Tom Dwan and Daniel Negreanu Paid $10k Per-Day to Film High Stakes Poker

Image courtesy of PokerGO.com

Tom Dwan, the multi-million dollar Full Tilt Poker winner, sat down earlier this month with Joe Ingram for an hour-plus long conversation. In the most recent edition of the Poker Life podcast we see “durrrr” discuss a wide range of topics- from crazy high-stakes bets to his more serious thoughts on ensuring the integrity of the game.

Just shy of the hour mark, the 3 time WSOP finalist got chatting on the topic of filming High Stakes Poker for the PokerGO network. He comments on the means with which the network would entice him and his high-roller co-stars.

“So, High Stakes Poker I actually like, really liked..” he said. “High Stakes Poker did this one thing… they would pay, I think it was like $10k or something, per-day that you filmed” he continued.

A ten thousand dollar per-day bonus sounds like a pretty good deal by any means. The 2007 WPT finalist elaborates:

“...and that’s not much compared to the size of the games, but it’s just a little something when they were like ‘cmon, do this’”

Life changing money to most- a nice little side order for seasoned poker vets such as Dwan or Negreanu. The price of a new car, a little something extra thrown their way.

Note that Dwan does seem acutely aware that he and his co-stars were very sizably compensated, and almost seems hesitant to discuss how it is dwarfed by cash at stake in the games played on the show.

He goes on to speak very highly of the show, expressing his gratitude for their efforts to “create a good environment”. This highly positive analysis runs in stark contrast to the feelings he expressed about his time on other poker based shows.

“Usually I wouldn’t go back, or I’d leave early or I’d be like ‘this is boring I don’t wanna deal with it’ “ he laughs.

It seems money really does talk in the world of high stakes poker. Not exactly a shocking revelation, however, the New Jersey native did detail some non-financial measures his prefered shows would take to ensure the likes of Phil Ivey, Antonio Esfandiari and Doyle Brunson enjoyed themselves.

“Structure the game the right way. Structure the size the right way. Structure the dynamics…” he explains to Ingram.

These steps could be the key to the show's enduring success- happy players make for fun games and well entertained viewers. Sometimes the simplest formulas really are the best.

Both Dwan and Ingram expressed how they enjoy when new ideas and concepts are introduced in these shows- as after playing the huge amount of hands this pair have, things can understandably begin to get stale.

Check out the podcast in full if you want to hear two great minds of the game discuss all facets of it- a real treat for any poker or Tom Dwan fans out there, and we are well aware, there are plenty of you.