Poker Player Hits Draw on River Only to Lose a $909,000 Cooler
A pot exceeding $900,000 played out Friday night on Hustler Casino Live when both players involved hit the card they were looking for on the river. Little did one of the players know the dream card would turn into a nightmare.
Mariano Grandoli, a popular poker vlogger who ran red hot in 2024, took down the largest livestreamed pot of the summer, and one of the biggest in HCL history. The hand came at an opportune time for the high-stakes grinder who had been down $300,000 for the session.
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Hitting the nuts on the river always feels great to any poker player. It’s even better when your big-stacked opponent rivers a monster but inferior hand. That’s precisely what transpired in the following hand, which began with Grandoli raising to $2,000 from the button with 10♣9♣.
Peter, who has won the most money ever on Hustler Casino Live, called from the big blind with 6♦4♣. Jeff the Cash, known to play massive pots, also called from the straddle with A♥6♥.
The flop came out J♣5♠7♥, which didn't pair any player up, but it did bring about some draws. Action checked to the vlogger on the button, who bet $2,000 with a gutshot straight draw. Peter, who flopped an open-ender, check-raised to $10,000. Jeff couldn't continue with nothing but ace-high and some backdoor draws. But Grandoli called to see the 2♣ on the turn.
No help came for Peter, but he repeated his story of holding a big hand with a $30,000 wager. Grandoli added a flush draw, so he called, and then hit the nuts with the 8♠ on the river. That card was even better than he realized because his opponent rivered an inferior straight.
"All the run-bad we've seen from him today, it's all about to vanish. There's no way we're not going to see an enormous pot here. Peter is thinking about Vegas and the bleeping Mirage," HCL commentator Charlie Wilmoth announced, right before Peter fired out a bet of $120,000.
Grandoli, who had $411,300 left in his stack heading to the river, moved all in. Peter paused for a second before calling, only to be disgusted by the cooler in what became a $909,400 pot, top five on Hustler Casino Live history outside the Million Dollar Games.
The monster pot put a stop to an otherwise brutal session for Grandoli, who had been down around $300,000, the biggest deficit in his poker career. He finished the livestream up $133,200, thanks to one fortunate river card. Peter, who was up over $2.6 million lifetime on the show, ended the stream with a $682,300 loss.
Grandoli wasn't the only six-figure winner in what was a wild $200/$400 game. Nikhil "Nik Airball" Arcot, for the third consecutive night, booked a massive win ($359,000). Airball has won over $900,000 this week on Hustler Casino Live.
Ethan "Rampage" Yau, whose struggles in high-stakes games the past year have been documented, won $299,900, his best session in months. It would have gone much worse for him had he called off an all in bet on the flop in what could have been a $732,000 against Mariano earlier in the session.
Rampage flopped a flush and straight draw against top pair. He decided to fold, which turned out to be a good thing for him as he rabbit hunted and discovered he would have bricked the turn and river.
