Posts Tagged ‘season 6’
High Stakes Poker Season 6 Ends
May 10th, 2010
Why do they even bother playing against Tom Dwan?
Last night’s final episode of High Stakes Poker Season 6 saw the players at the table agree to bump the stakes up a notch for the end of the game, moving up to $500/$1,000 with a $300 ante at the suggestion of Lex Veldhuis, who replaced Mike Matusow in the lineup for the last session of the season. Once the $2,000 straddle was introduced Tom Dwan tried to bump the action up further to $1,000/$2,000 with a $500 ante, but nobody took the bait and the stakes stayed where they were.
Veldhuis came out firing, raising the first two hands of the session only to be knocked out quickly in each one. But soon he grabbed pots from Eli Elezra and Doyle Brunson, including a giant bluffcatcher against Brunson with a pair of deuces. “It’s the biggest call I’ve ever made money-wise,” Veldhuis told Kara Scott later. “I can’t really not go with my gut.” Going with his gut let Veldhuis erase the $100,000 hole he’d dug for himself at the beginning of Season 6 and end the game in the black.
Elezra, meanwhile, was the man who turned Tom Dwan’s session around from loser to winner, giving him a win in all three sessions for the season. The loose-aggressive Elezra had been the big winner in the episode before raising with Q-Q and getting four callers, including Dwan, who hit the 9-7-3 flop hard with 9-7. Elezra led out, Dwan raised, Elezra re-raised, and Dwan moved all-in; Elezra called out the exact hand Dwan was holding before mucking his queens. Dwan then cleaned out Bertrand “ElkY” Grospellier on the next hand with a pocket pair of aces when ElkY couldn’t convince himself that Dwan actually had a hand for once.
Even without A.J. Benza involved and his replacement not really adding anything special, Season 6 of High Stakes Poker was a doozy. Daniel Negreanu got stacked three different times and even had an outburst or two, Phil Hellmuth lasted less than a single session before flaming out, and Tom Dwan and Phil Ivey demonstrated why they’re feared by everyone, cleaning out the table of most of its cash. Let’s hope that the next season of the show is already in the works.
European Poker Tour Season 7 Starts in Estonia
April 27th, 2010
The Estonian capital of Tallinn will open Season 7 of the EPT.
Even with the Season 6 EPT Grand Final in full swing in Monte Carlo, the European Poker Tour has its eye on the future. The richest poker tour on the planet has announced the full schedule for its upcoming Season 7 and there’s plenty for poker players to get excited about.
The EPT has made inroads into former Eastern Bloc countries like the Czech Republic, Poland and Hungary, but Season 7 will see the tour make only its second journey to a former republic of the Soviet Union. The new season will kick off in the Baltic republic of Estonia, which has been a minor poker hotbed for more than a decade. Last year the EPT made its first visit to former Soviet territory with a tournament in Kiev, capital of the Ukraine.
After the Estonian event, Season 7 players will be back in familiar territory with returning European Poker Tour stops in Portugal, the United Kingdom, Spain and eight other countries. Not making the cut for 2010-11 are Kiev and Warsaw, though those events may return in future seasons. The full rundown of the EPT Season 7 schedule is below.
August 11-16, 2010: Tallinn, Estonia
August 28-September 2, 2010: Vilamoura, Portugal
September 29-October 4, 2010: London, England
November 22-27, 2010: Barcelona, Spain
December 13-18, 2010: Prague, Czech Republic
January 7-16, 2011: PCA, Bahamas
January 25-31, 2011: Deauville, France
February 17-22, 2011: Copenhagen, Denmark
March 20-25, 2011: Snowfest, Austria
April 5-10, 2011: Berlin, Germany
To be confirmed: San Remo, Italy
To be confirmed: EPT Grand Final
European Poker Tour’s EPT Grand Final Set for This Weekend
April 23rd, 2010
The Sporting Club in Monaco will host this year’s EPT Grand Final.
With EPT San Remo now out of the way, there’s only one tournament left on the European Poker Tour’s Season 6 schedule: the EPT Grand Final in Monte Carlo.
With all the volcanic ash from the volcano in Iceland still hampering travel across Europe, there was some doubt as to whether the biggest poker live tournament in Europe would still go off as planned. But now there’s been an official confirmation that the tournament will begin as scheduled this Sunday – and more likely than not we’ll see a new record for the richest tournament in European poker history.
