Photography by John Villarama
By Dana Craven
In the weeks prior to MDGII, the excitement of the approaching iconic game certainly contributed to day after day of incredible poker action. We saw a ton of new players, HCL OG’s, and a host of show regulars jump in the mix.
From the second installment of the Bounty Game featuring “Jungleman” Dan Cates, Rampage, Mariano, and Action Dan to a surprise appearance from Ryan Garcia on a random Wednesday, from the return of Britney and Sashimi to the HCL debut of Trick Time, there was no doubt a special kind of magic was brewing on the stage in the Crystal Room of the Hustler Casino.
We even saw the first-ever sit-and-go tournament featuring Phil Hellmuth, Jeff Gross, Karate Combat CEO and fighters along with Crypto YouTubers: AltCoin Daily. During every episode the epic movie-trailer-style MDGII preview – created by Kyle “RaverPoker” Raverby – kept the viewers reminded of the huge $1-million buy-in event to come.
The Million Dollar Game week kicked off, first, with an exciting Max Pain Monday – commentary by up-and-comer DJ Washburn. The lineup featured Peter (yes, THAT Peter), Luda Chris, Sashimi, and Britney.
Also joining the table were fan favorites Fast Eddie, Raver, Nick Vertucci, and Bruce Buffer. Last, but definitely not least, the Be A Star winner had been drawn and bankrolled by Hustler Casino to join the lineup.
There are only three rules to the $10k-cap Max Pain Monday: run it once, slow-rolls encouraged, and the seven-deuce (off) bounty.
The action was absolutely insane as Peter – who must have been letting off some steam in anticipation of the upcoming days – blasted off. By the end of the night, there was nearly $350,000 in play – one for the Max Pain Monday record books.
It’s TIIIIME !!
The first day of the Million Dollar Game II finally arrived – Tuesday, May 28th, 2024. Players were introduced to the stage by the one-and-only UFC announcer Bruce Buffer and the cards were in the air with over $8 million on the table.
Tom Dwan and Handz both played the inaugural event last year and returned for the second MDG. They were surrounded by players making their MDG debut: Hook, Peter, Action Dan, Steve, and Texas Mike. The ever-energetic and knowledgeable Christian Soto called the action from the booth.
No time wasted.
The blinds started at $500/$1000 plus $2000 big blind ante. Typically, especially in these nose-bleed high stakes cash games, the action starts off with a medium roar as players attempt to familiarize themselves with one another and the environment.
Not on Day 1 of the MDGII! In the very first hand, we saw a six-figure pot where Action Dan wisely folded his turned straight against Hook’s rivered full house.
Tom’s Tilt
Early in the evening, HCL fan favorite Action Dan resisted pressure from the legend that is Tom “Durrr” Dwan as they both were drawing to a flush. Even though the action checked down on the turn and river, the pot had ballooned to $318k after the flop. Both players missed their flush on the river but Action Dan “binked” a pair of aces. Within the first hour of play, Tom’s stack dipped to $800k. Later, he would lose another chunk of change to Texas Mike’s flopped trips versus Dwan’s turned pair of Aces.
“Watch Out! Peter, Watch Out!”
About two-and-a-half hours into the game, Peter raised to $4k from UTG with T♠️T♥ and gets four callers. The flop comes 4♦4♠️6♦ – giving Hook, with 7♦5♠️, an up-and-down straight draw; Steve, with A♦J♦, the nut flush draw; and Tom Dwan, with 9♥4♥, trips. The action checked to the pre-flop aggressor. Soto exclaimed into the mic: “Watch Out! Peter, Watch Out!” as Peter quickly bet $8k into the $18k pot; Steve called, then Tom Dwan bet pot. Hook quickly got out of the way. Peter and Steve both call – making it $127k in the middle.
The turn came T♣️ – flipping Peter’s equity from 11% to 97%. Christian Soto and the ChatPros went absolutely wild. Tom Dwan’s chances of making a comeback disappeared to a one-outer. Steve’s chances of winning the hand plummeted to 0%.
