PokerStars Big Game Gets Bigger with Gronk
The Big Game made such a name for itself when it debuted more than a dozen years ago that many poker players need no introduction. The pairing of well-known poker players in a cash game with a “loose cannon,” an amateur with a lot of incentive to compete and win, was a popular concept when it started. Its airing on television made it one of the most popular poker shows in the world at the time.
But after only two seasons, the PokerStars Big Game became one of the casualties of Black Friday. The indictment of PokerStars executives by the US government and the elimination of most global online poker from the US market was the end of the Big Game.
Last year, PokerStars brought it back. Along with the reignition of the North American Poker Tour (NAPT), the PokerStars Big Game started its comeback in 2023. And this year, the second of this iteration of the action, is going to be even bigger and more exciting, especially with the inclusion of a US football player nicknamed Gronk...
Big Game 2023 Return
In 2023, ahead of the PokerStars NAPT in Las Vegas, PokerStars held an online and live casting call for contestants for the Big Game on Tour return. Those who thought they would be good contestants had to compete for the chance to be on one of two parts of the 2023 Big Game. Nikki Limo and Lily Newhouse won that chance.
Each was dubbed the “Loose Cannon” at their game, and each was given $50K to play at a $100/$200 cash game table. But the only way they could keep any of the money was to finish the game with more than $50K. After reimbursing PokerStars for the $50K, they could keep any profit. Limo and Newhouse competed against players like Phil Hellmuth, Jennifer Tilly, Phil Laak, Michael Ian Black, Sam Grafton, Maria Ho, Alan Keating, and Arden Cho.
Ultimately, Season 3 of the Big Game – now the Big Game on Tour – finished with Limo busting out and Newhouse finishing with $55,800. Fox Sports aired the episodes of both games in 2024.
Season 4 in 2024
This year, PokerStars is hosting another session of the Big Game at the North American Poker Tour stop in Las Vegas, again set for the beginning of November. Details have yet to be revealed, but there will be “multiple” lineups and a “Loose Cannon” at each table.
Every player who wins an NAPT Gold Pass will be able to audition to be a Big Game player if they so choose. Players are winning Gold Pass prize packages to the NAPT through PokerStars sites in New Jersey, Michigan, and Pennsylvania, as well as on the global dot-com site outside of the US.
While the Loose Cannon players will be chosen during the NAPT, at which time they will play the game to be filmed for television, the lineup of pro players will start to come together before that time. And two big names have already been announced: Rob Gronkowski and Nick Wright.
Many United States football fans will know Gronkowski by his nickname Gronk, and they will probably know that he is a four-time Super Bowl champion who played nine seasons of his NFL career with the New England Patriots and his final two with the Tampa Bay Buccaneers. He is now an ambassador for FanDuel sports betting. (FanDuel is a sister site of PokerStars under the Flutter umbrella of companies.)
Sports fans will know Nick Wright as a sportscaster, currently a cohost of the Fox Sports First Things First show and podcast host. He is also a poker fan and sometimes player. He has been on several PokerGO shows, such as No Gamble No Future and Poker After Dark, and he played heads-up against Phil Hellmuth on High Stakes Duel III in 2021.
