What’s the highest you’ve ever won? a single poker hand with a few friends? Maybe $50? $60? Maybe you got really lucky at a casino and walked away with a few hundred. An enjoyable evening, but nothing compared to what a player won during a live streamed poker tournament last night. They ended up raising over $3 million with just one hand.
Attention: We’re going to talk about the hand, how it ended and most importantly, who won and who lost in the big event. So if you don’t want to be spoiled or anything, here’s your warning!
Late at night on May 30th, during the Hustler Casino Live Million Dollar GameTwo players – Tom Dwan and Wesley “Wes Side” Fei – faced off in what would go on to become the largest recorded pot in televised poker history. The grand total was $3,081,000. And one of the players was bluffing, only with a high card and desperate hopes of getting away with all the money.
How one person won $3 million in a single poker hand
As reported by WorldPokerTour.com, the historic Texas Hold’Em hand began with “LSG Hank” opening for $7,000. Fei, sitting on an odd ace and king, raised the bet to $30,000 preflop. A moment later, another player at the table, Doug Polk, told everyone he saw Fei’s hand and folded after looking at his own cards. Then it was Dwan’s turn and he increased the bet to $100,000 while the people at home, including the announcers, were left in the dark as to what cards he had because the card reader built into the table didn’t recognize them. “LSG Hank,” who started the hand, folded and Fei then raised Dwan by $275,000. After thinking about it, Dwan called.
The pot was now said to be $562,000.
The flop came and it didn’t help Fei at all. At this point, he was out of crap beyond his ace. However, he bluffed and bet $125,000. After talking to the dealer again and checking his cards again, Dwan called. The turn card, also known as the fourth card dealt by the dealer, didn’t help Fei either, but that wasn’t all. The pot was now over $800,000 and a spokesperson mentioned that Fei’s hands “shook” as he stacked chips and considered what to do next. Fei bet again, this time pushing $350,000 worth of chips into the pot. Dwan, whose cards were unknown to anyone, called again.
The pot was now $1.5 million.
At this point, the fifth and final card, also known as the river, was dealt by the dealer, and that didn’t help Fei either. He was now down to an ace high, which was never a particularly good hand, and certainly not a good hand to have in a situation like this.
And yet, with trembling hands, Fei declared that he was “all in”. Dwan was confused and even asked if he was sure. Fei was sure. At this point, Dwan took a few minutes to count his chips, drink some water, and figure out exactly what hand Fei was holding and if he was bluffing. Meanwhile, Fei laid his head on the table and barely moved for the next three and a half minutes.
“What the hell…?” Dwan wondered. “Doug saw his hand… that’s a weird frigging hand. Doug saw his hand and tried to talk him out of it [raising before the flop.] He [raised] Despite it…”
It was just past this point in the hand, while other players watched quietly, when the table’s card reader picked up Dwan’s hand: a pair of pocket queens. He had the winning hand. The question was, would Fei’s bluff win the day, or would Dwan call his all-in bet and win the biggest poker pot in television history?
Dwan collected his chips and raised Fei’s bet while calling his bluff. When the cards were turned, Dwan was the winner. His two queens had just netted him a whopping $3 million, making history.
After 13-hour Huster live poker gamewhich Dwan would eventually get away with $2.6 million profit. After the defeat Fei took to Twitter to thank everyone who watched him play and that he still felt “really good” after losing over $750,000. He also mentioned that his professional poker career is only a year and a half old. It’s impressive as such a new player to already be involved in one of the greatest hands in history, even if you ended up losing it.
