Lily Newhouse was the star in the climactic episode of PokerStars’ “Big Game”. [Image: YouTube / PokerStars]

“Sorry David, I don’t remember”

Last week, Dara O’Kearney and I interviewed “Big Game” loose cannon Lily Newhouse for “The Chip Race” poker podcast. It was four days before the airing of the finale of the show, which was filmed nine months ago during the NAPT in Las Vegas. After a 25-minute chat full of inspirational stories and perceptive insights, I ended the conversation how I began it: by shamelessly, nay scurrilously, trying to get her to spill the beans on what happened in the last 30 hands.

Newhouse had the measure of me though, just like she had the measure of her five opponents in the previous four episodes. She batted me away with a Matt Damon-esque: “Sorry David, I don’t remember,” as I attempted to pry an exclusive out of her. I’m glad she stayed resolute because that meant that I had the great pleasure of watching the episode spoiler-free.

A nightmare start had put her on her heels as a cold deck collision with Sam Grafton on hand #3 left her with just $14,200. Many would buckle under the pressure or perhaps try to punt their way back into it. Newhouse, however, remained resolute, trusting her game and demonstrating tremendous composure to grind her way back to within striking distance of a profit.

Loose cannon

A few days earlier, Newhouse had won her single-table shootout to get into the audition stage of “Big Game” at which point hosts James Hartigan and Joe Stapleton, along with coach and former loose cannon Nadya Magnus selected two winners. Newhouse was chosen and as her prize, she was given a $50,000 stake in a six-player, 150-hand cash game with Grafton, Phil Laak, Maria Ho, comedian Michael Ian Black, and furniture mogul Dave Krosky. The catch, however, is the “loose cannon” only gets to keep their profit.

ramped up the variance and fully embraced the monicker of loose cannon

Fast forward to the final session and the show was perfectly poised with Newhouse sitting tantalizingly close to her original $50,000 starting stack. The show’s unique format means that there is no upside to being conservative, and that fact is exacerbated with time running out, so, as expected, she ramped up the variance and fully embraced the monicker of loose cannon in the final episode.

She straddled, she bloated pots, and she got sticky versus the entertaining amateur Dave Krosky. Hanging on correctly with pocket sevens on a 9-9-4-J-5 runout got her into the black for the first time, but she was extremely aware of the twisted risk-reward scenario before her.

Four times

In hand #130, Newhouse’s straddle was on and it folded around to Krosky who called from the small blind with 9♦️7♦️. Black folded his big blind and Newhouse knuckled back her 3♣️2♣️. The flop came 9♣️6♦️4♣️, making Krosky top pair and giving Newhouse a gutshot and flush draw. Krosky bet $1,500 and Newhouse called. A big pot was potentially brewing.

The turn brought the 6♣️ and Krosky barreled again, an overbet again, this time $5,000 into $4,200. The bet was accompanied with a lot of speech play which suggested that he had a hand, but Newhouse recognized that this was her moment. She raised to $12,500 and snap-called Krosky’s $52,800 shove.

Drawing thin, Krosky requested four runouts and in a show of pure class, Newhouse acquiesced, aware that it was not in her best interest, but recognizing that he had driven the action all night. It was also an interesting hedge with 20 hands still to play. Her displayed chances were 89%, so by running it four times, she was still ~64% to scoop, ~29% to get three-quarters, ~6% to chop, less than 1% to get quartered, and 1/10000th of a % to get stacked.  As it happened, she held all four times, shipping the massive $109,800 pot.

Stapleton and Hartigan recapture the magic

Speaking to VSO News, hosts Joe Stapleton and James Hartigan expressed their satisfaction for how it all turned out. Stapleton said: “The ‘Big Game’ will always have a special place in my heart. I’m about as biased as one can be, but I think it’s the best poker format ever created.”

It is a great format which, in large part, hinges on the subjective value of the money for the loose cannon. To that end, my only suggestion for improvement would be to add a “Crazy Time” element, offering any loose cannon who is in profit at the end of 150 hands the option to play one more orbit.

Hartigan talked about trying to rediscover lightning in a bottle: “Obviously, this is a modern iteration of a TV show from more than a decade ago. So, it was always meant to be, and was always going to feel different. But I was concerned that we wouldn’t be able to recapture the magic of the original. I was so happy to be proved wrong.”

I couldn’t be more proud of how it all turned out”

Stapleton has similar reservations ahead of time: “Bringing it back brought me a fair amount of anxiety. Would it live up to the old shows? Thankfully, everyone at PokerStars from the very top brass to the producers to the Loose Cannons and the players – everyone – really understood the spirit of the original, and I couldn’t be more proud of how it all turned out.”

Creating a hit show was important for PokerStars for a number of reasons, but perhaps none more than showcasing poker on television again in the US. Hartigan was adamant about this aspect: “I’m glad that we’ve got poker back on an actual television network in the USA. And this is a format and a production that I think will appeal to a wider audience and, hopefully, draw in new fans to the game.”

Clear-headedness, tenacity and stoicism

It was undoubtedly a top notch show with slick production values, nice editing, and the most important element of all: compelling storylines with engrossing characters. In Newhouse and Niki Limo before her, they made great casting choices, and I’ve got to say that I was overjoyed to watch Newhouse crush that last episode and book an impressive $55,800 win.

none have showed the grit and determination that she demonstrated

Previous loose cannons have won more, but none have showed the grit and determination that she demonstrated having been hobbled right out of the gate. That inner strength and resolve are both a product of and testament to the ways that she has faced numerous challenges in her life.

Newhouse has been a mindset coach and it’s easy to see why when you see how she has met adversity head on with clear-headedness, tenacity, and stoicism. I’ll take a leaf out of her book and not say any more, other than recommend that you watch “Big Game” and also check out her fantastic interview.