Last week once again brought us a lot of plenty of high-stakes poker action across major poker shows, with a couple of high-stakes poker streams shown on Hustler Casino Live, and a brand new season of KPC dropping on YouTube.
Nik Airball and Mariano were central figures in the HCL episodes, running the action on Thursday and Friday, respectively, although with opposite final results.
The KPC live cash game streams brought us true nosebleed stakes, as the high rollers took to the ring and had millions of dollars in chips flying within minutes.
If you missed last week’s action, keep reading for a glimpse of the biggest hands. While waiting for the next cash game stream, make sure to check out our friends at Casinor.com for some exciting casino bonuses and free spins at the world’s best online casinos.
Airball Chases Losses with Suited Connectors
It was one of those nights for Nik Airball on Thursday, as nothing seemed to go his way on Hustler Casino Live, and he kept on chasing his losses in hand after hand.
Already down over $220k deep into the session, Nik joined the limpers with his 5♥4♥ before Big Mike made it $600 to go with his A♥Q♠.
Nik came over the top to $4k with his suited connectors, and Big Mike recognized weakness, making it $15,600. The hand should have likely ended here, but Airball was too stuck to fold, so he made the call and went to the flop.
The flop brought A♦9♥4♦, and Nik now had bottom pair and a backdoor flush draw, so he check-called an $11k bet from Big Mike.
The turn card was a spicy one, as the 3♥ opened a world of possibilities for Airball. Big Mike now pushed in the last of his $23,500, and Nik had no option but to make the call.
With just over $100,000 in the pot, the players ran it just once, but the 8♠ on the river saw Mike’s hand hold up, taking Nik’s losses to well over a quarter of a million dollars.
Nothing changed until the end of the game for Nik Airball, as he finished the session as the big loser, stuck $255k in a game that played relatively small compared to many HCL streams we’ve seen in the past.
Mariano Gets Stubborn with a Flush Draw
Mariano has been a dominant figure on HCL streams for the last couple of years, and he’s been on one of the hottest runs we have ever seen in live-streamed poker games.
It’s likely the confidence that he’s built up by winning so many of the biggest pots he plays that allowed him to play the biggest pot of the Friday’s session this week.
The hand started with a $1,000 straddle on. Britney limped in, and Mariano joined her with K♠5♠, before Turbo bumped it up to $8k with A♥8♠.
Britney decided that’s too rich for her blood, but Mariano used his suited King to bluff, making it $24k to go. Turbo made the call, as he usually does, and the two saw the flop with $50k in the pot.
The flop was perfect for Turbo, as A♦8♣3♠ not only gave him top two pair, but also made it very unlikely that Mariano would have a better hand than his.
Mariano c-bet for $9k, and Turbo made the call, which was the only reasonable option at this point in the hand, and the two players saw the 9♠ roll off on the turn.
This card gave Mariano a real draw, so he kept on betting, this time for $18k. Recognizing the draws that were now available, Turbo bumped it up to $45k in an attempt to charge Mariano for drawing, which was the right idea in this case.
4% CHANCE TO WIN… 😳
— Hustler Casino Live (@HCLPokerShow) April 18, 2026
CAN MARIANO DO THE IMPOSSIBLE?! pic.twitter.com/atLEd2a8xS
A call would have likely been appropriate in Grandoli’s shoes, but he had other ideas. He decided to turn his hand into a bluff, moving all-in for $162,100, and putting Turbo to the test.
With two pair and unlikely to be behind, Turbo snap-called, and the pot grew to just under $400 in a heartbeat.
Mariano was laughing and even teased Turbo that his two pair was no good, as the players agreed to run the river card just once.
Despite having only 4% equity on the flop, Mariano was now all-in for hundreds of thousands of dollars, and looking for one of the remaining eight spades in the deck.
Sure enough, the dealer put out the 6♠ on the river, and the Argentine poker vlogger was able to once again turn over the best hand, scooping up the pot and leaving Turbo shellshocked.
Mariano won $206,900 in the game, but ended up playing heads-up with Big Mike for a short time after, where he lost just under $30k to end the night in a hefty profit.
For Turbo, the Friday game didn’t go his way, as he dropped about $127k, leaving him to look to recoup his losses on another day.
King Poker Cup Brings Out the High Rollers
Last week saw the second season of the King Poker Cup (KPC) stream on YouTube, bringing some of the biggest cash games we have seen in the history of poker.
The stakes were set higher than anything we are used to, at $1k/$2k, and the progressive squid game was on, which meant million-dollar pots would be a regular occurrence.
The lineup was made up of high rollers like Elton Tsang, ST Wang, online poker legend Wiktor “Limitless” Malinowski, and a variety of other high-stakes players from across Asia.
We were just minutes into the first episode of the new season when we had a chance to see just how wild these games play.
A $4k straddle was on, and ST Wang opened the action to $22k with A♣J♥. Elton Tsang made the call holding just 7♥4♥, and Wiktor with Q♣10♣ joined the action.
Tan Xuan, holding a mystery hand, made it $134k to go, already putting more money into the pot than we are used to seeing go in by the river on regular poker streams.
Wang was the only one to make the call, while the other two got out of the way, and the flop brought A♥J♦3♦, seemingly the perfect board for Wang’s hand.
Tan c-bet for $140k, as he usually does, and Wang made the trivial call, before the 8♦ came on the turn.
The card completed a potential flush, and Xuan kept on betting, with his cards still hidden from the viewers. This time, the bet was a cool $300k, and Wang once again had little option but to make the call.
The river didn’t change too much, although the 10♥ did make a straight possible with any KQ combo. Tan Xuan took his time in a recognizable fashion before putting together one final bet of $930k.
Faced with a nearly million-dollar bet, and with more than $2 million in the pot, ST Wang hand a hard decision to make. He could have won a $3 million pot right out of the gate, or been stuck well over a million before the action even started.
After several minutes of deliberation, Wang decided to make the hero fold, only to be shown K♣3♣ for a complete airball from Tan Xuan.
This hand was just a glimpse of what the cash games at KPC look like, as the Asian high rollers take the idea of high-stakes poker to the next level.
The remaining episodes of KPC shown last week brought a lot more of the same so make sure to check them out if ultra high stakes action is what you crave.
