Andrew Robl, Dennis Phillips, Lex Veldhuis Make High Stakes Poker Debuts

A new set of players took to the felts on the GSN cash game franchise “High Stakes Poker” this week, as Andrew “good2cu” Robl, Dennis Phillips, and Lex Veldhuis made their debuts. New episodes of “High Stakes Poker” air at 8:00pm ET on Sundays on GSN.

The action was fast and furious from the beginning, as poker veterans Phil Ivey and Patrik Antonius battled. The former held pocket kings and raised to $13,000 pre-flop, while the latter looked down at pocket aces and made it $36,400. Ivey called and the flop came 10-J-Q. “High Stakes Poker” host Gabe Kaplan remarked, “Just about the worst flop for both of these players. They’re both afraid of A-K or sets.” Accordingly, the action went check-check and a queen hit on the turn, pairing the board. Once again, both players checked and a nine came on the river, giving Ivey a straight. Antonius check-called a bet of $45,500 and Ivey raked in a $168,200 pot.

Antonius rebounded, however. Despite nearly mucking his cards pre-flop in the big blind, the Durrrr Challenge combatant called a raise to $3,500 with Q-6 and the flop came 10-Q-Q. Antonius checked, Veldhuis bet $12,800 with K-2 of spades, and Antonius called to see a jack fall on the turn. Antonius check-called a bet of $31,300 and the river was a five. Both players checked and Antonius scooped the $104,200 pot.

The PokerStars-sponsored segment “Did You Know?” reviewed the concept behind a straddle, while “30 Seconds with Kara Scott” investigated what the group of eight players would be doing if they weren’t poker pros. Both vignettes were introduced for the sixth season of “High Stakes Poker,” which was filmed at the Golden Nugget in Downtown Las Vegas.

Back on the felts, Ivey straddled to $1,600 and Daniel Negreanu raised to $4,500 with 10-8 of clubs. Tom “durrrr” Dwan made the call with 4-3 of spades. Ivey peeked down at 6-4 and also called to bring a flop of 6-7-8 with two spades. Dwan fired out a bet of $13,300 with flush and straight draws, Ivey got out of the way, and Negreanu called. The turn was a five, giving Dwan a straight, and the action went check-check to a river ten. Dwan bet $31,800 and Negreanu tanked before finally calling with two pair. He ultimately concluded, “There’s no way I would ever fold there” and Dwan boosted his stack by $106,100.

Negreanu quickly proceeded to make a king-high straight flush in a hand against Antonius, telling the table that it was the best hand he’s ever had. Then, the two newcomers tangled, as Veldhuis made a continuation bet of $23,800 with 8-6 of hearts on a flop of Q-7-3. Robl, holding pocket queens for top set, made the call and a jack hit on the turn. Both players rapped the table and an ace came on the river. Robl checked, trying to induce a bet from his opponent, and Veldhuis bit by betting $54,000. Robl called and raked in a colossal $190,000 pot.

Antonius, Dwan, and Ivey each began the new “High Stakes Poker” table with $500,000, while Negreanu held the fourth largest stack at $326,000. Barry Greenstein, who has appeared in every season of “High Stakes Poker,” and the three newcomers all bought in for $200,000. Phillips bled chips throughout much of the episode and, at its midpoint, was down nearly $80,000. Dwan, meanwhile, was up more than $160,000.

This week on “High Stakes Poker,” Negreanu builds a $300,000 pot, while Antonius commits his stack with pocket aces against Robl. Catch new episodes of the popular GSN series on Sundays at 8:00pm ET.