Todd Brunson Wins $5 Million from Billionaire Andy Beal

Andy Beal is apparently not done with high stakes poker after all. On Friday, the billionaire that took on poker’s elite during the early years of the Poker Boom returned to Bobby’s Room at the Bellagio to play some high stakes Limit Hold’em.

Beal’s opponent was Todd Brunson, son of the legendary Doyle Brunson. Both players sat down with $5 million apiece, playing blinds of $50k/100k. However, by the end of the night it was Brunson that walked away with $10 million.

Pro poker player Kyle Loman notified the poker world of the epic clash between the two playersvia Twitter and provided regular updates throughout the night. In the early hours of the confrontation, nearly 20 people were railing the game in Bobby’s Room, including Doyle. However, as the match continued through the night, only Doyle remained and he eventually went to bed.

The Win is Only Mildly Epic Considering the Stakes

Considering the history of Beal against poker’s elite, this loss is actually minor in comparison. Yes, he did lose $5 million but that loss was mild when you consider the stakes. At $50,000/$100,000 blinds, they were essentially playing $100k/$200k Limit Hold’em.

With stacks of $5 million, both players were basically playing 25 big bets deep. The average buy-in for most Limit Hold’em games is 10 big bets, so you’re really looking at 2.5 buy-ins. If you use a strict stop-loss strategy for Limit Hold’em, you’re usually going to quit after losing 30 big bets. In essence, you can say that Beal had a stop loss type of stack.

Beal Still Looking for a Solid Win Against the Corporation

Whether it is 2004 or 2015, Andy Beal still cannot beat the players that make up “The Corporation” of poker. The most devastating of those losses came against Phil Ivey in February 2006. Beal had just taken the pros for $13.6 million and they had to turn to their ace in the hole to try to win back their money.

Ivey put on a performance that has become legendary. Over the course of three days, he took Beal for a staggering $16.6 million, completely erasing the Corporation’s losses and booking them a $3 million win.

After the loss, Beal claimed he was done with poker, and until this past weekend, he hadn’t returned to Vegas to issue a new challenge. After another $5 million loss, perhaps he should have stuck to banking.