Arguably the biggest star of the game has been the least active thus far. Without the benefit of hole cards, it's unknown whether Ivey is simply getting dealt garbage or he's taking a more cautious approach to this table. He is sitting with around $230,000 at the moment, and whether he switches gears is something to keep an eye on going forward.
Four players saw a 
flop for $2,500 apiece, and Jennifer Tilly bet $4,000 from the big blind. Two folds later, Antonio Esfandiari made it $15,000. Tilly called without delay, and both players checked the 
. Esfandiari bet $27,000 on the 
river, and Tilly snapped.
Esfandiari showed at least an ace, but Tilly turned over what looked to be 
for a wheel and took the pot.
Jennifer Tilly opened to $2,500 and got calls from both Phil Ivey and Doyle Brunson in the blinds. Action checked to the raiser on the 
flop, and Tilly bet $4,000. Again, she got two customers. The 
paired the board and Brunson came alive with $11,000 after Ivey checked. Tilly called, and Ivey mucked. Brunson fired again for $25,000 on the 
river. Tilly called after about a minute, and Brunson showed what looked like two paint cards - the stream didn't show them clearly - and took down the pot.
That leaves Tilly just over $200,000, and she's now playing the shortest stack depth at the table.
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 play has been fairly tight so far as players seem to mostly be respecting each others' aggression. Jean-Robert Bellande, who recently got a bankroll infusion from taking second in the $50,000 Poker Players' Championship, just took the first four-bet pot of the session.
He opened to $2,500, and Doyle Brunson made it $8,500 to go from the button playing a stack of roughly $500,000, which Bellande covered. Bellande came back with $28,000, and Brunson called, seeing a 
flop. Brunson folded to a flop bet of $30,000.
The game is off and running, and Phil Ivey has taken the first pot, calling a raise of $3,000 from Bob Bright, who check-called a king-high flop and check-folded to $14,000 on the turn. Here's the lineup:
| Seat | Player |
|---|---|
| 1 | Bob Bright |
| 2 | Jean-Robert Bellande |
| 3 | Phil Ivey |
| 4 | Doyle Brunson |
| 5 | Antonio Esfandiari |
| 6 | Jennifer Tilly |
| 7 | Johnny Chan |
![[user68268]](/img/avatars/avatar.svg){kind=avatar}
The Super High Roller Cash Game will begin shortly. For those interested in watching the live stream on Twitch, click here to view the Poker Central Twitch channel.
The game is scheduled to run approximately 2 p.m. to 2 a.m., with an hour break scheduled some time around 7 p.m. local time. We've seen Doyle Brunson, Johnny Chan, Jennifer Tilly, Antonio Esfandiari, and Jean-Robert Bellande roaming around the production area, and there are rumors that Phil Ivey will be in the building.
With the blinds set at $400/$800 with a $200 ante, plus a minimum buy-in of $250,000, you can expect some great action coming your way shortly!
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.
For more information, please head to SuperHighRoller.com.
Super High Roller Cash Game
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