Game Show Newsnet - High Stakes Poker: Season 5

If it’s that lame ripoff of Alabama 3’s “Woke Up This Morning,” that guy from E!, Mr. Kotter and a table full of poker’s best players, it must be High Stakes Poker. Last week, Internet poker sensation Tom “Durrr” Dwan made lots of waves, as did current World Series of Poker champion Peter Eastgate. Can the young guns continue to dominate? Let’s find out…

Thirteenth Hand (hand numbers are continued from last week’s show, since this is the same game):
At the start of the hand, Eli Elezra places a “sleeper” straddle of $1600. It’s a sleeper because Eli is behind the button, and when the action reaches him, he gets to decide whether it plays or not. Tom Dwan is under the gun, and he folds. David Benyamine folds to Eli, but we don’t see his cards yet. Ilari Sahamies folds, but Daniel Negreanu raises to $5,600 with 9h 6h. Peter Eastgate folds. Doyle Brunson, on the other hand, has a pair of Kings, Kd Kc. Surprisingly, he just calls. Barry Greenstein folds, which brings us back to Elezra, who finally checks his cards and finds As 6d; he calls.

Flop – Jd 5h 5d

Brunson has two pair, Kings up. Negreanu has a backdoor flush draw. Doyle and Eli both check. Daniel chews on things for a moment, and fires a bet of $8,500. Brunson just calls. Elezra tries to make a move with a raise to $25,000. Daniel folds, and Doyle calls.

Turn – 4c

Eli tries to drive Doyle out of the pot with a bet of $55,000…but Doyle calls him.

River – 2h

[Commodores]Brick...house.[\C] Doyle has the best hand, but he checks. Eli contemplates, as Gabe puts it, “firing that third bullet.” But he doesn’t, and Doyle takes down a pot of $187,700. Quite the flying start for the Godfather of Poker.

Fourteenth hand:
Benyamine is under the gun and folds. Elezra calls the blinds with Qd 9h. Sahamies and Negreanu fold. Eastgate calls with 7s 4s. Brunson catches another big pair, but this time it’s Js Jd, and he raises to $7,000. Greenstein and Dwan fold. Eli calls the raise, showing signs of steaming. Eastgate, on the other hand, folds.

And yet…

Flop – Qh 6c 10d

Elezra flops top pair. Both men have a backdoor straight draw. Eli and Doyle both check.

Turn – Ad

And now Doyle has a gutshot straight draw. Eli still has the best hand though, and again both men check.

River – 10h

Elezra has the best hand. He makes a value bet of $6,600, which Doyle calls, giving Eli a bit of his money back.

Fifteenth hand:
Sahamies, encourages by Eli, places a straddle of $1,600 for this hand. That puts Negreanu is under the gun, and he folds. Eastgate calls the straddle with Jd 10d. Doyle and Barry both fold. Dwan also folds. A.J. and Gabe can’t believe that Durrr has folded three hands in a row pre-flop. Benyamine (with his “Gerard Depardieu hair”) calls the straddle with Ah 8d. Eli calls also with Qd 2h. Unfortunately, Ziigmund, who’s been basically quiet the whole game, manages to get a decent hand, 9s 9d, now that he’s put on a straddle, and he raises to $12,600. Peter calls the raise, and David and Eli get out of the way.

Flop – Jc 6c As

Eastgate, the youngest WSOP main event champion in history, has the best hand right now with middle pair, two Jacks. Sahamies bets $20,000, a continuation bet. Eastgate calls.

Turn – 4h

A brick. Ziigmund checks, and Peter gazes intently at the situation a moment before he fires another bet of $39,000. Gabe likes Peter’s assessment of the situation. Ilari calls the bet.

River – Js

Eastgate now has trip Jacks, the best hand, and a firing solution targeting Sahamies’s stack. Ziggy checks. Peter “does a good acting job” (as Gabe comments) and makes a bet of $85,000. Sahamies thinks a minute (Gabe mocking him all the way that he looks like Yul Brenner, even doing an impression of Ziigmund thinking the situation as Brenner) and finally pays Eastgate off. Peter scores a massive $318,000 pot. Ouch.

