The PokerStars sponsored “Big Game” once again boasted new episodes this week. The series airs nightly on Fox and featured a highly entertaining Monday night episode in which PartyPoker pro Tony G dropped $177,000 and accepted a $100,000 loan from Daniel Negreanu.
The “Big Game” has blinds of $200/$400, with Pot Limit action before the flop and No Limit thereafter. The person on the button pays the entire $100 per person ante and this week’s Loose Cannon online qualifier is Aaron Jensen, who hails from Seattle and is seeking money for his wedding. Each Loose Cannon is staked $100,000 and can keep any amount they win.
The action started off fast and furious, with Jensen raising to $1,400 pre-flop with 9-8 of hearts and finding three callers. The flop came Q-4-10 with two hearts and Jensen led out for $3,000 with a flush draw. Tony G came along with Q-J for top pair and the turn was a five. Jensen check-called a bet of $10,000 to a nine on the river. Both players waived the white flag and the European bad boy scooped a $32,000 pot.
His fortunes would quickly turn for the worse, however. In a battle of the blinds, Tony G raised to $1,200 with 6-5 and GoDaddy Girl Vanessa Rousso peeked down at pocket aces. She called the raise and the flop came 6-J-5, giving Tony G bottom two pair. He led out for $2,000, Rousso made it $5,000, Tony G 3bet to $20,000, and Rousso called behind. An ace on the turn saved the day for Rousso, who called a $10,000 bet from Tony G with a set.
The action card came on the river. A five hit, giving both players full houses, but Rousso’s aces-full was superior. Tony G checked in the dark and Rousso shoved all-in. Tony G insta-called and the pot of $192,000 was pushed towards Rousso. Tony G joked, “That’s shutting me up” and vowed not to reload if he went busto.
Through 20 hands, Scott Seiver sported a VPIP (Voluntarily Put Money into the Pot) of 55%, while DoylesRoom pro Todd Brunson was the quietest player at the table at 15%. On a flop of 8-7-3 with two spades, Tony G bet $4,000 with K-5 of spades and Negreanu called with 7-6 for middle pair. Seiver pushed the action to $21,000 with top set and Tony G moved all-in. Seiver called all-in and the duo agreed to run it once.
The board filled out 9-3, no spades, and Seiver doubled up. Thinking that all of his chips had been shipped to Seiver, Tony G walked offstage, but returned following a commercial break. He was down $174,000 on the night and had a stack of just $4,000 behind him, or 10 big blinds. After nursing the short stack for a few hands, Tony G received a loan of $100,000 straight from Negreanu’s pocket.
Jensen continued to apply selective aggression, raising to $1,300 pre-flop with pocket nines. After a call from Negreanu, Seiver 3bet to $6,200 with Q-9 and Jensen came along to see a flop of 10-3-2. Seiver made a continuation bet of $7,000 and Jensen raised to $35,700. Seiver tanked in his trademark “hands to the nose” pose before deciding to get out of the way.
Players’ PFR, or Pre-Flop Raise, stats were shown. Seiver was the most aggressive one at the table and had a PFR of 37%. Brunson, contrastingly, had not yet raised pre-flop. By the end of Monday’s kickoff episode, Rousso was up $110,000, while at the other end of the spectrum, Tony G was down nearly $180,000.
The show airs late night on Fox during the week. Check your local listings for more information.