Antonius vs Dwan
Poker After Dark, 2009. A cash game on NBC.
Two stars in a televised cash game
Why it is famous
One of the biggest televised set-over-set hands, between two of the best players of the era. Tom Dwan won about $560,000, with the pot run twice and his kings winning both.
What to take from it
Both played it the way a pro would. A set almost never folds in a pot this big.
The hand
Peat A♦3♦
Dwan K♦K♣
Antonius 10♠10♣
Before the flop
Blinds are posted. Peat has the button.
Antonius raises to 4.1K.
Peat calls.
Two other players fold.
Dwan raises to 19.8K.
Antonius calls.
Peat folds.
The flop
Board Q♣10♥4♦
Dwan checks.
Antonius bets 27K.
Dwan calls.
The turn
Board Q♣10♥4♦K♠
Dwan checks.
Antonius bets 59K.
Dwan moves all in.
Antonius calls.
Everyone left is all in, so the rest of the board comes out with no more betting.
The river
Board Q♣10♥4♦K♠6♣
Dwan wins at the showdown with Three of a kind, Kings.
The decisions
- Dwan. Kings are an overpair here. Calling keeps Antonius’s bluffs and weaker queens in, and does not blow up the pot against a set.
- Dwan. Antonius has bet every street, so a check-raise gets the most.
- Antonius. A set almost never folds in a pot this big. Only a few hands beat him: kings, queens, ace-jack and jack-nine. Against kings, only the last ten saves him. Antonius called and was behind: Dwan held kings for top set. A cooler, and both played it the way a pro would.
What the sources do not say. The stakes are not certain: one source gives $300/$600 with a $1,200 straddle and another $300/$600 with a $100 ante. Both are in the pot size used here, and no blinds are shown. The episode, the exact pot and the date are not documented. Reports say $561,800 or "almost $600,000". Antonius’s tens are listed as spades and hearts, and the board ten as hearts, which cannot both be right. His tens are shown as spades and clubs. The pot was run twice and Dwan won both times. Only the first river is shown. The stacks were about $280,000 each, and the size of Dwan’s all in is only reported as over $200,000.
Sources
Practise it in 5 minutes Play this hand, one decision at a time.
Quads is for adults, 18 and over. It teaches with play chips only: there is no real money, ever.