From the infamous two-seat, in his mirrored aviators, the first-to-act Cool Hand Peter quickly checked the turn – as did Steve. While we waited for Tom Dwan’s decision in seat six, Soto proclaimed, “It might be night-night for Durrr…” and, as if on cue, Tom bet $76k. Peter couldn’t call fast enough. After a classic “Father Steve” one-liner under his breath, Steve folded and it was time to see the last community card.
There it was. A brick on the river – 2♥. Another swift check from Peter, Dwan took a few moments, and Soto somberly stated, “Durrr believes his opponent has something like Queens…” Dwan bet $167k, presumably for value, into the $279k pot to which Peter responded with a raise to $425k.
“Why, Peter??… WHY???” Dwan immediately pushed himself from the table for a moment, putting his hands on his head. He clarified the bet with Magic (the Dealer), went into the blender, made the call, and then saw the bad news.
“RIP Doyle”
The most replayed hand of Day 1 of MDGII doesn’t go to the biggest pot of the night – even though there was over $1 million in the pot before the final action took place on the river.
Six hours into the game, Texas Mike straddled from UTG so pre-flop action started with Hook from UTG+1 who raised to $6k, with 8♣️7♣️. Two callers – Handz from the cutoff with T♣️9♣️ and Texas Mike from UTG with T♥2♠️ – made the pot $21.5k. The flop came 4♣️5♥A♠️ – giving Hook a gutter and the other two players “squa-doosh” (as Norman Chad likes to say).
The action checked to Hook who bet $5k, Handz folded, Texas Mike called – making the pot $31.5k before the turn – the 6♠️. Hook quickly bet $16k after Texas Mike checked to him. Texas Mike insta-raised to $52k and Hook called; $136k in the middle before Lauren (the Dealer) delivered the river: A♥.
Texas Mike checked again; Hook overbet $160k – a reverse bluff, possibly. Without missing a beat, Texas Mike rips it in – “ALL IN” – repping the full house. Hook was convinced and folded. Texas Mike showed his hand. “That was a sick bluff…” Hook said. “RIP Doyle,” is all that Texas Mike replied. Of course, chat went crazy and the hand went “Poker Twitter” viral that night. Texas Mike officially landed “Legend” status.
Day 1 Final Stats
MDG Day 2
After a whirlwind of Tweets, clips, and posts, along with a new felt added to the HCL table, and, just like that, it was Day 2 of the MDGII – Tuesday, May 29th, 2024.
Doug Polk headlined the lineup for Day 2. The rest of the players had already played on Day 1 – Handz, Peter, Steve, Action Dan, and Tom Dwan. Due to health issues, Texas Mike had to cancel at the last minute. Just the same, the six-handed game began with $6.5 million on the table to battle for. The legendary David “Tuck” Tuchman called the action for the majority of the show that night and Charlie Wilmoth jumped in later on.
“How could he have it? But he’s gotta have it…”
One hour into Day 2, Tom Dwan found himself entangled on the river against Peter yet again – nearly 24-hours after that shocking $1.1 million hand on Day 1.
Doug Polk accidentally straddled from UTG thinking he was on the big blind. “I’ll straddle. Let’s go. Let’s roll. Get this game rollin’ – for Handz…” he announced. From the high-jack, Handz raised to $5k with A♠️9♠️. Peter called from the cutoff with Q♠️T♦. Tom Dwan called with J♥8♣ from the big blind. Doug Polk completed the pre-flop action and called from UTG with K♥8♥ – $19.5k in the middle.
The flop came Q♦T♠️9♥. Although he flopped a straight, Tom Dwan checked as did Doug Polk and Handz. Peter, who flopped top two pair, quickly decided to bet $6k. Tom Dwan called and Doug Polk – with an inside straight draw – raised to $32k. Peter and Tom Dwan both called – making the pot $119k.
