"High Stakes Hybrid" Opener Live on PokerGO

After close to two months of straight No Limit Hold’em action on Poker After Dark, last month’s “PLOMG” sessions were the first to feature a new variant of poker. This week’s “High Stakes Hybrid” sessions will be the first to feature a brand-new format, one that has never been seen on Poker After Dark or PokerGO.

In each “High Stakes Hybrid” session, players will start with $100,000 in cash chips, but they won’t be playing a standard cash game. Instead, the blinds will open at $200/$400 and progressively increase to $300/$600, $400/$800, and $600/$1,200 throughout the night. The new hybrid cash game format will combine cash game and tournament action and while the structure is new, most of the players competing in “High Stakes Hybrid” week will be familiar faces to Poker After Dark fans.

Doug Polk, Jason Koon, and 2015 Super High Roller Bowl winner Brian Rast have each appeared on a handful of Poker After Dark episodes since the series rebooted this summer, along with financier Lauren Roberts, who played in the opening “The Return of Tom Dwan” cash games.

Roberts isn’t the only player that comes from the business world, as Dan Shak and Brandon Steven, who each boast impressive High Roller results on their tournament resumes, are making their Poker After Dark debuts. Hedge fund manager Mike Baxter is also making his first appearance, after playing on both Poker After Dark and High Stakes Poker nearly a decade ago.

The first “High Stakes Hybrid” session is now live on PokerGO and the rest of the week’s action, following the same structure on Wednesday and Thursday, will start at a new time, with cards hitting the felt at 6 PM ET. Follow Poker Central and PokerGO for exclusive content during “High Stakes Hybrid” week and be sure to catch up on past Poker After Dark episodes that are ready to stream on-demand on PokerGO.