember, you don’t share cards with anyone like you do in Hold’em, so someone else would also have to be dealt at least five suited cards. It happens, though, so beware.
The key for three-card flushes is to be very observant of everyone’s door cards. If you have three hearts and no hearts are face up after the initial deal, you should be in good shape. Every heart you see makes the chances of hitting your flush worse.
Three-Card Straights
When you are dealt three connectors, you have been dealt a three-card straight. Just like with three-card flushes, you haven’t made a hand yet, but it’s a good start. The obvious difference between the two hands is that the straight is weaker. You will still probably win more often than not if you make it, but of course, flushes can beat you too. Again, be mindful of opponents’ up cards. If you have 4-5-6 and you see a handful of deuces, threes, sevens, and eights out, then abandon ship.
High Card
If you haven’t been dealt a pair, trips, a three-card flush, or a three-card straight, then you will want to fold most of the time. There are some exceptions, but they still aren’t particularly strong hands. If all three of your cards are higher than anyone else’s exposed card, it may be worth seeing fourth street as long as nobody has raised. After all, if you pair one of your cards, there is a solid chance that you have the best hand. If you have an ace showing and there are no other aces exposed, then you may want to try raising if nobody else has in an effort to pick up the pot right away.
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Monday night marked the first episode of Week 2 of the .net sponsored “Big Game” on Fox. The high-stakes cash game featuring a “Loose Cannon” qualifier from PokerStars battling against five poker pros airs at 1:00am or 2:00am nightly in most markets.
was the high roller at the table, buying in for $200,000, while everyone else purchased $100,000 in chips. This week’s “Loose Cannon” is William Davis, who candidly told “Big Game” hostess prior to his battle, “I could win or lose a pot worth more than my house.” Davis’ wife is not a fan of Negreanu, who serves as the face of the “Big Game,” because he talks too much.
The “Loose Cannon” made his presence known early, raising to $1,200 pre-flop with pocket deuces and receiving a call from defending Championship winner , who held pocket tens, including a club. The flop came 5-4-4 with two clubs and Williams check-called a bet of $2,100. The turn put a third club on the board and the action went check-check to the deuce of clubs on the river, giving Davis a boat and Williams a flush. Williams checked, Davis bet $6,000, and Williams tanked before electing to abandon ship.
Then, internet entrepreneur Jason Calacanis raised to $1,200 pre-flop with pocket deuces, 10-time bracelet winner popped it to $4,800 with pocket queens, and Davis 4bet to $14,800 with a wired pair of jacks. Brunson pushed the action to $46,400 after trying to push all-in, but the action on the “Big Game” is Pot Limit before the flop and No Limit thereafter. Davis released his hand, causing host Joe Stapleton to comment, “That was some power poker. A $60,000 pot without a flop.”
The hand of the night occurred when Williams bet $3,000 holding A-4 of spades on a flop of 8-8-Q with two spades for the nut flush draw. Davis called with K-10 of spades for the second nut flush draw and the turn brought the deuce of spades, filling both players’ flushes. Williams bet $7,000 and Davis called to bring a fourth spade on the river. Williams bet $20,000 and Davis insta-called, shipping the $64,400 pot to Williams. Just like that, the “Loose Cannon” was down $43,000 on the night out of his $100,000 stake.
Brunson hit the deck hard on Monday night’s episode, picking up pocket queens twice and pocket kings once in the first 10 hands. He was up over $20,000 by the time all was said and done, roughly tied with Williams. In the final hand shown, Davis picked up aces and raised to $1,200. Cash game guru Abe Mosseri called with J-6 of hearts and the action flop came 5-5-8 with two hearts. Davis bet $3,200 with his overpair and Mosseri called to bring an offsuit two on the turn. Davis fired out another bet, this time $9,000, and Mosseri called despite not receiving the right price to hit his flush draw. The river brought another offsuit two. Davis bet $23,000 and Mosseri folded, ending the action for the evening.
Davis was still down $28,000 to close out the episode. The “Loose Cannon” qualifier had an Aggression Factor of 2.7, the second lowest at the table, through the first 30 hands. Negreanu had a Pre-Flop Raise Percentage of 30%, the highest of the group, while Davis turned in the second highest tally at 23%.
