Pocket Kings in Peril on 'Poker After Dark'
This week PokerGO returned with more high-stakes cash game action from the ARIA Resort & Casino.
The new Poker After Dark episodes arrived under the heading "Reality Check" and featured a mix of familiar faces and some newcomers. The minimum buy-in was $30,000 (although most bought in for much more), with $100/$200 blinds and a $200 big blind ante.
The first night's eight-handed game included Jean-Robert Bellande, Maria Ho, James Bord, Bob Bright, Dr. Sean Dempsey, John Morgan, Evan Sofer, and Nick Schulman
Schulman was the first night's star, kicking things off by winning a preflop all-in versus Dempsey on the night's very first hand. Schulman's K♠K♦ held versus Dempsey's A♥Q♦ after they ran it twice, and the $102,000 pot went Schulman's way.
Pocket kings featured in another interesting hand from early in that session, with Bellande the one being dealt cowboys.
There had been a $400 straddle when Bob Bright opened for $1,500 from middle position and John Morgan called from the cutoff. It folded to Bellande in the big blind who three-bet to $5,000 with K♥K♣, and both Bright and Morgan called.
The flop came 8♣5♥7♣, and when Bellande continued for $8,500 only Bright stuck around. Bellande bet again after the J♣ turn — $17,000 or just over half the pot — and after sitting quietly for a while Bright raised to $45,000, leaving himself just about that much behind.
Bellande would call that raise with his overpair and flush draw, then after the 5♦ river Bellande checked and faced an all-in for the rest of Bright's stack.
What would you do? Take a look to see what Bellande did — and what Bright had and who won the $210,700 pot:
He might be the king of "Reality Check" week, but @BrokeLivingJRB's kings couldn't survive this $200K pot. Watch… https://t.co/zLNXZD8rwR
— PokerGO (@PokerGO)
Frank Kassela would join the action on Friday and in fact he'd also start the night with a quick double-up with pocket kings versus Bellande's ace-queen.
Later Kassela would find himself involved in what turned out to be one of the more memorable hands of the night against Maria Ho.
That one began with three players seeing a 9♦6♣5♦ flop. Those cards missed Bellande's A♠K♥, but squarely hit the other two players as Ho made a set with 6♠6♥ and Kassela a straight with 8♠7♠.
Kassela and Ho got it all in right there, and they ran it twice again. Take a look to see which of the two won both times to claim the entire $110,200 pot:
A set for @MariaHo, a straight for @fkassela. Can either of them scoop? A $100K pot is up for grabs on… https://t.co/HIJVpJaCvf
— PokerGO (@PokerGO)
Archived versions of both nights of "Reality Check" can be viewed on demand with a subscription over at PokerGO.
