David Williams competed in his first no-limit hold'em cash game Saturday on Venetian Poker Live, and it didn't go well for him thanks to one mistimed aggressive play.
The 2004 World Series of Poker (WSOP) Main Event runner-up doesn't often appear on cash game livestreams these days. He did, however, battle on some iconic poker shows back in the day, such as Poker After Dark. But the Las Vegas resident and WSOP regular showed up at Venetian with $30,000 to start, and ended the stream down a chunk.
The $100/$200 game on PokerGO had a juicy lineup, which also included Jean-Robert Bellande, Ethan "Rampage" Yau, Eric Wasserson, Nick Salem, and Brian Okin. Williams and Salem would battle in the most memorable pot of the night in what was an action-packed game.
The hand, in a straddled pot, started with "Boots" raising to $1,400 with J♣9♣. Salem then opted to slowplay with A♠A♦by just making the call. Williams, who had the dealer button in front of him, went for a three-bet to $7,000 with A♥9♦. Boots folded, but Salem was done slowplaying pocket rockets. He bumped it up to $21,400.
That didn't set off alarm bells inside Williams' head as he then moved all in for $73,200. Salem snap-called as a massive favorite to win a $148,700 pot, one of the largest in the brief history of Venetian Poker Live.
https://twitter.com/VenetianPoker/status/1903645958510190770
Both players agreed to run the board twice, giving Williams a better shot to at least chop the pot. The first board came out 6♠3♦7♣K♣K♠, nice and clean for aces. There wasn't much of a sweat on the second board either, which came out 8♠8♦J♥4♣10♣, giving Salem the full scoop.
Williams, the MasterChefSeason 7 runner-up and a 2006 WSOP bracelet winner, had a rough return to the no-limit hold'em cash game streets. Salem, on the other hand, was the biggest winner in the game when the cameras stopped rolling.
Jean-Robert Bellande Scoops First Six-Figure Pot on Venetian Poker Live