Phil Ivey returned to Hustler Casino Live for the first time since October 2021. He had few premium hands and lost almost $200,000 as Garrett Adelstein had a tough movement at the table and lost $238,000.
Billy "DGAF" and David Tuchman commentated on the game that was scheduled to be $100/$200/$400 no-limit hold'em. The seven-hour session had many straddles that ended at midnight PT on Wednesday.
"J.R…," a recreational poker player was the largest winner as he made a $328,000 profit despite being a high-stakes HCL regular. Eric Persson was the most active entrant with a 52 percent Voluntary Put in Pot (VPIP) and dominated most of the time. The poker pro was up over $200,000 in one instance and proved to be a tough opponent for Adelstein.
The Maverick Gaming CEO used speech play to win several big pots. Still, he urged "GMan" to place a $60,000 wager on the river using ace-high in a hand that earned Persson a nut straight.
Phil Ivey's Performance
The table had $2.5 million when the action began. This figure gradually increased to more than $3.4 million.
Adelstein initially had a $500,000 stack that he couldn't top. But, Persson matched it.
Ivey, a 10-time World Series of Poker (WSOP) bracelet champion, started the session with $300,000 after having a commendable 2022 WSOP. The Poker Hall of Famer showed more interest in two 2021 streams in college football bets than in poker and left early in one session.
Even so, Ivey came firing and adequately prepared to play. Unfortunately, he was card dead for a long period.
The poker pro picked several premium hands and held pocket kings in the session's first hand and got a small pot. He won his second small pot against Andy "Stacks'" Tsai using ace-queen in the second hand. The latter is a Los Angeles-based regular at high-stakes Livestream and GGPoker's ambassador in China.
Ivey lost the premium hands after failing to get a rhythm. He had an uneventful session after a few hours and later won several small pots. The player made a costly mistake when he misstepped Persson.
The hold had {a-Spades}{q-Spades} when he made a $110,000 river raise on a {j-Spades}{6-Clubs}{7-Hearts}{4-Hearts}{10-Hearts}. The move surprised his opponent since he had a tight play most of the time.
Persson remained calm as he snap-called and had a {j-Hearts}{5-Hearts} for a flush. The hand cost Ivey more than $125,000, and he lost $192,000 when the session ended.
Adelstein's Unfortunate Run
Adelstein has been a leading high-stakes Livestream cash game player for a long period. TrackingPoker.com shows that he has earned more than $1.8 million on Hustler Casino Live, thus being its largest winner. But, the odds were against him on Wednesday night.
The player pulled a huge bluff against Andy "Stacks." The latter had kings and struggled to call on a double-paired board as the former used ace-high to put him in for almost $300,000 while the pot had $82,000.
This would have been the largest failed bluff if Stacks called. Yet, Adelstein avoided having a worse session by getting it through. He VPIP'ed at 37 percent, less than his ordinary output, while Ivey VPIP'ed at 26 percent.
