Poker After Dark S12/24: Switching Up the 7-2 Game, Matusow Pulls a Move

In the sixth and final week of "Watch Your Step" on PokerGO's "Poker After Dark," former WPT champ Frank Stepuchin was joined by six other players to battle it out playing $50/$100 NLH with a mandatory $200 straddle.

The minimum buy-in was $10,000 and there was no ante required. Below is a look at five of either the biggest or most interesting hands from this week's episode.

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The New 7-2 Game

The players at the table were playing the “Seven-Deuce” game in which every time a player won holding 7x

In the hand, Ronnie Bardah had the $200 straddle on when action folded to Marle Cordeiro, who raised to $600 from the button with the a♠️

Ding, who flopped top two pair, checked and then called a continuation-bet of $500 from Cordeiro. Action then went check-check on the 4♥️ turn and the 2♠️ completed the board on the river.

Ding tossed out a bet of $3,500 and that’s all it took as Cordeiro folded. With that, the seven-deuce game ended and the jack-six game began.

Ilyas Abayev vs. Ronnie Bardah

After Stepuchin straddled, Ilyas Abayev just called under the gun with the k♥️j♣️. Bardah called from the small blind with the a♣️10♣️, Landon Tice put in an additional $100 holding the 7♠️3♠️ in the big blind, and Stepuchin checked his option with the 8♥️2♠️.

On the 6♣️10♦️k♣️ flop, Bardah led out for $575 with his pair and flush draw. Action folded to Abayev, who called with top pair. After the dealer burned and turned the 8♠️, both players checked and the a♥️ completed the board on the river.

Bardah made aces up and bet $1,075, which Abayev refused to pay off by flashing his king and tossing it into the muck. With that, Bardah recouped some losses by claiming the $3,025 pot.

Ilyas Abayev vs. Ronnie Bardah Round 2

In the very next hand, Bardah raised to $550 with the 4♣️3♣️ and Abayev three-bet to $1,300 from the small blind holding the a♣️k♦️. Mike Matusow folded from the straddle and Bardah called to see the a♠️2♣️a♥️ flop.

Both players checked and the 9♥️ appeared on the turn. Abayev continued to slow play with another check and Bardah took the free card, which was gin for him as the 5♦️ river gave him a wheel.

Abayev checked for the third time and Bardah bet $2,500. Abayev opted to just call, which obviously saved him some money, and Bardah rolled over the straight to win the $7,900 pot. Not long after, Bardah collected even more chips when he three-bet preflop and won holding jx6x.

Gin Flop for Abayev

Ding raised to $600 from the cutoff with the q♦️6♦️ and Abayev three-bet to $1,400 with the j♥️6♠️ in the big blind. Remember, if he were to win with it, he’d collect $200 from each player.

However, Ding didn’t give up easily and instead called to see the flop, which came an action-packed 6♣️6♥️j♦️. Abayev flopped a full boat but checked it to Ding, who flopped trip sixes. The former check-called a bet of $1,000 and then checked again on the 10♥️ turn.

Ding bet again, this time $2,200. Abayev did a little Hollywooding before sliding in a tower of black $100 chips to make the call. On the 7♥️ river, Abayev checked for the third time and Ding seemed suspicious. He thought long and hard before checking behind, and not only was Abayev pushed the $9,450 pot, he collected an additional $200 from each player.

Matusow Flushes Tice

Matusow, who opened up his game a bit, raised the button to $600 with the 8♣️5♣️ on the button and Tice, who had straddled, defended with the k♥️10♣️.

On the 5♥️7♦️6♣️ flop, both players checked and the k♣️ appeared on the turn. Tice checked top pair and Matusow, who had bottom pair with both straight and flush draws, bet $1,000. Tice called and then checked for the third time on the 3♣️ river.

Matusow made his club flush and bet another $1,000, which Tice insta-called. Matusow tabled his hand to claim the $5,350 pot, and then complimented himself on mixing it up with the hand that he did.

Final Standings

At the end of the broadcast, the final numbers were shown. According to commentator Ali Nejad, just two players finished down in Alex Ding, who lost $10,000, and Ronnie Bardah, who dropped $22,000.