High Stakes Poker is back. The iconic show that made high-stakes poker accessible to the masses returns on July 29 for more $500/$1,000 cash game action.
The 13th season of High Stakes Poker continues a now age-old tradition of pitting seasoned pros against famous faces and wealthy amateurs. This season sees the return of an internet icon, poker’s best tournament player, and a collection of new faces from the high-stakes poker scene.
As it’s done in recent years, the cash game took place in the PokerGO Studio Las Vegas. A.J. Benza lends his dulcet tones and well-timed quips to this season’s broadcasts. He’ll be joined by poker pro and commentator Nick Schulman.
Records Could Fall this Season
Mori Eskandani, the show’s creator and president of PokerGO, promised plenty of highs, lows, and “exciting surprises” during Season 13 of High Stakes Poker.
Those surprises are almost certainly going to bad beats and big pots. Records were broken during Season 12 of High Stakes Poker when Santhosh Suvarna raked in a pot worth $992,000 (see video below). Could this momentum carry over to the new season of High Stakes Poker?
Long-time viewers of High Stakes Poker will be wondering why that’s the biggest pot in the show’s history when we’ve seen more money in the middle on two separate occasions.
Both pots were part of the now legendary Season 4 of High Stakes Poker. Driving the game on the occasion was billionaire Cirque du Soleil founder Guy Laliberte (see video below).
He got his money in with two pair against the flush draw of French pro David Benyamine. The pot stood was worth $1.2 million, but the two players took a large chunk of their money back, partly to prevent Benyamine from blowing a hole in his bankroll.
That same season, we saw Sammy Farha and Patrik Antonius clash in a $998,800 pot with less-than-stellar hands. Knowing they were both walking a fine line, the pair decided to run the pot four times.
As you can see in the video above, Antonius still took the lion’s share of the pot after winning three of the four runouts. However, despite the initial promise, it wasn’t the biggest pot ever played on High Stakes Poker.
Stellar High Stakes Poker Season 13 Line-Up
Will Season 13 produce more mega pots? It’s a distinct possibility, given the line-up. More names will be revealed in due course, but we already know that internet icon Andrew Robl will be in the game.
He’ll be joined by WSOP maestro Phil Hellmuth. Also taking part in Season 13 of High Stakes Poker are Jennifer Tilly, Chamath Palihapitiya, and Nik “Airball” Arcot.
The blinds will be $200/$400 when the show airs on PokerGO. However, in typical fashion, the stakes get raised throughout the season. By the time the blinds reach $500/$1,000, records could be broken.
The new season of High Stakes Poker premiers on PokerGO on July 29. New viewers can get $20 off their first annual subscription using PokerGO promo code HS13. In addition to the new season, subscribers can watch old episodes of High Stakes Poker on demand.