Dwan vs Greenstein

High Stakes Poker, Season 5, 2009. Three players see the flop.

A very big pot on television

Why it is famous

Barry Greenstein got his aces all in against Tom Dwan’s top pair with a flush draw, and Dwan’s queen on the turn made trips. The $919,600 pot was then the biggest in televised poker. Two episodes earlier Greenstein had refused to run it twice and cracked Dwan’s aces in a $548,700 pot.

What to take from it

Big draws plus a pair are hands to get all in with. Neither player made a mistake here; the turn decided it.

The hand

Greenstein A♦A♣

Dwan K♠Q♠

Eastgate A♠K♥

Before the flop

Blinds 400 and 800. Greenstein has the button.

Four other players fold.

Eastgate raises to 3.5K.

Greenstein raises to 15K.

Dwan calls.

Another player folds.

Eastgate calls.

The flop

Board Q♥4♠2♠

Dwan bets 28.7K.

Eastgate folds.

Greenstein raises to 100K.

Dwan raises to 244.6K.

Greenstein raises to 436.1K and is all in.

Dwan calls.

Everyone left is all in, so the rest of the board comes out with no more betting.

The turn

Board Q♥4♠2♠Q♣

The river

Board Q♥4♠2♠Q♣7♦

Dwan wins at the showdown with Three of a kind, Queens.

The decisions

Dwan. Top pair with a flush draw is strong against almost everything, and it still has plenty of chances against aces. Leading builds the pot.
Greenstein. An overpair against a lead from the blind: charge the draws.
Dwan. With this much equity, getting all the chips in is fine. Re-raising also wins whenever Greenstein’s raise was a bluff.
Greenstein. The pot is already huge. Aces against a lead and a re-raise are often still ahead of a draw or a weaker queen. Both players got their chips in with a good hand. The turn queen decided it, and nobody made a mistake.

What the sources do not say. The big blind is not identified, and the table has eight players, worked out from the pot. Only the players named in the sources are drawn. Greenstein’s stack is worked out from his all in, and Dwan’s is only known to cover it. One source gives the blinds as $500/$1,000, but those do not add up to the reported pot.

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.