When you set poker’s all-time broadcast cash game record on your livestream there’s only one thing left to do. Do it again.
That’s exactly what Hustler Casino Live announced they are going to do on Wednesday when they unveiled the dates and initial lineup of the 2024 Million Dollar Game. Running from May 28-31 on the Hustler Casino Live YouTube channel, the 2024 Million Dollar Game will start with $500/$1K blinds and, as advertised, requires all players to buy in for a minimum of $1,000,000.
While the size of the game, in and of itself, would bring in tens of thousands of viewers, the personalities will determine how big of a success Year Two will ultimately be. And once again for HCL the centerpiece is nosebleed action cash game starter and one of the most popular players of the HCL stream era, Alan Keating. Joining Keating as headliners a part of the initial announcement are Doug Polk, HCL stalwart Nikhil “Nik Airball” Arcot, and cash game legend Tony G. All four of these players are returning for a second round of Million Dollar Game action.
“Playing $500/1K or even $1K/2K blinds isn’t that uncommon for some of the players who will play. Buying in for $1 million, however, is way more rare for most of these players,” Hustler Casino Live co-founder Ryan Feldman said. “The uniqueness of this event, and what appeals to many, is the idea of buying in so deep. You never see $7-10 million on a table. You never see every single player having 1,000 big blinds. This creates a lot of unique hands that have the potential to create massive pots. There are a lot of players who want to be part of this special event. They know that it’s super rare to be able to play in a game like this.”
A number of known HCL high-stakes regs are also slated to be in the mix including Santhosh Suvarna, Prince Charles, Handz, and long-time semi-pro/entrepreneur Brandon Steven. However, with four long days of nosebleed action, there’s going to be a need for players to be waiting in the wings for when a spot opens up and Feldman confirms that there is plenty of interest to fill those seats.
“We currently have a list of more than 30 players who either are in or might be in. These are players we are interested in for this event. There are other players who want to play, who would play, but probably won’t be invited. For those on our list, we then have to confirm each of those players as we get closer. Once we know who’s confirmed, we’ll figure out the lineups for each day.”
The highs of last year significantly outweigh the lows, with a number of hands making poker history simply by the sheer size of the pots that were created. Feldman seems to understand that it may be hard to replicate some of the surprise, shock, and awe of producing the Million Dollar Game for the first time, but he’s confident that the 2024 version will have its own memorable moments to look back on.
“We can’t expect to have a pot bigger than $3.1 million this year. That was super special,” Feldman said. “If we do, that’s amazing, but we aren’t expecting it. We hope to have many pots over $1 million and to build on our viewership records last year, which peaked at 58,000 on the final day. Most importantly, we want to put together better, more entertaining, more action-packed games this year, and we believe we will.”
It’s a near certainty that more players will be announced as the dates get closer, when asked who else he hopes he’ll be able to confirm, Feldman looks to give the fans what they want.
“We’re hoping Rampage [Ethan Yau] makes a return this year. We’ll wait until we get closer to get a confirmation from him. We really hope Eric Persson is in this year. He’s a superstar in poker and would be a great fit in these lineups.”
Although Eric Persson was originally supposed to participate in the original Million Dollar Game, conflicts kept him away. On the other hand, Ethan ‘Rampage’ Yau made Million Dollar Game headlines after he executed one of the biggest bluffs in livestream history.
As for Tom Dwan, the winner of last year’s record-setting $3.1 million hand, his status is currently up in the air.
“I haven’t talked to Tom in a while, but I would love to have him return for this year’s Million Dollar Game.”