Poker After Dark: Tom Dwan Has Million Dollar Night

The first night of Poker After Dark’s return on Monday wowed viewers on PokerGO with fast action, huge pots and Tom Dwan’s return to US poker. Viewer expectations were blown out of the water right out of the gate when Andrew Robl bought in for $1 million and both he and Dwan finished  play north of seven-figures.

“The game played a little bigger today – a lot more raising and re-raising versus the multi-way pots like yesterday,” Dwan said. “Luckily, it worked out alright for me.”

Doyle Brunson, Jean-Robert Bellande, Bill Klein and Lauren Roberts filled out the table for the $100,000 minimum buy-in cash game and over $3 million was in play by the end of the night. With $200/$400 blinds and either a single or double straddle for most of the night and three-bet flops, pots were consistently over five-figures.

“This is great – I played with Doyle and Tom here nine years ago,” Robl said. “It’s a big game, a lot of huge pots – it’s fun. I’ve played with these guys a lot so I was confident coming in .”

Andrew Robl set the tone Tuesday night with a $1 million buy-in. (Photo: Poker Central)
Monday’s highlight was Tom Dwan dragging a $700,000 pot and Tuesday’s session was also action packed. Roberts was felted early in the night by Bellande when her two pair fell to Bellande’s straight. Bellande stacked her off, she left the set needing a break but never returned and most of the the night action was five-handed.

A few minutes later Klein lost a $600,000 pot when he held two pair against Dwan’s set of deuces. Klein reloaded a short while later and when he returned Bellande said, “By the way Bill, I see that you’ve come back with just enough to cover.”

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Klein laughed and told Bellande he was on his list of players he owed a beat to. “Really?” Bellande asked and Klein promptly pulled out his wallet and had a list of about ten players. Some were circled and some had a check – all different markings for Klein’s intended revenge.

Doyle Brunson was happy to be back under the lights until his luck turned south. (Photo: Poker Central)
Brunson struggled to get any traction during the session. He reloaded for the game a couple times and got pocket aces cracked twice – which fueled a steady downward trend for his stack. He left with a few minutes remaining on the clock for the day.

Hey @Andrew_Robl, we thought you were playing “friendly” with @TexDolly? #PokerAfterDark pic.twitter.com/rd14fc6sJG

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Bellande was in a great mood after Monday’s game “got him unbroke.” He was surprised as anyone by as how well he ran after a year of solid play. He held a healthy stack most of the game, drove the action and acted as host for the game – until he lost a monster pot late in the session to Dwan.

Bellande drove a lot of action, lost a huge pot but still finished up on the session. (Photo: Poker Central)
Dwan picked up another huge pot late in the night at the expense of Bellande. Both players flopped a set – Dwan with jacks and Bellande with deuces and checked to the turn. Bellande bet $30,000 on the turn, Dwan raised to $100,000 and Bellande called. The river was a blank, Bellande checked and Dwan bet $170,000.

Bellande talked through Dwan’s hand possibilities, landing correctly on a set of jacks. Bellande called against his gut and that pot was worth $575,000 to Dwan. Both Dwan and Robl finished the night with seven-figure stacks.

Ali Nejad returned to the booth for live, solo commentary – and worked a bit harder today with the players not as talkative as Day 1. Drea Renee returned as host for sideline interviews for the best seat in the house. 

Rewatch Day 1 of Poker After Dark The Return of Tom Dwan and the replay of Day 2 when available exclusively on PokerGO. Wednesday marks the third and final night of the huge cash game, before returning next week with an all-new lineup.