Before the start of the game, the commentator introduced the players, dwelling separately on Bodyakovsky:
– Mikita is a world-class player, plays the highest limits, and many consider him to be one of the ten strongest regulars in the world. But can he beat his current rivals? This is a big question.
The company at the table was a group of different characters:
Sashimi is an extravagant lady who loves to shock the public with her outfits.
Dylan Flashner is an actor and musician.
Brandon Frazier – figure skater, silver medalist at the Beijing Olympics.
Mariano is a popular poker blogger who has recently been trying his hand at the expensive game. A couple of months ago he played in the stream with Magnus Carlsen.
And two very little-known players – financier Henry and local regular Tal.
In the starting stacks, the participants also decided to show diversity.
In one of the first hands, the Olympian and the financier got it in on the flop.
– We run it twice? Brandon suggested.
– No problem.
– I have a draw.
– Likewise.
“I like your draw better,” Mikita reassured Brandon.
Experience did not let Mikita down, both times the flush came in.
Henry bounced back against Sashimi almost immediately. They shoved the turn with 50/50 odds.
Henry limped in the BB, and Sashimi moved it up to $500 in the straddle. Henry check-called a $500 bet on the flop and check-shoved a $2,000 bet on the turn.
“I have a draw,” the girl said, “hearts and a double gutshot.”
Some players are of the opinion that a lot of outs tend not to come in. It happened this time as well – a pair of sixes held twice on the river.
The players agreed to play the recently popular "stand-up poker" with a $300 bounty.
The dealer explained the rules to the newcomer Mikita in detail:
“You win the hand, preflop or postflop, and you get a yellow chip. A prerequisite is you have to show your hand, but you must take care of this yourself, no one will remind you. The last player without a chip pays everyone $300.
“And if I don’t show my hand?” Mikita clarified.
– You won't get a chip.
– OK.
Have you never played this before? Tal was surprised.
– I played once, but I didn’t have to show my hands. So I can forget about it, but it will only be my fault.
– You don’t play cash at all? Sashimi didn't understand.
“I used to play a long time ago,” Mikita smiled, “so I’ll be easy prey for you.” I'm generally not very good at cash games.
Is your name pronounced Mikita? Mariano asked.
– You can do it, you can call me "Nikita", it's just translation difficulties.
– And where are you from?
– From Belarus.
Mikita spent a couple more minutes explaining to the neighbors why the letter "M" suddenly turns into an "N".
– And what do your relatives call you? – obviously interested in the intricacies of the Russian and Belarusian languages Sashimi.
– Nikita, but you call it whatever is more convenient for you.
During this entertaining conversation, Brandon bluffed Mariano.
The skater opened with a $600 raise, Mariano called and bet $2,000 on the flop, and Villain paid. Brandon bet $3,500 on the turn, and on the river, he bet $7,000 into a $16,500 pot.
– "Do you have ladies?" Brandon asked while the opponent was thinking.
“No,” Mariano shook his head. I thought you had something similar.
– Apparently, you have AJ.
Why do you need to know what I have? You are too interested. It's not enough for you to win my money, you also want to know the hand?
Sorry, I'm just trying to learn as I go.
– Everything is fine.
After spending another couple of minutes thinking, Mariano still threw it away.
Do I need to show to get a chip? Brandon asked the dealer and reluctantly opened his cards.
“Ha ha, great bluff,” Mariano praised him.
Mikita tried to pick up the yellow chip for winning the board with a big 3-bet with AJo. Brandon Frazier thought with ATs.
“You have already won your change,” Bodyakovsky reminded him.
Brandon agreed and folded, but Tal on the button decided to play postflop.
The flop has been checked. On the turn, Mikita check-raised to $2,000-$8,000 and Tal paid. River played check-check.
Sashimi got the coveted yellow chip by shoving 72o preflop.
Everyone folded, and Mariano thought about the call the longest with 83.
Mikita and Mariano were the last ones left without winning hands. And Mariano also won the next hand with 72o. Some of the spectators even thought that the game was also going on with a bounty for 72, but they were quickly told that some participants were just playing with their hearts.
Mariano 3-bet preflop and took the pot with a continuation bet.
Mikita paid everyone $300, and they decided to postpone the second round of this fun.
Brandon and Henry played one of the biggest pots of the session.
Brandon called a preflop 3-bet and a flop c-bet. On the turn, Henry check-shoved for $4,000.
Do you have aces? Brandon asked.
Henry shook his head.
– Kings, ladies? Tens, straight?
Henry continued to shake his head.