A blank on the turn – the 4♣️ – and the action checked around. The river, Q♥, filled up Peter but Tom bet $72k, Polk folded, to which Peter raised to $224k and Handz got out of the way, too. Tom Dwan’s reaction seemed to be exactly the same reaction he had to Peter’s river bet the day prior – “What’s goin’ on?” he asked as he went deep into the tank and then called.
“Nuts,” Peter said as he smiled and slowly flipped over his hand and scooped the $567k pot. After a few moments of disbelief, Doug Polk added a little salt to the wound as he said, “It’s just nice to see the straddle really wreck someone, you know?”
Could have… Should have…
After that big hand between Peter and Tom Dwan had seemingly sucked the air out of the room, things had simmered down for only a short while. At the top of the second hour of Day 2, two HCL fan favorite high stakes regulars battled for nearly $1 million in yet another incredible hand.
Action Dan raised to $11k with 7♠️7♣️ from the big blind and got two callers – Peter, on the button with K♦7♦, and Steve, in the small blind with 6♥4♠️. A very wet flop, K♠️4♥7♥, gave Peter top two and Action Dan a set of sevens. Steve, with just bottom pair, checks. Action Dan bet $18k into the $33k pot. Peter raised to $68k, Steve folded, and Tuck reminded the viewers, “Everything has gone Peter’s way the last two days… until now…”
Action Dan opted to slow play his set and called the additional $50k – making the pot before the turn $169k. Sami (the Dealer) flipped over the 4♦. Since his hand improved to a full house on the turn, Action Dan continued to slow play and checked to Peter who then bet $150k. Eventually, Action Dan chose to call – most likely putting Peter on a flush draw rather than a hand that could beat him; like pocket kings or pocket fours. In order to win the hand outright, Peter needed one of the two kings left in the deck.
If anyone could emulate the suspense and anticipation that was happening in chat, it’s Steve as he sat between Peter and Action Dan during this hand. You could tell he soon realized folding on the flop wasn’t such a bad idea after all. And, his facial expressions seem to say, “What do these guys have!?”
Sami delivered the river with a crisp snap – the K♥. The flush came in and Action Dan’s hand improved to sevens over kings – making it even more unlikely that Peter was holding a king. So, Action Dan checked to Peter again to, most likely, induce another bet. It worked and Peter bet $250k – roughly half pot.
Action Dan contemplated his next move. The real life moment paralleled the iconic poker movie, Rounders – “I want him to think that I’m pondering a call. But all I’m really thinking about is Vegas and the f**ing Mirage.” This was the moment, the hand, that Action Dan had been waiting for since it was announced that he would be in this year’s Million Dollar Game.
Rather than going all in like Mikey did against KGB in the movie, Action Dan made the call and just smiled while Peter scooped the $969,000 pot.
“This feels a little tilt-y…”
In the very next hand, from the small blind Action Dan 3-bet and then 5-bet his Q♦8♦ into Tom Dwan’s A♣️K♠️ in the big blind. Capitalizing on Dan’s tilt, Dwan shoved all in but there was no way that Action Dan could call. Just like that, in two hands, Action Dan became the shortest stack in the biggest short-handed game in the world.
In addition to being short-handed, Day 2 of the Million Dollar Game II turned out to be the shortest stream of the four-day event – airing for only five hours. The contributing factors out of everyone’s control included a late cancellation by Texas Mike, an early exit by Peter, and, then, unfortunately, Action Dan getting felted without reloading. The remaining four players made the best of it, but the game eventually broke for the evening.
DAY 2 FINAL STATS
MDG DAY 3
Tom Dwan and Steve returned for their third session in a row and were joined by Alan Keating, Brandon Stephen, Texas Mike, and a very mysterious Thomas. Each player bought in for the minimum, however, at one point in the evening, we saw over $10 million on the table during day 3 of The Million Dollar Game II.
For the first hour of the game, two players started off strong – Thomas and Tom Dwan – while three players had a rough start – Keating and Texas Mike down $108k each and Brandon Stephen down $177k. But, anything was certainly possible with this lineup.
“What!? Just Happened!?”
