Tom 'Durrrr' Dwan is one of the most interesting high stakes poker players in the world today. In 'Tom Dwan's Big Pots' he joins PokerOrg to talk us through some of the biggest pots ever broadcast, sharing his thought processes, reads and memories of these nose-bleed hands.
In the first of this regular series, Tom looks back at the biggest pot ever broadcast to date: his $3.1m hand against Wesley Fei in May 2023.
Hole cards. Board cards. Stack sizes. Actions. The story of a poker hand can be told by reading through a hand history. But you won't get the whole story that way. And the most interesting part of any story is the inner monologues of the players involved.
Last year Tom Dwan won the biggest pot ever televised, live on stream at Hustler Casino Live’s Million Dollar Cash Game. Heads-up vs Wesley Fei, the sheer size of the pot was enough to grab the poker world’s attention.
$3.1m is big. It’s big enough that, if you had won that in lifetime live tournament earnings, you’d be ahead of the likes of Tom McEvoy, Viktor Blom and Phil Galfond.
The size of the pot is interesting, yes, and it’s what made the headlines and set the records. But what makes it even more fascinating is all the additional aspects of the story that wouldn’t make it into a hand history. We’re talking about stuff like:
- An offhand comment Wesley made during an earlier hand
- Table image, and how Wesley had been being needled for playing too tight
- The fact Doug Polk had accidentally seen Wesley’s hand, and how each player responded in and after the moment
- Live reads, including Wesley’s body language after going all-in on the river
- How many other pots that size Tom Dwan has played
Tom Dwan reveals what was going on in his head during the record-breaking, multi-million dollar hand. Hit play on the video above to see a fascinating and fresh analysis of one of the most notable hands in recent years.
