Tom Dwan Gets Busy on High Stakes Poker, JRB Shares Some Tales of the Past

The new episode of High Stakes Poker brought a lot of action on the felt, but it was also a real treat for those who enjoy listening to stories about poker back in the day.

Tom Dwan was the man driving the action for the session, while JRB kept everyone animated with his tales and anecdotes, demonstrating why he’s such a popular character who gets invited to all of these big games.

Patrik Antonius got involved in a few hands as well, while we’ve seen the other side of Doyle towards the end of the session, as Big Papa seemingly got bored waiting for the premiums and started to mix things up a little bit.

The stellar lineup was rounded up by Daniel Negreanu and Phil Ivey, but Ivey’s presence was hardly felt as he didn’t get involved in any major hands.

Jonathan Gibbs was the only “representative” of recreational players, and he stayed out of the sharks’ way, for the most part, playing a few smaller pots along the way.

Dwan Back to His Old Tricks

The first hand of note on the latest episode of HSP saw Doyle Brunson and Tom Dwan battling it out. Doyle started the hand with a raise to $1,400, holding A♦10♦.

Dwan called in the cutoff with Jc 2c, Patrik made the call on the button with 7♦4♦, and Negreanu got in there with his pocket sixes. The four saw the flop of 10♥4♠2♠, giving Doyle the best hand.

Player images courtesy of PokerGO

With so many players in the hand and somewhat of a wet board, Brunson fired a continuation bet for $3,200, and Dwan, who was the next to act, decided to peel one off with his lonely pair of ducks.

Patrik and Daniel both folded, and the dealer revealed 7♠, bringing in the possible flush.

This time around, Brunson checked, and Tom took over the initiative, betting $8,000. Doyle called, and the two saw Jd peel on the river, improving Dwan to two pair.

Looking to extract some value for what was now likely the best hand, ‘durrrr’ wagered $16,000, and Brunson put the calling chips in the middle after a short pause, only to be shown the bad news.

Dwan raked in the $60K pot, and JRB didn’t miss the opportunity to throw in the needle and comment on his preflop hand selection.

Negreanu Springs the Trap

Dwan was definitely the catalyst for action during the last session, but not all hands went his way. Shortly after his confrontation with Brunson, he decided to limp with A♣J♠, looking to trap his opponents.

His plan would quickly fall through, as Antonius made it $2,000 to go, and then Negreanu woke up with pocket Kings. Reading the situation correctly, Kid Poker just flat-called.

When the action got back to Tom, he continued with his original idea, making it $14,000. This got rid of Antonius, but Daniel took the opportunity to raise the price of poker and made it $32,000.

This was the last opportunity for Dwan to abort the operation, but he decided to call, and when the flop came jack-high, there was no turning back.

Negreanu made the continuation bet of $20,000, and Tom, with top-top, decided to move all-in for $100K, hoping Daniel could have hands like AK or AK that missed the flop.

With pocket Kings, it wasn’t much of a decision for Kid Poker, though, and all the money went in, creating a $272K pot.

Despite running it twice, Dwan couldn’t improve on either run, so his entire stack evaporated, forcing him to rebuy for another $100,000.

Patrik Antonius Gets Stubborn

After Daniel’s stint with pocket Kings, it was time for pocket Aces to make the first appearance of the season, and JRB was the beneficiary.

He decided to play the hand tricky, limping in, which prompted a raise from Patrik Antonius on the button, who found a pretty-looking hand in Q♠J♠.

The Finn made it $3,000 to go, and JRB made a comment about there always being “that one guy,” hinting at Patrik’s raise spoiling the “fun” for everyone.

Of course, when the action got back to him, Belland made it $15,000, and despite this play screaming strength, Antonius decided to see the flop in position.

The flop came K♠6♥4♦, and JRB fired a continuation bet of $13,000. Not ready to give up just yet, the Finn decided to float one card in position.

The turn came a board-pairing 6♦, and when JRB fired again, this time for $25,500, there wasn’t much to do for Patrik but muck his hand.

JRB was nice enough to show his pocket rocket and let the Finn know he made a good laydown, although, with queen-high, Antonius probably suspected as much.

All in all, it was another great episode of High Stakes Poker with plenty of great action, fun stories, and good entertainment.

Except for Phil Ivey, it seems, as he got up from the table midway through the session and disappeared into the depths of the PokerGO studio, perhaps in search of a high-stakes baccarat table.

Article by

Ivan Potocki

Ivan played poker professionally for over five years but finally decided to merge his passion for writing with poker and became one of the leading writers in this industry. You can connect with Ivan via his LinkedIn profile and follow him on Twitter.