The PokerStars.net-backed “Big Game” airs daily on Fox. Check your local listings for more details.
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A massive field of 1,400 players came to the felt for Day 1 of the $1,500 No Limit Hold’em Shootout, Event #39 at this year’s (). ’s Bryan “Devo” Devonshire, Adam “Roothlus” Levy, and survived to play Day 2.
In a Shootout format, a player has to defeat their entire table to move on. With the large field for Event #39, it meant that 140 tables were in action and each table’s winner would earn a payday of at least $5,632. The 140 players will break down to 14 ten-handed tables today and the winners of those will determine a champion tomorrow. First place will take home $382,725 and a WSOP bracelet.
While Devonshire seemed to have little trouble working his way through his table, Levy had a much more difficult road. He was quite short – around ten big blinds – during Level 5 and, finding pocket queens, shoved his chips towards the center of the felt. His opponent woke up with pocket kings and looked him up with the opportunity to take Levy out. A queen on the flop resuscitated Levy’s game and he made the most out of the opportunity. “Roothlus” eventually made it to heads-up action and, after making two pair on the river against his opponent, was on to Day 2.
Another Team UB member, Binger, also was able to make his way through the minefield of the Shootout event to see Day 2. Binger was able to work his way out to a 30,000-15,000 lead over his opponent when, holding the worst hand in poker (7-2), he made trip sevens on a dangerous board of A-K-7-5-7. Moments later, Binger finished off his opponent when his pocket queens held up.
There are quite a few notable names that could potentially be opponents for Devonshire, Levy, and Binger when Day 2 begins this afternoon. Tony “Bond18” Dunst had a difficult time with eliminating his foe, doubling him up twice to pull the heads-up match closer. Dunst was able to emerge victorious from his Round 1 table to join the Day 2 festivities.
Other notable players who will be making their way to the felt for the second day of Event #39 include , original November Niner , Victor Ramdin, Peter Costa, , , and .
Looking at the Team UB tote board for the WSOP, there is a new leader in the terms of cashes and money earned. 2009 CardPlayer Magazine Player of the Year Eric “” Baldwin has moved into the top slot with three cashes over the first half of the WSOP. Binger and Levy have earned their first two cashes over the past couple of weeks and, with a third cash in the $1,500 Shootout, will tie Baldwin. Also earning their first two cashes at the WSOP are and Matt Graham, who join Team UB honcho with two cashes each.
When it comes to the money front, Baldwin’s three cashes have moved him past Hellmuth for the lead. To the halfway point of the WSOP, “basebaldy” has been able to earn $76,338, outpacing the “Poker Brat’s” $39,989 in earnings. With his $23,481 in cashes, Graham is in the third place slot, Levy ($11,163) holds down fourth place, and Cantu ($9883) owns fifth.
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A busy Thursday at the () saw one of the most underrated players in the game capture his second bracelet and the crowning of a fresh face from north of the border.
In Event #28, the $2,500 Pot Limit Omaha tournament, 12 players from the original starting field of 596 returned for play on Thursday afternoon to determine a champion. The survivors of two days of battle reflected the international nature of the WSOP, with five Americans, two Frenchmen, two Germans, and Bulgaria, the United Kingdom, and Canada also represented among the players. Canada’s Miguel Proulx was at the head of the field with a chip count of 877,000, but he faced a serious challenge from France’s Patrick Hanoteau.
The action at the table started as soon as the cards hit the air, with the final table determined in slightly under two hours. Once Matthew Reid, top professional grinder Joe Serock, and Dilyan Kovachev were eliminated short of the final table, Hanoteau was able to seize a slim 1,000 chip lead over Proulx. Hanoteau would not enjoy his chip lead for long, however.
Once the final table began, Hanoteau became a victim of tough cards and tougher players. After turning the straight against Tommy Le’s set, Hanoteau was a victim of the river when Le filled up his boat, doubling up Le. He then doubled up actor Michael Greco and Karl Gal in a ten-minute span, chopping his chip stack down to 115,000. He would depart the tournament soon afterward in ninth place.