The €10,000 EPT Grand Final has been the site of some pretty big wins in the past. Pieter de Korver grabbed €2,300,000 (US $3,024,167) when he took down the 2009 running of the event, while Glen Chorny’s prize for topping the 2008 event was only slightly smaller at €2,020,000 (US $3,196,354). Gavin Griffin might have earned a little less for his victory there in 2007 (€1,825,010 or US $2,434,061) but the win earned him a place in poker history as the first player to collect the top prize at an EPT event, a WPT event, and a WSOP event – or the Triple Crown, as the poker media have dubbed the achievement.
Nobody who has freerolled into the event by winning European Poker Tour events during the season has ever won the EPT Grand Final, but EPT French Open champ Brandon Schaefer almost pulled the double in Season 1, finishing second in the big event to Rob Hollink. In later years Michael Martin would reverse Schaefer’s order of doing things, finishing fifth in the Grand Final before going on to win EPT London the following season.
This year’s EPT Grand Final will run from Sunday, April 26th, to Saturday, May 1st.
Daniel Negreanu Tilts on High Stakes Poker
April 12th, 2010
Daniel Negreanu folds a winner and can’t hold back his frustration.
Season 6 of High Stakes Poker has turned the corner and is getting
ready to hit its final stretch, as last night’s episode saw the third and final lineup of players take to the table with a minimum $200,000.
David Benyamine, Doyle Brunson, Mike Matusow, and Bertrand “ElkY” Grospellier were the Season 6 newcomers at the table, th
ough all of them but ElkY have appeared on the show in the past. Eli Elezra returned after playing in the first Season 6 lineup but sitting out its second session. And Phil Ivey, Tom Dwan and
Daniel Negreanu all came back for their third session of the season.
Of the Season 6 newcomers, two were involved in the biggest pot of the night, with Benyamine winning the $265,500 monster while Brunson came out on the losing end. But the biggest story of that hand was Negreanu making the wrong decision and laying down a winner when Benyamine made a sly play.
In that hand, Negreanu opened in early position for $3,000 with Ts-9s, Brunson called with Qh-Qc, and Benyamine called in the small blind with 7s-5s. The flop came 9c-8s-3s and after Benyamine checked, Negreanu led out for $8,500 into $11,400. Brunson elected to flat-call and Benyamine stuck around as well. With $36,900 in the pot, the Qs fell on the turn and all three players decided to trap, checking the action.
The Ah on the river didn’t change anything. When Benyamine checked, Negreanu decided to bet out for $26,200. Brunson called, but then Benyamine went into the tank before check-raising to $101,200. Negreanu appeared immediately confused and frustrated, rolling his eyes, blinking quickly, shaking his head and pinching the bridge of his nose as he reconstructed the action in his head. Eventually he decided he must be behind and folded, only to see Brunson call with his set of queens and Benyamine turn over the smaller flush.
When Benyamine turned over his cards, the normally controlled Negreanu stood up and slammed him fist on the rail. “Damn it! Unbelievable!” he said. He continued to shake his head, obviously stunned by his misstep. He lost another pot shortly afterward with J-J when he played slowly out of position against Elezra and let him river a three-outer with A-9. This loss saw him more controlled than the previous one, but he still shook his head in disbelief and flipped his cards into the muck in disgust, muttering, “The way I run on this show…this is just sick, this is so sick.”
Phil Ivey Runs a Huge Bluff on High Stakes Poker
April 5th, 2010
Word of advice: don’t make moves against this man on High Stakes Poker.
Much like high-stakes online poker has been for the last year, Season 6 of High Stakes Poker on GSN has been all about Tom Dwan and Phil Ivey. The two have dominated every episode that’s been aired so far, adding some big hands to their personal highlight reels. And in last night’s episode, Ivey added another televised, top-notch bluff to the list of reasons why everyone fears him at the poker table.
The hand began with Dutch online star Lex Veldhuis under the gun posting a $1,600 straddle. Barry Greenstein decided to get involved, raising to $5,500 in early position with Qc-Td. Then Ivey silently stepped in with a reraise to $18,000 holding nothing more than 5s-2d. The action folded back around to Veldhuis, who read the situation well and decided his Kh-Jh was good enough to put in a four-bet worth $51,600. At least, it would have been a good read of the situation against any other opponent. But things have a habit of going a little funny when Ivey is involved.
