Poker After Dark: The Lamb Leads the Slaughter

The second night of Poker After Dark “Voices Carry” kicked off Wednesday night live on PokerGO from the ARIA Resort & Casino. Brian Rast, Jason Koon, Scott Seiver and Ben Lamb all made their first appearance on the show, joining Tuesday’s winner and runner-up, Matt Berkey and Nick Schulman for a $25,000 winner-take-all Sit & Go.

“I grew up watching PAD obviously, like everyone else, and it’s been exciting to watch the past few days and to be a part of it,” Lamb said. “It’s a dream to be able to play.”

Wednesday night’s table was a friendly, chatty affair – a far cry from the early ear plug-inducing speech play of William Kassouf. The first elimination came much quicker than the previous night when Seiver busted around an hour into play.

Seiver held pocket sixes, turned a set but Schulman rivered a flush, shoved and Seiver called off. “I was excited , it’s fun,” Seiver said. “These are guys that I’ve played with a bunch and hung out with a bunch. It’s just a fun group of people and it makes for a fun afternoon of poker.”

They’re dropping like flies on #PokerAfterDark! Scott Seiver ??s the turn, but Nick Schulman ??s the river more pic.twitter.com/yMydRrrVUz

— PokerGO (@PokerGO) August 24, 2017

Seiver’s chair was still warm when Koon played his final hand. He went to a flop of Qh 8h 5s with Lamb, raised to 28,000 and Lamb bet-called. They both checked the Jd turn, the river came Kh and Lamb bet 26,000. Koon moved all in and Lamb called. Koon tabled Qc Th and Lamb had him beat with Jh 7h for a rivered flush.

“It’s a spot where I thought my hand need a lot of protection from flush draws,” Koon said. “But I had plenty of showdown value, the river came Kh and he bet. I didn’t think I was ahead anymore and it’s pretty hard for me to have a bluff in that spot. I thought it was a good candidate to shove the river.”

The table played four-handed for just under an hour before Rast took a bad beat to exit in fourth place. Rast, Lamb and Berkey went to a flop of 9s 7d 6c, Berkey bet 13,000, Lamb raised to 50,000 and Rast called. Berkey mucked, the turn came 3s, Lamb moved all in and Rast called.

Rast rolled over As Ah, Lamb tabled 8s 7s every draw out there and spiked a straight on the river with the 5h. Lamb had Rast just out-chipped and Lamb earned his second knockout.

As Rast was conducting his bust out interview with Host Drea Renee, Schulman, Berkey and Lamb were talking about how they hoped to avoid “the interview of death” off to the side. “At least second place has the dignity of a stand-up interview,” Berkey said. “We’re on the interview bubble right now.”

The very next hand Schulman opened with Ac Ts, Berkey shoved with Kd Qc and Schulman called. The board ran out As 4c 3c Kc 4s and Berkey moved over to take Rast’s seat on the interview couch.

“At this table there wasn’t really an edge for anybody,” Berkey said. “So, it’s whoever is going to run well, it is what it is. I definitely tried to get away with a little bit less today, but that’s always the case because you have to adjust to your environment.”

He avoided the @DreaRenee_n “interview of death” last night but @berkey11 falls just short of a #PokerAfterDark repeat victory pic.twitter.com/dBdfDrcIx0

— PokerGO (@PokerGO) August 24, 2017

Schulman began heads-up play with a slight chip lead over Lamb, but early in the duel Schulman held pocket aces and Lamb had Tc 4c in the hole. The board ran out Jc Ts 8s Td As, Lamb had trips on the turn but Schulman rivered a full house, dragged the pot and stacked 700,000 to Lamb’s 200,000.

After an hour of play, Lamb took the chip lead when they both made two pair, but Lamb held aces up Ad Qd on the turn, moved in and Schulman called with Th 8c for bottom two pair. The river was a blank and Lamb collected a momentum-shifting pot that also led straight to a break.

Not long after returning from the final break of the night, right around midnight ET, Lamb limped preflop holding Ah 4c and Schulman raised to 28,000 holding Ad 8h. Lamb thought for a few moments, raised to 233,000, Schulman moved all in and Lamb called.

The board ran Ks Kh 4d Kc Jd, Lamb’s full house earned him his third and final knockout – good for $150,000 and a win in his first PAD appearance.

“It’s back to back runner-ups which stings a good bit,” Schulman said. “I’m not going to lie, I’m a little agitated but this is part of the game.”

Watch every hand Event Replays section in the On Demand portion of PokerGO, now with the first three seasons fully archived and a growing number of compelling Pokerographys.