Jean-Robert Bellande headlined the first high-stakes Venetian Poker Live stream Friday night, and he played, and won, the show’s first six-figure pot.
The no-limit hold’em cash game, played at $100/$200 stakes, aired on PokerGO. Bellande, who has been a regular in various poker shows and streams for the past 20 years, quickly made his presence felt at the table.
Venetian’s new poker room opened last fall in the Grand Canal Shoppes (previously on the casino floor). The popular Las Vegas card room now has a livestream that is already bringing in some of the biggest names in the game, such as JRB.
Big Pot for Poker Legend
The action in the game picked up early. Not only were the standard pots large, but the competitors had some side action going on at times during the five-hour stream with the squid game, bomb pots, and straddles in play.
Bellande, a World Series of Poker (WSOP) bracelet winner and longtime high-stakes cash game grinder, found a big hand and got maximum value.
The bomb pot hand with seven players and $3,500 automatically in the pot saw a flop of J♠2♦10♠. Action checked to Charles Yu, a regular on Hustler Casino Live, who bet $1,500 with J♣3♦.
“Ace,” holding A♠10♦, raised to $4,000. Bellande, sitting on Q♣J♦, called, as did Yu, while everyone else folded.
The turn was the J♥, giving two players trips. But after Yu checked, Ace bet $8,000 drawing dead. Bellande, who had the best hand, just called. Charles then check-raised to $25,000, which convinced Ace to give it up and fold. That bet wasn’t going to force JRB off the hand, however. Instead, he moved all in for $45,900 total.
Despite having trips, Yu was in a tough spot with a weak kicker, especially in a bomb pot hand. But he was unable to find the fold and made the call drawing to just three outs to win, or six outs for a chop. Both players agreed to run the river twice, and neither the 6♥ or Q♠ changed the outcome.
Bellande scooped the entire $115,300 pot, the largest of the night. He’ll be back next Friday for Venetian Poker Live’s second high-stakes cash game stream.
Take a Look Inside the Brand-New Venetian Poker Room