Andy Beal Returns To High Stakes Challenge, Loses $5m To Todd Brunson

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Tuesday, January 27th, 2015 | Written by Shane Larson

More than a decade has passed since billionaire businessman Andy Beal lost his now famous high stakes poker battle against the country’s best poker pros, known as the Corporation. Between 2001 and 2004, the self-taught number theorist lost $16 million to the group which included both Doyle Brunson and his son Todd Brunson, before in 2006 returning to recover $13.6 million, before then losing $16.6 million to Phil Ivey. That’s the last time Beal played the Corporation, and as he said after his defeat:

“I really feel like I snatched defeat from the jaws of victory. I just feel embarrassed that I stayed too long and got stupid on the last afternoon. My biggest mistake was coming to Vegas in the first place. When I was ahead, I should have made them come to Dallas. I could play for four hours a day and not put myself in that position.”

That all changed last weekend, however, after the banker/real estate tycoon returned to Bobby’s Room at the Bellagio casino in Las Vegas, Nevada, to do battle against Todd Brunson heads-up at 50K/100K Limit Hold’em, with the players sitting down with $5 million a piece in front of them.

How Do Players Have Enough Money To Play At Those Stakes?

While no one has covered how Todd Brunson may have had a spare $5 million lying around which he was then prepared to stake on a single game of poker, the general consensus is that he probably had to pool his own money alongside that of his father Doyle, who according to celebritynetworth.com has an estimated fortune worth $75 million. It is also possible a number of other high stakes pros may have bought in on the action. After all, in 2006 when Beal won $13.6 million from the Corporation, the players were subsequently forced to pool their money together in an attempt to recover their massive losses.

Heads-up 50K/100K Limit Hold’em

Ahead of their epic battle, Todd Brunson tweeted “Up by 7 am!!! Watch out Andy Beal and all u other bankers. I’ve arrived.” While 20 people, including Doyle Brunson, apparently attended the high stakes encounter, poker pro Kyle Loman couldn’t gain access to Bobby’s Room but fortunately for poker fans was able to post regular updates from his vantage point inside the casino throughout the 8 hours the game is believed to have lasted.

Key Updates Via Twitter

Apparently after three hours of play, just Todd’s father the 10-times WSOP bracelet winner Doyle Brunson was still in attendance, but by 4:00am Vegas time the 81 year-old, too, retired for the night leaving Todd and Andy Beal to continue their battle for another five hours. Some of the key tweets Kyle Loman then managed to tweet during the HU 50K/100K Limit Hold’em game between Todd Brunson and Andy Beal, included:

“Todd Building towers. Looks about the same. His demeanor is the same as always. Sitting backward in the chair, his emotions unchanged.”

and finally:

“Todd just felted Beal. They fist bumped and he left the room. They’re done for tonight. Todd wins 5 million. More updates tomorrow hopefully.”

More To Come?

While Kyle Loman’s tweets were largely unsubstantiated, confirmation of the huge win came later via a tweet from Todd Brunson himself, who wrote:

“Dinner, darts, drinks very possible tonight. Life is good!!!!!! We came to a nice steak house without a reservation. Big line. They asked if we were celebrating anything. I said yes I won 5 mil yesterday.. They sat us immediately at the nicest table they have. Employees keep coming over saying congrats. Lol”

As Loman’s last tweet would indicate, and if past behavior is anything to go by, Beal is likely to want another chance to win back his money by either having a rematch against Brunson or by taking on any other player who is willing to put up such monster stakes against him. Furthermore, the $5 million loss he suffered was actually quite contained considering the huge $50,000/$100,000 blind he was playing, and a drop in the ocean compared to his estimated $11.9 billion fortune.

Finally, highly competitive and successful billionaires like Andy Beal, 62, are driven by challenges, and enjoy the opportunity to test their skills at the highest stakes against the best in the business. Howard Hughes, for instance, once developed a passion for golf and after beating nearly everyone at his Wilshire Country Club, jumped at the opportunity to take on Bobby Jones, co-founder of the Masters Tournament. After losing, Hughes apparently then left his golf clubs at the 18th green, never to play the game again.