PokerStars revealed two new brand ambassadors at Resorts World Las Vegas last month, both with impeccable reputations within the poker community — Caitlin Comeskey and Jason Koon.
The newest Team Pro members for the most prominent brand in online poker history come from different backgrounds and have different roles within the industry. Koon is a high-stakes legend, arguably the top tournament player in the world. Comeskey is a low-stakes player known for her comedic light-hearted poker player parody videos. She captured the Best Short-Form Content Creator award at the 2023 Global Poker Awards.
Pedro Marques raised to 200,000 from the hijack holding A♦K♠ and only Tjenno Eskes called out of the big blind with K♣10♦.
Eskes check-called a bet of 125,000 from Marques on the 2♦5♣K♦ flop.
The turn came the 8♥ and Eskes check-called another bet from Marques, this time for 480,000.
Eskes checked for the last time upon seeing the 7♣ fall on the river. Marques thought for a few moments before he fired out a third barrel of 1,275,000. Eskes went deep into the tank, burning through a few of his time bank cards. Ultimately, he settled on a fold and forfeited the pot to Marques.
Paul Runcan made it 200,000 to go from the cutoff and Pedro Marques called in the big blind.
On the J♥10♣8♦ flop, Marques checked and Runcan bet 275,000. Marques called
A Q♠ on the turn saw Marques check again, then Runcan continued to fire with a bet of 325,000. Marques sat motionless for a while and just before his time expired, he called.
When the J♦ dropped on the river, Marques stared at the board for a while before he tapped the table, and Runcan knuckled back.
Marques showed Q♣10♥ for a pair of queens, but Runcan had rivered trips J♣4♣ to scoop the pot.
Tjenno Eskes just called from the small blind and Paul Runcan checked his option out of the big blind.
The flop came 10♠8♥Q♥ and Eskes check-called a bet of 100,000 from Runcan.
An A♠ appeared on the turn and both players checked. The 6♣ rolled off on the river and Eskes put out a bet of 380,000. Runcan snap-called and was shown A♥K♣ by Eskes for a pair of aces. Runcan mucked Q♦3♥ for a pair of queens on the flop.
Barak Oz opened from under the gun to 225,000 with an A♥ and a mystery card, & Pedro Marques called from the big blind holding 10♠10♥.
On the Q♥3♣6♠ flop, both players checked to the 10♣ turn where Marques checked, and Oz fired 400,000. Marques then burned through a timebank before he made it 1,450,000. Oz wasn't done with the hand and three-bet the turn to 2,700,000. Marques again used some extra time before he moved all in for almost 6,000,000.
It was Oz's turn to burn through the timebanks and the decision was for his tournament life as he had around 2,300,000 behind. After using three timebanks, Oz decided to fold, and relinquished the pot to Marques.
Anton Bergstrom raised to 200,000 with A♥J♦ from under the gun with Tjenno Eskes calling from the small blind and Paul Runcan defending out of the big blind.
The 7♣6♠K♦ flop checked through for the 7♠ to fall on the turn. Runcan led out for 350,000, which only Eskes called.
The 6♦ came on the river and Runcan fired out an overbet of 1,900,000. Eskes burned through a few of his time bank cards before he carved out the call.
Runcan flipped over the winner with 7♦5♣ for trip sevens, as Eskes was forced to muck his K♠Q♥ and send a large portion of his stack over to Runcan.
Life Outside Poker is a new podcast for PokerNews hosted by Connor Richards that seeks to pull back the curtain on poker players and allow viewers and listeners to get to know them on a personal level.
In the 21st episode, Connor speaks with Survivor legend Boston Rob, aka Rob Mariano, about growing up near Fenway Park, learning poker at the age of 6, studying psychology at Boston University, applying for Survivor and winning Season 22, his recent appearance on Deal or No Deal Island and filming an upcoming season of The Traitors.
Boston Rob also revealed a story about Costa Rican authorities raiding a mansion known to host high-stakes poker games during a 2006 filming that included Daniel Negreanu, Josh Arieh, David Williams, Michael Mizrachi and actress Cheryl Hines.
"(Gambling mogul) Calvin (Ayre) had a big party at the house, and they came in guns drawn," he said. "And we were fine, but we all had to stay at the party until they checked our passports and everything. I think it was a little bit of a shakedown. But we had a good weekend."
Tjenno Eskes made it 200,000 to go from middle position with K♠K♣ and Paul Runcan three-bet to 550,000 in the hijack holding A♣5♣. When it got back to Eskes, he counted out chips and slid forward a four-bet of 1,100,000. Runcan folded.
Siarhei Alontsau raised to 200,000 from under the gun with K♥Q♣ and only Paul Runcan called from middle position with 7♥7♦.
Alontsau continued with a bet bet of 300,000 on the J♥K♠Q♠ flop. Runcan paused briefly before electing to fold his hand and surrender the pot to Alontsau.
Tjenno Eskes raised the cutoff to 100,000 with A♦A♣ and Paul Runcan made it 550,000 on the button holding K♠8♠. When it got back to Eskes, he four-bet to 1,100,000, and Runcan called.
They went to a flop of J♦Q♥2♠ where Eskes checked and Runcan fired 425,000. Eskes called.
A K♥ dropped on the turn and again Eskes tapped the table. Runcan didn't slow down and grabbed a handful of dark chips to make a bet of 900,000. Eskes threw in a timebank and eventually called.
When the K♣ landed on the river, Eskes checked and Runcan checked back, taking it down with his rivered trips.
