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.
Jean-Robert Bellande raised to $3,500 and got two customers, Phil Ivey and Antonio Esfandiari (button). Bellande bet $8,000 on the flop, and Ivey called. Esfandiari made it $28,000, and both opponents called. Two checks to Esfandiari on the , and he fired big, $68,000 into a pot of just a bit less than $100,000. Bellande mucked, but Ivey continued. He checked the river, and Esfandiari put in $153,000. Ivey called fairly quickly, looking less than pleased.
Esfandiari showed for the nut straight. The stream camera caught Ivey lifting before mucking.
The big hands have slowed a bit, which has inspired the players to pass the downtime by engaging in conversation. After Jean-Robert Bellande raised and stole Johnny Chan's straddle, he jokingly pointed out Chan shouldn't have straddled and would have saved $1,600.
"That's $1,600 out of the grandkids' Christmas fund," Bellande said. JRB then asked Chan how many grandkids he had.
"Three," Chan replied, pointing out they were all boys and aged 3.5 years, 18 months, and two weeks respectively.
JRB then asked Bob Bright how many grandkids he had, to which he responded seven.
Matt Kirk opened to $4,000 and got calls from Bob Bright in the big blind and Jean-Robert Bellande in the straddle. Kirk bet $5,000 on the flop, and Bright called. Bellande came out with a sizable check-raise to $21,000. Only Kirk called, and he called another barrel of $30,000 on the . Check-check on the , and Kirk won with .
Kirk is now playing north of $530,000, meaning he's within sniffing distance of being even for the session after dropping two $250,000 buy-ins. Bellande, meanwhile, has seen nothing but disappearing money since the dinner break.
On a flop of , Phil Ivey bet $5,000 and Matthew Kirk called. Antonio Esfandiari then raised to $17,000, Ivey called, and Kirk sprung to life with a three-bet to $45,000. Esfandiari thought for a bit before making the call, Ivey folded, and the appeared on the turn.
Kirk bet $50,000, Esfandiari called, and the completed the board on the river. Kirk bet $100,000, and this sent Esfandiari into the tank.
"Obviously you don't have an ace," Esfandiari commented. "When they have it sometimes they deserve to get paid."
"The Magician" thought for a few more moments and then dropped in a call.
"You win," Kirk conceded. "Queen high."
Esfandiari then tabled the for the winner.
"I was only down $200,000, and then I went and gifted away $200,000," Kirk lamented.
"I'm just glad I'm not the biggest loser," Jean-Robert Bellande chimed.
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.
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.
![[user153638]](/img/avatars/avatar.svg){kind=avatar}
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 
.
flop, and Ivey called. Esfandiari made it $28,000, and both opponents called. Two checks to Esfandiari on the 
, and he fired big, $68,000 into a pot of just a bit less than $100,000. Bellande mucked, but Ivey continued. He checked the 
for the nut straight. The stream camera caught Ivey lifting 
, and Kirk won with 
.
, Phil Ivey bet $5,000 and Matthew Kirk called. Antonio Esfandiari then raised to $17,000, Ivey called, and Kirk sprung to life with a three-bet to $45,000. Esfandiari thought for a bit before making the call, Ivey folded, and the 
appeared on the turn.
completed the board on the river. Kirk bet $100,000, and this sent Esfandiari into the tank.
for the winner.
.
appeared on the first run, meaning Bellande would have made a bigger pair to take down the $587,200 pot. 