vThe World Poker Tour’s Foxwoods Poker Classic was an up and down affair for Jean-Robert Bellande. Bellande had his best start ever when he finished day 1 with T142,000 chips, good for second place. Day two didn’t go as well.
Bellande was in agony from the start of the second day, when he shared a table with Sam Grizzle. Grizzle, the old hustler best known for tormenting Phil Hellmuth during the 2003 World Series of Poker, was relentless in his attempts to rattle Bellande; he told him to make plane reservations for that night and sang ”Bobby Clause is coming to town” to commemorate Bellande giving away his chips.
When Grizzle was eliminated, Bellande was moved to a table with Chau Giant and Curt Kohlberg. Chau immediately picked up where Grizzle left off, talking at Bellande while Kohlberg continually raised Bellande’s bets. Jean-Robert showed his frustration as his stack dwindled, but he managed to barely survive the day.
On day three, Bellande immediately doubled up and then continued to build his stack, getting it back to the T180,000 range before clashing with Foxwoods local Frankie Flowers. Flowers mouth put even Grizzle’s to shame, and when Frankie moved all-in on a flush draw then hit after Bellande called, Bellande went off the deep end.
Bellande finally met his end in nineteenth place at the hands of Seth Berger. With a flop of Ad-Jd-10h and 5c on the turn, Berger bet T32,000 after a Bellande check. Jean-Robert raised to T132,000, then called when Berger moved all-in. Jean-Robert showed As-10c for two pair; Berger had Ks-Qs for the flopped straight. The river came 3c and Bellande’s journey was over.
Gary Wise
gary@wisehandpoker.com
