*This story has been updated with results from a second session.
What started as a fairly exciting heads-up challenge on CoinPoker culminated in a five-hour, $500,000-plus sun run for Bobby ‘BJPCoin’ James.
As part of a promotion for CoinPoker’s ongoing High Stakes Cash Game World Championship, James took on ‘stanleymenzo’ in what started as a $40,000 buy-in heads-up match. Stakes started at $200-$400 with an $80 ante, with the action streamed on James’ YouTube channel.
A fairly standard heads-up battle ensued, until everything escalated in a hurry. About two hours into the match, with about $120,000 on the table, stanleymenzo made a wild 65 big blind preflop call-off with 7♠3♦ against James’ four-bet shove with A♠10♥. They ran it twice, and on the first runout, stanleymenzo spiked a 3♣.
“What the fuck?” exclaimed James. “No way dude. Dude, if I fucking lose both of these again, I’m going to quit.”
James and stanleymenzo each flopped a pair on the second runout, but James’ pair of aces held to give him half the pot.
“What the fuck is going on? Stan, you’ve lost the fucking plot.”
The Pot Thickens
On the next hand, stanleymenzo open shoved for 65 big blinds, and upon James’ fold, revealed 6♥4♥. Big raises and open shoves became the norm for the next dozen or so hands. After picking up some money with his hyper-aggression, stanleymenzo made another wild four-bet shove with 9♥5♥ and James called with Q♣J♣. They ran it twice, and once again split the pot.
James eventually stacked stanleymenzo when his pocket eights beat a preflop three-bet shove with K♣5♥. James stepped away briefly, and in the YouTube chat, stanleymenzo suggested the stakes be raised to the $100,000 buy-in level. But as he returned, slightly distracted by his dinner, action briefly resumed at the $40,000 buy-in level.
Upon reading stanleymenzo’s messages, James paused the action to prepare for the increase in stakes. Each player bought in for $100,000, with blinds of $500-$1,000 and a $200 ante. As the first hand was dealt, James set the stage.
“Here we go. This is, by far, the biggest stakes of my life.” He promptly lost $20,000 of his $100,000 stack on the first hand, with stanleymenzo turning trip deuces.
Within minutes, however, James took control. A rivered queen-high heart flush against a rivered two-pair, queens up, earned James a $150,000 pot. He took the rest when he limp-shoved K♦3♦, and stanleymenzo called off with 10♣3♣ for his last 21 big blinds.
“I think Stan’s done,” James said, before quickly realizing his mistake.
“He’s not done.”
Another One
Shortly into the second $100,000 match, on an A♣7♥5♦J♥ board, stanleymenzo shoved for 68 big blinds. James made a big call-off with K♥8♥, and he was freerolling against stanleymenzo’s K♠8♣. He failed to make a flush on either of the two river cards, after they ran it twice.
James lost his first big pot in another mirrored hand, when stanleymenzo flopped the nut diamond flush with A♦4♦ to beat James’ A♠4♠. James fought back, though, retaking the stack advantage. He then wiped stanleymenzo out for the third time when his pocket queens beat stanleymenzo’s A♠3♥.
Stanleymenzo came back for more, and quickly chipped his way up to a point where he and James traded the stack advantage, with around $200,000. But after a lengthy back and forth, James took all of stanleymenzo’s chips for the fourth time. He flopped a straight with K♣Q♠, and the money didn’t go in until the river of a J♣10♠9♥J♦K♥ runout. stanleymenzo’s river shove with J♥6♣ was for naught.
There was still one more shot in stanleymenzo’s clip, and he reloaded for one final $100,000 bullet. He built that up to $160,000, and then the heads up challenge ended in a remarkable finale.
Premiums Put James Over The Top
James got a walk with pocket aces, and before he could even get a full complaint out, he was dealt pocket kings on the very next hand. James opened to $2,500, stanleymenzo clicked it back to $5,000, and James flatted. The flop was A♦A♥8♥. Stanleymenzo checked, James bet $7,112, and stanleymenzo called. On the A♠ turn, stanleymenzo led out for $27,137.
“This is the most wild hand, ever,” James said. “I have to just call.” And he did.
The 8♦ river put a full house on the board. After a few moments, stanleymenzo shoved $104,376, just under a pot-sized bet in his stack. James called, stanleymenzo tabled pocket fours, and with $541,162.38 in his stack, James capped off his remarkable five-hour spin-up.
The chat on YouTube and CoinPoker congratulated James for his incredible session, with the railbirds including ‘gucciNIKE’, a high-stakes regular on CoinPoker who regularly plays six-figure pots. You can watch the whole stream in the video below:
Back For More
The following day, James and stanleymenzo went to war in another heads-up challenge. The action started back at $200-$400 stakes with an $80 ante, and within 10 minutes, James had nearly doubled his $40,000 starting stack. That changed in a hurry, though, as stanleymenzo, who had been topping off his stack, won a big pot with a turned Broadway straight.
The tide turned back in James’ favor after a short down stretch. On a board of 9♠3♥3♦8♣A♠, James shoved for $38,307, a little more than a pot-sized bet. The bet prompted a snap-call from stanleymenzo, who had flopped trips with 3♣6♣, but James’ turned full house with pocket eights earned him a $110,230 pot.
James coolered stanleymenzo twice, once with a runner-runner flush against two-pair, and once with a rivered straight over straight. He wiped out stanleymenzo, and ended that portion of the session with $146,930 in his stack.
Ending On An Exclamation Point
Action climbed back to $500-$1,000 with a $200 ante as the heads-up challenge continued. Once again, stanleymenzo jumped out to a lead, rivering a full house with pocket sevens, as his hyper-aggression to that point earned him a thin call from James’ bottom pair, ace kicker.
Both players reloaded until there was nearly $300,000 on the table. The hand that swung it all came together in a hurry. After stanleymenzo min-raised to $2,000 on the button, James three-bet to $12,500 with pocket jacks, and stanleymenzo called. On a 8♠6♣4♥ flop, James led out for just under a pot-sized bet, $20,000, and stanleymenzo shipped it in for $140,503.
“Wow,” James said. “I actually think I have to call.” He did, and stanleymenzo tabled A♣8♦. The first runout kept James ahead, with a 4♣ turn and 7♦ river. The second runout was clean as well, rolling out a 6♠ turn and K♦ river. James ended his session with a $317,504 stack, pushing his total winnings over two days to over $750,000.
