Poker Night in America – Season 2 Episode 10 Recap – Jesse Sylvia is cool (and winning)

Few players have had such a successful episode on Poker Night in America as Jesse Sylvia had on episode 10. And it all started innocently enough with Jesse Sylvia denying that he wasn’t as cool as his family. (His father is an engineer who travels the world monitoring the earth’s tectonic plates, while his mother and sister are busy be fashion designers).

Sylvia’s first win of the episode was a measly $5k (measly only compared to what is to come) and he started the action by raising to $350 with A ♦ 5 ♦ and Shaun Deeb calls with A ♠ Q ♣ . The flop is a monster for Sylvia 10 ♠ A ♣ 5 ♦ , and Sylvia bets $300 which Deeb quickly calls. The turn is a K ♣ , and Sylvia takes a while to decide what he should bet, finally putting $775 on the table, which Deeb calls. The river is a 6 ♣ and Sylvia again takes a while to determine what he wants to bet, finally going big with $2,025. Deeb thinks for a minute, before laying down a tough hand. After Deeb tries to pry out of Sylvia what he had, and Jesse replies, “If you folded, I had the better hand.”

A couple hands later, Sylvia and Deeb go head-to-head again. Deeb is the first to act, raising with Q ♣ J ♥ to $300. Sylvia raises to $1,025 with J ♦ 8 ♦ and Deeb calls. The flop is 8 ♠ J ♣ 3 ♥ , which host Chris Hanson says is a great flop because both players think they have the best hand. Deeb checks and Sylvia bets $1,225 and Deeb raises to $2,825. Sylvia is confident in his hand and bets $4,725. Deeb shoves and Sylvia calls, bringing the pot to an even $28,000. The turn is a K ♣ , which doesn’t help Deeb, and neither does the 9 ♠ on the river, which nets Sylvia the gigantic pot.

Poker Night at the Movies

In terms of movie stars, no many are cooler than the one and only Steve McQueen. In the 1965, McQueen plays an up-and-coming gambler in the classic film, The Cincinnati Kid and the Poker Night at the Movies crew tackles the poker playing in the film.

Unlike last week’s Casino Royale review, the table only had good things to say about the film and how poker is portrayed in the film. Jennifer Tilly loved the film, and the authenticity of Karl Malden’s shuffling, praising him for putting in the time to learn how to shuffle.

• Jennifer Tilly gives it Q ♦ Q ♣ A ♦ A ♠ A ♥
• Richard Roeper gives the film 10 ♣ 10 ♦ 10 ♥ 10 ♠
• Phil Laak gives it a pair of jacks

High praise for one of the great gambling films of all time.