Ivey immediately asked Veldhuis how much he had behind. After a quick count Veldhuis said he about $140,000 left. For the next ten seconds Ivey considered the situation, and announcer Gabe Kaplan opined that the world’s greatest poker player was putting on a show just so Greenstein wouldn’t know that he’d raised with complete air. But once that ten seconds was up Ivey did the unexpected and announced himself all-in. That put Veldhuis on the line for his entire $197,200 stack if he decided to make the call.
Veldhuis did exactly what you would expect given the situation – he looked palpably sick and gave a long exhale as he tossed his cards in the muck. “All these super-good spots keep coming up,” Veldhuis remarked. But as Kaplan noted in his commentary, there are no super-good spots when you’re up against Phil Ivey – especially if the venue is High Stakes Poker.
Big Misreads from Negreanu, Robl on High Stakes Poker
March 29th, 2010
Daniel Negreanu’s timing is off against Tom Dwan at the 6:09 mark.
The news has been all over the internet since the end of last week: Season 6 of High Stakes Poker is enjoying the series’ highest ratings of all-time. That’s mostly thanks to the presence of players like Phil Ivey and Tom Dwan in this season’s lineup – and not just because they’re willing to make $1 million vegetarian side bets. Their presence has upped the overall level of play to new HSP heights.
Episode 7 started off pretty slowly and looked like it might be a return to this season’s early, dull episodes, when the side bet talk was far more interesting than the action on the table. But two spectacular misreads at the end of the hour, one by High Stakes Poker newcomer Andrew Robl and the other by veteran Daniel Negreanu, made sitting through the early hands worthwhile.
Robl’s misstep came in the next-to-last pot of the show. Lex Veldhuis had straddled for $1,600 under the gun and Phil Ivey opened for $7,000 in middle position holding Kd-Td. Robl made the call behind Ivey with As-Qh, but when the action reached Patrik Antonius in the small blind the bet went up to $30,400 on account of the Finn’s Ah-Ac. Veldhuis and Ivey quickly mucked, but Robl thought it over for a while, even staring Antonius down at one point. “That glance is pretty useless. It’s like staring at Mount Rushmore an expecting Abraham Lincoln to blink,” noted host Gabe Kaplan. Robl eventually decided to shove for a total of $144,300. Antonius instacalled and even running it twice couldn’t get Robl half of his money back. He showed more heart than some of the other casualties on this season, immediately pulling out his bag and putting another $200K on the table.
Negreanu’s misread came against none other than Tom Dwan when the latter was under the gun with a $1,600 straddle in front of him. Negreanu raised holding Jd-8s and when the action returned to Dwan he found As-Kd and reraised to $23,600. “What are you doing there, sir?” asked Negreanu – and then he made the call to see a flop of Ah-Ad-Jh. Dwan immediately fired out $28,200 into a pot of $49,800, and Negreanu called. Dwan bet once again when the Kc turn gave him a full house, but this time Negreanu opted for a raise to $128,600. Dwan elected to just call and try to induce a bluff on the river, but Negreanu saved himself some cash when the Ts came and the $383,400 pot went to Dwan.
Big Action in High Stakes Poker Season 6, Episode 5
March 15th, 2010
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.
Jason Mercier Debuts on High Stakes Poker Season 6 Episode 3
March 1st, 2010
Watch Daniel Negreanu get lucky to chop with Tom Dwan at 2:30
Episode 3 of Season 6 of GSN’s High Stakes Poker saw the debut of 2009 Bluff Magazine Player of the Year Jason Mercier. Known more for his tournament prowess than playing cash games, Mercier nevertheless held his own during the episode.
Mercier admitted to a slight case of nerves before sitting at the table. It was no surprise that the first person to put those nerves to the test was Tom Dwan. Mercier opened for $5,500 with pocket deuces on his very first hand at the table only to find himself reraised to $19,200 by Dwan, who held A-3 offsuit on the button. Mercier eventually decided to muck, saying, “It’s not fair they dealt me a good hand on my first hand when I just wanted to fold.” Despite this season’s ban on prop bets, the table then got to work laying odds and taking bets on which of the two young stars had the best hand.
Mercier’s first chance at a big pot came holding A-J offsuit against Dario Minieri’s own A-J of spades. But when the flop came down Q-J-T the action didn’t go past a Minieri stab on the turn ad the two chopped up the pot. Mercier also managed to flop a king-high flush after limping in preflop, but he was unable to get any more value than a small steal bet from Daniel Negreanu.
