It is often said that patience is one of the most important skills in poker, and this was once again proven to be true on The Big Game on Tour by PokerStars.
Lily Newhouse, the second of the two loose cannons for Season 3, has had a fairly rough ride for the first four sessions. She had to navigate coolers, tricky spots, and more, all while keeping her head cool and waiting for the right spot.
To avoid spoilers, stop reading now and scroll down to watch the entire episode!
Many players would have busted earlier, as Newhouse found herself in at least a couple of spots where she could have just dusted off her stack. Instead, she managed to avoid the disaster and didn’t let the frustration get the better of her, and it paid off big time as she ended up as the biggest winner at the end of the 150-hand session.
When the last hand was done, Newhouse was sitting with $105,800 in her stack, which was $55,800 over the initial $50k buy-in. As per the rules of The Big Game, she gets to keep all the profit, and a good chunk of it will, apparently, go towards building a pool.
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Dave Krosky to the Loose Cannon Rescue
It was a do or die time for Newhouse as she came back to play the final 30 odd hands and with under $50,000 in her stack, she didn’t have anything to lose and everything to gain. Lily started the session winning a decent-sized pot to bring her into a small profit, leading up to the crucial hand.
As her time was running out, Newhouse was straddling at every opportunity, looking for a good spot to gamble it up. That spot appeared out of nowhere in a hand that probably shouldn’t have even proceeded to the flop.
Krosky called from the small blind with 9-7 off, the big blind folded, and Lily looked down at 2c3c in the straddle. She checked her option, and the flop came 9-6-4 with two clubs. Dave proceeded to bet $1,500 into $1,200, and Newhouse made the call with her flush draw, undeterred by Krosky’s ongoing commentary.
The turn brought another six, pairing the board but also completing Lily’s flush draw. Dave fired again, for $5,000, and his bet was met with a raise to $12,500. After taking not very long, Krosky decided the right move in this spot was to go all in, and Newhouse beat him in to the pot.
Out of nowhere, there was a $110,000 pot happening, and Lily was looking really good to double up, with Krosky only having four outs. Dave did ask to run it four times, and although this wasn’t the best thing to do in the loose cannon’s shoes, Newhouse gave in and let him have his wish as he had been calling for the opportunity since the start of the show.
Newhouse managed to dodge the bullet all four times, so she scooped the pot, and all of a sudden, she was $60,000 in profit! With just a few hands left to play, she gave a little bit of it back, but without any major confrontations, she locked up the win of $55,800, which actually made her the biggest winner of the session, a few grand ahead of Maria Ho.
PokerStars Keeping the Poker Dream Alive
Season 3 of The Big Game on Tour is now officially over, and of the two loose cannons we had the pleasure of watching, one of them finished with a rather hefty profit. Things didn’t quite work for Nikki Limo, but at the very least, she had a blast playing with some of the best players in the world.
The bad news is that the action is all done for this season, but the good news is that PokerStars will be bringing back The Big Game on Tour for at least another season, and everyone’s welcome to try and get their seat at the table.
Like the last year, qualifiers, auditions, and filming will take place during the North American Poker Tour stop in Las Vegas in November. Everyone can register for freeroll qualifiers, and the winners will be auditioned and, eventually, at least two of them will be selected to play.
The Big Game on Tour offers players a chance to realize their poker dreams, and while getting a seat may be a long shot, it is a shot definitely worth taking. For the rest of us, we’ll get to enjoy more exciting action next year as brand-new loose cannons take their spots and go for the glory!
