top corner

Olivier Busquet Wins King of the Hill 2 Challenge

Less than 2 months ago, Phil Hellmuth won the inaugural Poker Night in America King of the Hill challenge. He pulled off a stunning comeback victory over Dan Cates to take the title and the $200,000 winner takes all prize.

Hellmuth returned to the Rivers Casino in Pittsburgh, PA on Friday to defend his title in King of the Hill II. This time around, Shaun Deeb, Olivier Busquet and Parker Talbot faced off to battle for $200,000 and a Championship Belt.

Busquet Defeats Deeb in Round 1

The tournament is a single elimination event with each round a Best-of-3 series. The first match on Friday was between Deeb and Busquet. Busquet was being smacked in the face by the deck and crippled Deeb quickly in a hand where he turned quad Kings and Deeb rivered a full house. He then finished Deeb off after his 10c-4c flopped two pair.

Deeb didn’t fair much better in the second round, catching just enough to hang himself on a regular basis. Busquet took the first match 2-0 and advanced to the finals.

Hellmuth Falls to Talbot

The second match was between Phil Hellmuth and Parker Talbot. Talbot made his name online playing as “TonkaaaaP” and was out to prove himself against the 14-time WSOP bracelet winner.

The first match went to Hellmuth. Hellmuth was all-in pre-flop with Ah-Kh against Jh-Jd for Talbot. The flop Kh-10h-9h gave Hellmuth top pair but the turn 8c gave Talbot a straight draw. The river fell the 4h, giving both a flush but Hellmuth held the nut flush and a 1-0 lead.

Talbot took the second matchup, but had to work for it. The match went back and forth several times before Talbot took a sizeable chip lead. In the final hand, Hellmuth shoved with J9 and Talbot had him dominated with K9. A jack failed to hit the board and the match was all square going into the third round.

The final match was also a bit back and forth but it was a cooler that ultimately ended it. Hellmuth held 5d-4d against the Kd-8d of Talbot. The flush filled on the turn and Hellmuth shoved on the river and was eliminated by the better flush.

This set the final matchup on Saturday between Olivier Busquet and Parker Talbot.

Busquet Win King of the Hill II

Busquet came into the finals on fire after sweeping Shaun Deeb in Round 1. That momentum continued in the first matchup. He called a pre-flop three-bet from Talbot holding 10s-9s and the flop fell 10c-10d-2c. Unfortunately, Talbot decided this was a good time to start bluffing his Qc-Jc and he continued bluffing when the turn fell the 8h and the river the 6s. Talbot shoved on the river with air and Busquet called with his trip tens to take the first match.

The second match was a bit more back and forth with Talbot holding the lead regularly until Busquet again binked trips, this time holding 6c-5c. Busquet took a 7-1 chip lead after the hand and it wasn’t long before the match was over.

Busquet moved all-in with Jh-9c and Talbot made the easy call with As-Kh. Unfortunately for Talbot, a 9 hit the flop and that would prove enough to give the match and the title to Busquet.

After the match, Busquet praised Talbot on his play but also admitted that he ran very well. Talbot praised Busquet, saying he made the right folds at the right times and he believed that more than his running well is what contributed to his winning the title.

Busquet won’t have long to celebrate his victory as King of the Hill 3 will take place on October 25 and 26 from the SugarHouse Casino in Philadelphia, PA. This time, it will be Busquet defending his title against Brandon Adams, Dan Colman, and 2017 WSOP Main Event Champion Scott Blumstein.

Photo Courtesy – Poker Night In America

bottom corner