One of the most replayed hands of the night isn’t necessarily the biggest pot we saw on Day 3. The outcome was just so strange yet very relatable for all poker players, it’s no wonder viewers are drawn to this particular hand.
The hand started off like many do. Texas Mike raised to $4k from the high-jack with Q♥9♥ and two players behind him called – Tom Dwan from the cut-off with 5♦5♣️ and Thomas from the button with 8♣️7♦. Steve 3-bet to $22k from the small blind with K♦K♣️. Keating called from the big blind with A♥3♥ – and the rest of the players couldn’t wait to get their money in. Just your standard 5-ways-to-the-flop hand with $122k in the middle!
The action checked to Texas Mike after the flop – 4♣️9♣️T♥ – who quickly bet $56k and got two callers – Steve and Thomas. The 2♠️ on the turn doesn’t change anything and doesn’t improve any draws, so Steve makes his iconic $1k min-bet – Texas Mike and Thomas quickly called.
The J♣️ on the river completed the flush draw; Steve and Texas Mike check to Thomas who bet $130k into $283k nearly immediately. Steve called and Texas Mike folded. But. Thomas didn’t show his hand at showdown – the winning hand! He mucked his cards towards the dealer and the $543k pot went to Steve. A very flabbergasted David Tuchman couldn’t help but think that Thomas misread his hand at first. Of course, the ChatPros went wild. Tuch went on to explain to the viewers, “I imagine Thomas thought he was bluffing clubs and was so hyper-focused on the clubs … he forgot that he actually had the straight.”
“Take your time, just make the wrong decision…”
At about 3-hours into the game, David Tuchman summarized the action we were seeing on Day 3 compared to the previous days of the MDGII event, “Tonight has been really good action. We have had many, many six-figure pots – a handful of pots over a half-million dollars – and a lot of bluffs.”
Tom Dwan raised to $13k with A♥Q♣️ into three limpers after he had straddled from UTG. All three players called – Steve from the button with T♣️7♣️, Brandon from the small blind with 4♦4♣️, and Texas Mike from the big blind with Q♦9♣️. The flop came 9♠️4♠️2♥ – giving Brandon a set of fours and very few outs for the rest of the players.
The action checked to Steve who bet $28k with only 4% equity – Brandon called and Texas Mike raised to $135k. Steve quickly folded. Brandon took only a few moments and 3-bet all in. The huge decision was on Texas Mike. He talked through the hand a little bit and then said, “Sorry guys, this’ll just take a minute.” Brandon replied, “Take your time… just make the wrong decision…”
Texas Mike made the call – making the pot over $1.5 million. The players ran it once. The 3♥ on the turn meant that Texas Mike was drawing dead. Brandon made his comeback and then some as he scooped the massive pot. In that one hand, Texas Mike saw all of his winnings so far that evening just disappear.
“This is my satellite to tomorrow…”
The biggest pot of Day 3 of MDGII took place after about six hours of play. Before the hand was dealt, having already reloaded once, Texas Mike randomly said, while gesturing to his $1.1 million stack, “This is my satellite to tomorrow…”
The game was five-handed at this point. Texas Mike and Thomas both straddled. The cards were dealt and Keating opened up the action by raising to $20k from the small blind with A♣️Q♣️. Brandon called from the big blind with 6♣️4♣️, then Texas Mike 3-bet to $100k from UTG with T♥T♣️. Thomas folded his A♠️T♦ and Alan Keating 4-bet to $275k. There was only one thing left for Texas Mike to do: “All In.” Keating instantly called – making the pot an incredible $2.2 million.
“ONCE. Do you have a pair?” Texas Mike asked Keating. An ace on the flop meant that Texas Mike needed a ten – one of which had been folded by Thomas already. The turn and river did not help. Felted, Texas Mike shook everyone’s hands and exited the stage.
Soon after, Keating took a moment to speak with Veronica about that hand and Texas Mike. Feeling mixed emotions, Keating said, “It was his last buy-in for the day. So you feel kind of bad about being the reason he leaves. But I also didn’t want to lose the pot. Mike is a warrior – like we saw him the first day, right? The man is an absolute star. I think he thought I had what I had and I would fold. I just had been down from my peak so much that I was not in the mood so, you know, we just met in the middle.”
