Hawk Tuah Returns to Celebrity Poker Tour

Ten celebrities did battle for $10,000 at the weekend as Haliey Welch – or Hawk Tuah Girl depending on your social media awareness – landed in Las Vegas to break her silence after a controversial exit from public life six months ago. Releasing an interview with Vanity Fair on the day she sat down to play on the Celebrity Poker Tour, Welch took on several other big names at the felt, with mixed results.

“I Want to Rebrand” – Hawk Tuah Spits the Truth

A controversial exit from public life several months ago saw many believe that ‘The Hawk Tuah Girl’ – otherwise known as Haliey Welch – had gone for good. Her journey from unknown to viral meme had been the stuff of headlines around the world but the route she took thereafter went south quickly. A popular woman, Welch sold merch, started a podcast and played poker on the Celebrity Poker Tour (CPT). Then she invented a crypto meme-coin which lost 95% of its value overnight.

Allegations followed that Welch and/or her team instigated a ‘rug pull’, a financial term for stocks that ‘pump’ money into the new currency then ‘dump’ by withdrawing massive amounts, leading to a crash in value as investors lose their money. And people lost big on Welch’s ‘meme coin’. Really big.

Over the past few months, an independent investigation by the United States Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) looked into the HAWK coin and eventually found that  Welch was not guilty of foul play, as reported by the International Business Times at the end of March. Having disappeared from public life, Welch brought back her podcast Talk Tuah and obviously spoke to Vanity Fair. Her appearance at the CPT felt marks her first showing in 2025 and it was clear from pre-match interviews with sites such as PokerNews that Welch was nervous about the questions she would face.

“It’s a smaller [event], so everyone’s going to be watching our table. It feels good to be back, but I still don’t know what I’m doing,” she said. “I’ve had a lot of time to think – I want to rebrand.”

When asked by PokerNews what that rebrand might look like, Welch replied cryptically, ‘I guess you’ll have to watch and see.’

That’s what she’ll be hoping in order to get her notoriety and celebrity back in a world where influence online is worth millions, and her CPT showing is a safe start, surrounded by friends and in an industry where she is much loved.

Big Names Exit Early

To the action, and CPT ‘Game Night VI’ which took place at ARIA on the Las Vegas strip. The PokerGO Studio was the setting for the single-table, ten-handed freeroll event. With $10,000 on the line that would only got to the winner players such as chess streamer and GGPoker ambassador Alexandra Botez, baseball star Jose Canseco, NFL legend Adrian Peterson and American and Brazilian professional mixed martial artist Mackenzie Dern joined social media influencers such as CJ So Cool and Suede Brooks at the felt.

Early pots were family ones and as is often the way in CPT events, players didn’t want to bust first, and as a result, blinds shallowed long before anyone left the action. Welch was quiet early but after winning a pot to stay alive when she hit a miracle four to pair up on the river, she celebrated with Dern, her next-door table neighbor.

“Did I win?! No sh*t! Yay!” Welch cheered.

One player who got nowhere near the win was Botez, who proved the first player to fall, busting in 10^th place. The talent on show was busting in short order, often in the order of having the most experience, as Adrian Peterson, a regular in CPT events who often runs deep, busted in ninth place. Exits for Zach Justice, Trent Attyah and American model Josie Canseco, who could at least console herself with cheering on her baseball legend Dad as he continued in the event.

As for ‘Hawk Tuah’, Haliey Welch busted in fifth place when her suited ace-nine lost to Suede Brooks’ king-four, a heartbreaking flop of 9-4-4 doing the damage. Welch was immediately cheered up by her rail cheering ‘Fifth place out of ten!’ by way of congratulation.

“I Won My First Poker Tournament!”

Down to four players, Brooks (640,000) battled with Jose Canseco (650,000) at the top of the chipcounts, with Dern (490,000) pushing hard. CJ So Cool (220,000) was the short stack but it was Welch’s new bestie Dern who was defeated first, all-in with two-paired ace-king on the turn only to run into Canseco’s flopped Broadway straight.

Three-handed, CJ So Cool lost with ace-deuce to pocket sixes to depart, leaving Canseco around 3:1 up in chips heading into the heads-up showdown with $10,000 on the line. Brooks came back against the MLB legend, however, winning a series of pots to sneak into the lead. Jose Canseco dropped to just 300,000 chips but doubled up when fortunate to see his queen-ten beat Brooks ace-queen, but it was a stay of execution.

The model and influencer Brooks called Canseco’s bet all-in with six-three on a board showing K-4-3-K and was right to do so with queen-four. That proved pivotal, as she avoided any drama on the river to celebrate. Brooks emerged victorious and proudly held up the CPT belt in her winner’s interview with PokerNews.

“Thank you so much, oh my God I did it! I won my first poker tournament!” Brooks said.

In the 11^th CPT Game Night event, Brooks became the tour’s seventh female champion – an amazing fact in and of itself and she walked away with the CPT belt, the $10,000 prize and envious glances from every other influencer in the room.

When is the next Celebrity Poker Tour Game Night, and which celebrities will they bring to the screen next? We can’t wait to find out.

Watch all the action from the latest CPT Game Night here: