The new year has brought us a string of exciting high-stakes poker games on Hustler Casino Live, with a handful of players dominating the narrative, including Eshan “Brown Balla” Bhalla, Britney, and Mariano.
Brown Balla and Mariano were the stars of the show once again in the most recent Wacky Wednesday HCL stream, as they joined a lineup that included Irish John, Shimmy, Henry, and Efan.
In the last showdown between the two, Mariano got the better of Brown Balla both on and off the stream, but this time around both players walked away with big wins.
For Eshan, the stream was an opportunity to bounce back from last week’s loss, while Mariano was able to continue his incredible streak and add another $58k to more than $200k he won since January 1.
You can check out the entire 5-hour stream below, or keep on reading to find out how things went for the two Hustler Casino Live legends and which players found themselves on the flip side of the coin.
Brown Balla Comes Back from a Significant Loss
Last week was quite brutal for Brown Balla, who ended last Friday’s stream with a loss of $75k. According to Mariano’s most recent vlog, the hole grew even deeper after the stream, thanks in large to a huge $100k pot played between the two players, which went Mariano’s way.
This time around, things went a lot better for Eshan, as he was able to get the cards going his way and made some strong plays to ensure he would be the biggest winner of the day.
Brown Balla’s stack grew at a steady pace without huge swings for a couple of hours, before he won a $25k pot with A♥Q♦ against Sandor’s A♣J♠ when all the money went in before the flop.
Henry was the next victim of Eshan’s run on the day, as he called off a $28k 4-bet shove with just 7♣7♦, only to run into K♥K♣.
The two ran it only once, and the pocket kings held up, which propelled Brown Balla’s stack to nearly $80k on the day.
Bhalla’s stack hovered around this number for the remainder of the relatively short session, and he ended up winning $63k, a great way to bounce back from last week’s unfortunate losses.
Mariano Continues Dominating the HCL Games
While Eshan was the biggest winner of Wednesday’s stream, the games have been all about Mariano, who is easily the year’s biggest winner so far.
The Argentinian poker vlogger started the session after winning more than $200k in his first three session, and he kept on rolling over his opposition once more.
Mariano started his session by running a successful two-barrel bluff against Henry, getting him to fold the best hand and setting the tone for the rest of the session.
An hour later, Mariano was able to get Efan to pay him off with just pocket fours on a board of 3♦7♥9♦3♥J♥, which once again showcased the kind of table image Grandoli exudes.
Mariano pulled off another successful bluff with just eight-high against Benji, who was forced to fold his king-high, thus once again winning a significant pot with no pair.
Mariano’s biggest post of the day came in a somewhat bizarre hand against Shimmy, who started the hand by raising to $1,400 with K♣10♣.
Grandoliresponded with a 3-bet to $5,800 from the cutoff, and Shimmy decided he was having no more of Mariano’s aggression as he moved in for $35,850 in total.
Mariano had a bit of a decision to make as he only held 10♠10♦, but eventually made the call. He quickly got the good news, as he completely dominated his opponent’s hand.
The first board gave Mariano a set, and despite making two pair, his opponent was not able to win half of the pot. The second board ran completely clean, which meant Mariano would scoop a pot worth more than $72k.
The live stream ended with Mariano scooping a $58k win, continuing his incredible year and steadily climbing toward the biggest upswing of his poker career.
What Makes Mariano So Dominant on HCL?
After booking another successful year with half a million in winnings in 2024, Mariano kicked off his 2025 with a bang, winning over a quarter of a million before January is over.
Of course, poker is a swingy game and a few bad sessions could annul all the progress, but the Argentianian’ confidence at the table and ability to make the right decision time and time again make him a fierce opponent.
Unlike many other HCL regulars who often play inconsistently and erratically, Mariano plays a consistent and steady style of poker that constantly puts him in profitable situations.
The amazing start of the year the vlogger has been having certainly has a bit to do with a decent card distribution, but is far from the deciding factor.
In the four episodes of Hustler Casino Live we have seen him on thus far in 2025, we have witnessed Mariano play a strong and aggressive brand of poker without tilting or making silly calls and decisions out of desperation or exhaustion.
Instead, he has been able to continually make the right decision through logical deduction and range analysis, which is what sets apart the biggest winners in poker from average players.
If he can continue playing this style of poker, Mariano may very well be on his way to another 7-figure winning year on the streams, which could potentially make him the most successful player of all time in this type of games.
The year is still early and Mariano will have plenty more sessions to show us his worth in 2025, and you can keep track of it all on HCL’s regular poker streams as well as the player’s personal vlog which is shared on his YouTube channel several times a month.