“Ha ha,” said the commentator. – Stop mocking the guy, he never played such stakes in his life.
The river was run twice. The blank king came first, and the second – .
Mariano lost two pots in a row preflop and began to tilt a little.
He first 5-bet $13,000 against Henry and folded to an all-in.
The next hand, Henry shoved over his 4-bet.
“Jesus, let's play a little post-flop,” Mariano threw the cards irritably.
Brandon and Henry then went into a classic showdown.
They ran it twice and chopped. On the first board came the king.
“I'm glad you agreed to do it twice,” the obviously annoyed athlete thanked the opponent. – To be honest, I would be insanely upset if I lost both boards.
“But it would be cool for TV,” Mariano laughed.
– Well, yes, the main thing is that the audience is happy.
Mikita won a small pot against Mariano.
Bodyakovsky 3-bet pre-flop and c-bet on the flop.
“God, you can play faster,” Mariano threw away the cards again in annoyance. Mikita spent no more than 30 seconds making a decision. It is curious that he did not show the cards, although the players began another round of "stand-up".
It remains a mystery whether he did it on purpose or forgot, as he warned at the beginning. But after a couple of hands, Nikita still took the yellow chip, winning a small pot with a bet on the flop.
Results so far:
In one hand, Mikita hit a set when six players hit the flop.
On the flop, Dylan bet and called Mikita's raise with top pair. Another queen came on the turn, and the actor check-raised all in.
Dylan offered to open the river twice, Mikita did not object and held. The opponent went for the rebuy.
Mikita and Mariano played the biggest hand of the evening.
Mikita straddled and three-bet $3,000, Mariano called. Players checked the flop, and nobody wanted to bet on the turn either. When Mikita checked the river for the third time, Mariano bet $1,500 into a $6,700 pot. Bodyakovsky responded with a massive raise to $20,000.
“I assumed such a possibility,” the blogger grimaced. I wish I had AQ instead of these crappy two-pair.
A few more minutes passed, Mariano was not in a hurry.
– Okay, I will definitely make the right decision, I just need one more minute. And if I'm wrong, it will be a very funny clip. What can he bluff with? QT, QJ, 89… But does he have the balls to do that?
– Shall I check? Sashimi asked.
– Ha ha, come on. But what a terrible bet I made. Excuse me, one more minute. I'm tired of myself already. Okay, I think it's just a cooler.
Mariano called and saw bad news for himself.
“It seems that I was mistaken after all,” he concluded, disappointingly.
Sashimi doubled up with aces against a player named Michael, who had sat down at the table shortly before.
Michael called the 3-bet, bet the flop, and shoved the turn.
Mariano won a big pot from Brandon.
Mariano 3-bet and three barreled all-in on the river.
“Fold,” the Olympian gave up on the last street. “Apparently I was better before the river?”
– Not really.
At the end of the session, Mikita lost a small pot, in which he called a 3-bet. The rest of the streets were checked by the players.
“Oh my God, I'm just the worst player in the world,” Mariano sighed. “Now I feel like an even bigger fool for that call."
“He seems to be hinting that Mikita is a nit,” the commentator suggested.
Session results.
It seems that Mikita himself did not pay any attention to Mariano's behavior at all. But the audience was delighted that such a star player came to the stream and agreed to participate in a relatively cheap game. Therefore, they did not like Mariano's behavior very much, and everyone unanimously decided to act in Bodyakovsky's defense.
The most popular comment under the broadcast:
“Does he have eggs?” And noted that Nikita is one of the strongest players who ever came to the stream.
Almost all other commentators made similar statements.
– Compared to Mikita, Mariano is just a puppy in the poker world.
– Fish2013 crushed high stakes online for 10 years, then switched to tournaments. Who is this Mariano to treat one of the best in history with such disrespect?
“I’d rather watch slow top reg online 1,000 times than Mariano squandering chips…"
– It is unlikely that Fish2013 cares much about what some YouTuber thinks about his game.
– He showed complete disrespect, for which he received what he deserved. Mikita's game speaks for him. Some here write that he is silent and behaves calmly. The guy is one of the strongest players in history, he does not need to prove anything and win over the audience in the hope that he will be called again. We turned on the stream to watch him play, he's just really good at poker.
– The question about eggs sounds very comical for a player who is at the micro limits and who has already bluffed $400k in another TV game.
Mariano himself also went into the comments:
“I apologize for my behavior. I had a tough day (it's not related to poker) and I took it out on Mikita. I'm not proud of it, I'll try to be better in the future.
