Millions of Dollars on the Table in This Week's High Stakes Poker Episode

Jon Sofen Senior Editor U.S.

Apr 01, 2024 5 min read

Robl and Airball Battle Early
Robl vs. Airball Part II
Santhosh’s Aces Cracked, But He Isn’t Drawing Dead
Rude Welcoming to the Poker Game for Yu
Past High Stakes Poker Season 12 Episode Recaps

Nikhil "Nik Airball" Arcot and Andrew Robl went to battle, Santhosh Suvarna played some monster pots, and there was over $4.7 million on the table on the newest High Stakes Poker episode, which aired Monday on PokerGO.

Season 12 is heating up, and Episode 7 is must-see. Multiple pots over $500,000 were played, and the $1,000/$2,000 blinds made for some juicy action. Here's a look at the full list of players when the game began, and the chips they each had in front of them.

Player	Chip Stack
Brandon Adams	$1,365,000
Andrew Robl	$1,014,000
Nik Airball	$761,000
Santhosh Suvarna	$612,000
Justin Gavri	$500,000
Stanley Tang	$453,000

Robl and Airball Battle Early

Nik Airball High Stakes Poker — Nikhil \"Nik Airball\" Arcot

The show began with Robl, holding Q♥J♦, flopping top pair on a board of 5♣10♥Q♠7♠7♣ and betting $4,000 into a pot of $23,000. Airball, perhaps fooled by the undersized wager, went for a raise to $18,000 with king-high, but it wasn’t enough to force a fold.

On the next hand, with a $4,000 straddle on, the same two players would tangle again. Robl raised to $10,000 with K♥9♥ from an early position. Airball called on the button with A♠6♠.

The flop came out A♥9♣A♦, and Robl led for $10,000 with his nearly-drawing-dead two pair. A call was made, and then both players checked the 4♥ turn. When the 5♣ appeared on the river, Robl checked, but would call off a $15,000 bet only to find out his hand was no good.

Robl vs. Airball Part II

After Robl pushed Suvarna around in a couple of pots, he went back to war against the Hustler Casino Live regular he’d already faced at the beginning of the show. In this next pot, Airball would get a fortunate run-out.

Action began with Robl raising to $6,000 with Q♠10♣ and then, in position, Airball made the call with A♠2♠. The flop of 9♠8♥7♠ gave both players something to draw to, and after a check, Airball bet $10,000, to which his opponent called.

Following the K♠ on the turn, which completed the nut flush, Airball would fire out a bet of $21,000 and receive a call. The river was the 3♥, giving Robl a flush, but one that was inferior. Despite that, instead of checking it back, he fired out a bet of $85,000, just over the size of the pot. Knowing his hand couldn’t possibly be beat, Airball raised to $175,000, and he earned a call before scooping a $429,000 pot.

Santhosh’s Aces Cracked, But He Isn’t Drawing Dead

When your pocket aces get cracked but you’re still drawing live, that’s not an awful position. For Suvarana, who has been getting destroyed in the few High Stakes Poker episodes he’s appeared on, he found himself in such a situation against a Harvard professor.

Preflop action started with Tang raising to $5,000 with A♦5♠, and then Suvarna deciding to slowplay his A♠A♥ by just calling in position. Adams, in the big blind with 6♣4♣, called to see a flop of 5♥J♥7♦, and Tang made a continuation bet of $7,000 with bottom pair.

Suvarna and Adams, who had a straight draw, would both make the call to see the 8♥ on the turn complete the straight. But with a heart in his hand, Suvarna wasn’t drawing dead, and he would bet out $25,000.

Adams had a decision to make with a straight knowing there’s a chance he was up against a flush. But he wasn’t about to fold, so he made the call just before Tang mucked his cards. The 5♦ on the river bricked the flush, and Adams checked. Instead of checking behind, Santhosh made a sizable bet of $62,000 for value. But he wouldn’t get that value because Adams called with a superior hand.

Moments later in the show, Adams was the one who picked up pocket aces, and he would get paid off on the river by Airball’s ten-high when a straight draw failed to come through in a $140,000 pot. Suvarna would then go on a heater, winning large pots against Airball and Tang over the following few hands.

Things would get even better for Santhosh in a hand against Tang. With the board showing 5♦3♦6♠9♠, both players were all in for a $524,000 pot. Tang held 10♦7♦ for a monster draw, and was up against 6♣5♠ for two pair. They agreed to run it twice, and both rivers were of no help to the drawing hand.

Rude Welcoming to the Poker Game for Yu

Charles Yu would enter the game late, and it took him no time to lose a big pot, which he often has done on shows such as Hustler Casino Live.

The hand began with Adams raising to $5,000 with 7♠7♦, while Suvarna called behind him with 4♥2♥. Yu, on the button with Q♠Q♥, three-bet to $29,000 and both players called.

When the flop showed 10♦9♠7♣, Yu was in deep trouble, and he checked it over to Adams, who bet $45,000 with bottom set. That was enough to get Suvarna out of the way, but pocket queens wasn’t going anywhere.

The turn was the 5♥, no help to either player. Yu checked and then called a $90,000 wager before the 5♦ on the river paired the board. Following another check back to him, Adams downsized his bet a tad to $85,000, just enough to keep his opponent interested. Yu made the call and lost a $530,000 pot to close out Episode 7.