NFL Legend Makes Quads Against Antonio Esfandiari in High Stakes Cash Game
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The rivalry that started between Antonio Esfandiari and Rob "Gronk" Gronkowski on PokerStars' Big Game on Tour spilled over into the second episode of the latest line-up, with the NFL star finally putting a strike in his win column after getting the runaround the previous week.
Gronkowski had probably taken more L's than he'd taken in his entire life throughout the first couple dozen hands, but he started to find his groove after winning a multi-way pot with a pair of aces. He then got a thin bit of value with a pair of fives from Phil Hellmuth, who called a small river bet with ace-high.
Shortly after, Gronk woke up with J♠J♦ in the cutoff and raised to $900. The Magician had a pair of his own, calling from the button with 7♠7♦, but he was flopped dead after Gronkowski made the nuts when the dealer fanned out the J♥J♣3♣ flop.
Esfandiari called bets of $2,000 anf $4,000 on the flop and turn for the final board to read J♥J♣3♣8♠Q♥. Gronkowski sized up to $8,000 on the river but couldn't get any more of Esfandiari's money, as the latter correctly laid his hand down.
Wright Gets Revenge on Poker Legend
Up until his duel with the four-time Super Bowl winner, Esfandiari had been cleaning up, with nearly every pot going his way.
One of those clashes came against sports broadcaster and big poker fan Nick Wright.
Earlier in the session, Esfandiari stacked Wright with 8♦4♦ against A♣K♥ on J♦7♥2♦A♦. Wright bet $1,400 into a pot of $7,300 before Esfandiari made it $7,500. Wright jammed for $31,600 and was drawing dead after being snap-called by the poker legend's flush.
But it would only take a couple of orbits for Wright to see a sizable chunk of those losses returned after he reloaded for another $50,000.
Gronkowski limped in with 7♦2♦ from early position before Esfandiari bumped it up to $1,000 with K♦8♣. Wright defended his 7♥6♥ in the big blind and went heads-up with Esfandiari after Gronkowski got out of the way.
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Esfandiari was licking his lips when the 8♥8♦4♠ flop gave him trips, but Wright still had a bit of hope with his gutshot straight draw. Wright check-called $1,200 and made his hand when the 5♣ landed on the turn. Wright check-raised to $13,000 over a bet of $4,500, and Esfandiari stuck around to see the 9♥ river complete the board.
Wright fired out $18,000, leaving $15,400 behind. Esfandiari wanted all of it and shoved as the bigger stack.
"You have a full house Antonio?" Wright asked. "You win if you do," he said after flicking in a calling chip.
"Wow, that's so sick," commented Esfandiari as a big slice of his profit headed over to the wrong side of the table.
Updated Standings
Rania Nasreddine remains the biggest winner through the first 46 hands of the 150-hand session, while Esfandiari's early dominance has slowed slightly after he spent much of the opening stretch running over the table.
Wright has rebounded strongly to move close to even after dipping early, while Hellmuth has taken a typically cautious approach and has rarely committed chips to the middle.
Gronkowski has climbed off the bottom of the standings after recovering some losses, but the loose cannon Luke Wakelin has seen his stack cut by more than half. Wakelin will need to find a sun run of his own if he hopes to finish the session in profit.
| Rank | Player | Profit/Loss | Stack |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Rania Nasreddine | +$25,800 | $75,800 |
| 2 | Antonio Esfandiari | +$24,200 | $124,200 |
| 3 | Nick Wright | -$3,000 | $97,000 |
| 4 | Phil Hellmuth | -$4,500 | $45,500 |
| 5 | Rob Gronkowski | -$13,600 | $36,400 |
| 6 | Luke Wakelin | -$28,900 | $21,100 |
