Ethan Yau, also known as Rampage, has become one of the most popular poker players of his generation thanks to his poker vlog, which exploded over the years.
Rampage took his fans on an epic journey from the smallest poker games possible to the nosebleeds. He started out playing $1/$3 and $2/$5 games, and within a few years, he was playing million-dollar games and battling it out with the best in the world.
While Rampage’s poker skills have been brought into question by players and fans alike, his heart and commitment never were, as he was always a player willing to take risks and go for the big bluffs.
In the 2023 Million Dollar Game on Hustler Casino Live, Ethan pulled off the biggest bluff of his poker career, and one of the most memorable bluffs recorded on camera, playing against Handz, a high-stakes regular who only makes TV appearances when the stakes truly matter.
Playing the Biggest Game of His Life
When Hustler Casino Live announced they would be doing a Million Dollar Game in 2023, the concept was outrageous, and there were some doubts about whether the game could be pulled off.
Ryan Feldman and his crew were able to bring together enough players to pony up a million bucks to play at this table, with players like Nik Airball, Wesley, and Stanley Tang among those comfortable with playing with and potentially losing a million in a single game.
Rampage was not anyone’s first pick for this game, as the player has made his finances well-known over the years, and his bankroll was not nearly big enough to play in a game of this size.
Yet, Ethan really wanted to play, and he was able to put together the stake to play at this table. The real question was, will he be playing with scared money?
The fact that Rampage was playing with money he could hardly afford to lose was perhaps the exact reason he was able to pull off a bluff that would not work in other situations.
Rampage Goes for Glory
With the blinds at $500/$1k, and a $2k straddle on, Rampage looked down at A♣7♣ and raised it up to $9k from his $1.1 million stack.
He had been winning small by that point, and a hand like A7s definitely seemed reasonable to raise with. No one could assume this pot would bloat out of proportion by the river.
Handz was next to act, and when the graphics showed his hand as Q♠Q♥, everyone watching at home assumed a 3-bet was coming. However, Handz had other ideas, as he smooth-called, allowing Pav in the big blind to come along with his K♥8♦.
The dealer put out Q♦J♦10♣, giving Handz top set, but on a wet and dynamic board. Both Rampage and Handz checked, and Pav decided to start bluffing away with his open-ender.
He bet $15k, and things got interesting right away. Rampage, holding a guthost and a backdoor flush draw, went for a $50k raise.
Rampage was representing a straight, likely the nut one, and AK was a real option given he raised preflop and there was no re-raise.
With a set of Queens, Handz had to continue, but he was already aware that he could be up against the nuts, so he proceeded with caution and just called.
When Pav got out of the way, the turn card was dealt, and it was a juicy one. The 2♣ gave Rampage the nut flush draw, giving him real equity in this hand.
Known as a trigger-happy player, Rampage continued betting, this time for $175k. Handz once again had no choice but to call, as he could still fill up and win even against a straight.
To both players’ disappointment, the river card was the 5♠, which meant neither of them improved, and they would have to keep playing with what they had on the turn.
Rampage was first to act, and there was only one way for him to win the pot. Yet, with $494k in the pot, and knowing that he was playing his only buy-in, most viewers assumed he would simply give up on this one.
This wasn’t what happened, as Rampage went for it, putting Handz all-in for his last $618k, and giving him one of the toughest decisions of his poker career.
Handz Makes the Difficult Laydown
When Rampage shoved his chips into the middle, it was the biggest bet of his poker life, and his numerous haters were shown they didn’t know what they were talking about when they said he was playing with scared money.
Handz had an impossible decision to make, and he didn’t take too long making it. Within less than a minute, he folded his top set, allowing Rampage to scoop up the pot.
Rampage “only” won $260k in this pot, but he showed he had the heart to play for the highest stakes imaginable and pull the trigger when needed.
Rampage getting lotssss of credit from Handz here. Crazy fold. Crazy bluff. Thought for sure he would find the call. Funny to think how easy the public sentiment can change based off the results.
— Alex Duvall (@alexduvallin) May 29, 2023
He calls – RaMpaAGE PUnTEd
He folds – RaMpaAGE GeNiuS
Lol pic.twitter.com/vSqdL1lIwV
The hand was immediately shown. Nik Airball yelled, “We got a game,” and Hanz was certainly shaken up, having just folded what was by far the best hand in a pot that could have been worth over $1.5 million.
Both Handz and Rampage have been staples in the high-stakes poker world since then, and have both played many big hands, but this one has gone down in history as one of the most memorable bluffs.
Leveling War Costs Handz the Money
After watching him play in many high-stakes games, we know that Handz is not a player afraid to risk his chips or one who lets the stakes get to him.
The real question, then, is why he folded the top set against Rampage here, when he made many other calls for hundreds of thousands of dollars with far weaker hands?
The truth is that Handz let the narrative get to him, as the entire poker community was talking about how Ethan’s stack wasn’t really going to be in play for this game, and that a million-dollar buy-in was simply too high for him.
With everyone expecting Rampage to play snug for his standards, Handz simply couldn’t imagine him pulling off a bluff of this magnitude for no apparent reason.
AK was well within Ethan’s range in the hand, and given the action, his opponent simply had to assume that the popular vlogger had it this time.
In this instance, the poker community helped Ethan by advertising how tight he would be playing for weeks leading up to the show.
Turning this narrative around and taking the most aggressive line possible allowed Rampage to win this pot, be a big winner in the game, and keep playing for high stakes ever since.
Of course, Rampage has had his downswings since that game, and hasn’t yet established himself as a regular winner in these games, but he continues battling with the best and showing the same heart and courage he demonstrated in this memorable poker hand.
