What’s the Biggest Pot in the History of High Stakes Poker? Hellmuth Loses Out on $80 Million

In the 885th episode of the PokerNews Podcast, Chad
Holloway, Mike Holtz, and Kyna
England discuss the biggest pot in High Stakes
Poker history, a $1.4 million monster won by
Alan Keating. That led to a bigger discussion on
the state of televised poker and the game's modern vs. old-school
characters.


The crew also discusses the report that Phil
Hellmuth apparently missing out on an $80 million payday
after declining to invest $15,000 into a company, the status of
Doug Polk's "Code Doug" challenge, and recent
tournament winners including Daniel Negreanu and
Chino Rheem. Oh, they also took a look at some
of the best April Fools' Day pranks from the poker
world, including one from PokerNews featuring
Nik Airball.


Chad then offers a glimpse into his recent run in the
MSPT Riverside, everyone shares their thoughts
on the 2025 Wynn Summer Classic schedule, and in
a new round of Collusion Mind Meld, Mike and
Kyna try to get on the same page, and despite some early
struggles, they do manage to hit their stride.


The podcast is sponsored by the #1 free-to-play WSOP app.
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channel so you do not miss an episode!


Time Stamps
*Time | Topic*
00:10 | Welcome Kyna England & Mike Holtz
00:16 | What’s coming up in this episode?
01:13 | Biggest pot in High Stakes Poker history
04:23 | Peter is fun to watch!
10:40 | Phil Hellmuth reportedly lost out turning $15K investment
into $80 million
15:00 | Update on Polk’s “Code Doug” challenge
15:50 | Doug hits one outer to get in the black!
18:00 | Any good April Fools’ pranks?
19:15 | PokerNews’s annual April Fools’ prank
19:32 | Get a pair of the Nik Airballs
20:58 | Sponsor: WSOP Free-to-Play App
21:57 | Recent Tournament Winners presented by WPT Global
22:10 | Daniel Negreanu & Chino Rheem capture PGT PLO Series
titles
25:30 | Joshua McSwiney wins WPT Prime Gold Coast
Championship
27:17 | Ian Steinman wins RGPS Reno for $36,220
28:50 | Remembering Mark Martin, who passed away at age 70
29:43 | Collusion Mind Meld
33:45 | Chad’s trip to MSPT Riverside
39:19 | 888poker – PokerNews April Freeroll Passwords 
38:48 | 2025 Wynn Summer Classic schedule out
43:50 | Nick Petrangelo defending champ