Kevin “KGAO” Gao says police handcuffed him at the hospital on 10 October, before he was treated, and told him Lynne Ji was accusing him of strangling her and stabbing himself. Ji, arrested in Los Angeles that day on suspicion of attempted murder, says she fully denies all charges.
Gao gave his version on camera to high-stakes pro and YouTuber Doug Polk. Both Gao and Ji have played on Hustler Casino Live. Ji, released on $1 million bail on 11 October, has responded publicly with a one-line post on X.
No police statement, charging document or court date has surfaced publicly. Every detail Gao gives is his account alone, untested in court, and Ji has not answered it point by point.
What Kevin Gao Says Happened on 10 October
Gao traces the day back to his decision to stop seeing Ji, three weeks after the pair signed a lease on a Los Angeles apartment. By his account they had been officially broken up for two months, but were still seeing each other.
The Night Before
Gao broke the news at around 3am, in a hotel room they had taken because cleaners were due at the apartment early the next morning. Ji went to sleep, he says, before he had finished.
The Afternoon at the Apartment
After dropping a friend at the airport, Gao went back to the apartment to play poker online. Ji arrived at around 2pm, asked to talk and, he says, refused to leave when he told her he wanted space.
According to Gao, she then kicked or hit him and he restrained her until she bit his leg and he pulled her hair to get her off. She left the room saying he would regret it, and he saw her reach for a kitchen knife.
Gao's Account of the Stabbing
Gao says he locked the doors and called 911, and that about 15 seconds later she was trying to kick the door in. Holding it shut, he saw the blade come through.
By his account she worked the lock open, chased him into a corner where he tripped, and stabbed down once as he rolled onto his right shoulder. They wrestled, he got hold of the knife, and he ran downstairs and out of the building before police arrived.
Gao denies the self-inflicted version. Of the wound, he told Polk: “It's physically not possible for me to have reached there with a knife.”
What Is on Record in the Lynne Ji Stabbing Case
Set aside Gao's own account and not much can be independently checked. The arrest, the bail and Ji's release the next day have all been reported, and photos of Gao in a hospital bed circulated on X soon after.
Arrested or charged? Police make arrests; prosecutors decide whether to file charges. No criminal complaint, case number or arraignment date for Ji has been published, although her own post and coverage of her arrest both refer to “charges”.
Beyond that, it is his word. He says the stab marks in the door were at Ji's height, a detail he offers as proof that she, not he, was holding the knife, but the door photos he mentioned have not been published.
He also told Polk that Ji destroyed his laptop in an argument a few weeks after the WSOP, and that he reported it to police at the time. No report has been made public.
Ji's side has reached the public only second-hand, through what Gao says police and a mutual friend told him. Her own words on the case run to a single sentence.
Ji's Denial and the Day After Her Arrest
Ji addressed the case on 16 October, six days after her arrest, in a post on X:
“I fully deny all charges and I look forward to clearing my name in court.” – Lynne Ji (@helloitslynne)
According to Gao, a mutual friend relayed Ji's position to him: that she did not stab him and that he stabbed himself. Ji has not set out that account in public herself.
In his telling, Ji and her mother came to the apartment at around 11am on the day of her release to collect belongings, and he left within about 30 seconds. When he got back, he says, his passport and driving licence were missing.
Who Lynne Ji and Kevin Gao Are
Ji is a high-stakes cash game player with her own YouTube channel. She has played on High Stakes Poker, Poker After Dark and Hustler Casino Live, the Los Angeles-area livestream that has hosted some of the biggest poker cash game pots played on camera.
Gao, then 21, says he left school to play, moved up from $0.50/$1 to $25/$50 on poker apps in Asia, and hit two bad-beat jackpots he puts at close to $100,000 each. His first session on the stream fell on his 21st birthday.
The pair met at a private game in Los Angeles in April 2026, Gao says, and first split while in Las Vegas during the WSOP. He agreed to the lease because Ji's sublet was ending and he enjoyed her company.
What California Law Says About Attempted Murder
Gao put the likely sentence at five to nine years; the statute sets out more than one range.
Section 664 of the California Penal Code sets a term of five, seven or nine years for attempted murder that is not premeditated. If premeditation is charged and admitted or found true, the term is life with the possibility of parole.
Is Gao's figure right? Partly. Five to nine years is the non-premeditated branch of section 664 only, and with no complaint published it is not known whether premeditation will be alleged.
What Happens Next
Ji is presumed innocent. The next public step would be a filed complaint and a first court date, at which point the charge and any premeditation allegation would be on the record.
Gao says he expects to testify and will let the criminal justice system run its course. A detailed response from Ji or her lawyer would be the first public test of his version.
Earlier criminal cases involving players, and the sentences they ended in, are set out in a list of poker players who have served prison time.
FAQs
What is Lynne Ji accused of?
Ji was arrested in Los Angeles on 10 October 2026 on suspicion of attempted murder, after Kevin Gao suffered a knife wound to the shoulder at the apartment they shared. She was released on $1 million bail on 11 October and says she fully denies all charges.
Was Kevin Gao arrested?
Gao says officers handcuffed him at the hospital and told him he was a suspect. Ji is the only person publicly reported to have been arrested over the incident.
When is Lynne Ji's court date?
No court date has been published. Ji has said she looks forward to clearing her name in court, and Gao told Doug Polk he expects to testify.
