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.

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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