Alan Keating has dominated Hustler Casino Live’s Million Dollar Game over the past few years. But he’ll be facing perhaps his toughest lineup as the $1 million buy-in cash game moves to the World Series of Poker (WSOP) feature table on Friday.
The first-ever seven-figure minimum buy-in livestreamed cash game occurred in 2023, and it was the only MDG Keating, who was relatively new to the mainstream poker audience at the time, lost. Since then, he’s crushed the game, recording five consecutive winning sessions for a net profit of $3.86 million.
Only Peter Wang, his friendly rival, has performed better in the game. Peter, who will also be competing in MGD IV, which starts at 3 p.m. PT on HCL’s YouTube channel, is up $5.28 million in just six MDG sessions.
Keating’s opposition this year, beyond Peter, will include four WSOP bracelet winners: Martin Kabrhel, Santhosh Suvarna, Chang (Jack) Lee, and Michael “Texas Mike” Moncek. He’ll also battle high-stakes cash game veteran Eric Wasserson and DoorDash co-founder Stanley Tang, who is the only other player to have competed in all four MDG’s.
Keating Wants Others to Play
Keating, on a recent PokerNews Podcast episode, squashed rumors that he’s limiting who can play in the Million Dollar Game.
“A lot of people feel like they want to play (the Million Dollar Game) but can’t get in,” Keating said. “And it’s like, well, we got Martin Kabrhel, one of the best tournament players out there. He’s playing in the Million Dollar Game. The door is open to people that, you know, people want to play with, people want to watch, and I think that includes a lot more tournament players than people recognize.”
“I’m looking forward to this week, but also I’m encouraging others to throw their hat in and participate. I would like a bigger circle than people think.”
The Million Dollar Game got even more interesting on Wednesday when Jack and Suvarna went heads-up for the WSOP $50,000 High Roller No-Limit Hold’em bracelet, with Suvarna taking it down for $1,992,870 and his third bracelet. Jack, the name he uses on the HCL livestreams, won $1,281,905 for second place.
Both players will put those winnings at risk in the Million Dollar Game, and will potentially either spin it up to win a ton more, or lose it all. Keating, who is not a fan of tournament poker, would certainly like to stack the tournament crushers.
