Poker pro wins record $3M pot with gutsy call

Tom Dwan has been involved in some of the biggest pots in poker history and added another to the list Tuesday.

The high-stakes pro made a gutsy call to win a hand worth almost $3.1 million during Hustler Casino Live’s “Million Dollar Game,” the largest in poker streaming/TV history.

Dwan clashed with Wesley “Wes Side” Fei, a cryptocurrency investor and regular on the Los Angeles high-stakes poker scene, during the fourth and final day of the $1 million buy-in cash game.

Fei three-bet to $30,000 preflop holding ace-king offsuit and action folded around to Dwan, who made it $100,000. After another player folded, Fei bet $275,000 and Dwan eventually made the call.

Adding to the drama, the electronic card reader did not pick up Dwan’s hand, leaving viewers to wonder what he was holding.

The flop came 8-8-3 with two diamonds, and Dwan check-called a $125,000 bet from Fei. After the five of hearts on the turn, Dwan checked and Fei bet another $350,000 on the turn.

“Wesley’s hands are shaking,” commentator David Tuchman said.

Dwan called to push the pot over $1.5 million, and there were more fireworks after the six of clubs on the river. Dwan checked again and Fei, holding just ace-high, put Dwan all-in for his final $786,000.

Dwan deliberated for several minutes, and the card reader finally showed he was holding pocket queens. Moments later, he put in a stack of chips declaring a call and looked stunned when Fei flipped over his failed bluff.

The pot was officially worth $3,081,000, while the entire hand lasted close to 15 minutes.

The previous record for the largest pot in broadcast poker history came in 2018 when Dwan lost a $2.35 million pot to Paul Phua at the Triton Poker Super High Roller Jeju Cash Game.

Dwan ended with a profit of $1.6 million, his biggest win ever on a stream/TV game, according to Hustler Casino Live.

Fei got a good portion of his money back in a hand early Wednesday as he won a hand worth $2.25 million against a player named “LSG Hank” that was the second-biggest in U.S. streamed/televised history.

In February, professional poker player Patrik Antonius won a pot worth $1.978 million during PokerGO’s “No Gamble, No Future Cash of the Titans” cash game at Aria.

Contact David Schoen at dschoen@reviewjournal.com or 702-387-5203. Follow @DavidSchoenLVRJ on Twitter.