Lots of August Action for Poker Players
A packed schedule continues this weekend for poker players and fans.
While some might still be recovering from the WSOP, which featured 88 different bracelet events across three weeks at Bally’s in Las Vegas, there’s already been plenty of poker since then.
Last Sunday, the European Poker Tour event in Barcelona concluded, with Italy’s Giuliano Bendinelli coming back from one big blind, to win the enter event and take out the €1,491,133 prize.
Here’s a look at some of the other poker this week, and what’s coming up in the rest of August.
Hustler Casino Live Sees Bellande and Fei Go Head to Head
There’s nothing better than seeing plays win big and lose bigger in high-stakes poker.
That’s exactly what happened on Thursday night in Hustler Casino Live.
The nine-hour live stream attracted as many as 16,000 viewers, leaving its rival poker stream—Phil Hellmuth’s Live at the Bike—in the dust with only 600 viewers.
Some of the night’s biggest action involved Jean-Robert Bellande, on debut at the Hustler Casino Live table. Getting stuck into the action, as well as the table banter, Jean-Robert Bellande was lucky to avoid losing too much of his $100,000 buy-in when he had his pocket aces cracked. However, his luck ran out when he played a big hand against Wesley Fei soon after.
Holding J 10, Bellande called a limp re-raise off Fei who had A 7 in the hole and bet $33,000. The flop showed A 10 3, which saw a round of checking and a J on the turn. With two pair, Bellande went big and bet $40,000 into the middle, which elicited a call from Fei on top pair. The river couldn’t have been worse for Bellande, as it came a 7 and encouraged the American to move all in for $86,000.
Fei snap called, and revealed his better two pairs to win the $282,000 pot.
Bluffs Lead to Big Losses on Hustler Casino Live
More great poker action was served up at Hustler Casino Live this week, where Eric Persson lost almost half a million dollars in one hand.
Seeing a flop of J 5 2, Persson attempted to bluff Alan Keating, a historically loose high-stakes player. Holding A Q, Persson bet $20,000 into a $30,000 pot; however, with Keating on pocket fives, the bet was called, and Persson was drawing dead after the turn showed a 7. The American committed to his bluff and pushed in another $50,000, only for Keating to make a full house when the river was another 7.
Persson chose to try and take down the pot by shoving all in, and was called immediately. Keating won the $478,000 pot, and Persson ended the night almost $600,000 down.
Poker Action Continues on the Weekend
Hustler Casino Live continues this weekend, but should receive some better competition from the Bicycle Casino, which sees its main event start this Saturday.
As part of the World Poker Tour, the main event will run from August 27 to September 1, with a guarantee of $2.5 million. It is the feature event of the Legends of Poker Festival, with a $5,250 buy in.
The Legends of Poker event has been running for decades, with Doyle Brunson recently added as an ambassador. The poker pioneer won the event himself in 2004, taking away $1.2 million, his largest single score across an illustrious career.
With six days of action ahead, poker players and fans have plenty to keep them occupied for the rest of August.
