The newly-established Venetian Poker Room hosted its first live cash game stream on Friday, featuring $100/200 stakes, a $20,000 minimum buyin, and a whole lot of action.
The game was streamed on Venetian’s new YouTube channel, as well as the PokerGO YouTube channel, drawing in tens of thousands of views in the first couple of days alone.
The big star of the game was none other than Jean Robert Bellande, the high-stakes poker legend known for living the high-stakes lifestyle while being “broke” more often than not.
JRB was joined by “King” Charles, one of the most popular players from Hustler Casino Live streams, as well as Brian Okin, and a number of other players who are in the early stages of making their names in TV poker history.
The first of many upcoming Venetian Poker Live sessions brought quite a few big pots and great plays, although the action was still somewhat timid compared to some of the other live streams we have seen in recent months.
Yet, JRB and Charles managed to play a hand of poker for more than $115,000, while hundreds of thousands changed hands over the five-hour stream played in one of the best poker rooms on the Las Vegas Strip.
The Good and the Bad of the Venetian Poker Live
Venetian Poker Live is a brand new live poker stream show, so it is only natural that there are still things that could be done to improve the quality of the production.
The studio itself is truly remarkable, and the PokerGO involvement has helped Venetian ensure the highest stream quality, as well as graphic elements such as hole cards and bet sizes, all of which are updated in real time.
There is also no shortage of camera angles on Venetian Poker Live, which allows the production to bring all the suspense and drama to the viewers at home.
However, the first episode of the new cash game stream lacked a couple of notable elements. These were the cumulative player winnings and stats, and the time stamps for noteworthy pots for viewers watching at a later time.
The cumulative winnings and player stats are a major part of shows like Poker at the Lodge and Hustler Casino Live, and they help us track what’s going on in the game.
Knowing who’s up and who’s down can be the difference between understanding why players play the way they do at certain times, and is an addition that Venetian Poker Live will need to introduce sooner rather than later.
Most notable cash game streams these days also offer timestamps, which viewers can use to pinpoint the biggest pots of the game when watching a replay.
This allows curious fans to skim over a stream and get the gist of the action without having to watch all the long hours of a particular poker game.
All that said, Venetian Poker Live is already showing amazing potential, and could easily become one of the best live poker streams with some slight adjustments and regular high-stakes games.
JRB and Charles Yu Went Head-to-Head in the Biggest Pot of the Night
It was only fitting that JRB and King Charles would butt heads in the biggest pot of the night, as both are known for being nosebleed degenerates, and the game played on Friday was somewhat “small” for their standards.
The hand in question was a “bomb pot,” which meant all seven players in action put up $500 before the cards were even dealt, and action went straight to the flop.
The dealer put out a flop of J♠2♦10♠, which was good news for both Charles and JRB, both of whom held a jack in their hands.
However, it was Ace who raised Charles’ bet of $1,500 to $4,000 with his A♠10♦, which was good for second pair and some backdoor draws.
Ace was perhaps overplaying his hand a little bit, as both Charles and JRB made the call, and the dealer put out the ultimate turn of J♥.
Charles checked with his J♣3♦ and Ace continued telling his story by betting $8,000 this time around. JRB just called holding Q♣J♦, and Charles sprung his trap and re-raised to $25,000.
Jean Robert Bellande had only about $20,000 to raise with, so he put all of his chips into the middle, and Charles was forced to make the call, despite knowing he was probably beat at this point.
The two players ran the river card twice, but neither improved Yu’s hand. JRB scooped up a pot worth over $115,000, the biggest of the night.
What’s Next for Venetian Poker Live?
Last Friday’s high-stakes cash game was a trial of sorts, as JRB and the gang broke in the new studio and got the action started.
Venetian Poker Live has already announced they will be hosting a high-stakes poker game every Friday evening, which is great news for all the fans of live cash games and high-stakes action.
So far, we have already had a chance to see two TV poker legends playing at the new poker room in JRB and Charles, and we can expect quite a few other big names to show up in the coming weeks.
JRB’s well-known friendship with Andrew Robl is likely to bring TV poker’s biggest winner to the Venetian Poker felt at some point, and other legendary poker pros who call Vegas their home are likely to take on the new challenge as well.
Being the first major live poker stream in the Sin City, Venetian Poker Live has the potential to become one of the best poker shows we have ever seen, and we will keep you posted on all the upcoming games as they come.
