Season 2 of the PokerStars.net-powered “Million Dollar Challenge” debuted on Sunday flanking the NFL on FOX. Longtime sports commentator Chris Rose served as the host and also tackled play-by-play duties, while Michelle Nunes dished out details on a special online freeroll.
The first challenger of the new season was Jessica Cupini, a single mom attending West Virginia University who is an aspiring law school student. PokerStars front man Daniel Negreanu, a four-time World Series of Poker bracelet winner who serves as the star of the show, came out and explained the rules. Cupini’s first round celebrity challenger was “Dancing with the Stars” host Brooke Burke.
Players began with 20,000 in chips in each of the three rounds of play. In the first round, Negreanu sat by Cupini’s side and was able to give advice, but could not see her hole cards. In addition, Cupini was allotted one time out to talk strategy in private with “Kid Poker.”
Burke came out swinging, winning the first two pots shown until Cupini doubled up with pocket tens against K-7. After a flat call by Burke pre-flop, Cupini used her time out to consult with the bona fide poker pro, who told her to be aggressive with the pocket pair. Cupini moved all-in for 16,000 and Burke called off half of her stack with K-7. The board ran out 6-Q-8-4-4 and Cupini doubled up to take a 4:1 chip lead. She claimed victory in the match on the very next hand shown and won a trip to the 2011 PokerStars Caribbean Adventure in the Bahamas worth $5,000.
The second “Million Dollar Challenge” match pitted Cupini against a PokerStars pro with $25,000 in cash on the line. The student’s boyfriend and uncle were taken to the “Poker Buddies” room, where they could see all of the hole cards and the action from the felt. Negreanu, meanwhile, was moved to an isolation booth where he too could view Cupini’s hole cards and coach her through an earpiece.
Enter reigning World Poker Tour Championship winner David Williams, a newly minted PokerStars pro who donned a black and white bowtie. Williams could invoke the “Dome of Silence” twice during the match, blocking all communication between Negreanu and Cupini.
After flopping two pair with J-8 on a board of J-8-K, Cupini led out for 2,200 and Williams used his first “Dome of Silence” to force the challenger to play the rest of the hand on her own. Williams, holding Q-J for middle pair, called and the turn was a deuce. Williams check-called a bet of 3,000 and the river was a three. Williams checked, Cupini bet 5,000, and Williams asked her if she could beat two pair. Despite the ruse, Williams folded, shipping a pot of 17,000, about half of the chips in play, to Cupini.
In the final hand of the match, Williams looked down at an ace and pushed all-in for 10,500. Cupini called with pocket threes after Negreanu told her to gamble and Williams flipped over his other hole card, which happened to be a deuce. No help came for the former Bodog pro and Cupini banked $25,000 to go along with her Bahamas vacation.
Rose asked Cupini if she wanted to play Negreanu heads-up for $100,000 or take the $25,000 and run. With the audience and her loved ones encouraging her to go for broke, Cupini squared off against Negreanu for $100,000 and a seat in the Table of Champions later in the season. Perhaps as an omen of things to come, Negreanu admitted that he had Cupini figured out as the two took their seats.
Cupini called pre-flop with A-4 and Negreanu checked his option with Q-6. Both players checked the flop of J-10-9 and the turn was an eight, giving “Kid Poker” a straight. Negreanu checked and Cupini errantly shoved all-in for 12,500 after much deliberation. Negreanu called in a heartbeat and the board paired on the river to give him the win, shipping $10,000 to his charity, the Make-A-Wish Foundation.
The PokerStars.net “Million Dollar Challenge” returns this Sunday before or after the NFL on FOX. Check your local listings for details.