button in SafariPolitical Candidate Loses $1M Poker Hand After Erasing Huge Loss
A former candidate for the U.S. House of Representatives had a brutal poker session Thursday night on Hustler Casino Live. But he turned it all around in just one hand, before later losing it all back (and then some).
Scott Palmer Fuhrman, who ran for Congress twice (2016 and 2018) as a Democrat, made his debut appearance on the popular livestream, competing against Alan Keating, Nik Airball, Peter Wang, Brandon Steven, and other high rollers.
Fuhrman, who went by Palmer on the stream, ran horrendously for most of the game and showed frustration. He was down $578,000 in the $500/$1,000 no-limit hold'em cash game about seven hours into the session after moving all in with top pair into Peter's nut straight. But the tables would turn around for the former political candidate and business owner a few minutes later.
Politician Has a Roller Coaster Night of Poker
Palmer lost many big pots, although he did win an early $500,000 pot with top pair against "Ace," who folded a smaller pair on the turn to a $300,000 bet. But he lost more big pots than he won, including a hand with 7♠7♦ on a flop of 2♠5♣4♠.
"Big Mike," facing a bet of $35,000 and holding 3♥3♣, check-raised to $150,000, which got through for a semi-bluff. Later in the session, Palmer, who had been down a massive amount, would pick up K♦K♣ and call an all in shove for $435,000 from Steven, who had A♦K♥. Both players agreed to run it twice, and both run-outs went to Palmer, whose demeanor immediately changed.
A half-hour later and the congressional candidate won a $200,000 pot against Keating with two pair beating middle pair. That brought Palmer to nearly even less than an hour after being down almost $600,000 at one point.
Palmer then played for stacks against Keating, the show's headliner. Most Hustler Casino Live viewers anticipated the stream would be about the rivalry between Keating and Peter. But it was a former political candidate who stole the limelight and had an opportunity to steal chips away from Keating.
The hand in question began with Palmer limping for $2,000 on the button with A♥J♥. Keating, the straddle, raised to $22,000 with J♣3♦. A call was made before the flop came out 3♣A♠3♥, a bit of a cooler.
Keating bet $35,000 with trips, followed by a raise to $115,000 and then a call. The 3♠ on the turn gave Keating quads, so he checked. Palmer, with a full house, also checked to see the Q♥ on the river.
This time, Keating wasn't going to slowplay. He fired out a bet of $390,000, which brought Palmer out of his seat. Palmer, 20 seconds later, made the call only to learn the bad news that he'd lost a $1,057,500 pot, completely erasing his comeback.
"I just can't fade that. I can't f*****g fade anything lately. I can't f*****g fade anything, I f*****g knew it too. I knew you were playing some s**t," a tilted Palmer said to himself as he walked around the table following the $1 million hand.
Palmer, who continued to rant as he exited to game, ended the stream down $658,500, while Keating won $818,000 for the session.
Fuhrman (Palmer) ran as a Democrat for Florida's 27th Congressional District in 2016, and reached the general election. But he lost to Ileana Ros-Lehtinen, the incumbent Republican who easily defeated the poker player by nearly 10 points. Palmer then attempted to run for the same political office in 2018, but dropped out of the race in June 2017.
Hustler Casino Live will host a second day of what is being dubbed Mega Cash Mania on Friday starting at 2 p.m. PT from Hustler Casino in Los Angeles.
