The second episode of High Stakes Poker Season 14 aired Monday evening on PokerGO, as the same group of players from the season kickoff last week – Andrew Robl, Jared Bleznick, Justin Gavri, Brandon Steven, Seth Gottlieb, Markus Gonsalves, and Marc Kulick –returned for further carnage with the blinds still at $200/$400.
After taking his lumps consistently throughout Season 13, Gavri wasn't quite ready to call it quits on High Stakes Poker and bravely returned for another shot at glory. While he wasn't involved much in the action during Episode 1, he took center stage in Episode 2, but for all the wrong reasons. In all-too-familiar fashion, Gavri found himself on the losing end of two brutal beats, sending two six-figure buy-ins to his opponents in the process.
Bleznick bounces back at Gavri's expense
The first of Gavri's beats came in a double-straddled, multi-way pot. When the action folded around to Robl in late position, he was liable to raise with a wide range, but when he looked down at 
there was only one option – $5,000 to go.
Steven, next to act on the button, made the call with 
, while Gottlieb and Kulick fled the scene from the blinds. Bleznick, from the $800 straddle, opted to flat call with 
, which further incentivized Gavri to come along from the $1,600 straddle with 
.
With $21,000 in the middle, the 
flop promised serious action as Bleznick made top set, Gavri hit bottom two pair, and Steven connected with an open-ended straight draw. The draw-heavy nature of the board saw Bleznick opt to lead out, betting $6,000 into the field. Gavri, next to act, wanted to build the pot with his two pair and raised to $25,000.
Robl wasted no time in getting out of the way, but Steven had a much more complex decision to make. As Bleznick was still left to act behind him, he wisely chose to fold his hand and wait for a better spot.
Bleznick wasn't going anywhere, however, and his re-raise sent all the chips into the middle. With $299,000 out there, Gavri had <1% equity to win the pot and the 
turn and 
river confirmed the beat.
Kulick delivers another final-hand smackdown
In similar fashion to last week's opener, the final hand of the episode brought the fireworks and, once again, it was Kulick who provided the spark. There was only one straddle in play this time around – from Bleznick – and it was Gavri who kicked off the action by raising to $1,600 with . Robl made the call with 
and Kulick came along from the big blind with 
before Bleznick folded his hand to leave the trio to fight for the pot themselves.
With $7,400 in the middle, the 
connected hard with all three players as Gavri flopped the nut straight, Kulick made bottom two pair, and Robl found top pair. Rather than check to the preflop aggressor, Kulick opted to lead out with his two pair for a slight overbet sizing of $8,000.
For Gavri, this was a welcome sight, but he decided to play his hand slowly with just a call. Robl, on the other hand, didn't like the situation and wisely threw his top pair into the muck.
The 
turn kept the board clean for Gavri as he avoided any action-killing cards and, even better, Kulick continued to bet into him – this time firing $23,000. With only $88,000 remaining in his stack, Gavri had the option to pile it all in on the turn, but continued with his slowplay and just called. On the river 
, Gavri's flopped straight went up in flames as Kulick improved to a full house.
Kulick's river bet was for the rest of Gavri's stack and he wasted no time in making the call, only to hear the bad news as his opponent announced, "I have a full house."
"Jesus," Gavri replied as he tapped the table and reached for another reload.
Images courtesy of Antonio Abrego/PokerGO
