The latest episode of the PokerStars The Big Game on Tour brought the kind of excitement we were all looking forward to. After most players spent the first few dozen hands testing the waters, things are now starting to heat up, and we’re not even halfway through.
Nikki Limo, the designated loose cannon, was easily the biggest surprise of the last week’s play. She showed, in no uncertain way that she was there to play some cards and was going to take full advantage of this once-in-a-lifetime opportunity.
From the very start of The Big Game, Limo made it clear that she wanted to get berated by Phil Hellmuth. We all know that there are two surefire ways to achieve this goal: put a beat bad on The Poker Brat or pull a big bluff and show him. And since the poker gods weren’t cooperating in the bad beat department, Nikki went for the second option.
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Firing on All Cylinders
Limo started the second session well ahead of her starting stack, with some $27,000 in profits already. While this would make some players shut down and take a conservative approach, Nikki was more than happy to put the profit to work.
A few hands into the session, the loose cannon found herself up against none other than Phil Hellmuth. Nikki opened on the button with 98, and The Poker Brat defended his big blind with JT. The two saw the flop of J-7-5, and Phil check-raised Limo’s continuation bet. With gutshot and position, she called, and they saw a 4 come on the turn.
Hellmuth bet out for $2,000, and it was now Nikki’s time to shine, as she raised that bet to $6,000. Phil wasted no time calling, though, so they proceeded to the river with $16,500 in the middle. The river came another 4, pairing the board.
Phil checked, and Limo put her poker creativity on full display, telling The Poker Brat she thought he had JT, and she wasn’t sure if he could make him fold that. After Phil had said that he is not folding, Nikki proceeded to bet $10,000 — a move that we don’t often see as a bluff.
Unfortunately for the loose cannon (and for the viewers at home), Phil ended up making the call, so her plan to be berated by the master of berating didn’t pan out. Even so, Nikki showed that she had some tricks up her sleeve and she was worthy of the loose cannon seat, and we expect things will only get better from here.
Rough Start for Arden Cho
Although Arden Cho came into The Big Game with a great attitude, so far, luck hasn’t been on her side. She got felted in the very last hand of the last session, which is never a good feeling. To add insult to injury, the very same thing happened to her again in the latest episode.
After losing some of her chips throughout the session, Arden decided to make a stand with A-J against Alan Keating who had 4-bet. If there is one player that you can expect to show up with two napkins in this spot, that would be Keating, but this time around, he showed up with pocket Kings, and Arden’s $25,000 was gone.
As for Keating, he managed to make some of his losses back, so he’s stuck only $96,000 going into the next session, and he’ll, no doubt, continue with his splashy ways when The Big Game by PokerStars returns the next weekend!