Lex Veldhuis Loses Over $200k On Latest Episode of the Big Game
The Big Game On Tour saw the wheel of fortune spin almost off its axis with the leaderboard getting a thorough shuffle in Episode 3 which aired on Fox Sports 1.
The Big Game On Tour is a $100/$200 ($200 big blind ante) no-limit hold'em game with a twist. In each six-player lineup, there is one "Loose Cannon." The Loose Cannon is on a freeroll, with a $50,000 stake from PokerStars. If the Wild Card can survive 150 hands they can cash out for whatever profit they make.
In the first flight, the wild card is poker content creator Nikki Limo, who started Episode 3 with a profit of $21,100 after sixty hands.
Angling to get their mitts on Limo's profit were a mix of poker pros and celebrities. The biggest winners at the start of Episode 3 were Lex Veldhuis (up $83,200), Phil Hellmuth (up $49,800), and Jennifer Tilly (up $46,900). Alan Keating (down $96,300) and Arden Cho (down $100,000) were the big losers at that point.
But all that was about to change.
Tilly Joins "Real Housewives," Needles Hellmuth
The first hand of PokerStars's The Big Game On Tour Episode 3 saw Phil Hellmuth pick up A♦K♦. He raised to $600 from UTG+1 only to have Jennifer Tilly re-raise him to $2,000 with just 4♦3♦.
Tilly seemed to be practicing for her new role as one of The Real Housewives of Beverly Hills and has been stirring up drama with Hellmuth. The pair had been verbally sparring for two episodes and now they were sparring on the felt. Hellmuth called.
He then checked the flop of 7♠A♣6♣. Tilly bet $2,000 into this flop. Hellmuth called again and the turn was the 2♥. Both players checked and the dealer rolled over the 3♠ on the river. Hellmuth bet $7,000.
Tilly had a small pair, good for catching a bluff, but little else. Before she folded Tilly took the chance to needle Hellmuth again, saying he had looked disappointed when she checked the turn. Hellmuth raked in the pot, but was a sore winner, irritated by the idea that he might have been so readable.
Keating Wins It Back
After dominating the storyline for episode two, Hellmuth receded back into the shadows after the first hand. Instead, Episode 3 was all about Lex Veldhuis and his Pleistocene run of cards.
Veldhuis's trouble started when Keating picked up pocket sevens and raised to $900. Hellmuth called with ace-king and Veldhuis followed his lead.
Hellmuth got out fast when the flop came down 2♣7♥3♦ and Keating bet out. Veldhuis on the other hand raised Keating with just K♦4♦ to $9,000. Keating called with top set.
The turn was the K♥, giving Veldhuis the perfect bluff-catcher with which to check-call Keating's $19,000 bet. Unfortunately, there was no bluff to catch and when the river came down the J♠, Keating pushed all-in covering Veldhuis's stack of $103,900.
"I said I was going to either win the biggest pot of my life against you... or lose probably," Veldhuis said, before calling and doing the latter. Keating raked in a $266,700 pot, wiping out Veldhuis's profit in one go and putting himself temporarily back in the black.
Veldhuis And Keating Tangle Again
Veldhuis's bad luck continued a few hands later with Mega Python v. Gatoroid star Arden Cho getting a big bluff past him. So, when Alan Keating raised to $900 without looking at his cards and Veldhuis picked up pocket kings he went in hard with a raise to $3,200.
To Veldhuis's delight, Tilly 4-bet from the big blind to $11,000 with A♥10♦ forcing Keating to check his cards. He had a very playable A♦Q♦ and so called. Veldhuis went ahead and raised again to $44,300 total. Tilly folded, but Keating came back again for the rest of Veldhuis's stack.
Veldhuis called and, with $122,700 in the middle, they decided to run it twice. Lex hit a set on the first one booking at least half of the massive pot, but he ended up splitting the pot after Keating won the second runout.
Arden Bluffs Again
One orbit later, Keating put in a $400 straddle, getting calls from Tilly in the small blind and Cho in the big. Keating checked his hand to see A♠10♦ and decided to make it $1,800 to play. Tilly folded and Cho called with A♣3♣.
The flop was A♦4♥5♣ giving both players a pair of aces. Keating bet his pair and Cho called with hers.
The turn was the Q♣ adding a flush draw to Cho's inside wheel draw. Keating bet $10,000 into a pot of $12,200 and Cho raised him to $30,000. Keating called and the dealer put down the 6♠ on the river.
At this point, Cho turned her pair of aces into a bluff, overbetting all in for $71,400.
Keating gave it some thought and jokingly asked if he could see one of Cho's cards. Surprisingly, Arden agreed and Keating picked the 3♣. Keating already seemed suspicious that Cho had flopped a wheel, and after another quick dip in the tank, Keating folded. As she raked in the massive pot, Cho showed the bluff. One last insult to round out the injury.
The Final Hand
Over the next few hands, Limo lost back the last of her profit, Lex earned back some a small fraction of his losses, and before the players knew it, the final hand crept up on them.
Once again, Veldhuis picked up kings. This time things went much worse for him.
Lex raised his kings to $800 from UTG+1 and Tilly re-raised to $2,000 from the button. Keating called with 10♦9♠ in the big blind triggering a squeeze from Lex to $8,700 total that both Tilly and Keating called.
The flop was Q♣6♦4♠, giving Veldhuis an overpair. Keating checked and Lex bet $15,000 into the $26,400 pot. Tilly called and Keating sensibly bailed on the hand.
The turn was the 5♣. Lex shoved and Tilly beat him into the pot with her call, turning over the 6♠6♣ for a flopped set. The river was a useless J♣ and Tilly raked in another wayward stack of Veldhuis's chips.
Having started the episode with a massive profit, Veldhuis ended the episode at the bottom of a $130,000 hole. Tilly went from being up a little under a buy-in to being up almost three buyins. Hellmuth grew his profit a little to $62,800 and Limo gave up all of hers.
Arden Cho had a massive turn around too, going from being down a nice round $100,000 to being down $7,400 while Alan Keating shaved about $30k off his losses for the session.
The full standings with 88 hands played and two episodes remaining are as follows:
| Rank | Player | Profit/Loss | Stack |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Jennifer Tilly | +$145,500 | $295,500 |
| 2 | Phil Hellmuth | +$62,800 | $112,800 |
| 3 | Nikki Limo | +$300 | $49,700 |
| 4 | Arden Cho | -$7,400 | $142,600 |
| 5 | Alan Keating | -$65,600 | $329,400 |
| 6 | Lex Veldhuis | -$130,000 | $75,000 |
