Just as predicted, with blinds going up and stacks getting bigger, the action got real hot real fast on the new episode of High Stakes Poker!
Six-figure pots were flying across the felt, with players sometimes tabling the goods and sometimes going for it with a couple of napkins.
The lineup was just perfect, too, with a great mix of pros and recs. Carrying the banner for the team pro were Daniel Negreanu, Phil Ivey, Garrett Adelstein, Tom ‘durrrr’ Dwan, Bryn Kenney, and JRB.
Jen Tilly and Krish Menon, on the other hand, may be considered recreational players, but they’ve shown time and time again they were here to play, and the latest session was no different.
Hand of the Night: Garrett Pulls a Big Bluff Against Negreanu
As mentioned, there was no lack of action in the latest episode of HSP, but a hand between Garrett Adelstein and Daniel Negreanu certainly stands out from the rest.
The action started with Garrett making a fairly standard raise to $3,000 holding A♣7♣. The next to act, Negreanu looked down at 10♥10♦ and made it $10,000 to go.
The action folded around back to Adelstein, who considered his options for a little while and then decided on a fairly large 4-bet of $40,000.
Daniel made the call, ballooning the pot to $82,500, with $179,000 left in his stack.
The flop didn’t help Garrett in the slightest as it came 5♦5♠3♦, and he decided to check. Negreanu followed suit and the turn brought 5♣.
Negreanu improved to a full house, but once again, the action checked through, and it looked like the hand was all but over.
But leave it to Garrett Adelstein to surprise you.
When the river fell fairly inconsequential 6♠, Adelstein took a few seconds before announcing he was all-in for Daniel’s entire remaining stack.
Player images courtesy of PokerGO
It didn’t take long for Kid Poker to make up his mind as he flicked in a brick of cash, and he was certainly relieved to hear Garrett utter every poker player’s favorite two words – “you win!”
With that, Negreanu dragged in a massive $440,500 pot, which I believe is the biggest one we’ve seen on High Stakes Poker Season 9.
Krish Menon Traps JRB
Multi-way pots are always hard to navigate, and when the action goes six ways to the flop, you can almost be certain there will be some fireworks.
In this particular hand, everyone but Garrett and Ivey saw the flop of K♠Q♣3♦, but it was Krish Menon and his pocket treys who liked it the most.
Krish was the first to act in the small blind, and when he checked, the action checked around, and everyone saw the turn of 4♣.
That card improved JRB, who got involved with 4♥3♥, to the bottom two pair. It also gave Tilly a nut flush draw.
Menon was done checking as he led out for $9,000 into the field. Tilly made the call, and the action folded to JRB, who, given how the hand played out, was pretty confident he had the best hand.
So, he made it $45,000 to go. Krish could have gone for a raise right here, but he decided to take a risky approach and just made the call, which brought in Jennifer as well.
The three proceeded to the 9♠ river with $151,000 in the middle.
Once again, Menon checked his option, as did Tilly, who bricked out on her flush draw. Jean-Robert figured it was time for a value bet and put out $110,000, leaving himself with just $57,000 behind.
He quickly got the bad news, though, as Krish moved all-in on top of his raise, and JRB was shell-shocked.
Bellande was getting a great price on the call, but it was now clear that his bottom two pair wasn’t the best hand. After some deliberation, he did the right thing and released his hand, relinquishing a pot of almost $430,000 to Menon.
A Gutsy Bluff Confuses Garrett
Krish Menon is certainly not the man to shy away from the action, and having won a few nice pots, he was ready to mix it up even more.
The final hand of the night saw him pull off a gutsy bluff against two of the best players around – Garrett Adelstein and Bryn Kenney.
The action started with Bryn opening to $3,000 with A♣2♣ and Krish calling with 8♥9♥ on the button.
Garrett, who’s had a fairly rough night, peeked down at pocket kings and made a substantial 3-bet of $18,000 out of the big blind. Both players called.
The flop came all small cards as the dealer revealed 6♣4♦3♦, and Adelstein decided that this wasn’t the board he wanted to c-bet on. So, he started with a check, and the action checked through.
The turn of 8♣ was an action card as it gave Krish a top pair and improved Bryn to a nut flush draw.
Adelstein was done checking as he led out for $40,000. Kenney, with his draw to the nuts, made the call, but neither player was ready for what was about to come.
Out of nowhere, Menon announced a raise and pushed out a massive $200,000 bet.
Garrett found himself in a really difficult spot, especially having checked the flop. Against most other players, this would be an easy fold, but Krish has shown time and time again he wasn’t afraid to pull big bluffs.
Adelstein went over his options but eventually landed on a fold. Bryn followed suit as the bet was way too big to justify calling with a draw, and just like that, Krish earned himself another big pot.
These are just a few of the biggest and most interesting hands from the latest High Stakes Poker session, as almost every pot exceeded six figures. And, as things stand right now, we can fully expect the action to get even crazier in the coming weeks!