Tom Dwan Continues to Roll on High Stakes PokerNew Players, Same Result -- Net Profit for Durrrr |
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As the saying goes — sometimes it’s better to be lucky than good.
Few have ever legitimately questioned whether or not Tom Dwan is good — as the young superstar from New Jersey has torpedoed his way up to the highest no-limit hold’em games both online and live — but even Dwan knows that it doesn’t hurt to have a little luck on your side, either.
On the most-recent episode of High Stakes Poker, Dwan hit his fair share of river cards, but using his image and creative bet sizes, he was able to get paid off each time.
In the sixth episode of the season, there was a mostly new cast of characters willing to try to mix it up and perhaps showcase their talents on poker’s biggest cash-game stage. Dwan, Phil Ivey, and Daniel Negreanu decided to stick around, taking on High Stakes Poker newcomers Dennis Phillips, Andrew Robl, and Lex Veldhuis, along with a couple veterans of the show, Patrik Antonius and Barry Greenstein.
Dwan controlled the action from the very beginning. The first hand shown on the episode featured him simply stealing the blinds and antes with a preflop raise with K-4, but it didn’t take long for a few players to see a flop against him. But almost each time, he started out with the worst hand and improved to the best.
Phillips tried to prove that he could play creative poker against the best, showing a modest 3-2 in his hand for bottom pair when he raised preflop and then made a continuation-bet against Dwan, who laid down his 8-8 pocket pair when a board of A-J-3 came up. But Phillips had a tough time overall in his first episode, eventually paying off Dwan on two separate occasions after durrrr received a fortunate river both times.
Along with Phillips, Veldhuis also had a rough welcoming to the table. The PokerStars pro from Holland was trying to use his aggression to run over the table, but three queens would doom him twice, as Robl and Antonius were both able to collect a good chunk of Veldhuis’ stack.
In his first significant hand, Veldhuis made a preflop raise to $3,500 with K
2 after Antonius inadvertently tried to throw his hand away before realizing he was in the big blind. Phillips called with A-K, as did Ivey with 6-5, tempting Antonius to join the ride with his adventurous Q 6
.
After a Q
Q
10 flop, Veldhuis bet $12,800 into a $16,000 pot in an attempt to take it down. Antonius just called, prompting Veldhuis to fire $31,300 after a J turn gave him a straight draw. Antonius just called again with his trips and checked when an insignificant 5 rounded out the board on the river. Veldhuis decided to cut his losses and checked behind, sending the $104,200 pot over to the Finnish superstar.
Veldhuis didn’t let that hiccup from trying to bluff again later in the episode, though. After Negreanu raised to $3,000 with 4 3, Veldhius three-bet to $11,000 with 8 6. Robl, who had played fairly close to the vest for his first episode, just called from the big blind with Q Q. Negreanu called, as well, sending three players to the flop.
The flop of Q 7 3 put Robl firmly in the lead, but Veldhius made a continuation-bet $23,800 with his 8 high. Robl just called, while Negreanu threw his cards into the muck. The action went check-check on the turn after a J came, but an A on the river gave Veldhius an opportunity to bluff once more.
Robl gave him that opportunity, checking over his set to Veldhius. Sure enough, Veldhius fired $54,000 into an $82,000 pot. Robl called and raked in the $190,000 pot.
One hand that was featured in previews of this episode was a hand between Antonius and Ivey, wherein both players were dealt monsters before the flop. After Greenstein opened with a raise early in the session, Ivey three-bet his pocket kings, only to see Antonius four-bet him to $36,400 with his pocket aces. With both players sporting half-million-dollar stacks, Ivey decided to go the conservative route and just called with his kings.
But the hand slowed down quite a bit after a flop Q J 10. Both players checked, and neither was eager to bet when a Q came on the turn, either. The action went check-check again, and Ivey was the recipient of a fortunate river card, as a 9 gave him a straight. Antonius checked for a third time, but he couldn’t help but pay Ivey off after he bet out $45,000 on the river. The $168,200 pot was sent over to Ivey, but it was pretty small, considering what could have been.
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