Sixteenth hand:
Again the straddle is on, this time it’s Eastgate placing the optional third blind. That puts Doyle under the gun, and he folds, as does Greenstein. Dwan gets back to business finally and raises to $5,600 with 9d 7d. Benyamine folds, but Elezra picks up a middle pair, 6d 6c, prompting him to call. Sahamies, steaming after the last hand, calls with 8d 5d. I guess none of these guys is getting a straight flush on this hand. Daniel looks down at Ah Qh and he raises to $27,600. Eastgate in the straddle still folds. Dwan calls. Eli decides to make things interesting and pushes in his stack, raising to $99,700. Ziigmund quickly folds. That brings the action back to Negreanu and he calls. Dwan quickly folds. Negreanu asks Eli “Once or twice, sir?” Elezra responds: “Two boards.” Dwan complains that he was in “such good shape.” Gabe: “No, you weren’t…he was in a little cabin in Durrrland.” Each of the two full boards we’re gonna see will be contested for half the pot, which is now at $235,800.

First flop – Js 3h As (Daniel has top pair, Aces)
First turn – 3c (Daniel now has two pair, Aces up. Not good for Eli.)
First river – 6h (I was saying? Eli rivers a small boat…hey, it floats. Right, Eli?)

Second flop – 7c 10d Ac (Again, Daniel has top pair. Daniel says if a six comes, he’s gonna quit.)
Second turn – Kc (Daniel still in the lead this time. Eli has a flush draw now. In the words of Samuel L. Jackson…hang on to your butts…)
Second river – 5h

A brick. Eli and Daniel chop the pot. Both men breathe a little easier.

Gabe: “Let’s hear Dwan say he still would’ve won the hand…both hands.”

Seventeenth hand:
Coming back from the commercial break after the last hand, Eli is absent from the table, taking a little break for this hand. Negreanu is under the gun this time, and gets his small ball on with a raise to $2,500 with 4c 2c. Eastgate folds, as do Brunson and Greenstein. Durrr calls the raise with a middle pair of his own, 8s 8c. Benyamine folds, as does Ziigmund.

Flop – 9c 9s Qc

Dwan has two pair, but Negreanu has a flush draw. Hmm…

Gabe: “And you know what two clubs mean?” A.J.: “No.” Gabe: “It means he’s got a flush draw.” A.J.: “Oh. I thought two clubs had some secret meaning. You scared me.”

Daniel checks. Dwan attacks with a bet of $4,200, but Daniel calls.

Turn – 9d

So much for Daniel’s flush draw. Dwan now has a full boat, but a Queen on the river will chop the pot. Negreanu checks. Dwan checks behind him.

River – Ks

Dwan has the best hand, but he’s not sure. A big bet from Daniel might scare him off. But both men check, giving Tom a relatively small pot, $16,000.

Eighteenth hand:
Brunson’s under the gun here, and he folds. Greenstein follows suit, but Durrr has Kh Qh, and he raises to $3,000. Benyamine folds, but Ziigmund, still tilted a little bit, raises to $13,000 with As 3d. Daniel and Peter both fold. Dwan calls.

Flop – 10d Jc Ac

Just as A.J. comments that Ziggy has the best hand, Tom flops the nut straight while Sahamies has top pair. Horrors. Dwan checks, hoping to trap Sahamies. But Ilari smells trouble and checks behind him.

Turn – 7c

No help for Ilari…he’s drawing dead, now. Dwan checks, again ready to drop the sandbag on Ziigmund. Sahamies checks again.

River – 5s

Dwan still thinks he can trap Sahamies into betting and checks again. At last Ilari obligies him and bets $16,000. Dwan raises to $60,300, hoping he can convince Ziigmund that he’s bluffing. Sahamies chews on the situation for a minute or two (Gabe thinking aloud for him for the benefit of the viewers) and finally pays off Dwan’s bet. Another big pot, $149,200 for Durrr; this was some very cagey play from the terror of the Internet poker scene. Gabe is thoroughly impressed, and why not?

Nineteenth hand:
While Gabe tells A.J. about how Doyle played basketball in college and was even drafted by the Lakers (imagine what would have happened if he hadn’t been injured!), Dwan is under the gun this time and he raises to $3,000 with Kd 9s. Benyamine calls with Jd 10c. Elezra has returned from his break, and calls with Ks 3s. Negreanu has the third middle pair of this game, 7h 7d, and he calls. Eastgate, however, raises to $18,000 with…10d 3d?!?! WTF? That drives out Brunson and Greenstein however, only to bring us back to Tom who…folds. Hmm…it seems, as Gabe notices, that Peter smells weakness and is trying to jack the pot right away. Benyamine folds as well, as does Eli. But Daniel has his middle pair and calls.

