Daniel Negreanu started off slowly in his Hustler Casino Live debut on Friday. He was down nearly $160,000 just two hours into the stream, his first cash game in quite some time. But the poker legend wasn’t fazed by the six-figure deficit and turned it around long before the eight-hour session concluded.
And then the run turned back in the other direction. It was and up and down session for the GGPoker ambassador in his highly-anticipated debut appearance on Hustler Casino Live. Unfortunately, for his fans, he simply didn’t get many big hands. But he did pull off an impressive bluff that helped spark a brief rally.
Negreanu Rallies Before Giving it Back
Negreanu couldn’t hit anything the first couple of hours in the $100/$200 No-Limit Hold’em game. And the only time he had anything to work with — flopped top pair with the nut flush draw — he lost to a five-outer on the turn versus Nik Airball.
Things started turning around for the 52-year-old “Kid Poker” when he picked up pocket aces and raised preflop. Nik Airball flopped middle pair, a hand that didn’t improve on the turn or river, but he called off an all in bet of $46,000 to send Negreanu his first meaningful pot of the day.
The entire game had shifted in Negreanu’s favor a few hours into the session. His performance, albeit ending in a loss, will be mostly remembered by a bluff he attempted against Sam “Senor Tilt” Kiki.
Kiki raised to $6,000 with K♠J♦ from middle position and received calls from two out-of-position players — Negreanu with A♦Q♠ and “Dr. H” with A♠2♠. The flop came out 3♦2♦K♦, and everyone checked to the 7♣ on the turn.
Negreanu bet $6,000, forcing Dr. H to fold, while Kiki called with top pair and a jack-high flush draw. The J♥ on the river seemingly locked up the pot for Tilt, as it gave him top two pair. Negreanu, stuck on ace-high, appeared to be giving up on the pot and checked it back to the player with the best hand, who bet $20,000.
That was the end of the hand, right? No, it wasn’t. Far from it. Negreanu went with a surprising check-raise to $75,000. Senor Tilt went into the tank, admitting he was annoyed he held the J♦ because it was a flush blocker that, solvers say, means he should call. But he also realized that Negreanu, given that he check-raised the river, almost always has a big hand in that spot.
Kiki ended up going with a fold, a move that sent the YouTube chat into a frenzy. For Negreanu, it was the biggest highlight of his first appearance on Hustler Casino Live, although he also won a $135,000 pot against “Jellyfish” with pocket queens holding up against pocket eights. He had gone from down nearly $160,000 to up nearly $120,000 in just a few hours. But he simply wasn’t hitting hands and the six-figure profit quickly turned into a small deficit before ending up in the red, down $73,800 over eight hours.
The wildest hand of the day on the stream didn’t involve Negreanu. Nik Airball trumped all when he went for a $161,400 bluff with 6♠3♠ on a board of J♦K♣10♦9♠Q♠. It didn’t get through because Senor Tilt had an Ax and scooped the pot. Airball ended the session down $179,400, while Tilt won $114,000 before leaving the game early.
Jellyfish had a brutal night and went home as the biggest loser, down $295,000. Brandon Steven was the biggest winner with a profit of $171,600.
Final Cumulative Results
| Player | Profit/Loss |
|---|---|
| Brandon Steven | $171,600 |
| Randy “3Coin” Sadler | $157,400 |
| Sam “Senor Tilt” Kiki | $114,000 |
| Andy Stacks | $110,100 |
| Dr. H | $48,600 |
| Francisco Fragoso | $21,900 |
| Ethan “Rampage” Yau | ($9,900) |
| Big Mike | ($17,100) |
| Steve the Lawyer | ($52,700) |
| Daniel Negreanu | ($73,800) |
| Nik Airball | ($179,400) |
| Jellyfish | ($295,000) |
