Hustler Casino Live's Million Dollar Game has seen some predictably gigantic and historic pots over the last few years, and it should come as little surprise that there were fireworks early on in the kickoff episode of the latest edition on Monday.
The first major splash of this $1 million buy-in game happened between two players who have gotten to know each other well: Alan Keating and Peter Wang.
Less than a month ago on High Stakes Poker, Keating laid down the gauntlet and declared a rivalry against Wang on the way to scooping a $1.4 million pot – the largest in the history of High Stakes Poker.
The two players crossed paths again on Monday as the HCL Million Dollar Game got underway, and Keating was all too happy to reignite tensions in an even bigger way.
In a three-bet pot, Keating (
), Wang (
) and Jack (
) went to a flop of 
. Jack, who was in the small blind, led out for $35,000, Wang called, and Keating fired in a stone cold bluff of a raise to $180,000. After some thought, both Wang and Jack called to bring a 
on the turn.
All three players checked through to see an 
river, and when the action checked to Keating he unleashed the nuclear option – shoving all in for $663,000 into a pot of $621,000. Jack tanked and ultimately let his pocket queens go, but Wang stared down Keating and considered the action in context of all of their history.
Round 2 goes to Peter
Minutes ticked by as Wang picked up his cards and put them down. He picked up different stacks of 20 chips and placed them elsewhere in his pile. There were multiple looks up to the heavens as Wang felt the agony and the pressure of the moment.
Finally, Wang called. When Keating didn't immediately turn over his hand, Wang tabled his two jacks and the dealer shoveled a massive pile of chips in several waves – worth $1.95 million in all.
Wang had a measure of revenge, but with stakes of $1K/$1K and a $2K big blind ante, and several days to go, there may well be a few more chapters added to the Keating vs. Peter rivalry this week.
