Dan Shak Shines In "High Stakes Hybrid" Premiere

Poker After Dark returned on Tuesday night with the debut of the hyped “High Stakes Hybrid.” The cash game and tournament combination format played seven-handed with Mike Baxter making his return to the Poker After Dark stage with other veterans surrounding him. The episode appeared exclusively on PokerGO and served as the premiere of the new 6 PM ET starting time.

The $100,000 buy-in game featured a mixture of professionals and business persons with Jason Koon and Doug Polk on one end of the table staring down Brandon Steven and Dan Shak. 2015 Super High Roller Bowl champion Brian Rast and Lauren Roberts filled out the rest of the table.

The table talk was lively amongst the group and hit a high point midway through the show. Koon brought up the topic of near-death experiences and shortly after, all seven players relayed a story of a time when they almost lost their life prematurely.

The blinds escalated to the tune of 90 minutes per level and players were relatively deep stacked throughout giving each of them a chance to simultaneously show off their cash game and tournament chops. The big blind started at $400 and finished up at $1,200 before the end of the night.

With 250 big blinds to start with, the action was expected to be slow early on and Lauren Roberts managed to dodge an early exit by making a great fold to Dan Shak. Roberts laid down ace-king on a king-high board to the pocket aces of Shak to give herself a chance to stay in the game.

A “legendary” #PokerAfterDark lay down protects @PlayPokerLkAMan‘s ?? early in the “High Stakes Hybrid” opener. LIVE: https://t.co/TeDeb5Xmhx pic.twitter.com/Sj4YwsgsOV

— PokerGO (@PokerGO) October 10, 2017

Shak continued to chip up from there and got the best of Brandon Steven when the two businessmen collided. Steven turned two pair but it was Shak’s straight who emerge victorious during the encounter.

Picking up the action with the board reading seven-six-two-king-nine without a completed flush draw, Shak bet $6,000 with ten-eight offsuit. Steven raised to $14,000 total holding nine-seven and Shak came back over the top for $21,000 more. Steven eventually paid off the wager and Shak dragged the pot with the stone nuts.

An action turn and some river raises shoot @daniel_shak to the top of the #PokerAfterDark “HSH” leaderboard ?? pic.twitter.com/iTmaeispWO

— PokerGO (@PokerGO) October 11, 2017

That hand boosted Shak to over $200,000 sitting in front of him and he held on through the end of the session to be the night’s biggest winner. There were quite a few changes in stack sizes during the session and only Baxter hit the rail before play ended. Even after being relieved of his chips, Baxter hung around to enjoy the jovial atmosphere at the table.

New episodes of “High Stakes Hybrid” will air on Wednesday and Thursday night exclusively onPokerGO at the new Poker After Dark start time of 6 PM ET. The lineups are subject to change through the end of the week and should any adjusments take place, be sure to check out PokerCentral.com for any updates.