Eli Elezra: winner of the first major pot
The first two episodes of Poker After Dark Cash Game, featuring a stellar line-up of Phil Ivey, Tom Dwan, Eli Elezra, Howard Lederer, Ziigmund and Patrik Antonius, have aired in America.
Following some table banter about the 7-deuce game, prop bets and Chinesea Poker, fireworks began to kick off. Surprisingly, it was the conservative ‘Poker Professor’ Howard Lederer who was involved in the first monster pot with fellow veteran Eli Elezra.
Howard picked up A
A
, and made it $10k to go after Ivey opened for $3k with 10
9. Elezra, tabling 8 8, flat called. An action flop brought 9
8 2 , gifting Elezra trips and Ivey top pair. Lederer led out for $20k, and Elezra made a sneaky flat call. Ivey, sensing danger, ditched his top pair.
The turn came the 9, giving Elezra a full house and leaving Ivey sick to the stomach. Howard moved in for $64k, drawing a snap call. The J blanked on the river, and the $200k pot went to Elezra. The two stalwarts continued to do battle in a series of smaller pots, with Lederer making some amends as he flopped a set of sevens.
The next pot saw $238k swimming Dwan’s way. After everyone limped in, Phil Ivey took an $11k stab at the pit with J 6 on a 9 3 4 board. Dwan held K 2 for a strong flush draw, and flat called. Ziigmund then made a questionable, $31k raise with a weaker flush draw – J 7. Dwan pushed Ziigmund all in, and although the 8 on the turn gave the hot headed several more outs, the Q spiked on the river, gifting Dwan the pot.
An incredible hand triggered the next big pot, as both Patrik Antonius and Howard Lederer picked up pocket aces. Although neither player pushed all in, a 9 9 K 6 4 board didn’t slow down the action as money was bet on all streets, and the $274k pot was chopped.
You can see the first two episodes on Pokertube. We'll bring you updates later in the week.