Poker live streams have been getting better and better in recent weeks, and the action culminated last week, as we saw the biggest live streamed game in the history of poker on Onyx Live stream in the form of a heads up match between Jungleman and Monarch.
The two players went head-to-head for obscene amounts of money, while ring games continued to rage down in Cyprus, with Cates and Ketola joined by the likes of Rob Yong and Yoh Viral for some nosebleed action.
Elsewhere, popular streamers like Rampage and Mariano were once again in action at Hustler Casino, and this time around they were joined by Poker at the Lodge regular Bulldog, who came out to play, and made the cut in our hands of the week breakdown.
Keep on reading and relive the best hands of the week, featuring Bulldog, Peter, Jungleman, and Monarch, among others.
Monarch and Jungleman Break Records on Onyx Live
The biggest live streamed cash game of all time came out of nowhere, as casino owner Ossi Ketola, known by his gaming nickname “Monarch,” took on a legend of the game, Dan “Jungleman” Cates himself.
The two started off battling for a million Euros each, but the stakes quickly rose, as every rematch carried an even bigger buyin and prize pool.
The two were playing for six million each, when the biggest hand recorded in any TV or streamed show came up.
Action started with blinds at an insane $30k/$60k level and both players sitting on more than $5 million in their stacks. Jungle raised the button to $150k with A♥8♣, and Monarch in the big blind 3-bet to $600k.
The play so far in this hand was very standard, but the thing that was out of the ordinary was that the 10 big blind re-raise amounted to more than half a million.
Things heated up further when Cates, who was the chip leader at the time, put in another raise, this time making it $1.4 million to go, one of the biggest raises we have seen in any TV game.
The Finnish millionaire decided to play it cautious and just called, taking us to the flop of Q♠7♠5♣. Neither player had improved, but Jungle had the betting lead, while Monarch was still best with his AJ.
The Finn checked in flow, and Jungleman decided to check this one back, although a c-bet would have probably won him the pot given the situation.
The J♠ hit the turn, significantly improving Ketola’s hand. He checked once more, and Jungle was done checking, as he put out a $1.2 million bet.
Holding second pair, Monarch had an easy call for well over a million bucks, and he was surely ecstatic to see the dealer turn over the A♦ on the river.
Worried about action checking back, Ossi led out for his last $2.53 million this time, taking the pot up to an amazing $7,700,000, by far the biggest in the history of live streamed poker.
The pot would have gone over $10,000,000 had Cates called, but the legend was able to find the fold with his top pair, which would eventually pay dividends, as he was able to win the match and take Monarch for more than $13 million on the day.
Mistimed Bluff Costs Ketola in the Ring Game
Not too long after the epic heads up match between the two, Jungleman and Monarch were once again involved in a game together. The stakes were much lower this time around, as they joined a $500/$1,000 ring game with a $2,000 ante at Onyx Club.
Right off the bat, it was apparent that Monarch was not having too much fun playing this game, and he openly said that the game wasn’t “giving domapine.”
One of the more interesting hands of the day saw Monarch open to $10k with a pair of threes, only to get called by Jungleman’s 10♣9♣, as well as few other players.
The hand went to the flop five-ways, and the flop brought A♠J♣8♣. Jungleman was seated with an open-ended straight flush draw, while Monarch had very little connection with the board.
That did not stop him from firing a $25k c-bet, which actually got rid of the best hand in the form of A♦2♦ held by one of the other players in the game.
Yet, Jungle wasn’t going anywhere, and he smooth called the bet, taking us to the 4♥ turn, a complete blank for both players.
Ossi kept on betting, this time for $45k. His story was credible, and Jungleman once again just called, probably believing Monarch would not be able to fold for his remaining $136k if he were to move all-in.
While this assumption was wrong, the incredible Q♣ on the river took away any questions on who the winner would be.
Ketola had one last chance to give up on his bluff, but he decided to move all-in instead, despite every draw in the game getting there on the river.
Jungleman was left with the easy call, as he showed his straight flush and scooped the $464k pot, while Monarch decided to leave the game, perhaps to go seek out his next heads up opponent.
Peter Welcomes Bulldog to Hustler Casino Live
Friday’s high-stakes stream on Hustler Casino Live was attended mostly by regulars in the game, with the likes of Peter, Mariano, Rampage, Mike X, and Dr. H, all in the game.
This time around, they had a visitor from Texas, as Poker at the Lodge regular Bulldog (originally from England), took a seat in the game.
Some five hours into the game, Bulldog was winning about $100k when he got involved in a pot with Peter himself.
Following a couple of limps, Bulldog raised it up to $2,400 with his A♣10♦, and Peter, who had position, re-raised to $7,400 with his 9♠9♦.
Bulldog decided to take the aggressive route and 4-bet his hand to $25k, to which Peter responded with a call, leaving himself with just under $100k behind.
The flop brought J♦5♠4♦, and Bulldog went for a small $18k c-bet, setting up a multi-street bluff against Peter’s relatively small stack.
Peter made the call with the nines, and the turn brought the Q♠, putting two flush draws on the board.
Bulldog continued with a $20k bet, making sure to leave enough behind to be able to fire a third barrel on the river.
Getting 5/1, Peter once again called, and both players bricked out on the 3♥ river. As he had planned, Bulldog put Peter all-in for his last $59k, as the pot grew to $186k.
The Chinese businessman took longer than usual to make the call, suspecting Bulldog of having three queens. In truth, Bulldog could have also had hands like AA, KK, JJ and AQ, all of which would have gone for value on this river.
However, Peter correctly deduced that Bulldog could also have bluffs like AK and AT, especially those of spade or diamond variety, and eventually made the correct call.
While this bluff would have likely worked against many other players, Peter is not a fan of folding his cards, and Bulldog could have perhaps saved some money by finding a softer target to fire elaborate bluffs against.
