Phil Hellmuth was in fine form on the latest episode of High Stakes Poker (PokerGO photo)

James Bord had a story about a bike ride. Chamath Palihapitiya had some insight on how the Houston Rockets changed basketball. And Phil Hellmuth had a rant about just how bad others play. That and a handful of six-figure pots were the highlights from this week’s episode of High Stakes Poker on PokerGO.

Joining Hellmuth, Bord, Palihapitiya, at the start of the episode were Phil Ivey, Tom Dwan, Lazaro Hernandez, Jake Daniels, and Brandon Adams. As usual, the stakes were $400/$800 for the No Limit Hold’em cash game.

As he is prone to do, Dwan decided to show some aggression early. Hernandez called from UTG with 8s6s, Daniels raised to $4,000 with Jd7d before Dwan re-raised to $17,000 with AhKs. Hernandez folded but Daniels clicked back, making it $51,000 to go. Dwan took a moment before moving all in for $174,000 forcing Daniels to muck his cards. Dwan added $52,200 to his stack without even seeing a flop.

Not long after regaling the table with his story about attempting to win a prop bet by riding a bike from Miami to Los Angeles, Bord sent Hellmuth on a trip to Tiltsville. From UTG, Bord called with As9s. Daniels, with 2c2h, and Ivey, holding 7d4d, both called. From the big blind however, Hellmuth raised to $4,800 with JsJh. All three players called to see a flop of KcKsTd. Hellmuth opted to check and Bord bet $7,000, forcing Ivey and Daniels to fold. Hellmuth called and then checked in the dark. The Ac on the turn gave Bord top pair. He bet $12,000 sending Hellmuth into an early tailspin.

Hellmuth: “What are you doing, Bordie?”
Bord: “I believe it’s called gambling.”
Hellmuth: “You trying to give me money?”
Bord: “Yeah, definitely.”

Hellmuth called and then checked when the 6s completed the board. Bord turned over the winning hand and Hellmuth launched into a rant that had PokerGO’s sensors pounding the beep button. The Poker Brat routine continued through the next hand that saw Hellmuth win a small pot off of Dwan with QcQd. After giving Dwan the rundown on Bord’s win, Hellmuth made it clear he was over it.

“I’ve processed it,” Hellmuth said, speaking to Bord. “You’re going down. Ten years ago, you might have tilted me, but now I see it for what it was.”

In the aftermath of Hellmuth’s loss, his good friend Palihapitiya became the latest player to make quads this season and the venture capitalist got paid. After Palihapitiya straddled to $1,600, Dwan raised to $5,000 with 7d5h, Hellmuth folded 6d6h before Palihapitiya re-raised to $17,000. Dwan called. The Ts9s5c flop gave Palihapitiya a set and left Dwan with bottom pair. Palihapitiya bet $20,000 and Dwan called. The 9d turn gave Palihapitiya quad nines and with the pot at $76,000, both players checked. The 7c river gave Dwan two pair. Palihapitiya bet $85,000 and Dwan leaned back in his chair smiling, eventually telling Palihapitiya, “kinda feels like you might be going for it”. Dwan called and Palihapitiya showed him the goods and raked in a $246,000 pot.

Palihapitiya featured in the next big pot, this time taking on Adams. Palihapitiya raised to $2,300 with JhJs and Adams called with 3h3s. Adams moved ahead after the Tc5s3c flop. Palihapitiya lead for $4,000 before Adams raised to $14,000. Palihapitiya called and then checked after the 2c turn. Adams bet $22,000 and Palihapitiya called. The 8d river got Palihapitiya to check again. Adams bet $35,000 and Palihapitiya called and Adams took down the $148,600 pot.

At this point, Ivey left the game having not played a significant pot on this episode. Jason Koon replaced him and sat down with $500,000 but stayed out of the picture though the end of the episode.

The last significant hand featured the key figures in the big pots played by Palihapitiya. From UTG, Adams raised to $2,500 with AsKs. Action folded around to Dwan in the big blind and he re-raised to $10,000 with AdAh. Adams called. The flop came 9s3c2h and Adams called Dwan’s bet of $15,000. The Ts turn gave Adams the nut flush draw. Dwan bet $40,000 and once again, Adams called. The 4h river was no help for Adams. With the pot at $131,200, Dwan moved ll in for $145,000 effective and Adams threw his cards away, allowing Dwan to take the pot and add $65,400 to his winnings for the episode.

Dwan ended up with a $78,000 net win but was not the biggest winner. Thanks largely to making quads against Dwan’s rivered two pair, Palihapitiya ended up with a $87,100 uptick. The biggest loser on the show was Lazaro Hernandez who lost $89,700. Hellmuth wound up losing $38,500.

The next episode of High Stakes Poker debuts on PokerGO on Wednesday, February 24 and once again features Hellmuth, Dwan, and Koon.