Poker After Dark: Aussie Matt Steals the Show

The return of fan-favorite Poker After Dark had the poker world buzzing with the return of Tom Dwan to Las Vegas high stakes poker this week. Three nights of unprecedented cash game action, exclusively on PokerGO, featured six-figure pots with Daniel Negreanu, Antonio Esfandiari and Andrew Robl all in action, but Matthew Kirk stole the show Wednesday night.

Tom Dwan, Jean-Robert Bellande, Bill Klein and Lauren Roberts played all three nights, while Doyle Brunson and Kirk each played a single night – with much different results. Robl finished Wednesday night with nearly $1.6 million in front of him while Kirk ended as the night’s second biggest winner. 

Wednesday night’s action saw some of the biggest action with the $100,000 minimum buy-in blown out of the water with over $3 million on the table. Kirk’s big-bet action even slowed down Dwan after he steamrolled the table for the first two nights.

“He’s known for bluffs and big pots,” Bellande said of Kirk. “It’s so painful for him to check back.” There seemed to be a six-figure pot twice an orbit.”

“After tonight I’m going to forget everything I thought I knew about poker,” said commentator Ali Nejad late in the action. “The last time I moved numbers like these around I was playing Monopoly.”

Bellande is famous for his “Broke Living” lifestyle, took a beating on Monday night, got “unbroke” on Tuesday night – even after a set under set loss to Dwan – and rallied for a strong finish on the week after Wednesday’s action.

The first week of Poker After Dark wrapped up after another six hours of action, with all three days available in full on PokerGO. The live action picks up with a brand-new lineup of six players on Tuesday, August 22 for another three consecutive days of live winner-take-all sit and go action.