Tom Dwan is a sick, sick, sick individual.
After waiting four episodes for the action to live up to the high standards set by previous seasons, fans of High Stakes Poker are finally getting what they wanted with Season 6 Episode 5.
Daniel Negreanu was the first player to be felted in Episode 5. Down to just under $50,000 after limping with queens and having to let them go, he moved all-in over the top of a raise by Dario Minieri and a re-raise by Eli Elezra while holding K-Q of spades. Minieri quickly let go of his J-9 but Elezra tanked and tried to figure out if he was getting right price with his 8-7 of diamonds. He eventually decided (correctly) that he was and made the call, agreeing to run it twice. Elezra flopped the nut straight and left Negreanu with only runner-runner outs, none of which came. On the second run Negreanu flopped top pair but the turn filled Elezra’s gutshot draw and Kid Poker had to rebuy for another $200,000.
After doing so well in the last episode, Dario Minieri slipped up in Episode 5. First he tried to run a $65,000 play against Elezra that couldn’t shake him off his pocket jacks; then Minieri made his fatal mistake against Tom Dwan when both flopped a pair with a king kicker but Dwan had the advantage with K-T to Minieri’s K-3. After making a continuation bet and getting check-raised, the young Italian shoved all-in and Dwan instantly called. They agreed to run the turn and river cards four times, but none of those eight cards improved Minieri to a winner and he became the episode’s first casualty.
Negreanu got back the cash he dropped earlier when Gus Hansen slowplayed a pair of queens and let Negreanu flop top two pair. The two got four bets in the pot and before the community cards came out Hansen exclaimed, “I’m such an idiot!” Running it twice didn’t change the Great Dane’s fortunes and, down to just $17,500, he was forced to rebuy after his top pair top kicker went down to this season’s king of run-good, Mr. Elezra.
Phil Laak then joined the table, but it was Season 6 newcomer Jason Mercier who stirred up the action when he tangled with Phil Ivey. With a Hansen raise and two callers in front of him, Mercier tried to pull off a squeeze play from the small blind with a raise to $22,100 holding A-4 of hearts. Hansen and Antonio Esfandiari folded but Ivey stayed in with pocket nines and position. Mercier, who had played relatively tight since arriving at the table, continued his bluff with a bet of $28,700 on the 7-3-2 flop but was put to a tough decision when Ivey raised to $78,700; he eventually opted to move all-in for $185,100 and put the pressure back on Ivey. The world’s greatest player found a call and with no help from the board Mercier was voted off the island.
But the biggest pot of all was the last. Tom Dwan ran a sick bluff that will go down as one of the greatest moves in High Stakes Poker history to knock Phil Ivey off the best hand on the river. Rather than describing it for you, start off by watching the beginning of the hand at the 5:55 mark in this video and then finish up watching Dwan look like a deer in the headlights until Ivey folds at the end of the video above.
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Big Action in High Stakes Poker Season 6, Episode 5
