Antonius vs Dwan
Poker After Dark, 2009
Two stars in a televised cash game
The Hand
David "Viffer" Peat, Tom Dwan and Patrik Antonius.
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
- Dwan checks.
- Antonius bets 27K.
Dwan calls. Why
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.
The Turn
Dwan checks. Why
Dwan. Antonius has bet every street, so a check-raise gets the most.
- Antonius bets 59K.
- Dwan moves all in.
- Antonius calls. The famous decision
The River
Play Antonius vs Dwan, decision by decision
Play This Hand
The turn
The Famous Decision
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.
The Result
Dwan wins at the showdown with Three of a kind, Kings.
- DwanK♦K♣Wins
- Antonius10♠10♣
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.
Sources
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.
Make all three decisions, then see what really happened
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