In our Poker Hand of the Week we analyze the biggest pot of the last High Stakes Poker Season 9 Episode worth $407,000 won by DoorDash founder Stanley Tang against cash game legend Tom “durrrr” Dwan.
Poker Hand of the Week Setup
Our Poker Hand of the Week comes from High Stakes Poker Season 9 Episode 14, which featured poker superstars Phil Ivey, Daniel Negreanu, Tom Dwan as well as founder of delivery & takeout service DoorDash Stanley Tang.
They are playing 7-max NL $500/$1,000 and Tom Dwan has Stanley Tang easily covered. Effective stack sizes at the start of the Poker Hand of the Week are 193 big blinds.
Poker Hand of the Week Action
Preflop:
Stanley Tang straddles to $2,000 and Tom Dwan raises from the cutoff to $5,000 with Q♣10♦. Jason Koon completes from the small blind with A♣3♣ and Tang defends his straddle with 10♠7♠. Pot Size: $17,000
Flop:
3-way to an extremely draw-heavy flop of J♥8♠Q♠, which hits both Dwan and Tang hard. It checks around to the initial raiser Tom Dwan, who has flopped top pair plus a gutshot straight draw, but is actually only a 53% favourite to win the hand!
Stanley checks to Tom, who makes a 59% pot continuation bet. Tang now check-raises to $30,000 with his flush draw plus inside straight draw and Tom calls. Pot Size: $77,000
Turn:
The 2♣ on the turn is as blank as it gets. Tang decides to lead for $40,000 with his combo draw and Dwan calls again. Pot Size: $157,000
River:
Stanley not only binks the flush on the 9♠ river, but it also gives Tom Dwan the straight.
Tang elects that a value bet of $125,000 (80% pot) is the right sizing. Dwan goes deep into the tank, before ultimately end up making the call.
Stanley Tang wins the biggest pot of the High Stakes Poker Season 9 Episode 14 Finale worth a staggering $407,000!
Poker Hand of the Week Analysis
Very interesting spot. Let’s go through this poker hand step by step.
The preflop raise with Q10o from the cutoff is as standard as the straddle defend with 107s.
The hand gets interesting on the flop, when both opponents hit it very hard. Tom Dwan has top pair plus gutshot, while Stanley Tang has a massive draw (flush draw + inside straight draw). Please note that Dwan is only a 53% favourite here to win the pot with an 11% chance of a tie.
Tom goes for a standard cbet and then Stanley check-raises. I do like this check-raise a lot, since he has a good equity and gets a lot of better hands to fold.
On the blank turn the question for Tang is: to continue or not to continue? The DoorDash founder continues with a 52% pot second barrel, but since nothing has changed Tom Dwan makes the call again.
The river is almost perfect for Tang as it not only makes him the flush, but also Dwan the straight. A big value bet is in order on this very wet board and Stanley Tang decides that 80% pot is the right sizing.
And it turns out to be that he is correct as Tom Dwan does pay him off and the businessman wins a massive $407K pot.
Poker Hand of the Week Conclusion
It’s always very interesting, when an amateur goes up against a seasoned cash game pro and this time the amateur even came out on top!
And to be honest Stanley Tang played this hand almost to perfection with a nice check-raise on the flop, and good sizings on the turn and river winning the maximum from Tom Dwan in this exciting hand.
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Watch the Poker Hand of the Week from 7:25 here:
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