Why MrBeast Suck at Poker
MrBeast is a genius video creator and businessman – but in my view also one of the biggest fish in modern poker. Although Jimmy loves the game, he is careless, impatient, and a gambler who likes to put on a show.
Depends on Dumb Luck
MrBeast’s poker game basically depends on dumb luck. In the showdown between MrBeast and Ninja in a high stakes poker game, MrBeast went all in pre flop with a queen, six off-suit. When accessing the value of a good non-paired starting hand you look at the high card value, suiteness and connectedness. Taking all these in consideration, this hand is not a good starting hand, so on paper this is a really bad play. It’s clear that he doesn’t try to limit the risk with mathematical probability.
What my full video on this here.
As you can see in the video, MrBeast got extremely lucky and won the pot against an ace and a king.
But analyzing his poker game in debt shows that he has a long history of making bad bets and calls with a variety of mathematically weak hands. And in the long run luck will always run out.
MrBeast’s Gambling Problem
This urge to make risky plays might come from his interest in gambling. During his appearance on the IMPAULSIVE podcast, MrBeast talked about how he enjoys high stakes gambling. He mentions that he was once denied by a casino, as they did not accept bets larger than 10.000 USD on the roulette.
Bringing this carelessness to the poker table will cause him trouble, as most serious poker players use math to eliminate risk. This is in deep contrast to MrBeast, who seems to let his urge to gamble control his poker playing style.
MrBeast Huge Poker Bankroll
Having a huge bankroll might allow MrBeast to make risky plays, but luck can quickly turn when you are this careless. This was proved when MrBeast made an appearance in a charity poker game with poker legend Doyle Brunson, Phil Hellmuth, US senator Ted Cruz, and other public and internet figures.
Phill Hellmuth tells MrBeast how he was warned that he (MrBeast) plays a lot of big pots. MrBeast replies that he usually loses, so this should basically be free money for his opponents, as he only really started playing 6 months ago. This indicates that he sees himself as a newbie, and might not always know what he’s doing when it comes to playing poker pros. He confirms this by calling an All In for a potential straight after having played only a couple of minutes.
He ends up losing 126.000 USD on this move and is busted out of the game. Having only a 33% chance of hitting the straight, this is also considered a bad and risky play. Phil and Doyle Brunson even tell him it was a bad play and they both would have folded in his place.
MrBeast also ends up making some bad plays because of, what looks to be, impatience. We all know the feeling of impatience when playing live games and you keep getting low tier hands. But MrBeast takes this to a whole new level – especially when he plays high stakes poker. We see lots of examples of this when analyzing his playing style.
MrBeast Plays Low Tear Poker Hands
One example is from a big poker game between MrBeast, Tom Dwan, Ninja, Ludwig, Phil Hellmuth, xQc and Alex Botez.
Poker pro Tom Dwan had a top tier starting hand, and made a 3-bet for 35.000 USD. MrBeast is sitting on a 7, 2 off suit. This hand is famous for being the weakest starting hand you can have in poker, as it’s the lowest combination of cards that doesn’t have connectedness or suiteness.
Jimmy calls and the flop comes out 4, 10, 2. MrBeast immediately goes all in, holding only a pair of deuces. This is the lowest pair you can have in poker. Tom, who is sitting on a pair of kings, obviously calls and busts out MrBeast.
Jimmy might have played like this for the show and entertainment, but for a high stakes poker player this is a horrible play. And these types of plays are the reason why he busts out so often.
In conclusion MrBeast treats poker like a game of chance instead of a game of skill. I’m not claiming that he is a gambeling addict, but according to himself he loves gambling. Bringing this mindset to the poker table is not ideal, especially when playing with pros, who can exploit this weakness. Depending this much on luck will empty out his bankroll in no time.
How MrBeast can Improve his Poker Skills
In order for MrBeast to up his game he needs to control his impatience. This means playing less hands and chasing less mathematically bad hands. It’s definitely not his playing style, but it’s an easy way for him to improve his game tremendously. However this might not be easy for him, as he loves to put on a show. His mindset is that watching him needs to be entertaining and a rush. So having a tight playing style will truly compromise this mindset.
He does however claim that he’s already working with a poker coach, so we might soon see a MrBeast that will actually play as a real poker beast.
