Negreanu Folds the Winner on High Stakes Poker

It was obvious that Daniel Negreanu was confused by the action.

He shook his head a few times, blinked profusely, and wrinkled his brow as he tried to figure out what to do. And then he made the wrong decision.

In the biggest pot of the night, David Benyamine pushed out the best hand and got the worst hand to call him with a $101,200 check-raise on a board of 9 8 3 Q A. He had 7 5 for a small flush, while Negreanu folded the better flush with 10 9. Doyle Brunson couldn’t let go of his set of queens, ultimately paying off Benyamine.

Negreanu started the action in the hand when he opened with a pre-flop raise of $3,000. Brunson decided to slow play his queens, just calling, while Benyamine came along for the ride as well.

After Benyamine checked a flop of 9 8 3, Negreanu bet out $8,500 with top pair and a flush draw. Brunson and Benyamine both called.

A Q turn gave Brunson a set and the two others flushes, but everyone decided to slow it down and checked it around.

An A river didn’t change anything, and Benyamine declined to bet another time with his baby flush, tapping the table. Negreanu fired out $26,200 with the best hand, and the conservative Brunson made the call.

That’s when Benyamine confused everyone.

The French pro reraised to $101,200, and Negreanu studied the situation for a while before begrudgingly giving up his hand. Brunson also made the wrong decision, calling and seeing the bad news.

When Benyamine flipped over his hand, High Stakes Poker viewers saw a rare glimpse of a truly frustrated and angry Negreanu. Traditionally taking all of his losses on TV well, Negreanu slammed his fist into the table and exclaimed, “Damn it! Unbelievable.”

Negreanu’s troubles didn’t go away after the small outburst. After correctly calling flop and turn bets from a bluffing Elezra, he lost an $118,600 pot after he got three-outered on the river.

“This is just sick, just so sick,” said Negreanu. “What the hell is going on?”

Kid Poker wasn’t the only pro who had a tough time in the episode. Texas Dolly put his consecutive cash-game win streak in jeopardy after his faulty call against Benyamine, and after he chased a couple draws that never came.

Brunson kept his sense of humor though, playfully mocking Phil Ivey at one point for his Full Tilt commercial where Ivey says over ominous background music: “I’ve been told I am intimidating, that sitting across from me is frightening. Or that my stare alone is enough to make a player crumble. But I’m just sitting here, playing the same game you are. Well, kind of.”

Fittingly, GSN aired the commercial during the very next commercial break.

Mike Matusow and Bertrand ‘Elky’ Grospellier both made their first appearance of the season in this week’s episode, though they played pretty close to the vest. Matusow didn’t play a single televised hand, while Grospellier only played one, making a tough-but-correct fold after Ivey flopped top set.

Grospellier talked about his first experience on High Stakes Poker with Card Player TV.

Next week, Phil ‘OMGClayAiken’ Galfond joins the group. Check back to CardPlayer.com on Monday for a recap of the episode.

Most Viewed Articles