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Daily 3-Bet: Hellmuth Tilt, Super Tsoukernik, Faces of Hart

Daily 3-Bet: Hellmuth Tilt, Super Tsoukernik, Faces of Hart

Daily 3-Bet: Hellmuth Tilt, Super Tsoukernik, Faces of Hart


The PokerListings Daily 3-Bet is a tight range, a flopped set and still no chance the muppets at the afternoon poker news table can appreciate your genius.

Have a tip for a future edition of the 3-Bet? Tweets us @PokerListings or comment below.

Today in the 3-Bet we find a classic Phi Hellmuth tilt-a-rant, Leon Tsoukernik unfazed by the Super High Roller Bowl and Kevin Hart shines bright.

1) Best Player, Outplayed

It’s safe to say the $300,000 Aria Super High Roller Bowl didn’t work out quite as hoped for Phil Hellmuth.

First, he showed up late and (intentionally or unintentionally) wasted some precious blinds. Then he lost a big pot with top set to Justin Bonomo‘s flopped straight.

Finally, and perhaps appropriately, he busted set-under-set to comedian Kevin Hart.

Even by Hellmuthian standards it was a humdinger of a day. And it, on cue, produced a classic Hellmuthian rant. Enjoy!

2) Tsoukernik 2nd in Chips After SHRB Day 1

While the classic Hellmuth tirade above was certainly a highlight of Day 1 of the Super High Roller Bowl there were, as expected, plenty of others.

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Tsoukernik: Never flustered.

For Kitty Kuo, for example, it was Dan Colman’s bicepsFedor Holz, again, showed just how primed his mind is. We could listen to Nick Schulman commentate poker all day, errrryday.

And then there was Leon Tsoukernik. The owner of the King’s Casino in Rozvadov, Czech Republic, which has become a juggernaut of a poker locale, has played in some high-stakes cash games before, for sure.

He even won the final EPT Super High Roller tournament over Charlie Carrel, which is quite something. But second in chips after Day 1 of the $300k SHRB? C’mon. No one was expecting that. Except Tsoukernik, of course.

But it’s true. With 912,00 in chips Tsoukernik is behind only the 1.2m of chip leader Byron Kaverman and ahead of such poker luminaries as Holz (803,00), Justin Bonomo (620,500), Jason Mercier (605,000) and Daniel Negreanu (327,500).

He also survived being one of the 12 bustouts of Day 1 which included Hellmuth, Erik SeidelJohn JuandaIgor KurganovBen SulskyBen Tollerene and Bill Perkins.

That’s a good day. We’re excited to see what’s in store for Day 2. Watch some great clips of yesterday’s action here and tune in on the PokerGO app to watch the rest of the tourney in full.

3) Kevin Hart is a Joy to Watch Play Poker

It’s been a fairly small sample size so far – the 2017 PSC Bahamas, PSC Monte Carlo and now the $300k Aria SHRB. But man. It is really fun to watch Kevin Hart play poker.

Kevin Hart IMG 12

The new celebrity face of PokerStars, Hart has more than lived up to his billing as an amateur who loves the game and is thrilled to be amongst the world’s best getting a lesson in how it’s played at the highest levels.

He’s knows his game has limitations but it’s not hampering his ability to have a good time. And that was clearly evident during Day 1 of the SHRB yesterday.

Unsurprisingly, he told a lot of jokes. But he was also comfortable enough with the poker to be in the Top 5 chip counts early, chat it up with his table all day and, when the mood struck, share an experience about taking a #2 in the woods.

All in all, a pretty wide range of gold. He might not make it through Day 2 today but he’s more than put his stamp one of the signature events of the summer. Check a few of the photos from yesterday below; see the full spread here.

Kevin Hart IMG 18
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