HSP Episode 2: JRB Brings up the Heat & Two Legends Collide in a Big Hand

Just as predicted in the previous article, the new episode of High Stakes Poker brought much more action on the felt.

The session started relatively slow, but that would quickly change as James Bord decided to call it a day and was replaced by none other than Jean-Robert Bellande.

The table welcomed JRB’s arrival as they knew the stakes were about to go up, and they weren’t wrong as Bellande didn’t wait long to put his chips to good use.

JRB Tangles With Dwan in a Big Pot

The very first hand, JRB decided to defend his big blind holding off-suite J-8against Tom Dwan’s early position raise.

Tom had a big hand in A-Q, and the flop further improved him, giving him a top pair with the queen. JRB only flopped the gutshot but decided to check-call Dwan’s continuation bet.

Player images courtesy of PokerGO

The turn came an off-suite ten, completing Bellande’s straight. He checked to Dwan once again, but this time around, he raised his $5,000 bet, making it $16,000 to go.

After some deliberation, ‘durrrr’ called, and the two proceeded to the river, which brought another queen, improving dawn to top trips.

JRB read the situation correctly, and fired a massive bet on the river, putting $51,000 into the $39,000 pot.

Tom went into a short tank but eventually came to the right decision and relinquished his hand, despite the fact the heart draw missed. But, as it turned out, JRB was just warming up.

A Bad Night for Ace-King

Ace-king may be a strong hand in general terms, but it certainly wasn’t the one players wanted to have in the last episode of High Stakes Poker.

Several players managed to lose big pots holding the infamous Anna Kournikova, and the biggest of those pots went to – you guessed it – Jean Robert Bellande.

After some pre-flop action, JRB ended up calling off Patrik Antonius’ all-in, creating a $166K pot. Bellande was holding two red tens against Patrik’s AsKs, and they decided to run it twice.

The Finn found a king on the flop, and he was poised to lock up at least half of the pot. However, poker gods decided to pull off a cruel prank, bringing a ten on the river to give JRB a set and the win.

The second board ran out with all the small cards, bringing no help to either player, and Bellande’s pocket pair held up to scoop the pot.

Kid Poker & Phil Ivey Mixing it Up

The last hand of the session was a proper treat for all poker fans out there, as it saw three poker legends involved in an interesting pot.

The action started with Phil Ivey raising it up to $1,200 with QdTd. Brunson made the call with Ad7d, and Negreanu called with pocket 6s out of the big blind.

The flop came 5dKd5h, and Ivey fired a continuation bet of $2,500 after Daniel checked to him. With the nut flush draw, Doyle naturally called.

This is where Kid Poker decided to get frisky, raising the price of poker to $7,500. Ivey called the extra dime, but the bet got rid of Doyle Brunson, who decided that chasing a flush on the paired board wasn’t his thing.

The turn brought a black Jack, and Negreanu continued to tell the story of a big hand, betting out for $12,500. In position and with a solid flush draw, Phil decided it was a fair price to see the river.

The river helped Ivey as it came 8d, completing his flush. First to act and with a weak hand he knew he couldn’t take to a showdown, Kid Poker fired a third bullet, this one for $36,000.

It was a non-decision for Ivey at this point, so he quickly called, showing down his queen-high flush and raking in an almost $120K pot.

Another New Face in the Mix

The last episode saw another new arrival in Jonathan Gibbs, who came in as a substitute for Kim ‘LetsGiveItASpin’ Hultman.

Gibbs was quick to get in a mix as well and gave his contribution to what was a rather action-packed session.

But, more than this, his story on how he learned to play poker and how he fell in love with Texas Hold’em and abandoned stud, his first love, is the one that pretty much sums up why Hold’em is the Cadillac of poker!

Article by

Ivan Potocki

Ivan played poker professionally for over five years but finally decided to merge his passion for writing with poker and became one of the leading writers in this industry. You can connect with Ivan via his LinkedIn profile and follow him on Twitter.