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It was business as usual at the Golden Nugget for the High Stakes Poker crew of Mike Baxter, Eli Elezra, Doyle Brunson, Dario Minieri, Phil Laak, David Peat, Tom Dwan and Alan Meltzer. The HSP editing crew chose not to waste any time with this episode and gave us some big action right out of the gates.
In the very first hand, David Peat made up for a lack of camera time in his HSP debut but the interest in the hand really focused on Laak. With the button on Dwan and the live straddle on Elezra, Brunson and Minieri folded to Laak who peaked down at A♣T♣. He called the $1,600 and it moved to Peat who showed the cameras Q♥J♣. Apparently this was the point where Peat felt it time to advertise himself a bit more. So, with a raise of $4,900 he made it $6,500 to go. Dwan was next to act and with the A♦7♦ he made the call. In the small blind, Meltzer called the additional $6,100 with the A♥T♥. Baxter folded his big blind, which normally would not attract much attention but in this case he happened to fold A♠7♣. That was the last ace in the deck. The action folded back to Laak who called the raise, much to the delight of the table. The pot now stood at $30,000 and with no aces left in the deck, we had four players to the flop. The flop came down 5♠3♣8♣ and the action checked around. I can only imagine Laak was hoping for a check-raise opportunity here with his nut flush draw but Peat failed to accommodate that request. Neither player behind Peat had much of a hand, leaving Laak with a wasted opportunity (an apparent theme for him this episode) and the rest of the table a free card. The 2♥ fell on the turn giving Laak a few more outs with the gutshot and again he checked. Peat fired out a bet of $20,500 and both Dwan and Meltzer folded, putting Laak and Peat heads-up. How big a hand could Peat represent here? Peat showed strength before the hand by raising but clearly lost that momentum with the check on the flop. We know he did not have an ace so A4 was not in the range of possible hands and 64 would be hard to give him given the raise pre-flop. Would a set check the flop then bet the innocuous 2♥ on the turn? Would Peat raise pre-flop with pocket 2s? Is Laak getting the right odds to call if he can only win with a flush that does not pair the board? So much to consider. Laak studied and studied before eventually calling the $20,500. The board paired with the 5♦ hitting on the river and again Laak checked. Peat now did his own best attempt to study and finally fired out $50,000. It was difficult for Laak to fold but fold he did and Peat took the episode's first. Laak quickly let everyone know he would probably suffer years of pain with that laydown. I probably could have devoted the entire post to this one hand but lucky for you (and Laak) the episode had only just started.
The next hand certainly showcased a side of Laak that may come as a surprise to some. Phil opened a pot in early position with a raise to $2,600 holding J♦J♣. Dwan looked down at 8♥8♣ and made the call along with Meltzer and his A♦5♦. With $10,600 in the pot, the flop was 3♣9♠9♦. Phil checked as he had done so many times with his big hands. Dwan, who was only losing to pocket tens and up or the not-so-likely A9 suited, decided to bet the flop and did so to the tune of $6,300. Phil simply called. This probably was the strongest move in his arsenal but certainly not the smartest move in terms of maximizing profit. The turn came Q♠ and it went check, check. The river came 4♦ and it went check, check. Both players flipped and Dwan was certainly surprised to see a pair of jacks emerge from Phil's seat. Not only was Dwan surprised but Brunson quickly put in his two cents with, "Well played, Phil. Well played." Clearly a bit of sarcasm from seat three.
Shortly after the table had a few laughs from Laak’s powerful play with his pocket jacks, Brunson again chimed in with a timely quote, “I would kill for two jacks.” And would you believe in the very next hand he was dealt – well no, not pocket jacks. Better than pocket jacks. Aces! The hand began with the button on Mr. Brunson and Peat raised to $2,500 UTG with J♦9♦. The action folded around to Brunson who re-raised to $10,500 with the A♠ and the A♥. At that point Peat had to put Brunson on a big hand, but, with the suited one-gapper he felt he had exactly what he needed to crack it. In most parts, a hand like that is commonly referred to as the "crackers.” Peat made the call and the two were heads-up to the flop with $23,800 in the pot. The flop came down nearly perfect for both players – A♦T♣2♦. Peat casually checked his flush draw and gave a harmless look over to Doyle as if to say, “Do what you gotta do.” Brunson did just that by firing out a continuation bet of $20,000. Back to Peat and within five seconds he had all but made up his mind that he was married to the hand. Out came the blue chips and Peat check-raised Brunson to $125,000. Of course Doyle was going to shove and Peat call the additional amount. The only question was how many times they would run the turn and river. Peat called the $46,100 and both players were all-in for a pot totaling $366,000. They agreed to run the turn and river twice. The first time it went Q♣9♣ and despite getting six more outs on the turn, Peat lost the first run. The second time it went Q♠6♣ and Brunson scooped the whole pot. Reload! Seat six!
While this next hand did not occur after Brunson’s double-up, it aired immediately after creating the illusion as such. The button was on Elezra and Meltzer, holding 5h5c, opened with a call. Baxter looked down at A♠2♣. He too made the call. Elezra called from the button with 6♠5♦. Brunson completed his small blind with 4♠3♠ and Minieri let it go with T♥9♦. It was five players to the flop with $5,600 in the pot. The flop was 9♠T♠3♣. Brunson was first to act and he checked his pair with a flush draw. Minieri led out $3,700 holding top two. Baxter decided to call with ace high and the backdoor nut flush draw. It was then on Brunson who put in the check-raise, just as Peat had done with his flush draw. Brunson re-raised to $25,000 and with that, Minieri went all-in for $98,100. This was no laughing matter. It was $73,100 more for Brunson to call, however, we did get a smile out of him while the dealer counted down the all-in from Minieri. As the dealer counted the chips, Minieri threw in a couple $5 tip chips and Elezra said, “He’s already tipping the dealer.” This got a great reaction from the entire table. Brunson ultimately made the call and again it was decided to run the turn and river twice. Minieri boated-up on the first run when a nine spiked on the turn. Just after the dealer pushed the cards aside to burn and turn again, a ten spiked and Minieri had himself another full house. Both times Brunson was drawing dead on the turn and both times the running-it-twice proposition did not help the drawing hand.
Continuing back to Laak and his mysterious ways, the next hand again showed his inability to make the most when waking up with a monster. This time the button was on Brunson and Peat started the limp-fest with his Q♥8♥. Dwan decided to join in with the 7♣5♦ and Minieri was not going to fold his small blind with the 8♠5♠. From the big blind Laak looked down at A♥A♦ and raised it to $50,000. That’s right, over sixty times the big blind. Exactly which player were you trying to isolate here, Phil? Yourself? Congratulations, you picked up a whopping $4,000 in dead money. To his credit, Laak did tell the table what he had so as to eliminate any curiosity. When given a chance to explain himself, he stated it was his way of not having to look back and wonder to himself why he did not simply end the hand. That was some good gamble, kid. My motto has always been ‘go big or go home’ and here Laak showed he certainly had no plans to do either. I am sure he was hoping that one would not make the final cut of the show.
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