High-Stakes Poker Night at Bellagio: Phil Ivey, Gus Hansen, and More

On August 3, 2016, the Bellagio in Las Vegas hosted a high-stakes poker game featuring some of the biggest names in the industry. The game included a rotation of 11 different poker variants, each played for eight hands. Among the players were Phil Ivey, Doyle Brunson, Gus Hansen, Patrik Antonius, and Jennifer Harman.

The blinds in limit games were set at $1,000 and $1,500, while in big-bet games they were $500 and $800, with additional forced bets. A cap of $30,000 was introduced in big-bet games to limit the maximum loss per hand. The author played a notable hand of Stud Poker where Phil Ivey and Gus Hansen were involved. The author folded his hand prematurely, believing Phil Ivey had a stronger hand.

The author also recalled a previous high-stakes game in San Diego where players used $1 chips to simulate $4,000/$8,000 blinds. In that game, the author, Phil Ivey, and Gus Hansen remained after 12 hours, playing with a $100,000 cap in big-bet games. The author lost $1.3 million in that game, which Phil Ivey referred to as 'big bob'.