If you like high quality televised poker, you’ll be glued to the screen for every episode of the PokerStars Big Game. This new cash game show from the biggest online poker site in the world follows the mould laid down by the likes of High Stakes Poker and Poker After Dark. Six players sit around a poker table, contesting pots worth thousands of dollars as the cameras keep track of their every move. Five of those seats are taken up by the world’s most famous players and rich whales bringing their hard earned money to play with the best. These are the kinds of players you see mixing it up at the biggest tables on US poker rooms every day.
The sixth and final seat is filled by a Loose Cannon, an unknown player who has qualified on the Stars Download and successfully passed through the audition process. For Week 2 of the Big Game, aspiring poker pro William Davis was selected to take on the best of the best at their own game. All of the Loose Cannons are given $100,000 to play in a $200/$400 Pot Limit Hold ‘em game, with $100 ante on the Button. If the qualifier manages to pick up any profit over their starting stack it is theirs to keep.
The players the Loose Cannon had to battle against were the very best in the business. It’s not like grinding through a Marketing Code for PokerStars. Sitting alongside Davis were PokerStars talisman Daniel Negreanu, Doyle Brunson, David Williams, Abe Mosseri, and Jason Calacanis. Daniel Negreanu was a particularly juicy target for the Mr. Davis. His wife doesn’t like the way Daniel chatters at the table and tasked her husband with taking all of his money.
A leading figure in the top texas hold’em sites, Daniel didn’t keep quiet as Week 2 got underway, but he wasn’t such a dominant force in many pots. Doyle Brunson was the real winner early on. The Godfather of Poker is a formidable player at the best of times, but with a stream of pocket pairs in his favour, no one could stand in his way. In just the first 30 hands, he hit KK, QQ, QQ, 77, and then KK again. If anyone got that run of hands on download free poker sites, there would be cries of “rigged!” One seat to his left, David Williams was also raking in his fair share of pots. The former Bodog player has recently joined the PokerStars Bonus Code sponsored team.
Unfortunately his fortunes wouldn’t last and it would be Daniel Negreanu that orchestrated his undoing. As the last 30 hands of the 150 limit began, the Loose Cannon was still down over $20,000. Not the kind of money you can make up with a pokerstars bonus deal. If he was to make any profit from the experience, he needed to push hard and fast. With just 10s-4s, he got himself involved in a pot against the Negreanu’s Q-Q and Williams’ KK. Luckily for him, the Ks-Js-3s flop hit him right on the nose and put him firmly in the driving seat. Both Negreanu and Williams called his all-in raise, finally giving the Loose Cannon the chance to bust the Canadian. The turn delivered a heart-breaking 2 of spades, giving Daniel a bigger flush with his Qs. Williams was all but out too and the 9 on the river did nothing to help him. That left Daniel reaping the profits, with both William Davis and David Williams leaving the table empty handed. If you want a chance at busting Negreanu, you can find him regularly playing at the highest stakes in Daniels Room Poker on PokerStars.
In the final reckoning, Daniel had made a profit of over $134,000. The next closest were Doyle Brunson, who was up around $80,000 and Abe Mosseri who accrued an extra $40,100. Jason Calacanis finished down $65,200 and the two remaining players donated their full $100k to the table.
If you want a seat at the Big Game, download a PC or Mac Poker Stars client now and take part in one of the qualification.