Day 3 Final Stats
MDG DAY 4
The fourth day of MDGII saw the addition of Stanley Tang, Santhosh, and Rahul along with the return of Thomas, Peter, Keating, and Brandon. Later in the stream, Tom Dwan would also come back to the stage with vengeance on his mind.
Viewers and ChatPros alike had built up anticipation for this particular day for a few reasons. Two of their favorites – Santhosh and Stanley Tang – returned to the HCL stage. Plus, the mystery of “Thomas” – the mask and hoodie wearing billionaire recreational player who had punted the night before – kept quite a lot of theories spinning in chat and on social media. On top of all of that, Rahul had never played on HCL before, so he arrived with a bit of mystery about him, too.
Rahul Goes All In!
While Nick Vertucci and Veronica Brill make an important statement about Tom Dwan and when the viewers could expect him, you can see the first massive pot brewing on the right side of the screen.
When the hand went back to full screen, we see that Thomas had 4-bet to $150k from the straddled UTG+1 with 8♥3♦ – and got four callers: Keating on the button with K♣️Q♠️, Rahul with 9♣️8♣️ in the small blind, Santhosh with T♥T♦ in the big blind, and Peter with K♥9♥ from UTG. Before the flop, the pot was at a staggering $752k. Astonished, Charlie Wilmoth predicts, “This pot could just get enormous…”
The flop: 6♠️9♦7♠️. First to act from the small blind, Rahul donk bets and goes all in. All the players were stunned – they just couldn’t call – and Rahul scooped the $1.5 million pot and won a ton of new fans in chat.
“An absolute terror…”
At the five-hour mark, Peter held a commanding lead in cumulative winnings – up $2 million – and Thomas, with the biggest loss at that point, down $1.2 million, only had a stack of $382k. Rahul, Keating, Brandon, and Stanley were also down six figures – they all had a lot of work to do.
Stanley raised to $6k from the high jack with K♣️Q♣️. Keating just called from the button with A♥K♥. Santhosh also called from the big blind with T♠️9♣️. Having straddled from UTG, Peter 3-bet to $42k with his inconspicuous Q♥Q♦ and all three players called. Magic revealed the flop: 7♥6♠️7♠️.
Santhosh checked his inside straight draw to the preflop aggressor. Peter bet $45k and both Keating and Santhosh called, making the pot $306k. Santhosh checked after the 4♥ on the turn; Peter followed suit. Keating bet $140k, Santhosh folded, and Peter called – $586k in the pot.
Even though he was ahead the entire hand, the Q♣️ on the river sealed the deal for Peter. He checked his full house to Keating to induce the exact bet that would come: ALL IN. Peter snap called and the $2 million pot was pushed his way.
“On a collision course”
Seven handed and seven hours into the stream, the same five players continued to struggle while the same two winning players continued their upward trajectory. In order for something to change for the losing players in the game, it seemed only a miracle would be the answer.
Rahul raised to $15k with 8♠️7♠️ from UTG+1 and gets four callers – Thomas from the button with A♠️6♥, Stanley in the small blind with K♥Q♥, Brandon in the big blind with K♦10♥, and Keating, who straddled from UTG, with T♠️7♠️.
“Five ways to the flop,” Christian Soto on the mic as Magic dealt the first street of community cards: 4♠️J♠️8♥. “Spades,” Soto continued, “Look at this! Keating and Rahul on a collision course. Open ended straight draw plus flush draw for Keating. Rahul – pair plus flush draw! And this could escalate quickly…” Rahul immediately bet $40k into the $77k pot. Keating called and the two players found themselves battling heads up yet again in what had become quite the rivalry that night.
