The Season 6 finale of the cash game franchise “High Stakes Poker” aired on Sunday night, with Doyle Brunson’s streak of 15 straight wins in televised cash game sessions on the line. New episodes aired on Sundays at 8:00pm ET on GSN.
Lex Veldhuis, stuck $100,000, rejoined the table, while cash game pro Eli Elezra began the episode up more than $400,000. The group agreed to raise the stakes to $500/$1,000 with an ante of $300 and the change, although subtle, kicked the action into high gear.
Veldhuis raised to $4,000 with A-9 and Daniel Negreanu came along with K-10 of spades. Full Tilt Poker pro Tom “durrrr” Dwan made the call with 9-5 of hearts and the flop was 3-7-7. Negreanu checked, Dwan bet $10,700, Veldhuis abandoned ship, and Negreanu called. The turn was a king, pairing Negreanu, and the action went check-check. A queen hit on the river and Negreanu fired out a bet of $28,200. Dwan called thinking that Negreanu may have had a hand like 4-5 or 5-6 and couldn’t beat nine-high. He lamented, “I made one of my hero calls. It was wrong.”
Brunson began the episode down about $200,000, needing to mount the comeback of a lifetime in order to secure his 16th straight winning session in a televised cash game. Brunson called pre-flop with Q-7 of spades and Veldhuis made it $11,000 from the straddle with 9-2 of the same suit. Brunson called and both players checked the flop of 6-2-3. The turn was a jack and Brunson fired out a bet of $20,500. Veldhuis obliged and the river was a four. Brunson bet $60,000 with air and Veldhuis called with a lowly pair of deuces to scoop the $185,900 pot.
In a five-way pot, the flop came 3-7-9 and Elezra bet $23,300 with pocket queens. Dwan promptly made it $71,000 with 9-7 of spades and the action folded back around to Elezra, who pushed the price of poker to $173,300. Dwan moved all-in for $426,300 and Elezra announced that Dwan had 10-8 or 9-7 before folding.
On the next hand, PokerStars pro Betrand “Elky” Grospellier raised to $7,000 pre-flop holding A-6 of diamonds and Dwan bumped it to $20,800 with pocket aces. Grospellier called and the flop came 4-6-8, giving him middle pair to Dwan’s overpair. Dwan bet $26,400 and Grospellier called. The turn was a queen and Dwan moved all-in. Grospellier called all-in and elected to run it once. A five hit on the river, missing Grospellier and shipping the $255,300 pot to Dwan. Seated directly to Dwan’s left, Brunson told the youngster, “You’re like a vacuum cleaner.”
“30 Seconds with Kara Scott” examined who players wanted to see on Season 7 of “High Stakes Poker,” while the PokerStars-backed segment “Did You Know” covered the origins of the Texas Hold’em name. In the final hand of Season 6, Phil “OMGClayAiken” Galfond raised to $8,000 with 10-2 and Negreanu called with Q-10 of clubs. Elezra joined the party with J-10 of hearts and the final flop of Season 6 came Q-J-4. Galfond bet $14,000, Negreanu called with top pair, and Elezra folded to bring an eight of clubs on the turn, putting two of the suit on the board.
Galfond checked, Negreanu bet $30,000, Galfond raised to $94,000, and Negreanu moved all-in for $246,000. Galfond folded, joking that he was just trying to impress Brunson with his signature hand, and Negreanu raked in the pot.
As the credits rolled, Dwan took a sledgehammer to the “High Stakes Poker” ice sculpture. The poker gods stopped Brunson’s cash game dominance, while Elezra saw his $400,000 profit nearly cut in half at the hands of Dwan.
GSN has not announced details for Season 7 of the cash game franchise. Stay tuned to Poker News Daily for the latest.
