The other day in Los Angeles, a game took place with the participation of one of the strongest heads-up players in the world, Henri "buttonclickr" Puustinen. Live, the Finnish regular has not yet shown himself to be such a formidable opponent.
Buttonclickr joined the game a bit late, with seven players lining up:
Double M is a hedge fund manager.
Bill Klein is a very wealthy retiree and one of the most respected amateurs.
Nick "Airball" is an investment banker.
Mike X is a fashion designer. Aaron Zang is the 2019 Triton Million winner .
JR and Andy are local regulars.
Stacks at the beginning of the game:
The game was played with regular straddles and restraddles.
Puustinen got a seat next to Bill Klein, who played in a sweater with the inscription "I bought this shirt with your money."
In one of his first hands, Henri 3-bet with queens and was called by eights.
On the flop, Nick called a quarter-pot continuation bet with a set, and raised on the turn.
Henri quietly folded an overpair.
“Head back to Finland,” Airball greeted the newcomer somewhat aggressively. – ''It's easy poker for you, it's difficult for us here in LA.''
Bill Klein shook his finger at his neighbor to be friendly.
“It’s difficult, because only idiots like me play here,” Nick reduced everything into a joke.
“That's why I came,” buttonclickr was not taken aback.
In the first half hour, Henri lost the most.
He chose 86s for his next 3-bet.
But when flop was revealed, it turned out to be pretty favourable.
Henri c-bet, JR called. Puustinen almost bet the pot on the turn and his opponent called once more.
On the river, Henri had to take a deep breath and check-fold.
“The easiest fold,” his neighbors supported him when he showed them his cards.
The troubles of the young Finn did not end there. In one of the following hands, he and Bill Klein called Andy's 3-bet and got an action flop.
However, Andy's c-bet was only called by buttonclickr. And on the turn, he made another correct fold when his opponent put in a small overbet.
“I just have the nuts in every hand, you can see for yourself,” Andy said.
“I don't believe it,” Airball laughed, “I don't know what he had, but I would definitely call with his hand.''
To win his first pot, Puustinen had to wait for aces vs kings.
Double M raised and called the 3-bet. On the flop, Henry c-bet a third of the pot and called a small check-raise. On the turn, Double M bet $15,000 into a $25,000 pot, and on the river, buttonclickr called instantly.
''Where is the 4-bet?'' he asked his opponent, while collecting chips.
“This is the calmest play of KK vs. AA in the history of these streams,” one of the players remarked.
“I'm still in shock,” agreed Bill Klein.
''I lost the minimum, I can only praise myself,'' – Double M smiled.
''Exactly, you are the true winner in this hand,'' – Airball supported him. – ''Today you play perfectly.''
Under these conversations, Double M also got aces and took a small pot with a 4-bet.
Mike X became the third Aces holder, 4-bet cold, but didn't even see a flop. Double M folded jacks.
But the festival of aces did not end there.
Airball raised preflop and c-bet $3,000 on the flop, two players called.
On the turn, Nick bet $8,000 into a $13,000 pot and was again called twice.
The river completed the flush.
''What should I do, Mike? I have aces,'' – Nick asked his opponent.
''Throw it away, I'll take this pot, and you – the next one.''
''I suspect that you will take this one in any case, no matter how I play.''
Nick used a few timebank cards and threw them away anyway.
“If you show a bluff, I'll go crazy right now” he warned Mike.
“You know I would never do that to you.''
Midway results:
Buttonclickr hit flush v flush against JR, but a fourth club on the river saved him.
Pre-flop, Henri raised and called a 3-bet, and JR c-bet half pot on the flop. On the turn, JR bet $8,000 into a $24,000 pot, Puustinen raised to $25,000 and JR called. The river was checked through.
Buttonclickr still waited for a cooler in his favor, and on the flop his prospects looked pretty grim.
He 3-bet preflop and Airball called. On the flop, Henry c-bet 17% of the pot with 4% equity, and the villain quickly paid.
On the turn, Puustinen made a small bet with his top set, and Nick raised.
The board paired on the river and Henry check-raised.
Nick thought for a few minutes. After losing with aces, he had almost no timebank cards left, and in the last seconds he threw it away.
Collectively, the players decided that a bluff from Henri was simply impossible here. Airball added on $300,000.
Aaron Zang with won a 4-bet pot against Double M.
Aaron c-bet the flop, the turn was checked, and on the river Double M called a $35,000 bet into a $78,000 pot.
After this setback, Double M added $200,000 to his stack.
The next hand, up until the river all was quiet.
Bill raised early and c-bet the flop, supported by Henry and JR.
The turn was quickly checked, and on the river JR improved to a full house and bet $3,500 into a $9,500 pot. For some reason, this irritated his opponents – buttonclickr reraised, and Bill announced a 3-bet.
JR reraised to $90,000, Henry quickly folded, and Bill spent some time banks and eventually called.
''How do you feel when you have the nuts, and in front of you is a raise and a reraise?'' tablemates asked JR.
''Yeah, I didn’t expect at all that I would get any action.''
Intermediate results:
Andy tried to overbet bluff with J-high, but failed to make JR fold top pair.
Andy called a 3-bet preflop, raised a c-bet on the flop, checked the turn, and Andy bet $40,000 into a $37,400 pot on the river.
Andy added on $200,000 and brought the total money at the table to $3 million.
It was at this point that Henri Puustinen and Airball played a record-breaking pot in the history of Hustler casino streams.
Buttonclickr opened, Bill called, Airball squeezed, both opponents called
On the flop, the announcer said "Oh my God!" and Airball bet half the pot, only Henry paid.
Nik check-raised all-in on the turn and got called almost instantly.
“Good luck,” Nik said.
''Thanks, I'll need it.''
They agreed to run it twice – the first came the .
''So you were bluffing that hand?'' – He remembered the previous Airball cooler.
''I'll tell you if I lose now.''
''Are you going home right now?''
“Yeah, cycling to Vegas.''
''Is this the biggest pot of your life?''
''Yes.''
Second river – .
Henri ended his speech with this, packed his things and wished everyone good luck.
“Wait, so you were bluffing then?”
''No, I had jacks.''
Full video of the last hand:
For Henri, his foray in to live poker ended in a loss of $367k.
Nik, meanwhile, immediately lost some of the chips he had just received.
Airball raised and called the 3-bet. On the flop, Nik called a continuation bet. On the turn, Mike bet $6,000 into a $15,000 pot and called the raise to $25,000. On the river, Nik went all-in and was instantly called.
The stream, rich with dead coolers, continued with a pot between Andy and JR, in which they were dealt two pair vs the nut straight on the flop. This time the worst hand improved to a full house.
JR opened preflop, three players called. Andy flopped and JR raised. On the turn Andy check-raised $12,000 – $55,000, JR 3-bet $120,000, Andy called. River played check-check..
At the end of the broadcast, Andy and Double M played another 4-bet pot.
Double M raised preflop to 43,000 and then c-bet $25,000 on the flop. Andy paid. The turn and river were checked.
Session results:
