Tom Dwan Wins the Biggest Ever Poker Pot in TV History!

Regardless of whether they like it, some people have a knack for making history in poker. Whether it’s Ryan Feldman, co-founder of Hustler Casino LIVE, the trailblazer for streamed poker cash games, or Tom “durrrr” Dwan, one of the golden boys of the early days of online poker and the nosebleed televised cash games.

The duo combined during HCL’s Million Dollar Game finale, creating a bang in cash game poker streams unlikely to be topped soon. Dwan is a long way from the nearly-teenage poker whizz who sat in between Doyle Brunson, Gus Hansen, Phil Hellmuth, and the likes on High Stakes Poker, but the same ability to play in record-breaking pots is still very much there. In season 5 of High Stakes Poker, Dwan would win just shy of $1 million in a memorable and meaningful pot against poker legend Barry Greenstein, the biggest pot to be played on the original show.

Setting the Scene For The Greatest Poker TV Hand

When HCL came to the last day of their Million Dollar Game stream festival, it was improbable that a pot of any ground-breaking magnitude would happen. The first-day cash game would bring heat from viewers for overly tight play, despite having players like Rob Yong, Tony G, and Nik Airball at the table. The critique generated so much movement that Rob Yong altered the buy-in, making it a $500,000 buy-in for Day 2 of the Million Dollar Game to reduce the financial pressure on the players.

The third day sparked life into the series by introducing private game enthusiast Huss Onay, who, alongside poker vlogger, Ethan ‘Rampage’ Yau, elevated the game for the viewers. Huss added to the drama and heat of the game by needling Wesley for his tight play, while Yau pulled off what was expected to be the hands of the streams; it would eventually be surpassed. His bluff against Handz was exceptional, a great moment for Yau, who was vlogging his $1/$3 games only a few years ago.

How Tom Dwan Made Poker History – Again

When you think of a Mount Rushmore of poker, it is almost sure to have two figures: Doyle Brunson and Tom Dwan. The first is obvious, but the latter is understated; someone who is not vocal and very retiring but has done as much for the growth of poker as most will recognize. It wasn’t attention he wanted or was necessarily comfortable with, but Dwan was the poster child of poker for the boom years. When he first made those outlandish bluffs on High Stakes Poker, battled Isildur in the online nosebleed games, or was the center of mythical poker stories in Macau, Dwan gave an allure and intrigue to poker that the fans love.

After warming up to the limelight in the past few years, Dwan was center stage in the Million Dollar Game and would be the biggest winner in the history of Hustler Casino LIVE with one deft hand.

The Biggest Televised Poker Hand Ever – Preflop – $562,000

The game started as a $500/$1,000 big blind structure, with a $3,000 big blind ante. Dwan would straddle this hand to $2,000, as LSG Hank would open larger to $7,000 as a result with his Ah8c in the Hijack. Wesley, who had previously found a 4-bet with 8s4s, would make it $30,000 on the Button with AdKh. Dwan would 4-bet to $100,000 with QsQc, and it would fold round to Fei, who 5-bet to $275,000. Dwan called, and we went to a flop.

The Biggest Televised Poker Hand Ever – Flop – $812,000

The flop comes out as a relatively innocuous board of 8s8d3d. When Dwan checks over to him, Wesley c-bets $125,000 into a pot of $562,000. Dwan opts for a call. Wesley’s sizing on the flop was pretty small, and a bigger bet is much more optimal. This is because you can begin to fold out the stronger portion of Dwan’s range when it comes to some pairs from 99-JJ and raise pressure on other portions of his range.

The Biggest Televised Poker Hand Ever – Turn – $1,500,000

When the turn comes a brick of the 5h, Dwan will feel a lot more comfortable with the strength of his hand. Checking in flow, he faces a turn c-bet of $350,000, just shy of half-pot into $812,000. Dwan called, and we had to a river. Wesley makes a perfectly standard turn bet with solid sizing, although he could opt for bigger. Tom’s range of TT-JJ will be forced to fold, and some QQ if he feels Wesley’s turn betting is not balanced.

The Biggest Televised Poker Hand Ever – River – $3,100,000

The pot is at $1.5 million; the SPR (stack-to-pot ratio) is quite uncomfortable for both players. Tom continues his checking, and Wesley thinks for a few seconds before moving all in for $786,000 and buries his head into his arms. Tom contemplates for a few minutes, worried about the potential of Wesley flopping trips with an 8 as opposed to him having KK or AA. This is interesting, as Wesley’s exposed a 4bet with 8s4s earlier in the stream, and this could be playing on Dwan’s mind. Dwan eventually flicks in the call and beats Wesley’s A-high, scooping the biggest pot in poker television history.

After an analysis, both played the hand exceptionally well. In the end, Dwan’s experience playing similar players to Wesley probably was the decisive factor, as he seemed unfazed in making the biggest call of his televised poker career.

Why The Hustler Casino LIVE Million Dollar Game Succeeded

As HCL co-founder Nick Vertucci tweeted not long after the $3.1 million pot happened: “mic drop.” It certainly felt like that, and when you really think about the journey Ryan Feldman has been on in his poker production career, it’s fairly easy to understand why he could not use one hand to drink a celebratory glass of champagne. He went from creating the $1 Million Dollar cash game with a total of $1 million on the table to organizing a cash game with a $1 million buy-in and a $3.1 million pot.

They broke poker history with the $3.1 million pot and created moments of pure poker entertainment that you can only find in certain private games and poker felt behind closed doors. You would have been in the wrong place if you wanted to watch Linus Loeliger sit and battle against Michael Addamo in a silent-yet-skilful battle of game theory and wits. If you wanted to see two crypto poker whales berate each other while playing pots exceeding $100,000+ each hand, you were in the right spot.

Whether it was the Huss-Wesley battle, Doug Polk showing incredible gamesmanship and making some fantastic poker plays while driving action, or everyone’s favorite poker introvert winning the biggest poker pot on TV (yet again), HCL served all of the above.

The finale and crescendo of a poker cash game broke HCL viewership records, having over 50,000 concurrent viewers at one point. Regardless of any criticism from the early days, people tuned in, which was the ultimate goal of this poker cash game epic. For Tom Dwan, it only added to his poker legacy that is firmly cemented after this pot.