High Stakes Poker came back swinging, and one week in, the show has already rewritten its own record book twice. The $2,478,000 pot that set a new all-time mark on Saturday survived exactly two nights. On Monday's finale, Eric Wasserson and Texas Mike built a $4,260,000 pot, the biggest in the show's history, and the hand that made it was somehow even stranger than the number.
The $4.26 Million Hand
Wasserson opened to $20,000 with 7♦9♦ and Texas Mike three-bet to $80,000 with 10♣7♣. The table got out of the way, Wasserson called, and two players went to a flop that would cost one of them dearly.
The A♦K♦9♣ flop gave Wasserson a pair and a flush draw. It gave Texas Mike one club and a decision he'll be replaying for a while. Wasserson checked, Mike bet $100,000, Wasserson called.
The 4♥ turn changed nothing except the pressure. Wasserson checked again, Mike fired $330,000 with roughly 5% equity, and Wasserson called again. With over a million already in the middle, the 5♦ river completed Wasserson's flush. He checked a third time. Texas Mike moved all-in.
Wasserson took his time. "I kind of want to fold," he said, laughing, before sliding in the call with the second nut flush against a stone bluff. Texas Mike, unimpressed by the deliberation, accused him of nit-rolling. Wasserson's defense was hard to argue with: he'd never played a pot that big in his life. Few people have.
Poker Twitter Loses Its Composure
The reaction online said as much about this High Stakes Poker run as the pot itself. Matt Berkey called the week the closest thing he'd seen on a stream to how nosebleed games actually play when the cameras are off and the right people are stuck. Matt Liu admitted he rarely watches a stream straight through and couldn't look away from this one.
The best arc belonged to Patrick Leonard, who had tweeted earlier that high-stakes streams feel too removed from reality to be interesting, then publicly reversed himself mid-broadcast, calling his own take stupid and the show electric. "Lock the door, don't let them out," he added. When the pros are rage-deleting their own skepticism in real time, the game is good.
Two Monsters to Close the Night
By the end of the stream, Wasserson had close to $5 million in front of him and the six-handed table held over $10 million combined, which the players treated with all the gravity of a $5/$10 home game.
Texas Mike wasn't done. He raised a river to $1,692,000 with second pair against Andrew Robl's kings, a call away from creating the second-biggest pot in show history. Robl let it go. Mike showed the bluff, Robl fist-bumped him, told him he was the best, and then slapped the table with his palm, which for Robl qualifies as an emotional breakdown. It nearly got Mike unstuck on the night.
The final hand of the stream was a $2,418,000 flip: Robl's J♠J♦ against Wasserson's A♠K♦, all-in preflop. Robl ran it once. The 8♠10♣9♦ flop was safe, the 6♣ turn was a brick, and the 2♣ river finally gave Robl one to savor against his nemesis. The rabbit-hunted second board would have gone to Wasserson, just to keep the wound fresh.
Monday Night Results
| Player | Result |
|---|---|
| Eric Wasserson | +$2,435,000 |
| Papo MC | +$419,000 |
| Justin Gavri | −$215,000 |
| Texas Mike | −$296,500 |
| Rick Salomon | −$408,000 |
| Andrew Robl | −$425,500 |
One week into the new season and the show has already produced its two biggest pots ever, a seven-figure bluff shown for free, and the sight of Andrew Robl expressing a feeling in public. If the stakes keep climbing at this rate, the record set Monday shouldn't get too comfortable either.
