Hustler Casino Live is known for consistently streaming action-packed, high-stakes cash games with massive pots.
For those old-school online poker players, HCL is comparable to Full Tilt Poker’s “Rail Heaven,” a high-stakes game with deep stacks and huge swings. The gigantic pots continued this week with popular poker vlogger Mariano Grandoli scooping a pot worth nearly $750,000 off a new player from the world of finance.
The game featured a three-blind set up with stakes of $100-$200-$400. Jae Cusick raised to $3,000 on the button with 7♦7♣ and $360,000 in front of him. Then, “Jeff the Cash” three-bet to $10,000 with K♦9♦ from the big blind.
Grandoli was in the straddle and cold four-bet to $30,000 with A♦Q♠ and a stack worth about $378,000. Cusick called and Jeff folded. At this point, Cusick had a 57% chance to win the pot, according to the Card Player Poker Odds Calculator, with Grandoli checking in at 43%.
Grandoli Outflops Cusick, Gets All The Money In On The Turn
With $71,000 already in the pot, the flop brought Q♥6♣4♣. Grandoli now had top pair and thought a bit before betting $20,000. Cusick bumped that up with a raise of $30,000. Grandoli, who was now an 83% favorite, called and the pot now stood at $171,000.
The Q♦ fell on the turn, only adding to the strength of Grandoli’s hand. Cusick now had just a 5% chance to win the hand, needing either of the two remaining sevens in the deck for a full house.
Grandoli chose to check this time. Cusick had started the hand up $300,000 for the day after “one of the sickest runs we’ve ever seen” earlier in the game, according to the HCL commentator. He spun a $23,000-stack into $520,000 before ultimately losing it all to Grandoli.
On the turn, Cusick thought a while before firing $80,000 at the pot. Grandoli announced all in and Cusick quickly checked his cards. He continued riffling chips and exhaled deeply a few times while considering his options.
“I feel like you have ace-king,” Cusick said to himself. “There’s just no way. Kings? No way. Ace-queen? Why not just let me bluff?”
The investor and entrepreneur eventually called, swelling the pot to $738,200. Grandoli simply needed to dodge one of the two remaining sevens to collect a massive number of chips. The players chose to run two river cards and the first brought the 2♣. The second river then brought the 9♣, no help for Cusick.
A mountain of chips was then shipped to Grandoli. Cusick had been running hot, but most of it was gone in a single hand. Watch the complete hand below.
$738,000 POT!! 💰💰💰
One of the biggest pots ever in a HCL $100/200 game
Jae’s night
– was down to $23K on last bullet
– was up as much as $460K
– $23K >>> $520K >>> $0
– will be back tomorrow pic.twitter.com/NyeLrHCYTO— Hustler Casino Live (@HCLPokerShow) June 13, 2025
Grandoli’s Second Time Playing A Pot This Big On HCL
Cusick is a new player on HCL and the co-founder of Zhang Cusick, which offers “comprehensive market access solutions with worldwide reach, enabling professional traders to operate efficiently from and across multiple regions,” the company’s website notes.
Cusick’s bio from the firm lists him as a “vibe coder” and “professional bettor” in charge of strategic operations and business development.
Grandoli, originally from Argentina and now living in Los Angeles, is no stranger to HCL and has been involved with many huge hands on the show through the years. According Highrollpoker.com, the YouTube star had almost $2.8 million in winnings in streamed cash games coming into the latest episode of HCL.
One of his more memorable hands played out in 2023, when he was dealt pocket aces versus two opponents who both held pocket kings. The result was a pot of almost $800,000 heading his way. Watch that hand below.
