Julien Martini's Roller Coaster Ride on Venetian Poker Live
French poker pro Julien Martini was the center of attention during Saturday night's Venetian Poker Live stream.
The four-time World Series of Poker (WSOP) bracelet winner won some big pots and lost some big pots. When the cameras stopped rolling three hours into the $100/$200 no-limit hold'em cash game, he was down over $40,000. But he provided viewers with some entertaining hands.
Tough Start for Martini
Martini, a few minutes into the game, played his first monster pot of the night against Pennzoil Don, a regular on the show. All the chips went into the middle preflop between the two players for a $56,000 pot. Pennzoil Don held A♠K♠ and was up against 10♥10♦.
Off to the races they went, but they first agreed to run the board out twice. Both runouts would go Don's way, pairing up both times. Martini was unlucky to lose both boards. But he'd later pick a bad spot to get aggressive with a small pair.
Moose, facing a raise to $1,800, three-bet to $20,000 with A♠A♥. Martini had already committed $1,800 to the pot and had his opponent easily covered. He decided to put Moose all in for $34,700 with 7♥7♦, and received a snap-call. Again, the all-in players decided to run it twice. The first one came 2♥10♣9♠6♣6♠, clean for pocket aces. The second board showed 2♣K♦K♣Q♦8♠, sending the entire $73,700 pot over to Moose's stack.
It wasn't all bad for Martini, who has nearly $6 million in live tournament cashes, according to The Hendon Mob. He got Carl to pay him off with a pair and a draw against queens.
With $6,300 in the pot and the flop showing J♦7♦9♣, Martin bet $3,000 with Q♥Q♣. Carl moved all in for $13,000 with 10♦9♠, bottom pair and a gutter ball. Martini quickly called and would again await multiple runouts.
The first turn and river went 4♦5♠, and the second came A♦3♣, and Martini would finally have the board go his way to scoop a big pot. Martini, who finished second to Ramon Colillas in the 2019 $25,000 PokerStars Players Championship (PSPC) for nearly $3 million, ended the livestream at Venetian in Las Vegas down $47,300.
Braxton Dunaway, fresh off his third-place finish for $4 million in the 2025 WSOP Main Event, was the biggest winner in the game, up $95,600.
