top streamed hands of the week, alan keating, senor tilt, brandon steven

Top Streamed Hands of the Week: HCL Million Dollar Marathon Steals the Show

Hustler Casino Live, Poker Streams / / By

With another week in the books, it’s once again time to look back at some of the poker hands that stood out across the biggest poker live streams. 

This time around, one event completely dominated the week, and that was the Million Dollar Marathon, hosted by Hustler Casino Live on Monday night. 

The game featured a $500k minimum buyin, and a legendary cast of players that included Alan Keating, Martin Kabrhel, Nik Airball, Peter, Senor Tilt, and others. 

With millions on the table and blinds set at $500/$1,000 with a $2,000 ante, action was guaranteed, and the player lineup made that an even greater certainty. 

Let’s take a look at some of the biggest and most memorable pots played in this year’s Million Dollar Marathon, which ended up being cut short after about 12 hours of play. 

Brandon Steven Turns Tens into a Bluff

About two and a half hours into the game, Brandon Steven and Senor Tilt collided in a huge pot, which started with Brandon opening his 10♣10♥ to $4k. Nik Airball made the call with his Q♦10♦, before action folded to Kiki. 

In the small blind, he woke up with a beautiful looking K♠K♥, and he decided to play it in an unorthodox way, raising it up to $50k. 

With a pair of Tens and about $550k in his stack, Brandon could only call, while Nik folded his suited Broadways, and the two took a flop. 

The board was 4♦3♣2♥, which brought no help to either of the players. Senor Tilt fired a $80k c-bet, and Brandon made the obligatory call with his overpair. 

The turn was an interesting card, as the A♠ meant both players’ hands were significantly downgraded. Kiki checked the turn, and Brandon realized he may have to bluff if he wants to win this pot, so he fired a $127k bet, leaving $282k behind to bluff on the river. 

Sam was not convinced just yet, and he decided to make the call, as he was getting about 3/1 on his money. Whether he would have called it all off on the river or not will remain a mystery, as the river card brought the K♣, turning his hand into a set. 

Sam checked once again, and Brandon went through with his bluff, which got quickly called by his opponent, who realized it was very unlikely Brandon would have a 5 in his hand after calling the $50k three-bet before the flop. 

Senor Tilt scooped this $1.08 million pot to start the game on the right note, although he ended up losing by the end of the day. For Brandon, this was the first of a series of pots that would result in him losing $2,000,000 in the game for one of the biggest single-game losses we’ve ever seen on a live stream. 

Alan Keating Flops a Full House

Alan Keating is always the most dangerous player in any game he sits in, but when he gets dealt good cards, the danger levels go through the roof. 

The biggest pot of the Million Dollar Marathon was played between Keating, Martin Kabrhel, and Steve, who is one of the biggest wild cards in the high-stakes poker community. 

The hand started with a raise to $4k from Brandon Steven, which was followed by an unusual flat call from Alan, who held 10♣10♦. This started a chain reaction, as Senor Tilt, Martin, and Steve all joined the action. 

Five players went to the flop, and with $22k in the middle, the dealer put out a board of J♠J♥10♠, giving Alan a full house. 

Steve, who held J♦9♦ led out for $1k, which is his trademark move, and both Martin with J♣6♣ and Brandon with 10♥8♥ called before Keating bumped it up to $25k. 

Steve called for the time being, passing the action back to Kabrhel. With three of a kind, Martin was pretty sure he had the best hand, so he raised it up to $69k, hoping to get action or deny equity to drawing hands. 

This time, it was Keating who would set the trap, hoping to entice Steve to join the rice. Alan called, and without much hesitation, Steve moved all-in for a total of $784,500, which Keating had covered. 

Martin had $421k in his stack, and he decided that his hand could be good against Steve, while Alan was likely on a draw. He could not have been more wrong, however, as both players were well ahead of his weak trips on the flop. 

There was now over $1.35 million in the pot, and despite holding the second best possible hand, Keating hesitated for a brief second before finally putting the chips in, realizing it’s likely both of his opponents hold a Jack only. 

He was right, and he had 66% equity in a pot that had swollen to nearly $2.1 million. The players agreed to run it twice, but neither board was of any help to Martin or Stever, which meant Keating would drag in the biggest pot of the night, and one of the biggest pots we’ve ever seen on a streamed cash game. 

Emotions Run Hot to End the Game

The end of Hustler Casino Live’s Million Dollar Marathon was a bit hectic, following a major dispute between Senor Tilt and Turbo on the one side, and Alan Keating on the other. 

The dispute over Alan partially mucking his hand during the stand-up game ended up costing Alan a button and eventually led to him leaving the game with over $1.8 million in profit. 

The remaining players kept on playing, but it seemed like some of them were in over their heads, as the action in the last couple of hours of the game seemed erratic and clearly affected by emotions. 

One of the biggest pots of the game came at the tail end of the session, when Turbo raised his A♠10♦ to $15k, Martin called with Q♣J♣, and Senor Tilt decided to put on the squeeze with 8♠8♦. 

The action was back on Turbo, who decided his opponent was likely to be playing back at him with a wide range, so he put in another raise, this time making it $270k to go. 

Martin, who was stuck between the two players, decided his suited Broadways were good enough to gamble in this spot, and surprisingly, he was right, as his hand held 41% equity 3-ways before the flop. 

Kabrhel called the re-raise and put in the rest of his $215k stack, and action was back on Sam Kiki. Surprisingly, he too decided that his hand was good enough to gamble for all of it, as he moved all-in for a total of $660k, after a few minutes in the tank. 

At this point, Turbo realized that he had overplayed his hand, and was now more or less pot committed to call of $660k with just AT, which was likely to be the worst hand at this point. 

He made the call, and everyone involved was a bit surprised to find out that the equities between the three hands ran pretty close. 

With each player having a fighting chance, the three agree to run it just once, instead of making any deals, which once again emphasized the emotional nature of the game and the gamblish mood everyone was in. 

The board ran out Q♥5♦3♦Q♠4♠, and Martin made trips, tripling up his stack in the process and going up to $679k in his stack. Senor Tilt won the $868k side pot, while Turbo was left losing just about half of his $1.3 million stack. 

All three players ended the night in the red, as Sam lost $110k, Turbo $285k, and Martin dropped $342k in total. 

The big losers were Steve, with a cool $1,000,000 loss, and Brandon Steven, who dropped an incredible $2,000,000 without even being involved in the biggest pots of the game. 

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