The Stars Shine In First Episode of High Stakes Poker Season 9

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Updated: January 26, 2023

It’s back and better than ever! After a long wait, season 9 of High Stakes Poker stream returned on streaming channel PokerGO for a brand new episode on Monday 21^st February.

The latest iteration of the hugely popular show features a star-studded cast of famous poker players , with some familiar names and a few new ones in the real money casinos too. The full list as follows: Phil Ivey, Doyle Brunson, Kim Hultman, Tom Dwan, James Bord, Patrik Antonius, Koray Aldemir, and Daniel Negreanu.

The players will compete in a $200/$400 No-Limit Hold’em game with a $100,000 minimum buy-in. One of the most interesting aspects of the show is the introduction of $50,000 bricks of cash on the table for all to see. If the first episode is any indication, then it’s going to be dizzying highs and low lows for everyone at the table.

Fans of the show will be glad to know that both original commentators, A.J. Benza and Gabe Kaplan, are the ones calling the shots during the tense and exciting action on the poker table. First launching on GSN in 2006, High Stakes Poker was aired on the cable network for seven seasons until 2011. However, 2020 saw the return of season 8 exclusively on the PokerGO channel.

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What happened on High Stakes Poker last season?

For those who missed season 8 or simply need a quick summary, here are a few noteworthy moments that happened on High Stakes Poker’s last season.

• The pots made a total of $24,875,700 from 193 hands
• Tom Dwan crushed it, winning 31 pots and tying two. Undoubtedly the MVP of season 8, Dwan was in form and his pots totalled $6,139,900
• Phil Ivey went a bit AWOL during the season, as he only entered eight pots, winning three of them and the largest pot making it to the show was $117,600
• Phil Hellmuth really wanted to go big or go home, as he won a huge pot that was full of drama. Hellmuth went toe-to-toe with Doug Polk, shoving a $97,200 stack into the middle to raise the pot to $203,000. Polk folded and Hellmuth eagerly gathered up the prize.
• There were six pots worth roughly half a million dollars, which meant incredibly thrilling viewing for High Stakes Poker fans (and nervous moments for the players themselves)

Let’s recap episode 1 of the new season

PokerGO President, Mori Eskandani, assured HSP fans that there are a lot of interesting and fun moments to come on the show this season. “Season 9 of High Stakes Poker stream is arguably the best season yet, and we cannot wait for online poker fans to enjoy the game in its purest form at breathtaking stakes,” said Eskandani. “In addition to the star-studded lineups, fans will be pleased to see a revamped set that aims to capture the traditional authenticity of this legendary show.”

While it’s hard to know if season 9 will live up to those lofty promises, episode 1 was certainly exciting enough and there were great moments that poker fans will want to tune in for.

Dwan not kicking things off exactly the way he had in mind

Tom Dwan has been a long-time favourite on HSP for a while, and although most first episodes have seen him walk away with decent to great winnings promotions, it appeared the new season was a bit forgettable for the respected poker player.

At the start of the episode, Doyle Brunson went up to $1,200 from his hand of Ace of Hearts and 10 of Spades, yet the crafty James Bord called with his own hand of Queen of Spades and Queen of Hearts. Dwan quickly turned up the heat and raised it to $5,500 with the Ace of Spades and King of Clubs. Sensing defeat, Brunson folded but Bord went with the move to four-bet up to $25,000.

Dwan shocked everyone by going all-in for roughly $97,000, while Bord snap-called, this meant the two opponents agreed to run it back twice. The first board was 2 of Clubs, 3 of Spades, 8 of Hearts, and 9 of Diamonds, while the second board was 10 of Hearts, 10 of Clubs, Queen of Clubs, Eight of Clubs, and Six of Spades. In the end, both of the boards went the way of Bord, who picked up the large pot. Sadly, that meant rebuying for Dwan.

Aldemir and Antonius face off

Koray Aldemir recently just won the Main Event of the World Series of Poker, but the German poker pro didn’t get things started as good as he’d have liked on HSP.

Aldemir had an incredibly captivating hand during the middle of the season 9 debut episode, with the poker champion raising to $1,200 with the Ace of Diamonds and Jack of Clubs, but then we saw Finland’s Patrik Antonius make a three-bet to $4,000 using the King of Clubs and Queen of Clubs from the small blind.

The flop resulted in the 3 of Spades, Jack of Spades, and 10 of Hearts, and all the signs showed that a big pot was in the works. After the 9 of Diamonds popped up, it was Antonius’ turn to check, which quickly had the chain reaction of Aldemir checking right behind him. When the Ace of Hearts appeared, this was clearly not the card for Aldemir, as a two pair didn’t look strong enough. To end things, it was the Finn taking the $80,000 pot after Aldemir wasn’t able to find a fold.

Ivey looking silent again

Much like he ended season 8, Phil Ivey had a fairly quiet episode. The poker star appeared to fold almost every hand he had and sat soundlessly for a lot of Monday’s initial episode of High Stakes Poker season 9 stream. Ivey did find his voice and became part of the table again later in the episode with an $88,000 pot, but it was still a subdued Ivey that we’re not used to.