Back in November of 2023, as the PokerStars North American Poker Tour made its triumphant return to Las Vegas, another resurrection from the archives of poker's history took place – that of The Big Game. While the show ran for just two seasons, between 2010 and 2011, it created a lasting impact that saw poker fans around the world delighted at its return.
Today, PokerStars announced the premiere dates for the new season of The Big Game on Tour. The US television premiere has been slated for May 10 on Fox Sports 1, while the global premiere will see the first episode released on the PokerStars YouTube channel the following day, May 11.
The third season of The Big Game will see a total of ten episodes, with five episodes devoted to one lineup of players and five to another lineup. The first five episodes will debut from May 10 onwards, with a new episode dropping every week, and the second five will debut later in the summer, starting in July.
If there's any lingering doubts about poker's current growth span, detractors need look no further than PokerStars and FS1 carving out a Friday night time slot for cash game poker.
The Big Game format pits poker professionals up against one another in a cash game format, but the show's true draw was the concept of the Loose Cannon – an amateur player bankrolled by the show and given the chance to compete against the pros. The Loose Cannon took home any profits they acquired at the end of the show, with the biggest winner of the group scoring an NAPT package.
"The Big Game was one of the most beloved poker programs of all-time,” said VP of PokerStars North America, Steve Preiss. “As we continue our focus on creating the best poker content, re-imagining and re-launching The Big Game was a no-brainer.”
In November, PokerStars filmed across a two-day session with a lineup that included Phil Hellmuth, Lex Veldhuis, Jennifer Tilly, Alan Keating, Arden Cho, Sam Grafton, Michael Ian Black, and Phil Laak.
Nikki Limo and Lily Newhouse joined the table as the Loose Cannons after winning their way through a shootout and being selected by a panel of judges made up of Joe Stapleton, James Hartigan, and original Loose Cannon Nadya Magnus.
