Tom Dwan running bad and Jean-Robert Bellande catching cards on High Stakes Poker? Perhaps it was Opposite Day but that is exactly what transpired Monday night on PokerGO during the second episode of Season 9.
In the past, "durrrr" was red hot on the popular cash game poker show, while "JRB" has been ice cold for years in just about everything televised. The tides may have turned at least for one $200/$400 no-limit hold'em session.
Joining the two familiar faces at the start of the show were Daniel Negreanu, Phil Ivey, Patrik Antonius, Kim Hultman, James Bord, and Doyle Brunson.
The initial starting stacks when Episode 2 began were as follows:
| Player | Stack |
|---|---|
| Tom Dwan | $212,500 |
| Doyle Brunson | $136,400 |
| James Bord | $136,000 |
| Phil Ivey | $134,700 |
| Daniel Negreanu | $113,100 |
| Patrik Antonius | $106,500 |
| Koray Aldemir | $106,400 |
| Kim Hultman | $62,400 |
Bord and Hultman, a casino streamer, left the table early on and were replaced by Bellande ($200,000) and Jonathan Gibbs ($100,000), a poker player with nine children (seven adopted) and one on the way.
Can Dwan Get Away from Trips?
Right off the bat, JRB was involved in a pot with Dwan, who was stacked early in Episode 1.
After Dwan raised preflop in early position to $1,200 with a♠️
With top pair and top kicker, Dwan wasn't going anywhere so he called to see the q♠️ on the river, perhaps the toughest card in the deck for Dwan to get away from. With $39,000 in the pot, Bellande over-bet to $51,000 but he was unable to get any value because his opponent made a world-class fold.
Antonius, Bellande Run it Twice
Dwan's misfortunes continued moments later when he missed a flush and open-ended straight draw against Gibbs, who spiked top pair on the river to pick off the former Full Tilt Poker pro's bluff. But the good luck continued for Bellande in the second-largest pot of the episode against Antonius.
Antonius was all in preflop for $80,000 with a♠️k♠️ against the 10♥️10♦️ of Bellande. They each agreed to run it twice and the first flop came out k♣️8♥️9♥️, a familiar sight for Bellande, who rarely seems to win races during televised poker shows. The turn was the 3♠️, which changed nothing, and then, out of nowhere, the 10♠️ hit on the river, and the first run-out went to JRB.
He also won the second board, which ran out 4♥️6♥️7♣️8♦️q♣️, giving Bellande the entire $166,300 pot. The self-proclaimed "Bill Laimbeer of Poker" certainly can't complain about his cards during the second episode of Season 9.
Dwan, on the other hand, well, that's a different story. Later in the show, he moved all in preflop with a♠️k♥️ and was called by Negreanu, who was holding 8♠️8♦️, for $112,000 effective. With $228,100 in the pot, the poker legends decided to run it twice and the outcome was similar to the Bellande vs. Antonius hand.
Once again, Big Slick hit the flop in the first runout when it came 9♣️k♠️3♣️, but the 8♥️ on the turn locked up at least half the pot for Negreanu, and the k♣️ on the river was wasted for Dwan. The second board of 5♦️5♥️7♣️5♣️6♥️ was also favorable to the GGPoker ambassador and he scooped the biggest pot of the night.
