In the finale of Season 5 of GSN’s High Stakes Poker, Tom “durrrr” Dwan faced off against Alan Meltzer and took home $514,400 in the episode’s last hand. No announcement has been made as to when Season 6 will debut.
High-dollar pots pervaded the Season 5 finale. In the first hand of the show, Meltzer called the $800 big blind with A-8, Eli Elezra called with Q-2 of hearts, poker legend Doyle Brunson called with A-8, and Dwan bumped the action to $5,000 with pocket fives. All three limpers called and the flop fell J-8-A, giving Brunson and Meltzer top and bottom pair, while Elezra held a queen-high flush draw. Meltzer led out for $20,000, Elezra called, and Doyle raised to $95,000. Meltzer promptly shoved for $172,800, Elezra got out of the way, and Brunson called. The massive $387,600 pot was chopped.
Dwan and “Silent” Mike Baxter battled a few hands later. David Peat called the big blind with 6-5 of clubs, Dwan smooth called with aces, Baxter called with K-2 of hearts, World Series of Poker (WSOP) bracelet winner Dario Minieri called with A-4 of clubs, and Phil Laak, who was in the big blind, checked his option. The flop came 7-A-3 with two hearts, giving Baxter a king-high flush draw and Peat an open-ended straight draw. Dwan bet $2,200 with his flopped set, Baxter raised to $8,200, and the action folded back around to Dwan, who re-raised to $19,700. High Stakes Poker Host Gabe Kaplan noted, “A little bait raise. He’s hoping to get popped by Baxter.” However, “Silent Mike” just called and the turn came the five of spades. Both players checked to see the king of diamonds fall on the river, giving Baxter a pair. Dwan bet $33,400 and Baxter called, shipping the $111,800 pot to the man they call “Durrrr.”
In the episode’s second $300,000 pot, Elezra put on the $1,600 live straddle. Laak bumped the action to $4,600 with J-10 and Elezra called with 9-7 of spades. The flop came 7-9-Q. Elezra bet out $8,000 with bottom two pair, Laak raised to $24,000 with an open-ended straight draw, and Elezra pushed the price of poker to $55,000. Kaplan explained, “Phil’s decision is to go all-in or go out. He can’t just call. He wouldn’t know what to do if he didn’t hit on the turn.” Sure enough, Laak pushed for $128,7800 and Elezra called. The two agreed to run it twice. The first board was 6-2, ensuring at least half the pot for Elezra. The second board fell 5-5, sending the entire $345,000 purse Elezra’s way. Laak promptly re-bought for $250,000; Elezra found himself up $345,000 overall.
Minieri made his exit after busting in a hand against Peat. After Peat put on the live straddle, Meltzer called $1,600 with A-8, Minieri raised to $9,000 with pocket aces, Peat called holding a 10 in his hand, and Meltzer folded. Sure enough, the flop came 10-10-5, giving Peat trips. Minieri bet $11,000 and Peat raised to $30,000. Kaplan noted, “This is very bad luck for Dario.” Minieri asked for a count before raising all-in for $111,700. Peat happily called and the pair agreed to run it twice. No ace fell on either board and Minieri found himself broke, departing the High Stakes Poker set at the Golden Nugget in Downtown Las Vegas. Conversely, Peat raked in $245,400.
On the final hand of Season 5, Laak raised to $3,100 with pocket fives. Peat called with Q-9 of clubs, and Dwan raised to $14,000 with J-10. Meltzer peeked down at pocket kings for the second straight hand and raised to $30,000, Laak folded, Peat folded, and Dwan made the call. The flop came 3-A-10. Meltzer bet out $30,000 and Dwan called to see the turn came a jack. Meltzer checked, Dwan bet $46,200 with two pair, and Meltzer made the call with an overpair. The river brought another jack, giving Dwan a boat. On the final card to be dealt during the current season, Kaplan noted, “That might save Alan Meltzer some money.” Meltzer checked to Dwan, who pushed for $146,800. Meltzer called for his entire stack and quickly mucked upon seeing Dwan’s hand. The $514,400 pot pushed Dwan into the green for the final stable of players to take to the felts. He was a winning player against all three groups during High Stakes Poker Season 5.
Kaplan and A.J. Benza then doled out the Season 5 awards. The Couture Award, which was given for the most creative use of a scarf in a poker playing capacity, was awarded to Minieri. The Corrigan Award, which was for miscalculating what other players have in hands you’re not involved in, went to Brunson. The No Deal Award was bestowed upon Dwan for not reaching an accord with Barry Greenstein in the largest pot in High Stakes Poker history, over $900,000. The Smelling Salts Award was given to Greenstein for not passing out when a queen on the turn shipped the record-breaking pot to Dwan. Finally, the Trillion Percent Right When You’re a Trillion Percent Wrong Award went to Antonio Esfandiari, who swore up and down that he was missing $50,000 from his stack. In actuality, he had forgotten to take it out when he sat down.
No indication of when Season 6 will be filmed or aired has been given. In the meantime, past episodes of High Stakes Poker will continue to be shown on GSN on Sunday nights.
