A crazy weekend of streams from the Lodge Card Club has captured the attention of the poker world, as viewers flocked to the Texas room’s YouTube channel to watch some huge hands go down.
Joining Lodge co-owner Doug Polk at the tables over the past few nights were some big names, some regulars and a few less familiar faces including Mariano, Alex, PokerfaceAsh, Xuan Liu, Caitlin Comeskey, and a player known as Tesla. And true to his name, Tesla brought some electricity to the table that created the perfect conditions for some unforgettable hands. More on him below, but first…
Valentine’s Day massacre for big slick
Nothing says ‘Valentine’s Day’ like men and women trying to outdo each other (cynical? moi?), and so it proved in the Lodge’s ‘Battle of the Sexes’ cash game on February 15.
Four men and four women matched up in a $5/10 game which ultimately produced three winners - Stache (+$6.2k) and Lodge stream commentator SkullMike (+$1.8k) representing the men’s team, and Hayley Hochstetler (+$5.2k) repping the women.
One notable pot saw Hayley ‘Ocho’ running up against Stache’s A♦️️K♣, which had seen him flop top pair, top kicker. Her turn shove sent the men’s team into the ‘fish tank’ - a chance to deliberate together in this unusual team event - ultimately deciding to fold, which made it all the sweeter when she showed her no-pair bluff.
Hochstetler, who is a professional poker photographer and exec at the RunGood Poker Series, showed she has a sharp eye for more than a well-composed photo.
Charging time for Tesla
Xuan Liu returned for the $25/50 cash game on February 17, in which she was the sole female player at the table. Also seated was the aforementioned Tesla, who was determined to play some big pots whether or not he had the cards to back it up. The two soon clashed in a hand that put Xuan to a difficult decision with pocket aces.
With a paired board and her entire stack at risk, Xuan dug deep to find the hero fold. Only trouble was, she was ahead the whole way.
Tesla returned the following night for more bullish play, aggressive bluffs and big hands that were a blast to watch. One of the biggest of these saw him river a straight against Polk’s trips, leaving the Lodge’s grand poohbah speechless - and $90k poorer.
Huge bluff from Tesla makes Polk muck the winner
Polk was anything but speechless during another hand, later on in the session, when the river brought a fourth diamond on board in a big heads-up pot versus Tesla.
Tesla, who had been the aggressor all the way, bet $75k into the $90k pot…and flipped his2♦️️ face-up. This sent Polk deep into the tank, wondering if his 9♦️️ was ahead.
“I don’t know that I can fold this,” Polk said, before ultimately making the laydown. And just like Liu the night before, he’d been ahead throughout the whole hand and mucked the winner. And as with Liu, Tesla was quick to show his bluff, sending the whole room - and the chat in the livestream - into meltdown.
Watch the whole hand below, including Polk’s incredulous reaction.
Little is currently known about Tesla, other than he’s an entrepreneur, philanthropist and pilot. But given how much he appeared to enjoy his swashbuckling play, and how much the stream’s audience loved watching him, we’re betting we’ll be seeing him at the Lodge again before too long.
You can follow the action from Texas at the Lodge’s YouTube channel.
