Poker Brat Bests 3Coin on Way to Becoming Big Winner in Hellmuth’s Home Game

Every Monday night, Hellmuth’s Home Game presented by Poker Night in America (PNIA) and sponsored by BetRivers is once again airing on CBS Sports on Monday nights.

The nationally-televised show, which was filmed at the Grand Sierra Resort in Reno, Nevada and is unique in that there is no commentary. Instead, the show is carried by table talk from Phil Hellmuth alongside a cast of fellow pros and friends in an intimate, relaxed cash game setting.

PokerNews watched Episode 23 and compiled a recap of some of the biggest hands and interesting storylines.

Here’s how things stacked up at the start of the episode:

The game was played with $25/$50 blinds with a $50 big blind ante. Here’s a look at some of the biggest hands from the episode.

What Was 3Coin Thinking?

In the third hand of the game, which was the first shown on the episode, Kelly Lucas looked down at the K♦K♣ in the hijack and raised to $300. Randy “3Coin” Sadler called from the small blind with the A♣10♦ and Hellmuth defended his $100 straddle by calling $200 more with the 4♥3♣.

3Coin checked the 5♦4♠J♥ flop and Hellmuth bet $500 with bottom pair. Kelly called and 3Coin, who only had ace-high, check-raised to $1,500. Hellmuth folded, Kelly moved all in, and surprisingly, 3Coin called off the $3,225 he had behind.

As usual, 3Coin only runs it once, and neither the 6♣ turn nor 8♠ river helped him.

“You know what? 3Coin just 3Coined himself,” said Sadler. “That was a bad play.”

“It Gonna Do What It Do”

3Coin limped under the gun with the A♠8♣ and Hellmuth, who had the 8♥7♥, called from the hijack. Mike “The Mouth” Matusow then raised to $150 from the cutoff with the A♣8♦, and Phillip “P3” Hellmuth III came along from the small blind holding the 10♦9♣.

3Coin then limp-raised to $350, Hellmuth called, and Matusow folded. P3 called, and it was three-way action to the 6♦7♠9♥ flop. P3 checked, 3Coin continued for $600 with his up-and-down straight draw, and Hellmuth raised to $1,200 with his pair and straight draw.

P3 had an even bigger pair and straight draw, so he called, which prompted 3Coin to do the same. All three players proceeded to check the 2♣ turn, and the K♣ completed the board on the river.

P3 checked, 3Coin moved all in for $3,100, and Hellmuth thought for a bit before folding. His son, P3, thought even longer and said, “I’m gonna make another horrible call against 3Coin. I need to think about this.”

3Coin then engaged in some table talk, and it worked as P3 ended up folding the best hand.

“It’s gonna do what it do,” 3Coin delivered his patented catchphrase.

3Coin Felts P3

On Hand #31, P3 limped the hijack with the 10♠9♣, and 3Coin raised to $125 after looking down at the 9♦8♦ on the button. Kane Kalas called from the small blind with the Q♥J♣, Hellmuth came along from the big with the 10♦7♠, and P3 called to see the 2♠9♥8♥ flop.

Two checks saw P3 bet $300 with top pair, and 3Coin just called with top two pair. Kalas got out of the way, and Hellmuth called with his open-ended straight draw before checking in the dark. The 8♠ turn improved 3Coin to a boat, and he bet $600 after P3 checked. Both Hellmuth’s called and then checked the K♥ river.

Hellmuth folded his missed straight draw, and P3 called off his last $875 only to see the $5,000 pot pushed to 3Coin.

3Coin Tries to Bust Hellmuth

On Hand #72 of the game, Hellmuth limped from early position with the K♣K♠, and P3 raised to $150 from the button with the A♦2♥. 3Coin called out of the big blind with the A♣3♥, and Hellmuth woke up with a limp-raise to $450. Both his opponents called, and it was three-way action to the flop of 2♠7♦5♠.

3Coin checked, Hellmuth continued for $500, and P3 folded bottom pair. 3Coin, who flopped a gutshot wheel draw, check-raised the minimum to $1,000 and Hellmuth moved all in for $2,525. It was $1,525 more for 3Coin to call, which he did after indicating he wanted to run it only once.

Unfortunately for him, he missed out on the $6,475 pot as the 8♥ bricked on the turn, followed by the 6♥ river.

3Coin Gets Sticky

In the final hand of the episode, which was Hand #76 of the game, Rob limped with the Q♣J♥, and 3Coin did the same with the A♦10♦ in the hijack. Hellmuth then looked down at the A♠A♣ on the button and raised to $200, which Matusow called from the small blind with the Q♦J♣.

Rob called the additional $150 before 3Coin reraised to $600. Not to be outdone, Hellmuth made it $2,800 to go, and both Matusow and Rob folded their respective queen-jacks. 3Coin, not one to shy away from action, called and took a flop of K♠7♣2♠.

3Coin checked but called when Hellmuth continued for $1,100, which brought about the 6♠ turn. 3Coin checked again, and Hellmuth kept the pressure on with a bet of $2,800. That did the trick as 3Coin finally released his cards, which prompted Hellmuth to show him his hand.

Here’s how things looked at the end of the episode.

Past Episode Recaps

_{Images courtesy of Poker Night in America.}

PR & Media Manager for PokerNews, host of both the PokerNews Podcast & MPST Podcast Presented By PokerNews, and 2013 WSOP Bracelet Winner.