In a recent Durrrr Challenge pot, Tom “durrrr” Dwan bet out $3,200 and Dan “JungleMan12” Cates made the call on a flop of 9-3-10 with two hearts. The turn was a black nine, putting two nines onboard, and Dwan fired out a bet worth $8,600. Cates requested time before ultimately calling and the river was the three of diamonds. Dwan checked and Cates checked behind only to see that “durrrr” had been dealt pocket nines for quads. As a result, Dwan scooped the $28,000 pot and continued his late charge in the Durrrr Challenge.
While not the largest pot during the recent flurry of activity in the Challenge, Dwan playing quads is not exactly what we’re used to seeing. DurrrrChallenge.com enlisted the guidance of PokerXFactor instructor Chris “Fox” Wallace to break down what could be a game-changing hand.
DurrrrChallenge.com: The most fascinating part about this hand was Dwan checking quads on the river after leading out on the flop and turn. What’s your take?
Chris Wallace: There’s a lot of meta-game going on here. If Dwan shows he can check quads, then when he checks in the future, it might not automatically trigger a bet from Cates. Dwan probably figures that Cates has nothing here and might have even had a timing tell on the turn. If he checks the river, then the draws might bet into him because the three of diamonds filled no one’s draws.
DurrrrChallenge.com: Isn’t checking on the river a bit peculiar because Dwan is traditionally so aggressive? Doesn’t the move raise a red flag for Cates?
Chris Wallace: Maybe Dwan wants to be able to slow down and check once in a while on the river without being bet off his hand. He thinks far enough ahead and thinks this might be a great spot to be able to set up huge check-downs on the river going forward. If Cates feels that Dwan slows down when he has a monster, then Dwan can also slow down with hands like ace-high and bottom pair and not be bet off them down the road. It’s all about thinking ahead.
DurrrrChallenge.com: Cates mucked his cards in this hand after Dwan showed quads. What do you think he had?
Chris Wallace: Cates could have had something like a pair of sixes, Q-J, 8-7, or two hearts. The latter seems fairly likely, although without seeing the whole history between these two, I don’t know if Cates normally ships it in if he has two hearts there or not. He doesn’t have a big hand or he wouldn’t have checked it on the end. If Cates had anything better than a pair of eights, then he would have bet the river.
