High stakes poker is heating up with the pots getting bigger and bigger week by week. Three of last week’s huge pots were over $300,000 and the two other pots were not far off by much. Ziigmund, Phil Ivey, Patrik Antonius and Tom “durrrr” Dwan remained constant on the high stakes scene. Pot-limit Omaha at Bovada Poker remained the game of choice throughout all of this week’s high stakes action.
In a $500/$1000 PLO heads-up match between Ziigmund and durrrr, Ziigmund was on the button with Jh9h7d5s and raised to $3,000. Durrrr three-bet to $9,000 with his AhQh9c7c and Ziigmund called. The 8cTdQc hit both players hard giving durrrr top-pair, top-kicker with a flush and straight draw and giving Ziigmund a queen-high straight. The money was destined to go in on the flop. Durrrr check-raised Ziigmund’s $15,000 bet to $63,000. Ziigmund three-bet to put the rest of Dwan’s $105,196 stack all-in. Durrrr called and the pot ballooned to $354,392. Neither the 7h nor the 5h on the turn and river helped durrrr and the huge pot was Ziigmund’s to take.
At another table, Phil Ivey and Ziigmund were playing pot-limit Omaha heads-up at a $500/$1000. Phil Ivey raised his As9s9h6d on the button and Ziigmund called with 9c8d7c7d. The 9d4d4h flop came out in Phil Ivey’s favor giving him a full house. Phil Ivey bet $5,000 after Ziigmund’s check. Ziigmund raised to $21,000, Ivey reraised to $53,000, and Ziigmund called. The Qh turn did not hit either player and was checked through. In a last ditch effort to take the pot, Ziigmund shoved his $108,992 stack on the Ac turn but ran into Ivey’s monster. Ivey made the call and shipped the $329,984 pot.
Back at durrrr and Ziigmund’s table, durrrr raised his Ah7hJc3h to $3,000. Ziigmund three-bet to $9,000 with his 9d7d6c4s and durrrr called. The flop hit both players, giving durrrr top-pair, top-kicker with a gutshot straight draw. Ziigmund, on the other hand, had middle pair and a flush draw. Both players checked through and saw the 7c turn. This gave both players two-pair with durrrr having the bigger hand. Ziigmund led out with a pot-sized ($18,000) bet but was raised to $72,000. Ziigmund reraised and put Dwan’s $72,295.25 stack at risk. Dwan called with his two-pair and Ziigmund saw that he was behind to Dwan’s larger two-pair. The Kc on the river did not help Ziigmund and Dwan was awarded the $306,590.50 pot.
At the same table, Ziigmund had the button and raised to $3,000 with AcAdJdTh. Durrrr three-bet to $9,000 with AsKsQs5c and was answered by Ziigmund’s $27,000 four-bet. Dwan reraised to $81,000 and Ziigmund got the rest of Dwan’s $65,292.75 into the pot. Both hands were racing with Ziigmund’s pair of aces leading. The 5h7c2d3c2h board totally missed Dwan and Ziigmund won the $292,585.50 without any post-flop play.
Last week’s final monster pot was played between Patrik Antonius and Ziigmund. On the button, Antonius raised the bet to $3,000 with his AdJdTh8h. Ziigmund reraised to $9,000 with his AsAhKc7s, saw Antonius four-bet to $27,000 and raised once more to $81,000. Antonius made the call in position with only $47,497 left behind. The flop came QsQd5d giving Antonius the nut flush draw and Ziigmund two-pair. Ziigmund got the rest of Antonius’ stack into the pot and saw he was ahead. The 9h on the turn missed Antonius but the 7d completed his flush. Antonius stole the $256,994 pot on the river.
Please visit FlopTurnRiver’s series of high stakes articles next week half-million dollar pots and coverage of durrrr and Isildur1’s epic session!