ShareWith the World Series of Poker in full flow it’s hard to imagine any game beating it to the headlines, but that’s exactly what Hustler Casino live did last weekend, bringing Tom Dwan and Phil Ivey to the table – with mixed fortunes awaiting the legendary duo.
The livestreamed show created by Ryan Feldman and Nick Vertucci landed a major boost when Ivey and Dwan agreed to play in a two-night, highstakes cash game.
With stakes of $200/$400 and a $100k minimum buy-in, the likes of Garrett “GMan” Adelstein, Matt Berkey and some deep-pocketed regs provided the opposition for two of the game’s most-loved – or at least, most famous – players.
The game seemed to barely interest Ivey, though, who spent much of his time away from the table following his sportsbetting picks, but still managing to chuck $147,000 away to his fellow players in the Friday evening session.
It was Matt Berkey who pulled in the biggest win of the first session, booking $260,000, and looking forward to day two, when Tom Dwan was due to join the table, having somehow missed his expected Friday night slot.
Twenty-four hours later Dwan did indeed show up, and it proved to be well worth his time as he racked up pot after pot, including a $232k pot when Dylan Gang decided to shove pre-flop with pocket treys.
Dwan’s big slick didn’t hit, but he still raked in the monster pot as the board produced tens and eights to counterfeit Gang’s hand.
With Ivey once again looking thoroughly disinterested, it was left to Dwan, Berkey and Adelstein to carry the show, with the taking blows from every direction.
Rivered quads for Dwan against GMan’s turned straight could, and perhaps should, have cost him Adelstein more than it did, but he still ended the session in a $197,000 hole.
Dwan, on the other hand, emerged with a $247,000 profit, while Berkey added another $139,000 to his tally, just breaking the $400k total for the weekend.
It was certainly fun for the fans, but with Ivey out of sorts and reportedly claiming he “isn’t a guinea pig” – that apparently means no vaccine and no WSOP this year for the game’s most enigmatic player.
