The cash game fans had a lot to enjoy last week, with both HCL and KPC Live airing multiple big poker live streams, with plenty of familiar faces in action and big pots to go around.
Mariano, Big Mike, Jellyfish, Rampage, and Mike X were all back in action at Hustler Casino, and although the games were not as big as they get at times, we saw quite a few interesting hands go down between our heroes.
Over in Jeju, the action was massive once again, as Tom Dwan was the only Western player in the mix as the Asian high rollers competed at who would pull off the bigger bluff.
For everyone who didn’t have the time to watch the tens of hours of raw footage, we are bringing a few of the most interesting hands in a shorter and more digestible format.
Big Mike Flushes Out Mariano
Friday streams on Hustler Casino Live tend to get the action going, and last week was no exception, as the chips were flying and everyone was playing looser than they would in a normal game.
One of the biggest pots of the day started with a few $200 limps before Big Mike bumped it up to $4,000 off his $185k stack, holding Q♥10♥.
Next to act was Jack C, who had A♠J♣ and just under $40k in his stack, which made his re-raise to $17k look even stronger. Yet, that didn’t deter Mariano with 4♥4♦ or Mike X with A♦J♥ from cold-calling the 3-bet.
Big Mike closed the action with a call of his own, and there was over $68k in the pot before the flop was even dealt. The flop brought 8♥7♣2♥, and only Big Mike’s hand improved in a significant way.
Jack C moved all-in for $19k more, and Mariano made the call with two players still to act behind him. Mike X got out of the way, but Big Mike had to at least call with his flush draw.
Big Mike is having himself a day 🙌 pic.twitter.com/PSVqZ7sCmb
— Hustler Casino Live (@HCLPokerShow) August 22, 2026
With over $130k now in the pot, the dealer put out the 7♥, improving Big Mike to a Queen-high flush. He checked his option, and Mariano took the bait in a small way, betting $25k into the massive pot.
Big Mike once again just called, setting a potential trap for the river. When the 6♠ rolled off, he checked one more time, but unfortunately for him, Mariano checked back this time.
Big Mike scooped the biggest pot of the game, worth over $181k, and was eventually the game’s biggest winner with a $215k profit, while Mariano ended up losing about $35k on the day.
Winston Sets the River Trap for Mario
Last week’s Wet Wednesday show on HCL brought out the kinds of Jellyfish, Julia, Big Fat Fish, Big John, and Tyler D, but one of the most interesting hands came down to Winston and Mario.
A bunch of players limped into the pot before the flop, with Winston potentially setting the trap from the get-go holding A♣Q♣. When no one took the bait, five players went to a flop of Q♥7♦6♠, significantly above average for Winston’s hand.
Yet, he would have to fade a lot of cards, as Mario had 5♦4♠ for an open-ender, Big Fat Fish held 8♠5♠ for a two-way straight draw of his own, and even Tyler D had a piece of the board with his 7♥5♥.
Mario opened the betting with a $500 bet, which got called by both Big Fat Fish and Tyler D, before Winston made a modest raise to $2,000. Everyone made the call, taking the pot up to $8,550.
Mario & Winston had been battling all show long
— Hustler Casino Live (@HCLPokerShow) August 20, 2026
And then THIS happens on the very last hand of the night… 👀 pic.twitter.com/JfHkQrgkqS
The turn card was the J♣, which didn’t really improve anyone’s hand. Winston now bet $4,300 and got action from Mario, while Big Fat Fish decided to let go of his open-ender, despite getting a good price on a rainbow board.
When Tyler D also got out of the way, the two players were heads-up, and the river card was the J♦. This time around, Winston went for the cheeky play, as he checked his two pair and set the trap for Mario.
Mario could not credibly represent any hands, except perhaps QJ or a flopped set, but he decided to go for a massive $23k overbet, repping one of these hands.
While it was possible Mario had a better hand, Winston could not really do much of anything other than make the call, and Mario’s hand flew into the muck at the speed of light.
This hand helped Winston become the game’s big winner, up $85k, while Mario also managed to stay above water with a modest $11k win for the day.
A Bao Pulls Off a Big Bluff on KPC Live
It was a different kind of game we saw in this week’s edition of KPC Live, where the likes of Tom Dwan, Wangye, A Bao, and Yu Lei played $100/$200 NLH with a $500 Squid Game on.
The straddles were quickly on, and the chips were flying, as the high rollers seemed eager for action. Limping was the norm, so our big hand started with a few limps as well, before Xiao made it $7k to go with his A♦J♦.
Wangye was next to act with his 10♦9♦, and he decided to go the aggressive route, re-raising to $23k with nothing but suited connectors.
One would imagine the action would fold back to Xiao, but instead, it only folded to A Bao, who had A♠J♠ in the hole. With two raises in front of him, no one would have blamed him for folding, but he had other ideas in mind.
A Bao made it $60k to go, putting both his opponents in the blender. The 4-bet was enough to get rid of Xiao, but the price was too good for Wangye, who made the call.
There was already $128,600 in the pot when the dealer put out a flop of Q♠9♥7♠. Wangye had the best hand, but all the momentum was on A Bao’s side.
With his flush draw, he bet out $40k on the flop, a bet that was easily called by Wangye, who had middle pair and plenty of ways to improve on the turn.
The turn card was the 7♣, which didn’t improve either player, but did make Wangye’s hand a little better in theory.
That didn’t bother A Bao, who moved all-in for $188k with his flush draw, putting Wangye in a very difficult situation.
After thinking about it for a few minutes, Wangye eventually decided to fold his pair of Nines, although he was well aware that A Bao could be bluffing.
We never got to find out if Wangye’s hand would have held up, but A Bao won a pot with more than $200k in it before his all-in bet without having to reveal his cards.
A Bao took home a hefty $285k profit from the game, while Wangye didn’t have the best day in the office, dropping $164k along the way.
Neither was the game’s biggest winner or loser, however, as Tom won $392k and Xiaoyu lost $442k in another massive high roller game, the kind of which we’ve been seeing regularly on KPC Live.
