Whether you’re playing for high stakes or having a bit of fun, poker is a game that consists of both luck and talent. Luck is what every player desires, to receive a naturally lucrative hand that against most odds will lead you onto a win. Talent is harder to come by; only those skilled enough to, when luck is lacking, still cash in on those misfortunes, that’s when a winner is made. Both indisputably were a part of Tom Dwan’s televised win for $3.1 million on the 31st May, as he landed the biggest pot ever broadcasted!
At the well known Hustlers Casino in LA, it regularly broadcasts games with some of the biggest names in the industry with pots that total ludicrous amounts of money. Although, whether you’re playing in real life or even online at sights like the ones featured at casinos.com, the stakes always seem so high in this intensively thrilling game. This was no exception to the game between Tom Dwan and self proclaimed cryptocurrency millionaire, Wesley Fei.
This No-Limit Texas Hold’em cash game started as any other with a $1 million minimum buy-in, which saw 8 players put $6.5K in the pot all before seeing whether they had any luck or were relying on their talent to take them further in this game. Pre-flop saw each player around the table either bet on their respective hands or fold. One of the strongest hands preflop in poker is Ace-King, which Fei found himself in luck to behold, resulting in him betting a further $30K. Knowing that such a strong hand could likely lead to a win, Fei continued to bet, raising to any new bets that were placed. When Dwan re-raised his bet to $100k, this forced other players, such as newcomer LSG Hank to fold as the stakes were getting increasingly high. With Fei then raising again to $275K and Dwan calling, this made an impressive $562K in the pot all pre-flop.
The first flop
The first 3 cards to be placed down the river were the 3 of diamonds, 8 of spades and 8 of diamonds. With Dwan’s hand still yet to be revealed (as the hand is yet to be picked up by the card reader) and Fei only having an ace high at this point – this didn’t seem to go in either of their favours. Trying his luck to see if he can get Dwan to fold, Fei bets a further $125K after Tom just called. This was a risk that didn’t seem to be paying off and as another turn on the river went with neither player benefitting from it, we were back to watching a high stakes bluff between the two.
The tension is rising and it is becoming clearer that whilst Wesley looks more nervous as the game continues, he shows no signs of folding as he proceeds to increase his bet – this time by a further $350K hoping this will convince Tom he really has that worthy hand. Unfortunately for Fei, this tactic doesn’t pay off as Tom calls this bet seemingly without hesitation.
The Final Draw
With the river helping out neither player it was left to Fei to make his last moves. In a final attempt to throw Tom off and take away this already staggering pot of money; he resorts to moving ‘all in’ which sees the pot receive a staggering $786,000. This time there is definitely hesitancy from Dwan as this forces him to review the stack of chips in front of him. He even stood for a moment and grabbed some water as he mulled over his options. After a few minutes go by, he risks it all and throws the stack of chips into the pot.
This all in risk won Dwan an impressive $3.1 million after discovering he was holding onto a pair of Queens, ultimately having the upper hand of Fei’s Ace-King off-suit. With this being the biggest win televised; news naturally began to travel quickly as viewers flooded with comments on how well both players held their nerves and had remarkable poker faces despite the vast amount of money on the table. Both players were relentless in their approach to never stop bluffing, yet in a comment after the game Fei broke his silence by saying ‘You can’t bluff Tom’.
This record breaking game was said to have 58,000 viewers at one point, as mentioned in a post-tweet from Hustler Casino Live, the most ever in poker streaming history. Fei was also praised after the show by Dwan, who stated “Wesley Fei plays really well”. The 36- year old who; prior to becoming a professional poker player, worked for McDonalds, is said to be the most winning player in the show’s history – despite only appearing 4 times. Guess he really does have both luck & talent! You can watch the full video here. It’s times like these where we question if we chose the wrong occupation! However you can get more involved in the action by listening to the Ante Up podcast.
