Saturday night marked the debut of 2010 World Series of Poker (WSOP) Main Event champion Jonathan Duhamel on the GSN cash game series “High Stakes Poker.” The show, whose new episodes can be seen at 8:00pm ET and 11:00pm ET on Saturdays, featured an all-new lineup this week containing three recreational players and five hungry poker sharks.
In one of the largest pots of the night, life insurance executive Julian Movsesian raised to $3,800 before the flop with A-7 of clubs and amateur Mike Baxter called behind with Q-9 of diamonds. WSOP bracelet winner Jason Mercier obliged with K-10 and the flop came A-10-4, hitting Movsesian and Mercier.
Movsesian led out for $8,500 with top pair and Mercier called behind with middle pair to bring a king on the turn. Mercier check-called a bet of $15,000, this time with two pair, and the final card was a six. Mercier checked, Movsesian bet $20,000, and Mercier called with the better hand to scoop a $99,000 pot.
Then, it was Duhamel’s turn to shine. Holding a pristine Q-5 of spades, the first Canadian WSOP Main Event winner raised to $4,200 and Movsesian, who, along with venture capitalist Bill Perkins seemed to see every flop, called with A-K. The first three cards came all rags, 5-9-6, and Movsesian check-called a bet of $5,500.
The turn was an ace, sending Movsesian out in front with top pair, top kicker, but rather than protect his hand, the action went check-check. The misstep was a costly one, as the final card was a five, giving Duhamel the better hand with trips. Movsesian fired out $10,000 in chips, Duhamel raised to $32,300, and Movsesian called, shipping an $86,000 pot to the Montreal resident and PokerStars pro.
The largest pot of the night also went to Duhamel. In it, on a flop of 4-Q-7 with two clubs, Baxter pushed out a bet of $11,000 holding pocket fours for bottom set. Duhamel, who had seen the flop with A-5 of clubs, called, and the jack of clubs on the turn brought his nut flush home.
If we were calling the shots like World Poker Tour host Vince Van Patten, we’d probably say that Duhamel was singing “O Canada” in his head. After a check from Baxter, Duhamel bet $17,600 with the nut flush, Baxter called, and the river was a red three. Baxter checked, Duhamel bet $33,500, and his opponent called, sending a $140,000 pot to Duhamel.
Baxter told the rest of the table what he was hoping to see when Duhamel tabled his hand: “I was hoping he had Q-J.” Not so much. Duhamel was up $110,000 in his “High Stakes Poker” debut at that point. We probably shouldn’t forget that winning is nothing new for Duhamel, who took down 80 times that amount for his Main Event victory over John Racener last November.
In the final pot of the night, Mercier bet $5,400 on a flop of Q-K-7 with two spades holding J-10 for an open-ended straight draw. Baxter called with A-9 of spades and Duhamel came along with J-4 of spades. All three checked the deuce of hearts on the turn and the river brought home the spade flush.
Despite “High Stakes Poker” host Norm Macdonald expecting the chips to hit the middle, Baxter committed $22,000 and Duhamel just called behind. The dealer pushed the $72,000 pot towards Baxter and the credits rolled on the hour-long episode.
Catch new episodes of “High Stakes Poker” every Saturday at 8:00pm ET and 11:00pm ET on GSN.