Eli Elezra won the biggest pot of the episode when he flopped top pair with K-8 of hearts against Gus Hansen, who made a preflop raise with 6-4 offsuit and executed a triple-barrel bluff that didn’t come close to knocking Elezra off his hand. Hansen admitted in an interview with Kara Scott that he made a mistake with his final $62,200 bluff because he stuck with a predetermined plan even though the ace of spades showed up on the river and changed the situation. While Hansen talked with Scott, the rest of the players at the table joked with each other about how awful it is to have to do interviews after busting from tournaments.
Tom Dwan had a chance to scoop a much bigger pot when he got Negreanu all-in with middle pair against Dwan’s overpair of queens. But the poker gods intervened after Negreanu asked to run it twice; Dwan agreed, and on the second run Negreanu caught another 9 on the river to chop up the pot. You can check out that hand in the video above.
Toward the end of the episode Elezra noted that he missed Sammy Farha in these games. It’s likely there are more than a few viewers who feel the same. The kind of action that players like Farha brought to the table in earlier season of High Stakes Poker is in short supply in Season 6, and it’s beginning to look like it won’t be coming back.
A.J. Benza Rejoins High Stakes Poker
February 24th, 2010
AJ Benza returns to HSP for nearly ten minutes thanks to the magic of computers.
Fans of GSN’s High Stakes Poker were disappointed last year when the network announced it was dropping A.J. Benza from the show for its sixth season. Reaction to the Benza-less episodes of Season 6 that have been aired so far has been mixed at best, with many people (including this writer) noting that Gabe Kaplan’s jokes are falling flatter than usual without a partner to bounce them off. Now, thanks to one enterprising poker fan from the Netherlands, people who didn’t think there was a big difference without Benza can actually get a feel for what’s missing.
A Youtube user named NLWebJoker has put together this video by using footage of Season 6 Episode 1 of High Stakes Poker as its base and a handful of A.J. Benza sound bites from previous seasons to give the impression that the former host is still in the booth with Kaplan. Even though it only uses a few canned laughs, “uh huhs,” and the occasional non sequitur comment in response to Kaplan’s remarks, viewers seem to agree that there’s something about having a second person’s “presence” that helps the show.
High Stakes Poker Season 6 can’t be salvaged since it’s already been filmed, but viewers are hoping the network will reconsider their move and rehire Benza for Season 7. In a poll of 585 users at the 2+2 forums nearly 90% said they wanted the former co-host to return for future seasons HSP. A current thread that runs more than 50 pages is filled with users saying they’ve either signed a petition to bring Benza back or contacted GSN directly. How much that will sway the network heads at GSN is doubtful, but doing nothing definitely won’t get him back so why not give it a shot?
High Stakes Poker Season 6 Episode 2 Is a Snoozer
February 22nd, 2010
Tom Dwan: not a fan of High Stakes Poker‘s latest episode.
After the Episode 1 of the new season of High Stakes Poker saw Phil Hellmuth find new and creative ways to dust off $200,000 in record time, Episode 2 featured little more than Norway’s Andreas Hoivold dropping the rest of his initial buy-in and declining to continue against a lineup of some of the world’s top poker pros.
The key hand for Hoivold, the 2007 EPT Dortmund champion, came when he flat-called a Tom Dwan junk raise in position with A-Q and Gus Hansen, priced in from the small blind, called with 6-3 to make it a five-way pot. Hansen flopped bottom two pair but checked, and everyone else checked behind. When the queen hit the turn and Hansen bet o
ut you could see Hoivold getting ready to go bust a mile away. To his credit, Hoivold handled his exit with class, shaking the hands of everyone at the table and telling them it was nice to play poker with them.
Aside from Hoivold’s exit and new addition Eli Elezra subtly steaming a bit after getting no action with a flopped set of aces, there was very little action of any consequence. The lovely Kara Scott’s purpose for being on the show still hasn’t been divined after two full hours of Season 6, unless it is to make Tom Dwan contort his face (see above) in response to silly questions. And Gabe Kaplan’s commentary, while occasionally humorous enough to draw a smile, continues to ring hollow in the absence of an announcing partner.
All of which makes you wonder what the producers were thinking when they canned A.J. Benza, who became an integral part of the show’s flow during its first five seasons. If the action doesn’t pick up in the next episode, High Stakes Poker might find itself beginning to lose its audience. Luckily 2009 Bluff Player of the Year Jason Mercier is due to take a seat at the table next time, so there may be hope for HSP yet.
Andreas Hoivold’s bustout hand starts at about the 2:20 mark in this clip:
