Brand new episodes of the PokerStars-sponsored “Big Game” are airing this week on Fox. The high-stakes cash game series pits five poker sharks against a “Loose Cannon” online qualifier staked with $100,000. Each “Loose Cannon” plays 150 hands, with a $50,000 North American Poker Tour passport on the line plus whatever spoils they’ve earned from the table.
The action on the “Big Game” is Pot Limit before the flop and No Limit thereafter. The blinds are $200/$400 with a $100 ante paid entirely by the player on the button. Every player began the week with a $100,000 bankroll, save PokerStars front man Daniel Negreanu, who came armed with $200,000.
This week’s “Loose Cannon” is Andre Capella, a 76 year-old retired racecar driver from Tennessee. Appropriately, the action was fast-paced from the starting line. DoylesRoom Brunson 10 member Dani “ansky” Stern made it $1,200 pre-flop with K-Q and Eugene Katchalov came along with A-K. Capella also called and the flop came 5-5-4. Stern fired out a continuation bet of $2,300 and Katchalov called.
The turn was a 10 and didn’t change matters. Stern fired a second barrel, this time $6,200, and Katchalov once again called to bring a king on the river, pairing both players. Stern bet $16,600 and Katchalov called with the better hand. In the second hand of the week, he scooped a $54,600 pot, the largest of Monday night’s “Big Game” episode.
Negreanu peeked down at pocket aces and pocket kings in the first three hands, perhaps solidifying his table image for the rest of the one-hour episode. Then, poker rapper Prahlad Friedman raised to $1,200 pre-flop with K-9 of hearts and UB.com’s Phil Hellmuth came along with A-8. The flop came K-2-8 and both players rapped the table.
The turn was the seven of hearts, putting two of the suit onboard, and Hellmuth fired out $2,600 with second pair. Friedman, now holding top pair and the second nut flush draw, called behind. Hellmuth called for a three of diamonds to hit on the river, but instead, another king came. In an interview with “Big Game” staff after the fact, Friedman revealed that Hellmuth’s comment signaled that he held a hand like A-8.
On the river, Hellmuth bet $4,400 and Friedman min-raised to $8,800. Hellmuth reluctantly called, saying that Friedman’s queens were good, and Friedman raked in a $26,000 pot. Despite the battle between Hellmuth and Friedman, Katchalov remained the most active at the table, sporting a VPIP (Voluntarily Put Money into the Pot) of 50% and a PFR (Pre-Flop Raise) of 31%. He was also up $24,000 about three-quarters of the way through Monday’s kickoff episode.
In the final pot of the night, Negreanu raised to $1,500 with pocket fives and Katchalov called with 10-9. The flop came 4-9-6 with two diamonds and Katchalov donk-bet $2,200. Negreanu called and the turn was the deuce of diamonds. Katchalov bet $2,600, Negreanu raised to $11,100, and Katchalov tanked for a minute before electing to call. The river was another deuce and both players checked. The $30,400 bounty was pushed towards Katchalov, who raked in the two largest pots of the night.
At the end of Monday’s installment of the PokerStars “Big Game” (29 hands), Katchalov was up $39,000, while Stern had dropped $42,000 of his $100,000 buy-in. Meanwhile, the “Loose Cannon” had lost $10,800. Catch the PokerStars “Big Game” nightly on Fox. The show airs at 1:00am ET or 2:00am ET in most markets.
