The final episode of the first round of The Big Game on Tour by PokerStars was missing the Loose Cannon as Jordan Handrich’s journey came to an end last week. However, it certainly brought plenty of excitement, largely due to a few surprise hands.
Going into the final session, Jennifer Tilly was sitting on a fair bit of profit, but knowing her style of play, no one expected Jen to sit back and lock it up. It was much more likely she’d put those extra chips to work to try and boost those profits.
The 2024 WSOP Main Event winner, Jonathan Tamayo, took Jordan’s seat last week, and this was his only opportunity to make something happen. Gerard Pique, on the other hand, was at the table from the very start, and he was coming into the final session having quite a bit of catching up to do.
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The Tilly Show Wraps Up in Style
Jennifer Tilly has been the one player constantly in the black, and she was determined to keep that streak going all the way through. As it turned out, the deck decided to offer some assistance, as Jen ended up making quads not once but twice over the course of the final 30 hands.
She first managed to crack Sam Grafton’s pocket aces when her queen-nine flopped trips and rivered quad queens. Jen led out on the river for $5,000, and Sam, holding the second nuts, made it $21,000. It was music to Tilly’s ears, who wasted very little time coming over the top to $65,000.
Despite the shock and disbelief that was evident on Sam’s face, his experience came through on this one, as he was able to make a disciplined lay down, but the hand still ended up costing him around $30,000.
Towards the end of the session, Tilly flopped trips once more with ten-nine and once again found the final ten on the river. Pique held a queen for a full house, but with an ace on the board as well, he managed to get away, losing the minimum.
All in all, Jen Tilly stole the show on the first session of Season 2 of The Big Game on Tour, and she ended up a big winner, pocketing $86,000 in profits.
No Redemption for Gerard
No one can accuse Pique of being afraid to put his chips to work, but when the deck refuses to cooperate, this can be a costly strategy.
The soccer legend tried his best to turn things around on the final session and recoup his losses up to that point, but it just wasn’t meant to be.
Although he didn’t get involved in any massive hands, Pique was constantly on the losing end of several smaller to medium-sized pots. He managed to pull off a nice bluff against Griffin Benger, but that was the only significant hand that went his way.
All said and done, he ended up at the bottom of the profit/loss table, stuck exactly $38,000. Griffin Benger didn’t do much better, posting a loss of $21,000.
As for Tamayo, we didn’t get to see much of him. The Main Event champ stayed out of any major confrontations, and after playing some 50 hands, he basically broke even.
It’s Time for Round Two
The new season of The Big Game on Tour is off to a strong start. The first round brought plenty of excitement but, unfortunately, it did not bring us the satisfaction of seeing the Loose Cannon book a win and walk away with a profit.
That’s the way the cookie crumbles at a poker table sometimes. However, the next round is just around the corner, and the second Loose Cannon will get an opportunity to try their hand at running the original $50,000 as high as possible.
We’ll also get to see a fresh lineup, which may or may not feature some of the players from the first session, bringing some different game dynamics and table banter.