The turn, A♦, doesn’t change the players’ equity. Keating checked and Rahul fired $140k into $157k then covered his mouth with his hands. “Praying for a spade,” Soto continued, “but that’s not what he wants. Praying for a seven, but that’s also not what he wants. Praying for a fold – that’s certainly not coming.” Keating took a few moments, looked at his frozen opponent a couple of times, and called.
The camera zoomed in on the board and Magic hammered down the river – the 7♥. Rahul improved to two pair, but Keating hit his straight. “It’s a SEVEN,” Soto exclaimed. Of course, any true-blue poker fan knows: It’s always coming SEVEN. “Keating rivered the NUT. Look at Keating staring down Rahul.”
The entire time, Rahul sat rigid while covering his mouth – never looking in Keating’s direction. During the delivery of the river and after, Keating hardly took his eyes off of Rahul – even while he checked the river to set the trap for his barreling contender. Rahul took a few moments, glancing at his cards again, he took a few deep breaths, and bet $200k into the $437k pot – leaving him with $951k behind.
Keating knew exactly what to do with his $1 million stack that had been taking a beating the entire night. It was only for a split second – when Keating declared “All in” – that we saw Rahul look in his adversary’s direction. Arms crossed and still frozen in his shrunken posture, Rahul furrows his brow and shakes his head as if to say nothing made sense.
“Nasty, nasty spot for Rahul – The Joker!,” Soto had given the new player the nickname very early on in the stream because of his very animated facial expressions after getting mixed up in some very big pots. But, The Joker could hardly breathe and certainly was not cracking a smile in the moments after Keating over-bet jammed the river in this hand.
Rahul asked for a count – during which, Keating calmly readjusted, looked down, and waited for the mechanics to be completed. Magic confirmed the count to Rahul: $800k more to call. “Now… this is gonna take some time…” The Joker tells the table. He talked through the hands that Keating could have and as soon as he says “Nine/Ten Spades? Don’t think so…” he froze again momentarily before continuing to verbalize his thoughts.
“Why do I feel like you have Queen-Ten?” he asked while he started to loop back into the same list of hands and then confirmed the amount to call with Magic again. Perturbed but stoic, Keating just waited even as Rahul said to him, “You usually like to talk.” Rahul’s tank continued for even longer and eventually made the call – picking up two stacks of $25k chips and putting them, basically, in Keating’s stack.
Soto exclaimed from the booth, “HE CALLS!! TWO-POINT-FOUR MILLION!!!! And Keating is back!! Keating is BACK!!” The man in black calmly stood from the two seat and took a short walk as Magic sorted the stacks. “BOOM! Two-point-four-million! STRAIGHT! Alan Keating is BACK! Leaves Rahul with crumbs!” Soto continued, “There it is! All smiles for Alan Keating and the opposite for Rahul…” Felted, defeated, exhausted, Rahul asked to be dealt out, racked up his remaining $151k, and left the HCL stage. Keating was now on the right side of the cumulative winnings graphic – up $133k after that hand.
Moments later, Keating shared his insight with Veronica Brill from the Sideline about Rahul and that hand;
“I was a little destitute, on my little island there, trying to make somethin’ happen. Initially, when he (Rahul) came into the game, I thought: I’d never met him before, maybe he’s new. Then I saw him really ramming and jamming, so, I’m like: okay… this guy’s really got a lot goin’ on. And I had some bad hands – kind of stay out of the way. But one thing really played a factor in the all-in on the river. Earlier in the day, he had told me that he had watched a bunch of clips of me play(ing). I’ve known that when I had gone all in before – and I had it – I was mabe like a little more jovial and I said something. I just decided to stare down and try to maintain this, like, anxiousness the whole way. Ultimately it was up to his read.”
Just tryin’ to get even…
As Keating returned to the table after his interview with Veronica, viewers could see two full racks of chips had been placed at the empty seat three. Before we know it, the cameras go back to Veronica – this time with Tom Dwan standing next to her. There had been some drama over the previous two or three days away from the table and on social media due to HCL’s choice to cater to Thomas’ request for no super pros.
