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I think it's fair to say that High Stakes Poker Season 7 really hit its stride this week. Over the weekend, GSN viewers were treated to a succession of big pots and big action. The rich businessmen at the table showed a willingness to mix it up, to the delight of the seasoned professionals.

Few are more seasoned that Barry Greenstein, who after getting shafted for almost $300k at the end of episode 2, came under fire in this week's first hand. The Bear put in a straightforward raise with A-Q and the ever-aggressive owner of download free casino Treasure Island, Phil Ruffin, called with 8-6. More importantly there was an all-in push from Bill Klein with a dominating A-K. Barry called, Ruffin folded, and the duo flipped their cards. Barry's fortunes looked to be taking a turn for the even worse, until an unlikely full house on board resulted in a split pot.

This was the jumping off point for a torrent of action. In the very next hand, $80k was on the line between Klein, who had another A-K, and David "Viffer" Peat with A-9. Once again Klein was on the wrong end of lady luck's whim, as Viffer hit a 9 on the end to complete two pair.

The biggest pot of the night didn't involve any of the stacked amateurs. Old hand Doyle Brunson and up and coming tournament pro Vanessa Selbst got a whole pile of money in the middle. Team PokerStars Download Pro Selbst flopped a straight with Q-9 and Doyle found a flush draw with A-7. With both players all in, they agreed to run it twice and both picked up an equal slice of the $406,000 pot.

That missed opportunity still left Vanessa down around $200k, miles away from Antonio Esfandiari, who began the episode as chip leader with a profit of over $400k.

However he was quickly surpassed by the unstoppable Phil Ruffin. After picking up a few pots early he got into a big hand with Silly Bandz creator, Bob Croak. Ruffin held Q-10 and was awarded the perfect A-J-K flop. Croak, meanwhile, also thought he was onto a good thing with A-J. Bob's hand failed to improve all the way to river where both players committed their entire stacks.

The pot was worth around $250,000, which pushed Ruffin's profits up to almost $1 million. The Treasure Island owner is going to need a few cases to haul all that cash back down the Strip.

That crushing loss was enough for Croak, who said his goodbyes and left looking dejected. He was replaced by online wizard Andrew Robl, who has made a big splash on the live scene lately, finishing 2nd in the WPT Doyle Bruson Five Diamond World Poker Classic for $549,003 and 4th in the NBC National Heads-Up Championship.

Considering the number of millionaires at the table, the first few poker video episodes didn't quite deliver the action we might have hoped for, but things really seem to be hotting up now. New host Norm MacDonald is settling into his role too. Plenty of fans are still up in arms about Gabe Kaplan's departure, but there's no denying Norm is a superior comedian, if not such a dab hand on the felt.