High Stakes Poker will always have a special place in the hearts of fans of televised poker. When it made its premiere in early 2006 on the Game Show Network, its incredible look inside the world of the largest no-limit hold’em cash games captivated its audience. Televised poker tournaments like the World Series of Poker and the World Poker Tour were still gaining in popularity, but the idea of the worlds top player’s doing battle in a six-figure buy-in cash game instantly drew a devoted following.
The fifth season of the show, which originally aired from March 1, 2009 to May 24, 2009, was taped at the Golden Nugget and featured a minimum cash buy-in of $200,000 and $400-$800 blinds with a $200 ante. As one might expect, the huge buy-in attracted what is perhaps one of the best lineups ever featured on a televised cash game.
The first six episodes featured footage from a session featuring then young guns Tom “Durrrr” Dwan, Ilari Sahamies, and reigning WSOP main event champion Peter Eastgate, as well as veteran pros David Benyamine, Eli Elezra, Daniel Negreanu, and living legends Doyle Brunson and Barry Greenstein. Even with this incredible lineup, the breakout star of the session was undoubtedly Tom Dwan. He got involved in a number of the biggest pots in the show’s history, butting heads in particular with Barry Greenstein, who was sitting directly on his right. Interestingly, in each of these key hands, one of the players involved held the best possible starting hand in no-limit hold’em, pocket aces.
Worst Hand, Biggest Heart
One of the first massive pots in a series that involved these two players is undoubtedly one of the most interesting poker hands ever played on television. Greenstein was the first player to act under the gun, holding A
A
. He raised to $2,500, or roughly three times the big blind, but received little respect, as he was soon called by the entire table, building a $21,400 pot heading to the flop eight-handed. This prompted Greenstein to ask, “who opened this pot and got seven callers?” The flop brought the 2 10
2
, which improved Peter Eastgate’s 4 2, that he had called with from the small blind, to trip deuces. Eastgate quietly checked, and then action checked over to Greenstein, who followed up his preflop raise with a $10,000 bet. Dwan had flopped top pair with his Q 10, and went into the tank for a short moment. With seven people behind him, Dwan elected to raise to $37,300. The action folded to Eastgate, who called the $37,300 cold, perhaps tipping off the strength of his hand. Greenstein called the $27,300 difference relatively quickly, and the three players went to the turn with the pot already at $133,500.
On the turn, the 7 rolled off of the deck, and Eastgate and Greenstein both checked to Dwan. After some thought, Dwan bet $104,200 with the weakest of the three hands remaining. Eastgate clearly looked uncomfortable when the action got back around to him, and perhaps afraid to make a mistake in such a huge pot, elected to fold. Greenstein also made a reluctant fold, giving Dwan the $237,700 pot. As impressive as it was for Dwan to win the pot on the turn, many might write off Dwan’s reraise and bet on the turn as simple unbridled aggression. But the talk at the table after the hand revealed that Dwan had a very clear picture of where he stood. As Dwan was stacking the chips, Eli Elezra indicated that he thought the Barry might have folded the best hand. Dwan quickly perked up and said, “Peter had the best hand. I’ll make a side-bet that Peter had the best hand.” Doyle Brunson took the bet, and eventually lost when Peter later, in another episode, revealed that he had folded trip deuces, confirming Dwan’s read of Eastgate and drawing a smile and a cry of “ship it” from the young pro.
Greenstein Gets Some Revenge
By the next time he and Dwan butted heads, Greenstein had recouped some of his losses from the previous hand. He had won a sizable pot against Daniel Negreanu with a flopped straight over Negreanu’s aces-up. Dwan had at this point developed a loose, aggressive image. He had been involved in more hands than anyone else at the table, and had already shown that he was willing to attack weakness. In the next key hand, Peter Eastgate kicked off the action by raising to $3,300 with the Q 8. Greenstein reraised to $12,000 with the J 9 from the button. In the small blind, Dwan looked down at the A A and four-bet to $31,300. Eastgate folded and Greenstein called, bringing the pot to $68,500. Dwan asked Greenstein how much he started the hand with, as the flop brought the J 10 3, giving Greenstein top pair, but keeping Dwan out in front with his overpair. First to act, Dwan bet $46,200. Greenstein had a look of frustration and confusion on his face, and eventually announced a raise to $146,200. Dwan declared “all-in,” and Greenstein quickly called for a total of $240,100. With the pot now at $548,700 and no more action, the players turned up their hands. Often on the show, players involved in pots of this size would agree to run the turn and river multiple times, splitting the pot into smaller pots awarded to the winner of each run-out. Greenstein had always made it clear that it is his preference to run it once, and as a result, this became the largest pot on the show without multiple boards or other deals. Greenstein was well behind, but caught up immediately when the 9 hit the turn. “You said three times, right?” joked Dwan, despite going from a huge favorite to a massive underdog to win the more than $500,000 pot. The 5 fell on the river, Greenstein scooped the pot, and Dwan graciously said, “good hand,” despite getting the money all-in as a 3-to-1 favorite and losing.
$900k Pot, Straight Up
Dwan continued to antagonize and confuse the table, winning a few sizable pots including a $190,700 monster in which he bluffed Peter Eastgate off of pocket jacks with his pocket fours on a A Q 8 flop in a four-bet pot. Greenstein himself had continued his winning ways, making his own bluff to take a $200,000 pot from Eli Elezra’s pair of aces with a six-high flush draw. Both players took healthy stacks into their next huge confrontation as the session approached its end.
The blinds in this cash game had increased to $500-$1,000 with the ante still at $200. Peter Eastgate raised to $3,500 with A K, and from the button, Barry Greenstein raised to $15,000 with A A. From the small blind, Dwan made the call with the K Q and Eastgate called to close the action. The flop came Q 4 2, giving Dwan a pair of queens and the king-high flush draw. Dwan opted to lead out, as the first to act, with a $28,700 bet. Eastgate folded his ace-high over to Greenstein, who elected to raise to $100,000 with his pocket aces. Dwan reraised to $244,600 and Greenstein took only a short moment of thought before moving all-in for Dwan’s entire stack of $436,100. Dwan instantly called, and as it stood, the odds were virtually even. Greenstein, having previously refused to run it multiple times, stuck to his guns and agreed to run it once, but did offer to make a deal to take back some of the money. Dwan declined, and with that it was decided that they would run the hand straight up. The turn was the Q, giving Dwan trip queens and a stranglehold on the pot. With Dwan’s trips and flush draw, only the A could save Greenstein on the river. Instead, the 7 fell and with that Dwan won $919,600, the biggest pot yet played on television without deals or multiple runs.
How Do The Hands Look Now
While two of these three huge hands could conceivably be chalked up as coolers, they still illustrate an important point: Tom Dwan is involved in a lot of pots, and his loose aggressive image allows him to build big pots in profitable positions. Dwan came away from this season of High Stakes Poker as a huge winner, and instantly cemented himself as a fan favorite with poker aficionados around the country with his out-of-the box lines. In the first hand discussed in this article, many pros would be able to read the situation and correctly decide that Greenstein was strong, but Eastgate was even stronger. Yet, few would ever be able to see it as an opportunity, as Dwan did. Fewer still would be able to ferret out the other dynamics in play, and almost nobody else would have the confidence to follow through with the play. In this one cash session, Dwan rose from Internet notoriety to global poker stardom on the back of his own unique game, leaving televised cash game poker fans wanting more. ♠