Flop – 5s 4d 7c

Oh dear. Daniel has a slot machine winner – a set of 7’s. This could get ugly. Negreanu checks, trying to set up a trap of his own. Peter does have some outs though: an inside straight draw and a backdoor flush draw, as Gabe points out, and fires a $20,000 continuation bet. But Daniel raises to $55,000, and that drives Peter out of the hand.

Again Dwan boasts that he could’ve won that pot. Gabe: “Dwan could win every pot.” My Klauss-Gibson detector quickly goes berserk.

Twentieth hand:
Sahamies is first to act this time, and he folds. The rest of the table folds around to Dwan who raises to $3,000 with Qh 10c. Benyamine calls with 6h 3h. Elezra calls with Kc 4d. Here we go with the “Crazy Eli” act again.

Flop – 7d Qc 10h

Dwan has top two pair, Queens up. The trick will be getting David and Eli to bet for him; an immediate bet would drive them out. Benyamine and Elezra both check. Tom bets $7,300 and…yep, David and Eli both fold.

Between hands, David mentions to Tom that he once held his bladder for twenty hours straight during a poker game. Gabe: “Poker is a game that requires a lot of dedication…and a bladder transplant every few years.”

Twenty-first hand:
Negreanu is first to act, and he raises to $2,500 with Qh 10s. The table folds around to Dwan…again…who raises to $9,200 with Js 7s. That sends Benyamine scurrying for cover, but Elezra has Ah Jd and calls.

Gabe: “A raise from Tom Dwan is like an invitation to a party…and Eli says, ‘I’ll attend, boys.’”

Sahamies gets out of the way, bringing the action back to Daniel, who folds.

Flop – Qd 3d 7h

Dwan catches middle pair. But Eli has a backdoor flush draw. Eli checks. Tom checks behind him.

Turn – 2c

A brick. Elezra checks again. Dwan fires a bet of $13,200…and Elezra goes “Crazy Eli” again and calls. Hmm…

River – 8c

Another brick. Dwan’s 7’s are good. Eli checks. Tom chews on the situation for a moment and checks as well. He takes down $49,700.

Twenty-second hand:
Greenstein is under the gun this time, and he picks up…twin .45 automatics…Ac Ah, that is. He raises to $2,500. Dwan calls with Qc 10c, Benyamine calls with 3d 3c, Elezra calls with Jd 9s, Sahamies calls with 7h 6s, Negreanu calls (holy smokes!) with Kd 4d, Eastgate calls (WTF?) with 4h 2d, and even BRUNSON CALLS (gadzooks, even!) with As 9c. Everybody and their dog is in this pot.

Flop – 2c 10d 2s

Peter’s got the best hand with Huey, Dewey and Louie – trip 2’s. But Dwan has two 10’s, and, Barry’s still got his Aces. Eastgate and Brunson check. Greenstein attacks with a $10,000 continuation bet. Dwan raises to $37,300. The table folds around to Peter, who calls. Doyle folds, and Barry calls as well.

Turn – 7d

Peter and Barry both check. But Tom senses weakness and makes an insane play…he makes a huge overbet of $104,200.

Gabe: “He’s got the weakest hand, but the biggest heart.”

Peter chews on the situation and throws away the best hand. Barry, even with the Aces, does not want to risk his whole stack, which he would have to do in order to call Dwan and throws the Aces away. A.J. sums it all up with one word: “Wow.” Gabe is dazzled by this monster bluff, comparing it to something the late, great Stu “The Kid” Ungar might have done.

The night’s action ends here, and it’s no surprise that Dwan’s big bluff in the last hand is chosen as this week’s SpadeClub High Pressure Moment.

A certain fictional drill sergeant once said of one of his recruits that “he’s silly and he’s ignorant, but he’s got guts…and guts is enough.” The same can be said of Tom Dwan, friends. With nerves of steel and good card (and people) sense, Durrr is quickly looking every bit the terror that his reputation suggests he might be. Can he continue his winning ways? Or will the veterans knock him down a peg? Find out next week on High Stakes Poker, Season Five. For GameShowNewsNet, I’m the “Game Show Man” Joe Van Ginkel reminding you that Reality Bites…WATCH MORE GAME SHOWS!!!

To see this episode in its entirety, visit GSN's official YouTube site at www.youtube.com/GSNvideos.