Ethan Klein Stars on Thrilling Celebrity Poker Tour Game Night V

Sin City was packed with celebrities on the weekend as Ethan Klein, Steiny, Tana Mongeau and others filled the PokerGO Studio on the Las Vegas Strip. The ARIA card room was packed as dozens of celebrities played for just one $10,000 winner-takes-all top prize and the respect of their poker peers. In the end, it was Ethan Klein who walked away with the CPT belt.

Early Exits for Hall and Mongeau

“I’m about to throw a temper tantrum like a six-year-old.”

With The Star-Spangled Banner playing in New Orleans, in Las Vegas, Nevada the poker stars came out to play. That was because the fifth Celebrity Poker Tour Game Night, otherwise known as Game Night V, was taking place in the PokerGO Studio at ARIA, with commentary from Jeff Platt and Brent Hanks for the broadcaster.

There were dozens of well-known celebrities in the cardroom, with Ethan Klein and Hila Klein, who co-host the HS Show podcast, joined by players such as Shane Victorino, Tik Tok star Bryce Hall, award-winning rapper Waka Flocka Flame and The Nelk Boys’ Steiny in action.

Others such as Tana Mongeau, MMA fighter Jorge Masvidal and Content Creator ‘BookItWithTrent’ all a the felt who would win the title? Each player began with 100,000 chips. Waka Flocka got all his chips in with ace-six and was ahead of BookItWithTrent with king-queen and Bryce Hall with pocket jacks, as the ace on the flop handed the rapper a clean win and took out Bryce Hall, who had run deep in previous events but fell early here.

Tana Mongeau was in great shape to double up after a rough start when the Vegas-based influencer had pocket kings, but the Sin City glamor puss was left with her claws out after Steiny cracked her kings with just six-four, moments before she lost a lot with pocket queens to Ethan Klein’s pocket aces.

“I’m about to throw a temper tantrum like a six-year-old.” She cried, leaving well short of the eventual heads-up for the money. She bemoaned her awful ‘sheer luck’ in an interview with PokerNews as she busted from the action, as Waka Flocka, playing his first poker game ever, trebled up his 100,000-chip starting stack in the first few levels.

Steiny Takes Charge

“Oh, this is a blood sport now.”

As play progressed, Steiny began to take control, and with Hila Klein busting in eighth place, just seven players remained and it felt like a final table rather than the preliminary stages. Earlier bust-outs for Jorge Masvidal (11^th) and Bryce Hall (10^th) aside, Steiny had controlled the table and that continued when he helped Waka Flocka Flame hit a bum note to bust in seventh.

When six remained, Mackenzie Dern, the American-Brazilian mixed martial artist was sent to the canvas as her ace-king led on the flop of A-Q-8 with all the chips in the middle.

“Drop me in, drop me in!” said Frazier Kay, who was covering Dern’s shove with jack-nine, and although a three landed on the turn, a three-outer ten on the river ended Dern’s journey.

“Choke ‘em out, Mackenzie!” Brent Hanks said, with Steiny having begged the outside chance ten to land. Steiny had to chance to take someone out himself soon after, when he got it in good with the biggest stack holding ace-ten to Ethan Klein’s king-nine on a flop of T-9-5. The Poker Gods saved Klein, however, as a king landed on the turn and a blank river of a queen meant Klein doubles through Steiny, with the chip leader losing 716,000 of his 1.8 million potential stack to the most dangerous of his opponents.

“Oh, this is a blood sport now. Hate the player and the game.” Steiny grizzled.

BookItWithTrent had ace-eight when he went out to Steiny’s king-deuce, a king coming on the flop to reduce the field to four.

Swinging for the Bleachers

A sensational hand four-handed took care of one player’s hopes as with 880,000 chips in the middle, Frazier Kay was in terrible shape with the nut flush. Both Steiny and Klein had the full house, with a board of Q-8-7-7-7 with three clubs sending Kay home and chopping the pot between the two men who would eventually battle for the belt heads-up.

Former Major League Baseball star Shane Victorino, who was known as ‘The Flying Hawaiian’ during his illustrious career for the Boston Red Sox and Philadelphia Phillies, busted in third place. All-in with queen-eight of diamonds, Victorino had a 12% shot of doubling through Steiny up against the latter’s pocket queens. Only one diamond came on the flop of 5-3-2 and an offsuit eight on the turn meant only another eight would do, and Klein had folded one. Only a one-outer remained but it never came, a seven on 5^th street sending Victorino out of the event in third place.

Heads-up, Ethan Klein claimed the $10,000 top prize when he beat Steiny in what turned out to be a final hand that virtually played itself. Ahead in chips, Klein was covering Steiny when ace-king dominated the latter’s ace queen. After a flop of 8-8-2 and a turn of a three, Steiny tried to ‘moan it in’, saying: “I’m a loser.”

Sadly for him, it was a prophecy rather than a reverse curse. Waka Flocka Flame studied the board. A nine on the river ended matters and Klein secured his first CPT Game Night victory. “It feels good to have just totally outplayed Steiny heads-up,” he told CPT Founder Blake Wynn in the winner’s interview. “Heads-up is a different game because a lot of it is about high cards and the odds are so different. I don’t think Steiny understands the intricacies of heads-up.”

While Steiny took it well, Ethan Klein was the winner, raking in the $10,000 prize on Game Night V, which officially launched the 2025 Celebrity Poker Tour season. If the first night’s action is anything to go by, it’s going to be the best season yet.

Watch all the action as it happened on Celebrity Poker Tour’s Game Night V right here: