Tom Dwan knows when to hold 'em.The poker pro made history Tuesday night, calling down multiple bets from self-proclaimed cryptocurrency millionaire Wesley Fei for a $3.1 million pot, the largest ever seen on TV or a live stream.
The game was no-limit Texas hold 'em cash with a $1 million minimum buy-in. It was streamed on Hustler Casino Live from Los Angeles and featured some of the biggest names in the game including Dwan, Doug Polk and Nikhil Arcot, aka "Nik Airball."
The hand had $500 and $1,000 blinds plus an escalating big-blind ante that was $3,000 at the time. Dwan also put in a voluntary $2,000 third blind called a straddle that's intended to up the stakes of an already nose-bleed stakes game.
This means that there was $6,500 in the pot before any of the eight players at the table saw their hands. Dwan had roughly $1.5 million in front of him before the hand started. Fei had $2.8 million.
These guys were here to play big pots.
Strange start sees Fei expose his hole cards
The hand got off to a weird start before betting even started. Polk told Fei, his neighbor at the table, that he saw his cards. Fei was on the button, meaning he was the last to act pre-flop before the blinds.
A player who goes by LSG Hank raised ahead of Fei to $7,000. Fei looked down at AK offsuit (ace of diamonds, king of spades), one of the strongest pre-flop holdings in poker. Despite Polk having seen his cards, he raised to $30,000. You don't fold AK here.
Polk folded his poor holding, and the action turned to Dwan in the straddle. The RFID card reader didn't identify his hand. But he put in another raise to $100,000. LSG Hank folded, and Fei was faced with a decision. Call, fold or raise. He chose raise to $275,000. Dwan called, and the pair saw a flop with $562,000 in the pot.
Again, this is a cash game, not a tournament. Those figures represent actual dollar amounts.
The flop came out 3-8-8 (3 of diamonds, 8 of spades, 8 of diamonds). Fei's hand did not improve. He held just ace-high, but that ace of diamonds held the possibility of completing a flush with two diamonds on the board and two more cards to come.
Dwan, whose hand we still didn't know at the time, was first to act. He checked. Fei then asked Dwan how much money he had left. A previously chatty table went silent, acknowledging the gravity of the hand being played. Fei bet $125,000. Dwan thought for several moments, then called. The pot escalated to $812,000.
Fei bluffs all the way
The turn was the 5 of hearts, leaving Fei still with just ace-high and eliminating his long shot at completing a flush. Dwan checked. Fei bet again, this time $350,000. Dwan again took his time to think about the decision before putting in a call. We still didn't know what he was holding.
The river came out 6 of clubs. Fei's hand did not improve. He held ace-high on a board that completed potential straights, full houses and quads. Dwan checked again. Fei declared "All in," meaning that Dwan would have to put in his remaining $786,000 in chips or cede the now-$2.3 million pot to his opponent.
Dwan takes nearly 4 minutes, comes up with the call
Dwan, facing the last action of the hand, got up from the table to grab a bottle of water. Fei put his head down in his arms on the table, not wanting to give off any tells. Dwan talked his thought process out loud, including the fact that Polk had seen Fei's hand. Had Polk's knowledge of Fei's hole cards influenced Fei's aggressive line of action?
As he talked out the hand, Dwan moved his cards on top of the card reader, where we could finally see that he was holding two black queens. It was the best hand, but one that could be beaten by several holdings on a paired board with three cards to a straight.
After nearly four minutes, Dwan grabbed a stack of chips and placed them in the pot for a call. Fei picked up his head to see the bad news. Dwan's pair of queens was the best hand, and the $3.1 million pot belonged to him. Fei lost more than $1.5 million in the hand.
Other players at the table were awestruck and congratulated both players for their bold play. The win put Dwan's profit at the time at $2.1 million. Fei was now the biggest loser in the game with a $1.7 million loss.
