On Monday night, the PokerStars “Big Game” debuted on Fox affiliates across the United States and online on PokerStars.tv. Tony G finished the inaugural one-hour episode, which saw 32 hands played, up $95,000, while poker legend Doyle Brunson dropped $110,000.
The daily series features commentary from Chris Rose and Joe Stapleton and began with each player buying in for $100,000 except for Daniel Negreanu, who came armed with a stack of $200,000. “Loose Cannon” qualifier Ernest Wiggins was staked $100,000 and told “Big Game” hostess Amanda Leatherman, “I’m not intimidated at all. I’m actually grateful. There are a lot of big names at the table, but for anyone that’s trying to come up in poker, this is what you want – You want the best.” The “Loose Cannon” who wins the most money will receive a North American Poker Tour (NAPT) Passport worth $50,000.
A total of 150 hands are played with each “Loose Cannon” and blinds are $200/$400. The action on the “Big Game” is Pot Limit before the flop and No Limit after the flop and players can rebuy up to $500,000. The $100 per person ante is paid entirely by the player on the button.
Negreanu raised to $1,200 pre-flop with pocket kings and Tony G made the call with A-9 of diamonds. Wiggins made it $3,700 with A-K and Negreanu re-raised to $13,100. Wiggins called and the flop came a benign 5-6-7. Wiggins checked in the dark, Negreanu bet $18,000, and Wiggins got out of the way. Phil Hellmuth and Brunson each wanted action that Negreanu held two kings, eventually leading to Tony G forking over $500 to “Texas Dolly.”
The hand of the night on Monday’s episode featured Hellmuth limping pre-flop with A-5 of spades and Brunson raising to $1,900 with pocket tens. Tony G called with J-10 and Hellmuth, after some prodding from the European, raised to $8,400. Brunson and Tony G called to bring a flop of J-J-2. The action checked around to Brunson, who bet $18,000, and Tony G made the call, announcing he was all-in blind on the turn for nearly $70,000. The turn was a king and Brunson called. The 10-time bracelet winner was drawing dead, shipping the $197,200 pot to the PartyPoker pro.
Then, the fireworks went off between Hellmuth and Tony G. Hellmuth informed his adversary that he was the worst player at the table, to which Tony G responded, “I would love to be the worst player, but I have the most fun. I’m so happy to be so bad.” Tony G was up $100,000 after the hand, while Brunson re-bought for another $100,000.
Wiggins continued to make his presence felt. The online qualifier from PokerStars called a $1,000 raise pre-flop with K-Q from Tony G, who held A-J of diamonds. Wiggins flopped two pair and moved all-in over the top of a bet of $2,000 from his opponent. Tony G asked Wiggins to show one card and if he liked it, he’d pay the amateur off. However, Wiggins refused and Tony G folded.
After 31 hands, the Aggression Factor (AF) for each player was shown, a measure of post-flop tendencies. Tony G owned an AF of 15.0, meaning that he was 15 times more likely to bet or raise post-flop than call. Laak had an AF of 6.0 and the other four players were below 3.0.
You can catch the “Big Game” weeknights on Fox starting at 1:00am or 2:00am in most markets. Check your local listings for more information.