On Sunday night’s episode of the GSN cash game franchise “High Stakes Poker,” Phil Ivey once again walked away from the table. This time, Phil “OMGClayAiken” Galfond took his place and quickly tangled with “High Stakes Poker” legend Eli Elezra.
Early on, Team PokerStars Pro member Bertrand “Elky” Grospellier led out for $11,000 on a flop of 2-3-3 with two clubs holding 6-4 of spades for a straight draw. David Benyamine made the call with 8-6 of clubs for a flush draw and the turn was the four of diamonds. Both players slowed down and the action went check-check to the four of clubs on the river, giving Grospellier a boat. He checked and Benyamine fired out a bet of $16,000 with a flush. Grospellier raised to $56,000 and Benyamine called, shipping the mammoth $153,600 pot to Grospellier. “High Stakes Poker” commentator Gabe Kaplan noted, “I think in all of our seasons of ‘High Stakes Poker,’ that’s the first misstep David Benyamine has made.”
Benyamine and Grospellier continued to duel. On a flop of 8-J-J, Benyamine check-called a bet of $8,000 from Grospellier holding A-J for trips. Grospellier held A-8 in the hand for two pair and the turn was a four. Benyamine check-raised to $63,000 and Grospellier got out of the way, shipping a $116,000 pot to Benyamine, who partly recouped his losses from the earlier hand. Season 6 marks the debut of Grospellier on “High Stakes Poker.”
Daniel Negreanu and Elezra butted heads following a flop of 5-7-3, all clubs. Negreanu led out for $6,200 with 3-2 of hearts for bottom pair and Elezra called with 8-4 of clubs for a flush. The turn was a queen. Negreanu checked, Elezra bet $20,000, and Negreanu abandoned ship. Next week, the two will battle it out for “High Stakes Poker” supremacy.
In a hand that featured three straddles pre-flop, the last of which was for $6,400, DoylesRoom namesake Doyle Brunson open-shoved all-in with A-Q of hearts for $152,600 (190 big blinds). Immediately to his left, Mike Matusow woke up with pocket kings and re-shoved for $169,200. The action folded around and the two agreed to run the board twice. Brunson hit a runner-runner flush on the first board to claim half of the $319,000 pot. On the second board, the flop came 4-J-K, making Matusow sweat despite flopping top set. However, running aces shipped the other half of the pot to “The Mouth.” Matusow told his tablemates, “What a dream situation. Four raises and an all-in ship [by Brunson] with what I know can’t be aces.”
Following the departure of Ivey, Galfond sat down with $250,000. Soon after, Matusow raised to $3,200 pre-flop with Q-J of hearts, Grospellier called with pocket eights, and Galfond raised to $11,200 with Q-7 of diamonds. Elezra made the call with A-10 and Matusow got out of the way. The flop came A-10-2 with two diamonds and Galfond bet $22,000 with a flush draw. Elezra raised to $72,000 using a mix of chips and bundles of cash with top two pair, leading Galfond to inquire, “That’s a lot, isn’t it?” After Grospellier folded, Galfond called and the turn was an offsuit nine. Galfond checked, Elezra shoved for $166,600, and Galfond folded.
“30 Seconds with Kara Scott” investigated the most common misconceptions about poker, while the PokerStars-backed segment “Did You Know” covered former president Richard Nixon’s love of the game. Next week, a $200,000 pot brews involving Galfond, Elezra, and Benyamine. New episodes of “High Stakes Poker” air every Sunday at 8:00pm ET on GSN.
