Who Is Tesla Poker? A Legend Born at The Lodge

888poker

4.75

Play

PartyPoker

4.35

Play

GGPoker

4.75

Play

The Lodge Card Club is quickly becoming the poker hub for the entire state of Texas, and the “Poker at the Lodge” live stream is turning into one of the most popular in the world, right behind its closest rival “Hustler Casino Live.”

So far, we have seen some great games and amazing players play poker at The Lodge, but none who could compete with Tesla, an American poker player whose entire backstory remains a mystery.

First making his appearance at The Lodge on February 18, 2024, Tesla quickly became one of the most talked about people in the world of poker thanks to his incredibly loose and aggressive playing style that led to some insane hands right off the bat.

In just a few short months, Tesla poker became one of the biggest villains in all of poker, and it’s worth figuring out just why that is.

If you want to know more about Tesla, the mysterious poker player from The Lodge poker streams, keep on reading and get all the information that’s currently out there.

Who Is Tesla Poker?

At this point in time, not too much is known about Tesla, the high stakes cash game player who first appeared on Poker at the Lodge in February 2024.

The things we do know include his first name, which is James, as well as his place of residence, which is Panama City Beach, Florida.

James is an entrepreneur of some sorts, although the exact origin of his seemingly considerable wealth are not yet fully disclosed to the poker public.

Another thing that remains somewhat of a mystery is his nickname, although it is fair to assume it has something to do with his affinity for Elon Musk’s brand of electric cars.

Beyond this limited information, Tesla’s personal life remains shrouded in mystery, as he has not given any interviews or shared any personal information throughout the streams.

Granted, he has only appeared on stream a few times, but the times he did were so spectacular that we will not soon forget about them.

Tesla on Poker at the Lodge

Tesla first caught the attention of the poker world by playing in a relatively small $25/50 poker game on Poker at the Lodge, where he came out as the big winner, taking home over $120,000.

The celebrations were short, however, as he came back the very next day and torched $450,000 in a tougher lineup that included Doug Polk and Mariano Grandoli.

A full month later, Tesla came back for some more action, once again winning big on his first night of the Lodge’s high stakes stream, taking home nearly $200,000.

Yet, once again, the win only lasted 24 hours, as he came back for the second day of streamed action and dropped over $600,000 on that stream.

–

To date, Tesla has lost $750,000 playing in the four sessions at The Lodge, and we have only just begun seeing him play his unique style of poker.

While the player did claim he ran bad after one of his losing sessions, the records show that his losses may have been attributed to a bit more than just bad run.

In fact, Tesla probably played the loosest and wildest style of poker of any player who ever played in these high stakes games, including the likes of Nik Airball and Erik Persson.

It seemed like every time there was a chance, Tesla moved all in, whether he had it or not, and quite naturally there were quite a few hands where he simply did not.

Despite making a few players fold the better hand on some occasions, Tesla ended up the big loser, and it could have been much worse if not for a few lucky cards that allowed him to win some massive pots.

Let’s get into a few of those hands and find out just how Tesla’s playing style performed against the likes of Doug Polk, Xuan Liu, and Nik Airball.

Tesla Tangles with Doug Polk

Doug Polk, the co-owner of The Lodge, was not there for the first game Tesla played at the club, as the stakes were kind of low and the game didn’t seem interesting enough for his likes.

However, following Tesla’s big win the first day, a group of players came together ready to play some really high stakes poker, and this one included Polk.

–

The two started tangling right away, but it wasn’t until a few hours into the stream that they played their first huge pot.

Holding A♣K♣, Doug 4-bet to $6k over the top of Tesla’s 3-bet, and the flop of K♦K♥5♣ gave him the virtual nuts against James’ 7♠6♥.

Not one to be easily scared away, Tesla called Polk’s $3k c-bet, which led to a 4♠ on the turn. When Doug continued for $18k, his opponent decide to come over the top with a tiny raise to just $37k.

Quite naturally, Doug called, leaving him with $60k behind and $92k in the pot, and Tesla having only 18% equity.

This time, the lucky 8♣ gave Tesla the best hand, which left Doug in a big of a shock, as he was happy to call the river shove from Tesla.

A couple of hours later into the stream, Tesla was even able to bluff Doug out of the pot on a four-flush board, even showing the 2♦ to Doug who held 9♦ for a better flush. Yet, Doug believed he was up against a higher flush and folded.

It took only one orbit for Doug to win his money back, however, as he shortly picked up A♣Q♣ which he 4-bet to $10k. Tesla obliged with a call holding 8♠7♠ and then proceeded to bluff every street when the board gave Polk the nut-straight.

All of this, and a few other pots, led to a massive pot between the two when Polk flopped a set of Treys on a board of J♠4♦3♣.

The turn was the 10♣ and Tesla decided that his A♥5♥ was good enough for a massive all-in move, which got snapped off by Polk.

The two ran the final card twice, but this time around four outs were not enough for Tesla, who ended up losing close to half a million dollars on the night, most of it on pure bluffs with very little equity.

–

Tesla Makes the Nuts in Crazy Hand with Nik Airball

Tesla came back for more high stakes action in March, this time playing at a table with the likes of Nik Airball, Stache, and Brown Balla.

With blinds at $100/200, Airball opened the pot to $500 with 4♥2♥. Tesla and Balla called, before Stache decided to bump it up to $2.5k with 4♣3♣.

Airball and Tesla were both quick to throw the chips in, which took us to a flop of K♠7♠5♥, giving the original aggressor and Tesla straight draws.

Yet, the flop action checked around, which led to the incredible turn, the 6♥. The card gave both Stache and Tesla straights, while Nik was caught in the middle with a drawing hand.

Stache opened the turn action for $5k, Nik decided to go after it with a $16.5k raise, and Tesla made his famous “rainbow” raise, using chips of every color, bumping it up to $31,625.

Both players came along, and the river card was 3♦, now giving Airball a straight as well, and leading to a huge river decision.

Stache and Airball both checked, and James now fired out a hefty $125,000 bet with the nuts, which Stache called off pretty fast.

For the first time in his life, Airball took over 20 minutes to make his decision, even prompting Doug Polk to leave the commentary booth and go down to the floor to force Nik to make a decision, as the stream was about to catch up with live action and expose everyone’s cards to the world.

Nik eventually made the correct fold in what was one of the craziest hands at The Lodge, once again sparked by none other than Tesla Poker.

The Biggest Entertainer in Poker

Tesla only appeared on a live streamed game four times thus far, and he has already captured the imaginations of thousands of newly minted fans.

His playing style appears to outmatch even the wildest players out there, and with every hand he plays, he seems to stir up even more controversy.

Not only does Tesla bet often and big, but he also loves to talk at the table, makes “rainbow” bets, and goes to sit in the lounge chairs while his opponents are making decisions.

These sorts of antics have not been seen in TV poker history, but the question one must ask is whether this is sustainable for the new high stakes poker players from Florida.

While Tesla definitely seems to be able to afford playing in these games, his playing style is likely to lead to further losses, which could pile up rather fast.

Whether Tesla is willing to lose millions of dollars to have a good time and rub shoulders with some of the best poker players around remains to be seen, but it is not very likely he will quit playing on the streams just yet.

So, get ready for even more great streams with Tesla in the lineup and have fun watching him build up the biggest pots in every game, some with wild bluffs, and some with the absolute nuts.