The poker world collectively stood still to watch one of the craziest live streams in poker history. While poker legends Phil Hellmuth and Tom Dwan were no strangers to the Hustler Casino live stream, they had yet to face YouTube and Twitch royalty. MrBeast, Ninja, and other titans of the content creation space made their way to Hustler Casino with hundreds of thousands in tow, ready to take on poker’s best. The action was plentiful and the pots were splashy, but what happened when MrBeast suddenly made the stakes even higher?
The Game: Hustler Casino Live Stream – $100/$200 + $200 Big Blind Ante NLH
Stack Sizes: 280 Big Blinds Effective
Where: Hustler Casino – Los Angeles, California
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A Beast Of A Straddle
A few hours into the stream and having been card dead all evening, MrBeast was itching for some action on the button. Without the slightest peak at his hole cards, the man with over 95 million YouTube subscribers straddled for $25,600. A blind, five-figure straddle was too much for the Poker Brat to resist. Folded to +1 from the straddle, Hellmuth looked down at A♥-8♦ before pushing in his remaining $52,000. Hellmuth hoped to dissuade action with his aggression, but the move was made in vein as chess master Alexandra Botez and high stakes cash game player Alan Keating entered the pot as well with A♦-9♥ and A♣-3♣ respectively.
Despite A♥-8♦ not being a great hand, Hellmuth’s decision to shove was a decent play as his hand would be ahead some percentage of the time. Having already accrued over $300,000, Botez was in decent shape to call holding A♦-9♥ but had to worry about players yet to act. With her stack advantage, Botez should have elected to shove instead of call to defend a decent but vulnerable hand.
Following the call from Botez, Keating was in a decent spot to get it in with A♣-3♣ acknowledging the splashy table and his ability to make a nutted flush. Folded to, MrBeast got the right odds to push in his remaining $81,000 despite still not knowing his hand. Following a quick call from Botez, four players would await a flop worth over $339,000.
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Botez Gets The Best Of It
The Pot: $339,100
The Board: 9♦-8♥-3♦
Hellmuth: A♥-8♦
Botez: A♦-9♥
Keating: A♣-3♣
MrBeast: Q♥-5♠
Hellmuth was already upset when hands were tabled and he saw Botez was just barely ahead, but he would be even more livid when she nailed top pair-top kicker on the flop. A 70% favorite with two more cards to come, Botez (and her backers) prayed that her hand would hold. Seeing an inconsequential 2♠ on the turn, MrBeast offered the dealer $20,000 if he could materialize a queen on the river. The room, the dealer, and the entire live stream held their collective breaths for a very expensive river.
Result: The Chess Champion Checkmates The Table
The 2♦ on the river would provide Botez with the best two pair and a pot worth $339,100. While the Chess Champion threw her hands in the air in celebration, Phil Hellmuth would hang his head in disgust as he criticized Botez’s call. While Phil can’t be faulted for the outcome influencing his opinion, Botez’s call turned out to be the right play rewarding her with her biggest score to date.
Congratulations to Alexandra Botez for an extremely profitable showing on the Hustler Casino live stream. Shout out to Hustler Casino Live for letting us use footage from this historic game, if you want more from the Hustler check out this shocking hand featuring Garrett Adelstein.
