Day 1 of Super High Roller Cash Game wrapped up a little earlier than expected. While television producers didn't release official numbers, it appeared the biggest winner of the game was Antonio Esfandiari, while Doyle Brunson also booked a nice win.
On the flip side, Australian pot-limit Omaha pro Matthew Kirk and the boisterous Jean-Robert Bellande were the game's biggest losers, while Bob Bright, Jennifer Tilly, and Johnny Chan more or less broke even.
Remember, the Super High Roller Cash Game will continue on both Tuesday and Wednesday as a new lineup of players takes to the felt. The games are expected to last from 2 p.m. through 2 a.m., so be sure to join us then to follow the action in the live blog. You can also watch the action on the Poker Central channel on Twitch.
Antonio Esfandiari raised to $3,000 from the button and Bob Bright called from the small blind. Jean-Robert Bellande then three-bet to $14,000 from the big blind, Esfandiari four-bet to $44,000, and Bright got out of the way. Bellande made the call and the flop came down .
Bellande checked, Esfandiari bet $50,000, and Bellande check-raised all in for $247,000 total. Esfandiari snap-called and Bellande discovered the bad news.
Bellande:
Esfandiari:
"I ran into Antonio," a frustrated Bellande exclaimed upon seeing his aces had been cracked. "I knew you had jack sh*t. You literally have jack sh*t. How do you just get blessed with the two pair flop?"
"It's been like that for 20 years," Esfandiari replied.
Bellande continued to moan about his bad luck, and failed to answer Esfandiari's inquiry as to how many times he wanted to run it. As such, the dealer burned and turned the .
Bellande, on his feet and mumbling, focused enough to answer twice when Esfandiari tried again and asked him how many times he wanted to run the river.
Ironically, the appeared on the first run, meaning Bellande would have made a bigger pair to take down the $587,200 pot.
"Thank god we said something," Esfandiari said with a sly smile. Bellande seemed even more frustrated.
The on the second run was safe for Esfandiari, and the two ended up chopping the pot.
"I should have been so tilted just to run it once," Bellande lamented.
Johnny Chan put on the $1,600 straddle and Bob Bright raised to $4,000. Jean-Robert Bellande called, and then Phil Ivey made it $16,000 to go from the button. Matthew Kirk then popped it to $50,000 from the small blind, action folded back to Ivey, and he dropped in a bunch of chips for a raise to roughly $180,000. Kirk had $231,000 total and quickly moved all in. Ivey snap-called.
Ivey:
Kirk:
Ivey gave Kirk the choice as to how many times he wanted to run it, and twice was the answer. The board on the first run secured Kirk half the pot with a pair of aces, which turned out to be the same way he'd win the second half after the board ran out .
Kirk doubled in the $474,800 pot, while Ivey dropped down to only $661,000.
Matthew Kirk opened for $3,000 and Bob Bright and Jean-Robert Bellande called from the small and big blind respectively. Bright then led out for $7,000 on the flop, Bellande folded, and Kirk raised to $20,000. Bright made the call and then check-called a bet of $30,000 on the turn.
When the completed the board on the river, Bright checked for a second time but still called when Kirk tossed out two cranberry chips for a bet of $50,000. Kirk tabled the for a missed flush that had turned into two pair, and it was good enough to win as Bright mucked.
Jean-Robert Bellande opened to $4,000 with the straddle on, and Phil Ivey made it $15,000 in the cutoff. Matthew Kirk called from the straddle, and Bellande mucked. Kirk check-called $25,000 on the flop, and $45,000 on the turn. The river put a four-straight out there, and Kirk fired his last $83,000. Ivey quickly called, and he took the pot with for a straight.
Having busted two buy-ins, Kirk evidently decided to call it a session, as his seat is now empty. Ivey's now playing about $850,000.
Bob Bright three-bet to $12,000 from the cutoff and got three callers, with everyone seeing a flop. Action checked to him, and he bet $28,000. Two folds later, Matthew Kirk jammed for $90,000, and Bright quickly called.
Bright:
Kirk:
The players ran it once, and a brutal turn left Kirk drawing even slimmer. The was no help on the river. Kirk fired up a reload of $250,000, and Bright collected the pot.
Antonio Esfandiari started the action with a $2,200 open, which Jennifer Tilly promptly three-bet to $7,500. Bob Bright cold-called from the small blind, and Esfandiari called. The three players took in a monotone flop of . Bright led out for $16,000, and Esfandiari called. Tilly made it $45,000, and Esfandiari came back with $116,000 after Bright got out of the way. Tilly thought for about two minutes and waved her hands all in for $236,000. Esfandiari quickly flipped in a calling chip.
Esfandiari:
Tilly:
With equities close, the players agreed to run it twice. Esfandiari took the first one with a river after the turn. The second board came , two whiffs as far as Esfandiari's draw was concerned. The players chopped up a $514,500 pot.
The weather isn't the only thing heating up in Las Vegas, as the high-stakes poker action continues to get bigger and bigger as the summer rolls on. Starting June 29, a special invite-only cash game will be held at ARIA as part of the Super High Roller Series. With blinds of $400/$800/$200, a minimum required buy-in of $250,000, and a live broadcast to be hosted on Twitch, this is certainly going to be something you don't want to miss.
"This high-stakes, exciting game will mix legendary poker players with non-pros and will be televised on the world's only 24/7 poker TV channel," said Poker Central PR Director Sandra Yucara, who also revealed that the show will air on Poker Central TV in November.
The show is expected to attract some of the biggest names in the game, but Yucara was only willing to confirm one player — Antonio Esfandiari. Ben Lamb and Phil Hellmuth are two rumored to play.
"I'm excited to play," Esfandiari told PokerNews. "High Stakes Poker was, I think, the most popular poker TV shows in the history of poker TV shows, and in a way this feels like HSP. It's a televised cash game with decent sized blinds and an ante, and so I think there should be a lot of action. Given that, I'm pretty excited to play, but I'm also pretty excited for poker, to sort of bring back the big TV cash game."
PokerNews is also happy to announce that it will be utilizing our live reporting team to cover the cash game and all of the action that goes down at ARIA running approximately 2 p.m. to 2 a.m. local time June 29 through July 1.
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appeared on the first run, meaning Bellande would have made a bigger pair to take down the $587,200 pot. 
on the second run was safe for Esfandiari, and the two ended up chopping the pot.
board on the first run secured Kirk half the pot with a pair of aces, which turned out to be the same way he'd win the second half after the board ran out 
.
turn.
completed the board on the river, Bright checked for a second time but still called when Kirk tossed out two cranberry chips for a bet of $50,000. Kirk tabled the 
for a missed flush that had turned into two pair, and it was good enough to win as Bright mucked. 
flop, and $45,000 on the 
for a straight. 
turn left Kirk drawing even slimmer. The 
turn. The second board came ![[user68268]](/img/avatars/avatar.svg){kind=avatar}
