High Stakes Poker Season 7: Guess Who’s Back

During the previous episode of High Stakes Poker, Daniel Negreanu made his triumphant return to the felt. It was his first appearance in season seven, and in the first six seasons of HSP, nobody ran worse than Kid Poker. Negreanu has suffered a myriad of horrible beats, including this gem against Gus Hansen where Negreanu ran a full house into quads. Can Negreanu shake the HSP jinx, or will a black cloud forever hang over his head?

SPOILER ALERT: If you are waiting to watch the HSP episode, read no further.

Enter Kid Poker: Daniel Negreanu sat down at the table, made a few jokes, and in the first hand he played, he opened to $3,000 from the cutoff with . Eric “Rolex” Boneta called with on the button, Bill Klein defended his big blind with , and the flop fell . Klein checked, Negreanu continued for $7,000, and only Boneta called. The turn was the , and Negreanu splashed $16,500 into the pot.

“Little extra ooomf on that one," he said as his chips rolled around haphazardly. “It’d be fun to go broke the first hand.”

Boneta tank-called, and the river was the . Negreanu fired $27,200 and explained why his bet looked “bluffish” — because he put the chips in away from Boneta. The watch salesman didn’t buy the speech, however, and mucked the second-best hand. Negreanu joked about quitting and booking a winning session as he pulled in the $84,400 pot.

Looking Stupid: Bill Klein straddled to $1,600, and Johnny Chan opened to $4,500 with . Phil Galfond reraised to $11,000 from Chan’s direct left with , the action folded back to Chan and the back-to-back Main Event champion made the call. Both players checked after the dealer fanned , and after the turned, Chan checked again. Galfond bet $13,500, Chan check-raised to $40,500, and Galfond called.

The on the river paired the board, and Chan slid out a value-bet worth $43,000.

“I might look stupid,” Galfond sighed to himself after counting out enough chips to call.

He pushed the two stacks of chips forward, making the call, and Chan showed him the bad news.

“Nice hand,” Galfond told him. “I did look stupid.”

Rolex’s Audemar: In a five-way limped pot that included Eric “Rolex” Boneta (), Robert Croak (), Bill Klein (), Johnny Chan (), and Phil Galfond (), the flop was . The action checked to Boneta who bet $5,100 with two pair, and only Klein called. The turn was the , and Boneta quickly fired $16,900. Klein raised to $60,900, Boneta tank-called the extra $40,000, and the river was the .

Both players quickly checked, tabled their cards, and the pot was shipped to Boneta.

“Is that even a Rolex?” Daniel Negreanu asked Boneta as he raked in the pot.

“No,” Boneta responded. “It’s an Audemar.”

The entire table erupted with laughter.

“Only Rolex can show up without a Rolex,” Phil Laak chuckled.

Limp Fest Part II: Bill Klein straddled to $1,600, and Doyle Brunson (), Johnny Chan (), Phil Galfond (), Eric “Rolex” Boneta (), and Robert Croak () all limped in. Klein checked his option with , the flop fell , and all six players checked. The turn was the , and Klein fired $19,500. Boneta and Croak came along even though the best they could do was chop, and the river was a meaningless . All three players checked, and Klein shipped the $70,000 pot.

High Stakes Legends: David “Chip” Reese was arguably the most respected rounders to play the game. Reese graduated from Dartmouth, but rejected an offer to study at Stanford Law School to instead play poker professionally and quickly mastered both hold’em and stud. He won the inaugural $50,000 H.O.R.S.E. event at the WSOP (now the Poker Players Championship), and since his passing, the trophy has been named the “David Chip Reese Memorial Trophy.”

Chip Counts:

Croak Counterfeited, Leaves: Robert Croak opened to $2,500 with , and Phil Laak called from the big blind with . The dealer fanned , and Laak check-called $4,500. The turn was the , Laak checked again, and Croak fired $8,000. Laak again called.

The river was the , Laak checked, and Croak begrudgingly turned his cards over saying, “I just got counterfeited.”

Laak tabled his hand, and Croak looked sick to his stomach.

“I’m going to take off,” he announced to the table.

Unstuck FTW: Phil Laak opened to $3,000 with , Johnny Chan called with , and Bill Klein followed suit with . The flop came down , and Laak continued for $7,000. Chan raised to $18,000, Klein got out of the way, and Laak made a huge reraise.

“A hundred and twenty thousand, four hundred,” he announced.

Chan studied the Unabomber for a bit before folding, and Laak raked in the pot.

“Poker is fun,” Laak professed. “But it’s more fun when you’re unstuck.”

Doyle Doubles: Johnny Chan limped in with before Phil Galfond raised to $3,500 with . Daniel Negreanu cold-called with , and so, too, did Bill Klein () and Doyle Brunson (). Chan tossed in the extra $2,700, and the dealer flopped all spades – .

Klein checked, and Brunson moved all-in for his last $38,700. The action folded back to Klein who called, and Brunson was pleasantly surprised to see he had him absolutely crushed. The turn and river came , respectively, and Brunson doubled to $95,700.

Galfond Sets Up Klein: Daniel Negreanu opened to $3,000 with , Bill Klein three-bet to $13,500 with , and Phil Galfond defended his big blind with . Negreanu couldn’t resist, calling the reraise, and the dealer flopped – yahtzee!

Galfond led for $22,500, Negreanu folded, but Klein surprisingly called. The turn was the , and Galfond slid out $61,000. Klein called.

The on the river was a brick, and Galfond moved all in for $134,400. Klein postured, saying he had a set, but eventually folded his wired pair of sixes.

Make sure to check out next week’s episode over on the Game Show Network. Check your local listings for the airtime in your area.

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