"The streams are more valuable than a paid course" - KakiTee

We chat to the CoinPoker High Stakes Cash Game Championships commentator on the success of the series, learning from streams and who he thinks will in it.

It looks like this year's event will get over 100 entries, why do you think it has increased in popularity?

KakiTee: Well open-entry was obviously a factor (the original HS CGWC was password protected and had a registration process), but I like to think the previous one had some impact on the growth of this event. Also, the prize pool has doubled, and been distributed among more competitors.

There was a time in the Full Tilt days when thousands of people would rail the big online cash games, do you think those days are coming back?

KakiTee: Personally I think the attention span and type of media people consume has changed a lot since that day. In the FTP glory days RailHeaven was one of the only places you could actually see that action take place, so I don't think people will ever flock to a poker client for viewership again and spam the chat begging for $5 P2P transfers as they did in those golden days, but I wouldn't be surprised if there are now more total viewers for such content across all platforms.

This year we have had fun features like show tables/7-2 game/ante tables – what has been the most fun to watch?

KakiTee: The Seven-Deuce game with minimum 100bb and large ante is awesome in my opinion. When Seven-Deuce was first introduced to NLH enthusiasts on HSP the bounties were small and the stacks were very deep, making it a bit suicidal to go for the bounties. The game has been streamlined now on CoinPoker to a point where being dealt 72o feels like you've been dealt QQ+, and the addition of large ante and short timebank make it quite an involving game even if you're one-tabling on mobile.

How much do you learn when you are reviewing these streamed games?

KakiTee: I think for up and coming players reviewing these streamed games, especially when some of the pro guests are in the booth, is an incredible resource—likely much more valuable than many paid courses. Even show-tables alone provide deep insight into how the world's best cash regs are thinking in complicated spots, whether they're teaching us GTO or player-specific exploits. The content coming from show tables, and then being reviewed by strategy experts on YouTube, is an awesome free resource for fans of the game hoping to improve.

"The Heads-Up Championships are coming"

Are you surprised how much information the players have shared when they come on the streams?

KakiTee: I'm actually not surprised that players share a lot of information when they join the streams, and this all starts with Owen Messere. Owen was just incredible in the inaugural CGWC, joining many streams, making long form strategy videos, and responding to fan queries whenever he had a chance. Why did he do this? A love for the game, and an appreciation for this kind of event being a celebration of the game and its top players. I believe other top pros are following suit for similar reasons, and are willing to help the next generation of poker talent hone their craft.

We have seen one of the game's greats, Linus, as one of the losers of the series. Was that just variance or is it a testament to the skill of the participants?

KakiTee: Variance, in my opinion. Linus is a sick player who puts continuous pressure on his opponents, and will test them with exploits which are likely based on a deep understanding of node-locked sims. I hope one day Linus will sit down for a detailed interview and let the fans hear some of his thoughts, but for now he remains somewhat of a mystery. I expect to see a strong performance from him in the HU CGWC which will likely be held during March of 2026.

Who has impressed you in this series who you may not have known much about?

KakiTee: DavyJones has impressed me this CGWC. He has all the respect of the top pros, but didn't have a good result last time. This year he seems locked in, willing to put in the required volume to win, and as of right now only "TaxHere" separates him from victory. I think Davy will pull through and TaxHere will fall to second place in the final week.

What would you like to see in next year's series?

KakiTee: I'd love to see an even bigger prize pool, and an even larger turnout, hopefully with some well-known high-stakes live pros who want to test their skills against the best online players.

Less than a week to go!

Could it be a late smash and grab from Biluzin who has come from nowhere to take 2nd place. He had a $43k winning day yesterday and TaxHere lost a similar amount to make the gap mere $25k - just two and a half buy-ins. 

You can see all the highlights from yesterday below:

These are the full standings after Day 23 of the challenge:

PokerStrategy.com will be updating the leaderboard for this series every day.

High Stakes Cash Game World Championship 2025 Leaderboard

Have you been railing? Let us know in the comments: