Sundays have always been a prime time for most online poker grinders with felt action on major sites taking the spotlight. This Sunday however, everyone’s eyes were centered on what could be the greatest cash game stream in poker history. Hustler Casino Live most recently released an episode featuring YouTube and Twitch’s biggest earners against poker icons Phil Hellmuth and Tom Dwan, and it isn’t even close to what you would expect.
The lineup for the night included Chess queen Alexandra Botez, YouTube superstars MrBeast and Ludwig Ahgren, Twitch personalities Ninja and xQc, “The Yard” podcaster Slime, as well as entrepreneur Alan Keating who drove a ton of the action. Right off the bat, chips were flying across the table with the inexperienced players not the slightest bit afraid to get tangled in pots. The stakes were set at $100/$200 – $200 but as soon as the game started, everyone knew it was going to be way bigger than that. Within the first hour, Keating was already on his third buy-in and none of the poker pros were actually crushing the scene.
BREAKING NEWS:@Ninja has been added to tonight’s lineup!!!
Tonight 8pm PT@MrBeast@LudwigAhgren@Ninja@xQc @phil_hellmuth @TomDwan @alexandravbotez @slime_machine
Alan KeatingHosted by @TuckonSports & @Joeingram1
Watch it here: https://t.co/jXQNWVxtbH pic.twitter.com/phDN23D5eK
— Hustler Casino Live (@HCLPokerShow) May 1, 2022
Straddles of $25k and $400k flips isn’t usually what you would see in games featuring even the biggest of players which left both Dwan and Hellmuth unable to maneuver their way to banking a huge profit. At the end of the day, poker player Keating bagged the largest loss of the 8-hour session of over a million dollars in the red after playing almost every hand he was dealt.
https://twitter.com/alexduvallin/status/1521088957424889856?s=20&t=4Zr40p1P1j7bhnzBD2MLHw
The out-of-this-world cash game has so far racked almost 700k in views after just two days and has also caught many poker pros’ attention. While the community may all know 16-time bracelet winner Hellmuth’s usual reaction to losing, top players were not at all happy with how he took the game. Not only was he not a good sport, but was also one of the tightest players of the night and remained to buy-in short in comparison with how much chips the amateurs actually had in front of them. Doug Polk for one, released his own content about an angle shooting incident that occurred and how overall, the best tournament player ill-represented the community.
Phil isn't gonna like this one https://t.co/o7ok0ZahDm pic.twitter.com/kCiNskqlK7
— Doug Polk (@DougPolkVids) May 3, 2022
Also would like to emphasize @phil_hellmuth is an embarrassment to poker pros. 99% of pros would have a great time and appreciate what’s happening there.
Imagine venturing into poker from chess with @alexandravbotez and see a long time poker legend curse her out over nothing. https://t.co/QIpqm1S2QL
— Lex Veldhuis (@LexVeldhuis) May 2, 2022
Nevertheless, the game was nothing short of thrill and entertainment for all the viewers and poker fans out there. Seeing thousands of dollars on the line with characters unfamiliar with the game and getting legendary players to stack off was almost as fun as watching any episode we have seen before. As many would agree, more streams of the like would be highly welcomed by the poker community and what could possibly bring in a new market for the game.
