All poker fans out there have plenty to get excited about as PokerStars made an official announcement that the new season of the iconic Big Game show will start airing on May 11 on the operator’s official YouTube channel.
Rebranded as The Big Game on Tour, the latest season of the show was filmed during last year’s NAPT event in Las Vegas, following free qualifiers and auditions to select two loose cannons.
As pokerfuse reported back in November, two players who locked their seats were Lily Newhouse and Nikki Limo. The show was filmed in its entirety immediately after the selection, but results were kept secret, so apart from a very few people who were on the set, nobody knows which way the chips will fall.
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The Best Poker Show Returns
The Big Game by PokerStars was one of the most popular and exciting poker shows ever to be filmed. The show embraced an interesting concept, where several “loose cannons” with varying degrees of poker skills were staked to play in a cash game against big-name pros and poker-loving celebrities.
Loose cannons have nothing to lose and everything to gain. They aren’t on the line for the original buy-in, but they also don’t get to keep any of that money. However, everything they win over that original amount once they play the preset number of hands belongs entirely to them.
In the past, this created some interesting situations where a loose cannon would have to decide if they were happy with the amount won and fold their way to guaranteed profit, or if they would continue playing and chance losing the amount they were up.
The new season of the Big Game returns with the same concept. Limo and Newhouse were staked $50,000 each to face off against some formidable opponents. They each had to play 150 hands, so that part hasn’t changed.
In the past, however, loose cannons were staked $100,000 and the game was $200/$400 with antes. Given the fact the stake was reduced to $50,000, The Big Game on Tour will probably feature $100/$200 blinds.
A Very Promising Lineup
Although the focus of the show is always on loose cannons and their efforts to survive and thrive under pressure, the game is always more fun when it’s filled with interesting characters. From everything we know and from what we’ve seen in PokerStars’ short announcement, the lineup for the revived Big Game is just amazing.
There is Phil Hellmuth, the man who probably spent more time complaining about his bad luck than all other participants of The Big Game combined but failed to garner much sympathy, especially in pots against loose cannons. Sorry, Phil, but everyone’s rooting for an underdog.
Maria Ho, who we enjoyed watching in the Game of Gold show, is in the mix as well, bringing her natural flair and friendly personality to the table. But loose cannons would be amiss to mistake that friendliness for weakness, as Maria is a consummate professional.
Phil Laak and Jen Tilly are both in the lineups. It’s unclear if they’ll play at the same time, but we’d certainly love to see it.
One complete newcomer to the Big Game is Alan Keating, the man who made his name known in the poker community as a regular on ultra-high stakes live streams. Keating is not a professional poker player, but he enjoys the game very much, and these aren’t very high stakes by his standards, so he won’t be shy to give action.
It all kicks off on May 11, when the first episode of the all-new Big Game on Tour show will air on PokerStars’ YouTube channel, and we can’t wait to see it!
