High Stakes Poker Pot Cracks $600K on Brutal Bad Beat

Justin Gavri might be the unluckiest player in High Stakes Poker history, and the bad run continued during Monday’s newest episode on PokerGO. If there’s a silver lining for him, at least he wasn’t on the short end of a $613,000 pot.

Markus Gonsalves, however, was the losing player in the largest pot to this point of Season 14 thanks to a brutal bad beat. Marc Kulick, on the other hand, won the monster pot on the river.

The players in the game for Episode 3 were the same as last week. Gavri, Gonsalves, and Kulick were seated at the table along with Andrew Robl, Brandon Steven, Seth Gottlieb, and Jared Bleznick. Over $2.3 million was spread among the seven stacks when the show began, with the exact chip counts below.

Kulick Rivers Bleznick Again

Bleznick took a brutal bad beat on the river in Episode 1 against Kulick. It was more of the same at the start of the new High Stakes Poker show.

The first hand began with Kulick just calling the straddle on the button with 8♦7♥. Bleznick, in the small blind with 4♠4♥, came along, as did Gonsalves in the first straddle and holding J♣5♠. Robl, the big straddle, checked his option with 10♠7♥.

The flop went 4♣6♣9♠, and Bleznick bet out $5,000 with bottom set. Gonsalves mucked his hand, and so did Robl. But Kulick wasn’t going anywhere with an open-ended straight draw, which didn’t come through on the 7♠ turn, although he did hit a pair.

Bleznick bet $13,000, about two-thirds the size of the pot. He again received a call and the straight came through for his opponent on the 5♦ river card. The sports card hobbyist went for a tiny bet of $3,000, but then faced a raise to $50,000, and he could not find a fold. A call was made and “The Backer” found out the bad news that he’d lost a $143,200 pot with a set against a rivered straight.

The Unluckiest Player in High Stakes Poker History?

Gavri, a recreational player, had a rough outing during Episode 2. He lost two monster pots, both due to some bad luck. As such, he began Episode 3 with a small stack, and he ran into it once again.

Gavri, in another double-straddled pot, opened the action to $3,600 with A♠Q♥. Steven, a regular in the highest stakes games, three-bet to $11,000 with J♠J♦. The original raiser than moved all in for $50,300 total and received a snap-call.

Both players agreed to run it twice, meaning the odds of Gavri not winning at least half the pot were low. But the first board ran out 2♦9♦10♠3♣5♦, ensuring Steven would at least get his bet back. He’d claim the entire pot when the second board showed K♦K♥K♣9♣7♦, and Gavri, who lost a number of brutal coolers and bad beats during Season 13, decided to call it quits.

Bleznick Tries to Make a Play Against Kulick

Kulick has already won two monster pots on the river against Bleznick during Season 14. But the World Series of Poker (WSOP) bracelet winner would try to get some of those losses back by bluffing.

The action started with a $4,000 raise from Bleznick, holding J♦7♦. Gottlieb, in the first straddle, called with 10♥8♣, as did Kulick in the other straddle with 3♠3♣. Nobody was thrilled to see the 10♠A♠Q♠ flop, so they all checked to the 5♠ turn, which brought in four to a flush on the board.

Gottlieb checked to Kulick, who bet $8,000 with his tiny flush. Bleznick, sitting on jack-high, made the call in position, but Gottlieb bounced from the hand. The 2♦ on the river improved neither hand, although Kulick continued betting, this time for $18,000. Bleznick wasn’t a believer, so he bumped it up to $40,000. Kulick wasn’t buying his story that he had a flush, so he made a brilliant call and took down another big pot against the pot-limit Omaha specialist, finally without needing to suck out on the river.

The run bad would continue for the “Blez,” as he’d flop top pair against Robl’s pocket kings and lose a $149,000 pot. High Stakes Poker Season 14 had not been kind to Mr. Sports Cards. But that quickly turned around against the same opponent when Bleznick jammed all in with A♦J♠ and was called by Robl’s A♠10♠. The best hand held up and Bleznick won a $244,800 pot.

Hand of the Night

The biggest pot of the season thus far transpired during Episode 3, and it was a wild one. Steven opened the action by raising 8♥6♠ to $4,000 from the button. Gottlieb, in the small blind, made it $15,000 with A♥Q♦. Kulick, who looked down at 6♥5♥ in the big blind, called.

Gonsalves, the straddler, four-bet to $50,000 with K♠Q♠ and received calls from Gottlieb and Kulick. The flop came out J♣3♠4♦, only hitting Kulick, who flopped an open-ended straight draw.

Nobody decided to bet, so they all got a free ticket to the turn, a card that created some action — the Q♣. Gottlieb, with the best hand, bet $65,000. Kulick called, hoping to hit a straight on the river. But Gonsalves, with an inferior kicker to Gottlieb’s, moved all in for $196,000.

Gottlieb was in a tough spot with just top pair, albeit with the top kicker. He thought for a moment before folding the best hand at the time. Kulick decided to call and hit the straight on the lucky 7♣ river. Gonsalves took a bad beat and lost a $613,000 pot to Kulick, who secured the biggest pot through three episodes of High Stakes Poker.

Next Monday’s episode on PokerGO, which airs at 5 p.m. PT, will feature a new table that includes Alan Keating and Ryan Feldman from Hustler Casino Live fame.

_{*Images courtesy of PokerGO/Antonio Abrego}