He has played in the biggest cash games on the planet. He's bought into the $1,000,000 Big One for One Drop. He's still calling himself Broke, but he most likely ain't.
Jean-Robert Bellande has manifested himself as a force to be reckoned with in the world of poker over the better part of a decade. He's no longer the Survivor Star that plays a bit of poker, he's a poker player who was once on Survivor.
But he doesn't have a bracelet. Yet.
Today, Jean-Robert Bellande is five eliminations away from that most coveted prize in poker; just five players between him and the shiny gold bracelet. And that in a six-handed no-limit hold'em event, a poker variant usually dominated by online players that have played the format over and over on the virtual felt.
Bellande starts out in front with 84 big blinds when play gets back underway. His closest competitor for the top spot brings 45 big blinds. Here's the final table line-up:
Seat
Player
Country
Chip Count
Big Blinds
1
Eric Blair
United States
1,310,000
22
2
Andrew Graham
United States
2,430,000
41
3
Tay Nguyen
United States
1,485,000
25
4
Kacper Pyzara
Poland
2,605,000
43
5
Jean-Robert Bellande
United States
5,050,000
84
6
Dean Lyall
United Kingdom
2,700,000
45
All six finalists are guaranteed a payday of $85,570 but it's the $616,302 first-place prize that everyone's eyeing.
Place
Prize (USD)
1st
$616,302
2nd
$380,595
3rd
$254,684
4th
$173,598
5th
$120,669
6th
$85,570
The action will resume at 2 p.m. today on the feature table inside the Brasilia Room. The blinds will kick off on level 28 at 30,000/60,000 with a 10,000 ante. There will be a live stream available with a 30-minute delay on Twitch, you'll find it right here on PokerNews as soon as it gets underway.
Follow along with the PokerNews coverage today as we bring you the details of every single hand.
Hand #12: Kacper Pyzara's day has gone from bad to worse with nothing working for him today.
Action folded to him in the small blind and he shoved for 515,000. Big blind Jean-Robert Bellande didn't need much time committing chips.
Kacper Pyzara:
Jean-Robert Bellande:
The flop of gave Pyzara a glimmer of hope but the on the turn ended all of that. The on the river was inconsequential and Pyzara exited in sixth place for $85,570.
The remaining five players are now guaranteed $120,570.
Hand #14: Andrew Graham raised to 150,000 under the gun and Eric Blair defended his big blind to see a flop. Blair checked and called a bet of 250,000 from Graham, which brought about the turn. Blair checked, Graham moved all in, and Blair leaned back in his chair. He had 870,000 back, double checked his cards, and called off.
Blair:
Graham:
Blair had a kicker problem and was looking to simply chop the pot. The river was no help and just like that he was sent out the door in fifth place.
Hand #26: Tay Nguyen had the action on him on the button and shoved for 420,000. Small blind Jean-Robert Bellande called right away, Dean Lyall folded his big blind after thinking about it for a bit.
Tay Nguyen:
Jean-Robert Bellande:
The flop of had the players ask for a six on the turn for a sweat.
"You played really well," Bellande told Nguyen before the hit the turn.
"You were short stacked all the way but played really well."
The on the river was a low card but not one Nguyen was looking for; he exited in fourth place for $173,598.
The three remaining players are guaranteed $254,684.
Hand #136: Jean-Robert Bellande raised the button to 400,000 and called when Andrew Graham moved all in for 880K from the big blind.
Bellande:
Graham:
The flop didn't hit Graham directly but it did give him an up-and-down straight draw. Unfortunately for him, the running turn and river allowed Bellande's hand to hold up.
Hand #228: Just like the entire match, the last hand was a quick one as well. Dean Lyall open-shoved the button for 4.36 million and Jean-Robert Bellande called.
Dean Lyall:
Jean-Robert Bellande:
The flop came and Bellande's rail started shouting for a queen while Lyall's rail shouted for an ace (specifically from space.)
Neither came as the hit the turn and hit the river.
Jean-Robert Bellande had his arms in the air and high-fived his supporters on the rail.
Moments later, Bellande and Lyall shook hands. "Hell of a match man," Bellande told Lyall.
On Sunday, the final six players from a 621-entry field returned to the Rio All-Suite Hotel & Casino to play down to a winner in the 2018 World Series of Poker Event #58: $5,000 No-Limit Hold’em Six-Handed. Before entering the tournament, Jean-Robert Bellande sent out a tweet.
“All this talk of me trying to finally get my 1st bracelet is a bit of a monkey on my back,” the former Survivor contestant said. “I’m just gonna keep having fun and making outrageous calls.”
Bellande, who had previously finished runner-up in two WSOP events, managed to get that monkey off his back in what was his 24th WSOP-related cash.
“Winning a bracelet in no-limit hold’em is an extra big surprise to me because it’s not my best game,” said Bellande, who sipped on a $400 bottle of Chateau Margaux 2013 Premier Grand Cru Classé while he played. “I’ve worked a lot on my game but I know I’m way behind the top-level players in that game. I would never ever dream my first bracelet would be in no-limit hold’em, but it makes it extra exciting for me.”
He continued: “I had a blast. I had so much fun during this tournament, not just winning but mixing it up. Six-handed is cool because you’re always in action. The guys were all fun. We just had a good time. Every day we just had a blast.”
Official Final Table Results
Position
Player
Country
Prize
1
Jean-Robert Bellande
United States
$616,302
2
Dean Lyall
United Kingdom
$380,595
3
Andrew Graham
United States
$254,684
4
Tan Nguyen
United States
$173,598
5
Eric Blair
United States
$120,669
6
Kacper Pyzara
Poland
$85,570
On Hand #10 of the final table, Poland’s Kacper Pyzara ran an unsuccessful bluff against Dean Lyall to lose most of his chips. Two hands later, Pyzara jammed for 515,000 holding ace-seven in the small blind and Bellande woke up with jacks in the big. Pyzara found a seven on the flop but no other help was forthcoming. He had to settle for sixth place and an $85,570 payday.
Two hands later, Eric Blair followed him out the door in fifth. It happened when both he and Andrew Graham flopped a pair of aces. They got it in when the turned paired eights, but Blair had a kicker problem as Lyall had a lady accompanying his bullet. The river was a brick and just like that Blair was gone, good for $120,699 in prize money.
On Hand #26 of the final table, Tay Nguyen shoved his extreme short stack from the button with pocket eights and Bellande called from the small blind with jacks. The board ran out clean and Nguyen was ousted in fourth place for $173,598.
The three-handed battle was a marathon and it wouldn’t be until Hand #136 that Graham would bow out. It happened when Bellande raised to 400K with king-deuce and called Graham’s 880K shove with jack-nine. Graham flopped an open-ended straight draw but missed when the turn and river came running fives.
Heads-up play began with Bellande holding a 2-1 chip lead over Lyall but the two would engage in a back-and-forth match. Each took turns holding the chip lead on several occasions, but eventually, Bellande won eight hands in a row to once again pull out to a big lead.
In the final hand of the tournament, which was Hand #228 of the final table, Lyall moved all in with ace-three offsuit and Bellande woke up with pocket queens. Lyall paired his three on the flop but that was all the help he got as both the turn and river ran out in Bellande’s favor.
“At one point he had a 3-1 chip lead and I thought it was curtains, and then I caught a nice little rush,” Bellande reflected. “Really happy, really relieved. First bracelet after two second places. My first time I was a 19-1 chip lead and I lost that bracelet, that was just devastating. Tonight, it looked like I was going to squander a 2-1 chip lead and lose it again. It’s a relief, it’s exciting. The $600,000 is also exciting.”