Two weeks removed from going broke when his pocket jacks ran into David Benyamine’s quad fours, Daniel Negreanu was forced to rebuy once again this week on GSN’s “High Stakes Poker.” This time, his gamble against Eli Elezra did not pay off, and the Team PokerStars Pro member saw his luck in the ring game continue to slide.
This was the fifth episode of the new season of High Stakes Poker, which airs on GSN at 9:00pm ET on Sundays. Last week’s show featured Tom “durrrr” Dwan‘s aces cracked by Barry Greenstein’s J-9 when Greenstein turned two pair. The hand sparked the catch phrase, “Math is idiotic,” which is now a staple of the show. Greenstein opened this week’s episode with wins in two smaller pots, one against 2008 World Series of Poker (WSOP) Main Event Champion Peter Eastgate and one against both Negreanu and Ilari “Ziigmund” Sahamies.
Several massive pots occurred in this week’s episode. In the first, Negreanu raised to $3,000 with 9-10 of clubs and was called by Dwan, who had 8-7. Elezra made it $11,000 holding pocket aces and both of his opponents called. The flop came Q-2-4 with two clubs and Elezra bet out $17,000. High Stakes Poker Host Gabe Kaplan noted, “A small bet. He’s hoping someone has a big queen and would raise him.”
Holding a flush draw, Negreanu raised to $44,100, Dwan got out of the way, Elezra made it $119,100, and Negreanu shoved for $226,300. Elezra called, saying, “I hope you’re on a draw.” Sure enough, Negreanu was. The combatants agreed to run the board twice, meaning in order to scoop the entire pot, a player must win both boards. The first came the five of diamonds and six of spades, a win for Elezra. The second board ran out the three of spades and jack of spades, giving Elezra the massive $487,100 pot. Negreanu promptly reloaded.
Elezra turned up the aggression with his newfound chips. In one hand, he raised to $4,500 with A-9 of diamonds. Eastgate raised to $20,000 with pocket queens, and Doyle Brunson quickly folded pocket tens. On the latter move, Kaplan commented, “I don’t understand that.” Sahamies called the raise with pocket fours and Elezra also called. The flop came K-2-7 with two diamonds and Elezra bet $55,000. Kaplan noted, “That’s a pretty big bet. I think Peter is savvy enough to realize that when Eli had aces, he bet half the size of the pot.” Eastgate called and the turn came a non-diamond three. The action went check-check and the river was a non-diamond jack. Both Elezra and Eastgate checked and the reigning WSOP Main Event Champion took down the $174,100 pot.
Greenstein and Elezra locked horns in a hand that saw four-way action to a flop of J-K-A with two diamonds. Greenstein, who was the hand’s initial pre-flop raiser, led out for $7,000 with 6-5 of diamonds, Elezra made it $19,000 with A-2, and the action folded back to Greenstein, who called. The turn came a non-diamond eight. Greenstein checked and Elezra bet $45,000. Kaplan remarked, “I don’t know what Eli is putting Barry on, but I know one thing: Eli wants Barry to fold his hand right here.” Instead of laying down his draw, Greenstein fired back and raised to $200,000, prompting a quick fold from Elezra.
Dwan continued being active at the table. In a hand that occurred early on in the show, Negreanu raised to $5,600 with K-Q, Dwan called with A-J, and Elezra called holding 3-2 suited. The flop came 8-2-J, giving Dwan top pair, top kicker. He led out for $13,200, Elezra folded, and Negreanu made the smooth call with king high. The turn came a four, Dwan bet $34,200, and Negreanu waved the white flag and folded. On the $74,400 hand, Kaplan commented, “Dwan confuses everybody. He gets them to play hands that they wouldn’t otherwise play.”
Next week’s episode promises to have the poker world buzzing. The preview reveals, “Barry Greenstein and Tom Dwan have battled all season long. Next week, they will lock up in what will be one of the most talked about hands in High Stakes Poker history.” Check out High Stakes Poker on Sundays at 9:00pm ET on GSN.
This week was episode 5.