Episode three of GSN’s “High Stakes Poker” hit the airwaves on Sunday night. The well-known cash game featured the same lineup as during the first two episodes. This week featured a meltdown of sorts for Team PokerStars Pro member Daniel Negreanu, who lost his $200,000 buy-in.
The first hand of the show saw Doyle’s Room namesake Doyle Brunson put his entire chip stack at risk. Holding pocket kings, Brunson called a raise to $2,500 pre-flop by Negreanu. Show commentator Gabe Kaplan noted, “Doyle thinks this is an aggressive table. He’s hoping to catch someone holding a marginal hand putting in a raise.” Eli Elezra made it $13,300 pre-flop holding pocket nines and Brunson shoved for $95,600. The two poker veterans decided to run it twice, meaning that in order for a player to rake the pot, they must win both boards. The first ran out J-7-8-Q-7, giving the win to Brunson. The second came 5-4-3-10-6 with four hearts. Elezra held the only heart, giving him a flush and resulting in a chopped pot.
The show featured very little action by Tom “durrrr” Dwan, who had been featured heavily over the previous two weeks. Instead, much of the buzz was around Daniel Negreanu, who came out on the losing end of a $151,000 hand. In it, Barry Greenstein raised with J-10 on the button and Negreanu called holding A-8 of spades. The flop came 8-9-Q, giving Greenstein the nuts. He led out and bet $5,500 and Negreanu called. The dealer flipped over an ace on the turn. Negreanu checked, Greenstein fired out $15,000, and Negreanu called. The river was a king and Negreanu once again checked. Greenstein bet $50,000 and Negreanu went into the tank before calling. Kaplan noted that, upon seeing Greenstein turn over J-10, Negreanu “is going to see the last thing he thought he would.”
Shortly thereafter, Negreanu (A-8) was involved in four-way action to the flop with Brunson (A-9), Greenstein (2-2), and Elezra (K-Q). The four poker veterans saw a flop of A-K-Q, giving Elezra bottom two pair and Brunson and Negreau top pair. Brunson bet $9,000, Greenstein folded, and Elezra called. Perhaps on tilt from the previous hand, Negreanu raised to $24,000. Brunson got out of the way and Elezra called. The turn came a jack. Negreanu checked while acting extremely frustrated and Elezra bet out $35,000, prompting Negreanu to fold. Kaplan explained, “Daniel is making a fundamental mistake that I’ve never seen him make before: He’s giving up.”
Coming back from a commercial break, Negreanu spoke on his influences in poker: “The biggest influences on my game are the guys I grew up with: Guys like Phil Ivey, John Juanda, and Allen Cunningham. We were the young guns. We’d go to dinner and discuss strategy.”
Another out of character move by Negreanu came after reigning World Series of Poker Main Event Champion Peter Eastgate inadvertently bet $32,000 into a $13,000 pot. Negreanu commented, “You have the wrong color” and then quickly covered his mouth and laughed. Elezra then promptly made it $140,000 and Eastgate folded. Kaplan said, “Daniel really influenced the action in that pot. If Eli didn’t know that Peter bet the wrong amount, he might not have raised and Peter could have won the pot. It was a mistake by Daniel that should not happen in a game like this.”
On the final hand of the evening, Negreanu raised with pocket jacks pre-flop to $2,800. Eastgate called with pocket threes, David Benyamine called with pocket fours, and Elezra splashed around with 3-2. The flop came 2-4-7 with two diamonds, giving Benyamine a set. Negreanu was the first to bet, firing $8,000 into the pot. Eastgate called and Benyamine raised to $41,000. Kaplan commented, “Daniel knows that David is capable of making this raise with a hand like A-5 of diamonds.” Negreanu called and Eastgate got out of the way.
The turn came the four of clubs, giving Benyamine quads. Benyamine bet $35,000, which Kaplan described as a “really good bet. If Daniel is drawing to a flush, he wants him to continue to draw. If Daniel has an overpair, he wants him to call.” Negreanu shoved for $156,200 and Benyamine insta-called, scooping the $416,200 pot. Negreanu asked Dwan if he had $200,000 to reload with and the credits rolled.
High Stakes Poker airs at 9:00pm ET on Sunday nights on GSN. It is followed by an episode of Season VI of the World Poker Tour.
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