Hanoteau was the only player to depart before the dinner break, with Le assuming the lead of the tournament with eight players remaining. After the players came back, the action ratcheted up as Le fell victim to the same circumstances as Hanoteau, departing in eighth at the hands of Proulx. The Canadian continued to apply the pressure to the final table, eliminating four of the remaining players to reach the heads-up fight against L.J. Klein.
Klein held an approximate one million chip lead over Proulx at the start of heads-up play, but over the span of the 45-minute heads-up match, Proulx was able to assume the lead. On the final hand, Proulx was able to trap Klein into committing his chips while Proulx held the nut flush. After the three days of play, Proulx walked away with his first WSOP bracelet and the third bracelet for Canada.
1. Miguel Proulx (St. Charles, Quebec) $313,311
2. L. J. Klein (Golden, CO) $195,147
3. Michael Greco (London, United Kingdom) $129,691
4. Stephane Tayar (St. Mande, France) $96,243
5. Joerg Engels (Cologne, Germany) $72,227
6. Karl Gal (Munchen, Germany) $54,736
7. Trevor Pope (Gainesville, FL) $41,850
8. Tommy Le (Tustin, CA) $32,254
9. Patrick Hanoteau (Chauconin, France) $25,044
The marquee event on Thursday was the finale of the $10,000 Limit Hold’em World Championship. Thirteen players returned to the felt Thursday afternoon from the 171 players who began the tournament to determine the champion. There were no weak players in sight, with Kyle Ray and Daniel Idema leading a field that included Jameson Painter, Player’s Championship bracelet holder Michael “” Mizrachi, David Chiu, , and Matt Keikoan.
After two hours of play, the remainder of the field made the final table with the elimination of (eleventh) and Anh Van Nguyen (tenth) as the unfortunate bubble players. Painter held a 300,000 chip advantage over Ray when the final table started, but Idema was able to seize the lead over the duo at the dinner break. When the players came back to the table, Keikoan began his drive to take his second bracelet.
After an hour of play, Keikoan surpassed the chip leaders and continued to apply pressure. He eliminated Painter in fourth place and dispatched Ray in third to reach heads-up competition against Idema. After an hour of heads-up action, Keikoan lost his chip lead, as Idema worked his way to a 3:1 advantage. Keikoan was able to reverse his fortunes over the next hour, however, and the duo continued to swap the chip lead as the final table worked into the early hours of Friday.
After a five-hour heads-up fight, Keikoan was able to seize the advantage and eliminate Idema. After being crippled, Idema tabled an innocuous 4-2 and Keikoan showed a suited A-7; the board brought no miracles for Idema and gave Matt Keikoan his second WSOP bracelet.
1. Matt Keikoan (San Rafael, CA) $425,969
2. Daniel Idema (Vancouver, British Columbia) $263,243
3. Kyle Ray (Fayetteville, GA) $190,701
4. Jameson Painter (Las Vegas, NV) $140,760
5. Brock Parker (Silver Springs, MD) $105,782
6. Zvi Groysman (Thornhill, Ontario) $80,884
7. Simon Morris (Victoria, Austria) $62,897
8. (Miramar, FL) $49,732
9. David Chiu (Las Vegas, NV) $39,959
Four other events were in action inside the Rio on Thursday, with several top pros in the hunt for WSOP bracelets. In Event #30, the $1,500 No Limit Hold’em tournament, Christopher Gonzales heads the 21 players remaining in the battle. Top pros Neil “Bad Beat” Channing and Jean “Prince” Gaspard are lurking in the middle of the pack, both looking for their first WSOP bracelet.
The $1,500 H.O.R.S.E. tournament has 24 players remaining, with Russia’s Konstantin Puchkov leading the remaining field. There are plenty of challengers for Puchkov, with several notable names in hot pursuit. Cliff “” Josephy, , Allen Kessler, Al “Sugar Bear” Barbieri, James Van Alstyne, and are all involved in what should be an exciting final table.
Event #32, the $5,000 Six-Handed No Limit Hold’em event, finished Day Two with 116 runners remaining from its 568 starters. Christian “charder30” Harder is the chip leader over Tony Dunst, but none other than is holding down eighth place when play continues today. Also still on the front page of the leaderboard are , , Chad Brown, and Men “” Nguyen.
