High Stakes Poker LIVE produced its first brutal exit of the week on Wednesday night as Johan “YoH Viral” Guilbert took Andrew “Ace” Pacheco apart in two huge hands at the PokerGO Studio.
Pacheco’s appearance on Day 2 lasted less than two hours. By the time he left the table, around $150,000 had disappeared from his stack, with the overwhelming majority heading in Guilbert’s direction.
The damage was done in rapid fashion by Johan “YoH Viral” Guilbert, the French high-stakes player and content creator known for an unpredictable style that can make even his strongest hands difficult to read. On this occasion, Guilbert twice disguised genuine strength and gave Pacheco enough rope to put his own chips into the middle.
YoH Viral Sets the Trap
The biggest hand of the night began innocently enough.
Jesse Lonis opened to $1,200 before Guilbert elected to flat-call rather than raise. Markus Gonsalves and Justin Gavri came along, leaving plenty of money in the middle by the time the action reached Pacheco in the big blind.
Pacheco squeezed.
Lonis called, but Guilbert wasn’t finished.
He came back over the top with a back-raise to $31,000, suddenly turning what had looked like a routine call into a substantial preflop confrontation.
Pacheco responded in the most aggressive way possible. He moved all-in.
Lonis quickly got out of the way. Guilbert called.
The pot had exploded to $223,400.
And then the cards were exposed.
Guilbert held A-K.
Pacheco had 10-7 suited.
There would be no insurance from running the board multiple times. The players agreed to run it once, putting the entire six-figure pot on a single board.
Guilbert’s A-K held.
Just like that, Pacheco had lost a pot worth more than $220,000.
From $223K Pot to Elimination
Losing a six-figure all-in didn’t quite finish Pacheco.
He was left with approximately $37,200 and continued playing, but his opportunity to rebuild lasted only a matter of minutes.
Once again, Guilbert was waiting.
Pacheco raised and Lonis three-bet. Guilbert then cold-called from the small blind, another deceptively passive decision considering the strength of his hand.
Pacheco moved his remaining $37,200 into the middle.
Lonis folded.
Guilbert called.
The board was again run once and Pacheco couldn’t find the cards he needed to survive. His remaining stack went across the table to Guilbert.
Two major confrontations. Two losses to the same opponent.
Pacheco offered fist bumps around the table before leaving the PokerGO Studio roughly $150,000 down for the session.
Day 2 Comes to an Abrupt End
Pacheco’s departure also appeared to take much of the momentum out of the game.
With only five players remaining, the second night of High Stakes Poker LIVE came to an end after less than two hours of play. It was a surprisingly short session for a broadcast promoted as part of seven consecutive nights of high-stakes cash action.
Guilbert, Lonis, Sam Soverel, Gavri and Gonsalves had all returned after appearing on the opening night, with Pacheco joining the lineup for Wednesday’s game.
Pacheco shouldn’t be mistaken for a complete High Stakes Poker newcomer, however. The Las Vegas businessman has appeared on previous seasons of the show and has accumulated more than $470,000 in recorded live tournament cashes.
Wednesday simply wasn’t his night.
YoH Viral Tops Day 1’s Biggest Pot
The $223,400 confrontation also managed to surpass the biggest pot from Tuesday’s opening session.
Day 1 had produced a $214,700 clash involving Lonis, Soverel and Bo Brownstein, setting an early benchmark for the seven-night run.
It survived for less than 24 hours.
Guilbert and Pacheco pushed the week’s biggest pot beyond $220,000 on Wednesday, and the manner in which the money went into the middle made it considerably more memorable.
Pacheco’s 10-7 suited five-bet shove was always going to attract attention once the cards were turned over. Against a player capable of taking unusual lines, however, Guilbert’s initial flat-call had successfully concealed just how strong he was.
By the time Guilbert sprang the trap, Pacheco was willing to play for everything.
Bigger High Stakes Poker Games Still to Come
The extraordinary part is that $223,400 may look relatively modest by the end of the week.
High Stakes Poker LIVE is scheduled to continue through August 31, with the lineups expected to become increasingly expensive as the week progresses.
Andrew Robl has already indicated that Friday’s game could operate on an entirely different level. The high-stakes cash specialist has spoken publicly about wiring $7 million ahead of his appearance.
If that money reaches the table, the pots seen during the opening two nights could quickly be eclipsed.
For now, though, the biggest pot of High Stakes Poker LIVE belongs to Guilbert.
And for Pacheco, two hands were enough to turn a night at the PokerGO Studio into a $150,000 defeat.
