Alan Keating is a superstar in the eyes of most poker live stream viewers, but he was not included in the lineup for PokerGO's Friday night "High Stakes Poker" live stream.
This $500/$1,000 No-Limit Texas Hold'em cash game, featuring comedians Kevin Hart, Andrew Robl, and Sam “Senor Tilt” Kiki, started at 8 p.m. Pacific Time on Friday. Just hours before the live stream began, Keating had seemingly made a veiled criticism of Kiki's extremely low VPI (Voluntary Participation Percentage) during a game on Thursday.
Keating and Kiki had a disagreement a few months ago during a Hustler Casino Live stream. Kiki later defended his more conservative playstyle in a video response, claiming he wasn't a professional player and didn't have much time to study. He also spread a rumor about Keating's absence.
After mentioning the strong opponents he'd faced, Kiki said, "I want to learn, I want to make mistakes and grow from them, and I'm actually very proud of my progress in the Ring Game." He then added, "On the other hand, Mr. Keating was noticeably absent from the High Stakes Poker game the other day. You might ask why? The rumor is (though I can't confirm) that he felt the lineup was a bit too tough for him."
High Stakes Poker commentator responds to rumors
Keating was surprisingly absent from Friday's $500/$1,000 hands (although he did participate in Thursday's tournament). He didn't respond much to Kiki's video, but seemed to refute the claim that "he lacked interest in this week's tournament because the competition was too intense."
Keating posted: "Poker politics – no place for me today. Good luck everyone."
PokerGO commentators Brent Hanks and Nick Schulman discussed Keating's absence during a live stream, as well as various speculations about PokerGO possibly intervening to prevent Keating from participating in the game.
Schulman explained during the live stream: "I think we can say without hesitation that we'd love to see Keating at the table. He brings tremendous action and is very entertaining. But it's really not up to us. We don't have that kind of influence. We can't bet for these guys. PokerGO just broadcasts it and pays me and Brent to be here chatting with everyone."
Hanks commented, "Keating has to say something because Kiki is talking nonsense all day long." He then stated that Keating would never try to avoid Kiki and reiterated Schulman's views on how the squad was formed. It remains unclear why Keating was not selected for the squad on Friday, but Hanks did mention that Keating and Kevin Hart don't have much of a personal relationship.
In addition, Kiki also had a heated exchange with sports talk show host and avid poker player Nick Wright on the X platform. Wright first mocked Kiki's low VPIP, then launched a personal attack, criticizing his character and low YouTube viewership. This provoked a fierce response from Kiki, who retorted that Wright was a "short guy. Short and ugly, mediocre in intelligence, and utterly uncharismatic."
The High Stakes Poker livestream can be watched on PokerGO's YouTube channel. As of press time, Kiki had lost nearly $275,000 after about two hours of play. Meanwhile, the tournament's main highlight, Kevin Hart, had not yet arrived at the venue.
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