The $2,500 Pot Limit Hold’em/Omaha mixed game drew 482 players for its Day One action. Justin Smith holds an approximate 45,000 chip lead over Tyler Patterson, but what is most impressive is that Ivey is also in this event. He currently sits in 35th place, but will probably have to make a decision early as to whether to pursue the Event #32 bracelet or play for this one. Also in the mix in Event #33 are Andrew Black, Ross Boatman, Rob Hollink, and defending WSOP Player of the Year .
Two tournaments will be initiating play on Friday, the $1,000 Seniors (50 and over) No Limit tournament and the $10,000 Heads-Up World Championship. The latter should be a pro-laden field, as it is capped at 256 players and offers an excellent opportunity at a bracelet. Even if the Heads-Up tournament weren’t occurring, there is still plenty of action for the railbirds at the Rio as the World Series of Poker rolls on.
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06 16th, 2010
This week, “The Cash Game” continues on the NBC franchise “Poker After Dark.” The second week of action began on Monday night at 2:05am ET with a good old-fashioned Twitter fight between pro and namesake . Hellmuth told his elder, “I’ll side bet you that I can get 75,000 more Twitter followers in the next three months just by hosting freeroll tournaments.” Hellmuth offered to bet $1 million, while Brunson countered with $10,000, but no agreement was reached.
Hellmuth’s comment was in part a jab at Brunson for growing his Twitter following using promotional tactics. In case you’re wondering, Hellmuth has 39,000 Twitter followers, while Brunson has nearly ten times that total at 340,000. Brunson began the episode up over $130,000 from last week’s action, while Tom “” Dwan was down $150,000. At one point, over $1 million was spread across the table, $350,000 of which was contributed by Dwan
On a flop of Q-6-4, Dwan bet $3,600 with 6-4 for two pair and called with Q-9 for top pair. The turn was a king and Dwan once again led out, this time for $9,300. Elezra called behind and spiked a nine on the river, making a better two pair than Dwan. The youngster fired out $22,800 and Elezra begrudgingly called, saying, “I guess I ran into the flush” when the board showed three hearts. However, Elezra raked in the $76,100 pot, received some ribbing from his tablemates for his flush comment, and Dwan reloaded for another $100,000.
Then, it was Hellmuth’s turn to shine. On a flop of 9-9-J, Hellmuth fired out a continuation bet of $7,000 with A-3 suited and made the call with 9-8 suited for trips. The turn was another jack and Laak led out for $4,700. Hellmuth called behind and the river was a three. Laak bet $23,000 and the Hellmuth theatrics began. The 11-time bracelet winner removed his sunglasses and dramatically pondered the situation before ultimately deciding to call. Laak raked in the $75,700 pot with a boat and Hellmuth lamented, “What the fuck? Wow. 9-8 of hearts? Wow.”
Dwan righted the ship, leading out for $10,400 with 6-5 of diamonds on a flop of Q-3-A with one diamond. Brunson called with A-2 for top pair and the turn was the nine of diamonds, improving Dwan from air to a flush draw. Dwan bet $27,600 and Brunson insta-folded the best hand, shipping a $63,000 pot to Dwan.
In the hand of the night on Monday’s episode of “Poker After Dark,” Elezra raised to $3,300 pre-flop with Q-10 of hearts, Hellmuth called with 8-7 of spades, Dwan put in a $12,700 squeeze play with pocket jacks, ’s 4bet to $33,800 with pocket tens, and Dwan put the Dane all-in for another $60,000. Hansen called and the duo agreed to run it twice.
In the first board, Hansen made a flush on the river to scoop half of the $191,700 pot despite being a 9:1 underdog. In the second board, Dwan’s wired pair held and the pair chopped the spoils; each netted about $3,500 in the process. By the end of the night, Laak was up $130,000, while Brunson was up $120,000.
The second week of “Poker After Dark: The Cash Game” airs daily at 2:05am ET on NBC. This is the last week of new episodes of the NBC poker series until August. If you’re a fan of shows like GSN’s “High Stakes Poker” and ’ “Big Game,” then you’ll love the cash game version of “Poker After Dark.” Whereas many of the tournaments on “Poker After Dark” are unexciting, the cash game has a high octane pace.
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