Nik Airball, Alan Keating Headline the 2025 Hustler Casino Live 'Million Dollar Game'
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The third annual series of $1 million buy-in cash games on Hustler Casino Live will return April 28 to May 2 on YouTube. Alan Keating and Nikhil "NikAirball" Arcot will headline the action, but the full lineups haven't yet been announced.
Ryan Feldman and his former co-owner Nick Vertucci put together the first ever livestreamed seven-figure minimum buy-in cash games in May 2023. Thousands of poker fans tuned in to watch high rollers play for unimaginable stakes. Houses and Ferrari's were won and lost, and the final day featured the largest pot in livestream poker history — $3.1 million — won by Full Tilt Poker legend Tom "durrrr" Dwan.
Million Dollar Game (MDG) III kicks off April 28 at Hustler Casino in Los Angeles. All players will buy-in for at least $1 million, and the blinds will start at $500/$1,000 with a $2,000 big blind ante. The popular livestream will air every hand on each day.
Looking Back on the 2024 Million Dollar Game
Last year's Million Dollar Game had an endless supply of monster pots and one of the most infamous hands in poker history, although no one realized it at the time. The no-limit hold'em games are also remembered for Michael "Texas Mike" Moncek running horrendously and losing over $2.7 million.
But the legendary hand featured a player named "Steve" taking down a $540,000 pot at showdown with the worst hand. A mystery player who went by the name "Thomas" mucked his winning cards face down, one of the costliest blunders ever seen in a televised poker game.
PokerNews then later reported the masked man was actually Tom Goldstein, the embattled SCOTUS attorney who is facing federal tax evasion charges for allegedly failing to report millions in poker winnings to the IRS.
The third edition of the MDG figures to bring more epic hands and seven-figure pots. The full lineups will be revealed in the coming weeks, but for now we know Keating, Nik Airball, Steve, and the unpredictable "Peter," all familiar faces on Hustler Casino Live, will compete.
Keating, who recently launched a YouTube channel, will make his third appearance in the Million Dollar Game. Airball, however, could not play last year as he had been banned from Hustler Casino a couple months earlier. The ban is being lifted and he will return to HCL later this month before entering the MDG for the second time in three years.
There will be quite a few names mentioned among HCL fans as to who they want to see in the Million Dollar Games. Martin Kabrhel, a polarizing high-stakes pro, teased on X playing, asking the show's audience "Who wants me in?" Other names that popped up on the HCL announcement tweet included Daniel Negreanu, Texas Mike, "durrrr," a handful of HCL regulars, and players who almost certainly won't be playing, such as Goldstein, Garrett Adelstein, and Sean Perry.
Nik Airball to Make Hustler Casino Live Return Following
2024 Million Dollar Game II Cumulative Results
| Player | Day 1 | Day 2 | Day 3 | Day 4 | Cumulative |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Peter | $1,525,000 | $999,500 | $2,413,500 | $4,938,000 | |
| Texas Mike | $516,000 | ($2,747,500) | ($2,231,500) | ||
| Handz | $226,000 | $268,500 | $494,500 | ||
| Steve | ($314,500) | $148,000 | $982,500 | $816,000 | |
| Action Dan | ($404,000) | ($1,004,000) | ($1,408,000) | ||
| Hook | ($557,000) | ($557,000) | |||
| Tom Dwan | ($992,000) | ($286,000) | $803,500 | ($247,000) | ($721,500) |
| Doug Polk | ($126,000) | ($126,000) | |||
| Alan Keating | $1,521,000 | $421,000 | $1,942,000 | ||
| Brandon Steven | $552,500 | $127,000 | $679,500 | ||
| Thomas | ($1,112,000) | ($1,619,000) | ($2,731,000) | ||
| Santhosh Suvarna | $1,187,000 | $1,187,000 | |||
| Stanley Tang | ($633,500) | ($633,500) | |||
| Rahul | ($1,649,000) | ($1,649,000) |