“What I had said to Nick I think is true. I wish they’d handled it a little different. It’s fine. We don’t need to see everything eye-to-eye. But, I felt like it was fair for a few reasons to give them some shit – and I think they both agree with that regardless that they felt that was fair. … I just want to play some poker.”
“Play the heater”
Despite having won that massive pot against Rahul earlier, Keating ended up in the red again – but not nearly as much. Having accumulated nearly $3.25 million in winnings, Peter comfortably raised from the high-jack with A♦5♥. From the button, Brandon called and Keating quickly raised to $35k to K♣️J♣️ – “Play the heater,” Brandon said to Keating. Tom Dwan folded, Peter called, and Brandon quickly got out of the way, too.
Magic revealed the flop: A♠️9♥4♠️. Keating, first to act, bet about half pot – $40k – and Peter called. The T♥ on the turn gave Keating the gut-shot straight draw – improving to 11% equity. Keating fired another bullet – this time nearly pot-sized at $150k. “Decision time for Peter,” Soto called from the booth, “This man has made every right decision this week.” Peter called – making the pot $462k.
Only four cards in the deck could improve Keating’s hand on the river. Magic flipped over the Q♣️. “And Keating rivers the nuts,” Soto announced. “Finally a pot where Peter does not have the best hand at showdown. And Keating rivers him. Grabbing a huge stack. And this is the moment that Keating’s been waiting for.”
Magic confirmed the bet of $575k from Keating – an overbet surely meant to represent a bluff. Peter scratched his head and looked at Keating, then the board, over and over again – appearing suspicious and perplexed. “Looking at Keating, grabbing chips… Trying to get a read… Ooooph! Looks like he wants to put these chips in. I think he’s trying to get a read off Keating!”
Thinking for another moment, Peter started to look very angry as he clapped chips together. He would continue to tank and ultimately made the call. Keating turned over the winning hand. Soon relizing he’d lost the hand, Peter showed only the five. The doom zoom centered its attention on Peter. “Oh, no! They’re gonna doom zoom Peter. That’s a rare sight! They doom zoom people who are up millions!?” Peter left the table, “Peter’s taking a walk. He’s steamed up!” Keating scooped the $1.6 million pot and returned to the black again.
Shortly thereafter, Thita, the Hustler Casino floor staffer we frequently see on the show, brought several empty racks to seat five and began filling them. Keating asked her, “Did you bring a forklift?” and Peter walked back on to the stage, “You… You!… All in,” he pointed to Keating and then said something in Mandarin – most likely “Nice hand” or something to that effect considering his facial expressions and body language. Just like that, over $3.4 million in chips was removed from the table.
Veronica Brill reported from the sideline:
“Well, Peter is out and $3.4 million is off the table. He just lost a massive pot to Alan Keating for $1.6 million. He did, however, win over $5 million and he is our biggest winner on Hustler Casino Live for this week. He told us that he loved playing with Tom Dwan and that he’s his favorite player. He’s planning on staying in the states for a while and coming back to Hustler Casino Live. We really enjoyed watching him play. I can’t wait to watch him scoop up all the chips the next time he comes back.”
Day 4 Final Stats
That’s a wrap!
Before we knew it, Day 4 of Million Dollar Game II officially concluded. The live streams from the entire week-long event joined the hundreds of HCL episodes before them – and a couple of dozen since. The journey of stress and anticipation could now be celebrated but only for a short time since the next regularly scheduled show – Max Pain Monday – was right around the corner.
While simultaneously putting show after show up five days a week, less than four weeks after HCL’s MDGII, Ryan and Nick produced quite possibly the biggest game in televised poker history: LEGENDS ON THE FELT – featuring sports icons like Neymar, Ninja, Jimmy Butler, Ryan Garcia, Alan Keating, Dan Bilzerian & Jon Vlogs. Watch for that game review in the next issue of Rounder Magazine.
Catch up on all the action on HCL’s YouTube channel – @HustlerCasinoLive. All episodes are available there for free thanks to the commitment and hard work from co-owners Ryan Feldman and Nick Vertucci along with their incredible staff and crew.
