Poker After Dark S12/E27: Dan Shak Gets Off to Hot Start; Pope Lays Down Full House

In the third week of "Gamblers Delight" on PokerGO's "Poker After Dark," the game was $100/$200 no-limit hold’em with a $200 big blind ante. The minimum buy-in for the game was $20,000.

In the first week, former Survivor contestant Albert Destrade, Bryan Ercolano and WSOP bracelet winner Trevor Pope made their Poker After Dark debuts, while in the second week someone said “this is going to be a bad call.”

Below is a look at five of either the biggest or most interesting hands from this week's episode.

Shak is King

In the first hand of the episode, Jake Daniels raised to $600 from middle position with the 4♥️

Destrade checked, Daniels continued for $1,100 with a flush draw, and Shak called with top pair and a superior flush draw. Destrade got out of the way and the k♠️ appeared on the turn. Daniels fired again, this time $2,300, and wasted little time in calling when Shak raised to $7,000.

On the 7♠️ river, Daniels announced a bet of $16,300, and even before he could count out all the chips Shak called with trip kings. With that, Shak claimed the $50,300 pot while Daniels said he was going to buy another $20,000 for his stack.

Pope’s Turn to Add-On

Pope raised $600 under the gun with the a♥️9♠️ and Daniels three-bet to $2,300 next to act with the ♦️aq♥️. Action folded back to Pope and he called to see a flop of 5♣️a♣️4♦️.

Pope check-called a bet of $3,000 and then check-called one of $5,000 on the j♦️ turn. Pope checked for the third time when the 2♠️ completed the board on the river and Daniels bet $8,000.

“I feel like I’m slow-rolling you,” Pope said before dropping in a call to create a $29,100 pot.

“That’s not great,” Daniels said while tabling his hand.

“That’s not good, I had one of those,” Pope admitted before flashing his cards and sending them to the muck. With that, Daniels recouped $18,300 and Pope opted to add on $15,000.

Ercolano’s Wish Comes True

Ercolano limped from middle position with the q♦️j♦️ and Destrade raised to $1,000 from the hijack holding the 6♠️6♥️. Lynne Ji looked down at the k♦️k♣️ in the cutoff and three-bet to $3,000, which cleared the field back to Ercolano, who called.

Destrade came along and it was three-way action to a flop of q♥️5♦️4♠️. Two checks saw Ji continue for $3,000, and Ercolano called with top pair. Destrade got out of the way and the dealer burned and turned the j♠️, which gave Ercolano top two pair.

He coyly checked and then called when Ji moved all in for $12,500. The two agreed to run the river twice on the $40,500 pot, but unfortunately for Ji, neither the 8♣️ on the first run nor 10♥️ on the second helped her.

Ercolano scooped the pot and left Ji to rebuy. After the hand, a pregame segment was shown with Ercolano chatting with sideline reporter Veronica Brill explaining how he met Ji at a home game months earlier.

“Lost close to $100K in about a half-hour, and Lynne took most of it,” he explained. “Actually, I’ve never won a hand against her. Hopefully today.”

Ercolano Takes a Stand

After a pair of unsuccessful bluffs left him on a short stack, Ercolano limped the cutoff with the a♥️9♥️ and Ji called from the small blind with the k♣️q♣️. Daniels had straddled and exercised his option after looking down at the 6♦️6♣️ with a raise to $2,000.

Both Ercolano and Ji called, which brought about a flop of 9♣️8♥️5♣️. Two checks saw Ercolano bet $4,000 with top pair, Ji called with the club flush draw, and Daniels got out of the way.

The 3♥️ turn gave Ercolano an added heart flush draw and he piled for $13,300, which was almost a full-pot bet. Ji hit the tank for a while before giving up on the $27,700 pot, but she asked to rabbit hunt it.

The dealer obliged and put out the j♥️. Ji would’ve missed had she called and they only ran it once.

Pope Lays Down Full House

Pope raised to $500 under the gun with the 5♠️ and a mystery card. Daniels called next to act with the ♦️a7♣️, Ercolano came along from the small blind with the q♥️6♥️, Destrade did the same from the big with the k♣️7♦️, and and the quartet saw a flop of 6♦️6♣️7♠️.

Two checks saw Pope continue for $1,000 and all three of his opponents called, including Ercolano slow-playing trip sixes. The 5♥️ turn inspired all four players to check and the 5♦️ completed the board on the river.

Ercolano led out for $6,000, nearly the size of the pot, and Destrade folded. Pope made a runner-runner fives full of sixes, but apparently, something didn’t add up to him as he found a fold.

Daniels paused for a few beats and then followed suit by laying down his top two pair. Pope asked to see Ercolano’s cards stating he would owe him one, meaning Pope would show a future one whenever Ercolano asked. The latter agreed and showed the goods.

Here are how the stacks sat at the end of the episode: