Ever since Nick Vertucci’s unceremonious exit from High Stakes Poker Productions, Hustler Casino Live (HCL) and the rest of the company was run solely by Ryan Feldman, the real mastermind of the whole operation.
After five months, Vertucci’s share of the business has been acquired by none other but NSUS Group Inc, the same entity that owns GGPoker and WSOP, two of the world’s biggest poker brands.
While the financial details of the deal have not been disclosed, the parties involved made it clear that Ryan Feldman would be keeping his role as the show’s main producer, while also taking on some extra responsibilities on the business side of things.
The new partners at NSUS, on the other hand, will use their plentiful resources to help expand the brand and bring it to new audiences, and building further on the significant success Hustler Casino Live and High Stakes Poker Productions have already built.
Hustler Casino Live Enters a New Stage
Ever since launching in 2021, Hustler Casino Live has quickly climbed to the very top of the poker media world and become one of the most popular poker shows on the planet.
With nearly 375,000 YouTube subscribers, HCL is already the most successful poker live stream out there, and things are about to get a whole lot better for them.
With NSUS acquiring a significant piece of the business (likely 50%), HCL and any associated shows that may come in the future are about to get a whole lot of new exposure.
GGPoker and WSOP are two of the most trusted brands in the poker space, and they are both owned by NSUS Group, which means that hundreds of thousands of both online and live players are about to be exposed to the High Stakes Poker Productions products.
While it remains mainly run by Ryan Feldman, the show will surely get a lot of help from NSUS and its various brands, which is almost guaranteed to help with further expansion.
According to Ryan Feldman himself: “This partnership with NSUS marks an exciting new chapter for High Stakes Poker Productions. With the support of a strong, forward-thinking partner, we are positioned to grow Hustler Casino Live even further and continue to offer fans the best live-stream poker content in the world. I am proud to lead the company into the future. The sky is the limit.”
Daniel Negreanu to Play on Hustler Casino Live?
Almost as soon as the news was released that NSUS would be making an investment in High Stakes Productions, rumors started to swirl about Kid Poker’s potential appearance on the show.
Mainly a tournament player, Negreanu has not played in too many cash games in recent years, but that’s all likely about to change.
In a statement of his own, the world’s most popular poker player said: “You rarely see me playing high-stakes poker on streams anymore, but this is going to get me out of retirement and returning to the felt, playing on the most epic cash game stream poker has ever seen. I’m ready to battle!”
This is amazing news for Kid Poker’s massive fan base, but also for all the fans of HCL, who will get to see Daniel in live cash game action, while simultaneously seeing the interest in the show grow exponentially.
Daniel Negreanu is not the only big poker name associated with GGPoker and NSUS either, as poker pros like Fedor Holz and Andy Stacks are also a part of GGPoker’s team of professionals.
Add to that media personalities like Kevin Martin and Alexandra Botez, who also have significant relationships with GGPoker and a huge media following of their own, and it becomes very clear what NSUS has to bring to the table for High Stakes Poker Productions.
The Sky Truly Is the Limit
With the world’s biggest poker live stream and the most successful company in the poker space now fully partnered, the sky really is the limit!
There are almost no limitations to how far the new partners can push things moving forward. From epic cash games involving the likes of Daniel Negreanu, Phil Hellmuth, and Alan Keating, to online qualifiers from GGPoker making their way to play on HCL, the options seem limitless.
Late last year, High Stakes Poker Productions experimented with running a cash game show in Cyprus. With NSUS now heavily involved in the project, it would not be too surprising to see an European equivalent of Hustler Casino Live spring to life in the coming months either.
NSUS and High Stakes Poker Productions have nearly limitless contacts in the poker world and resources at their disposal, and it will be very interesting to see how they use them and where this partnership will take the future of poker live streams as a whole.
All that’s left is to sit back and watch and WSOP, GGPoker, and Hustler Casino Live work together to bring us some of the most epic poker content we have ever seen, along with the most recognizable poker personalities we have all grown to love.
