The program had a tie-in to the Pokerstars North American Poker Tour (NAPT), which was shut down by the U.S. Attorney's Office for the Southern District of New York after the second season had been filmed in 2011.
[2] The Big Game pits an amateur, known as the "loose cannon," who plays 150 hands of no limit Texas hold 'em poker, against five other players, each of whom stake their own money.
In season one, if a loose cannon had a profit after 150 hands, they had the option of returning the next week for a chance to further increase their winnings.
Among the professionals who played were Doyle Brunson, Phil Hellmuth, Joe Hachem, Tony G, Antonio Esfandiari, Chau Giang, Todd Brunson, Barry Greenstein, Daniel Negreanu, Phil Laak, Jason Mercier, Joe Cada, Scott Seiver, Vanessa Rousso, Isaac Haxton, Justin Bonomo and Daniel Alaei.
In the conclusion of the first season, on the last day, Bob Ferdinand won two all-in hands and doubled his money twice to take the grand prize.
He became interested in poker while he dated a professional player, and now he competes in local home games where he has been somewhat successful.
He has had a good amount of success at the poker table, where he has picked up five-digit winnings at several live events.
He aspires to own his own farm one day, but for now he intends to use his twenty years of poker experience to provide for his family.
She spends a lot of time in a casino perfecting her game, which she claimed to have learned from her hero, Doyle Brunson.
Total Winnings: $181,500 The rules were changed so that loose cannons no longer had the option to come back for another week.
Total Winnings: $26,900 Week 6: Ken Hrankowski, a retired police officer from Maple Ridge in British Columbia.
Total Winnings: $53,300 A key feature of The Big Game had been the NAPT passport awarded to the season champion Loose Cannon.
On April 15, 2011, along with similar competitors' sites, Pokerstars.com was seized and shut down by U.S. Attorney's Office for the Southern District of New York, which alleged it was in violation of federal bank fraud and money laundering laws.
[5] The company subsequently stopped allowing players from the United States to play real money games.
The NAPT immediately ceased operation, eliminating the main prize for The Big Game's loose cannon.
After a long hiatus, PokerStars brought back its hugely popular show as The Big Game on Tour.
The first set of five episodes featured players like Phil Hellmuth, Lex Veldhuis, Alan Keating and Jennifer Tilly.
The second set, aired later in the summer, had a fresh lineup including players like Phil Laak, Sam Grafton and Maria Ho.
- Part 2 featured loose cannon Lily Newhouse, who not only made a profit, but topped the leaderboard with $55,800.