“How do you say ‘hit and run’ in Chinese?” asked Steve.
It wasn’t an unfair question, given the fact Peter had just hit the game for a million dollars, then abruptly left just a few hours in. Those who had just witnessed the player from China’s epic sun run - Doug Polk, Tom Dwan, Handz, Action Dan and Steve - were left disappointed and with lighter wallets.
As two million dollars in chips left the game, there wasn’t a lot of life left in it either. With no reserve players lined up the game soon broke for the night, leaving many viewers feeling as short-changed as the players.
Given Peter’s epic run on Day 1 of the Million Dollar Game, one might have thought the poker gods would have spread the luck out a little more evenly, but we all know just how fickle they can be. Peter’s abrupt departure from the game sees him up $2.5M over the first two days of the four-day Million Dollar Game. With two more days to go, can he keep it up?
Peter on a heater
Blinds in last night's Million Dollar Game were $500/$1K with a $2K big blind ante, and each player bought in for at least $1M. Peter turned up late, which left just five players to get the game started. Texas Mike was due to join but ended up skipping the game, in which some huge pots went down once Peter joined to make up the six-handed table.
And these huge pots tended to have one thing in common: Peter hitting the perfect card at the perfect time.
Take the example in the video above: Dwan in the big blind flopped a straight, holding 
on a board of 
, versus Peter in the cutoff who hit top two-pair with his 
, and Doug Polk UTG with a speculative 
.
Dwan was happy to let Peter and Polk take the initiative on the flop, building a pot worth $119K heading into the turn, which was the brickiest of bricks 
. It was checked round, before the 
on the river brought Peter the stone cold nuts.
Dwan bet big for value, $72K, Polk got out of the way and Peter raised another $152K to send Dwan into the tank.
“I feel like I’m never good, but how could I be beat?” Dwan asked himself aloud, before ultimately making the call and finding out for himself.
“Nuts,” Peter replied, scooping the $567K pot.
Hit the video at the top of this article to watch the whole hand play out.
Polk’s kicker takes a kicking
Doug Polk was next to go up against Peter’s rungood, when both players flopped trips. Polk’s 
was always going to get into trouble against Peter’s 
on a board of 
, and that’s exactly what happened.
Polk in the big blind check-raised Peter’s $6K to $25K on the flop, then led out for a 3/4 pot sized bet on the 
turn. Peter made the call to create a $160K pot heading into the river. The 
brought a possible flush and straight, Polk bet $115K and got a snap call. Peter dragged the $390K pot, the second biggest of the night thus far.
Peter hits a two-outer versus Action Dan
Action Dan was next in line for a lesson in acceptance, when his 
flopped a set and turned a full house on the board of 
.
Peter had flopped top two-pair, holding 
, leading the stream’s commentators to commiserate on the cooler he was about to experience. “Everything has gone Peter’s way, the first two days, until now.” They obviously hadn’t read the script all the way to the end.
Action Dan was happy for Peter to take the lead and he did as he was expected, building a pot of $469K heading into the river, where Peter had a winning chance of just 6% with only the two remaining kings in the deck as his available outs.
And if you read the header a few paragraphs up, you’ll know that he hit one. The appeared, Peter bet $250K and Dan couldn’t let it go. Peter dragged another monster, this time worth a huge $969K.
Who will return for day 3?
Day 2 ended with Peter up close to a million dollars, Handz up over $260K and Steve up $148K. Losers on the night included Doug Polk (-$126K), Tom Dwan (-$286K) and Action Dan, who dusted off over a million dollars, losing his last chips when he ran into Steve’s quads.
Peter’s name is present on the publicity materials for Day 3, alongside Alan Keating, Texas Mike and Brandon Steven. Rumors that Dwan and Santosh will be playing remain unconfirmed, but it’s never fun watching the big winner walk away with your chips just a few hours into the game, especially without backup players to take their seats.
Will any other Day 2 players be willing to go up against Peter and his horseshoes once more?
We’ll have to tune in to find out: action starts at 3pm PT and you can catch it here.
