Michael Ian Black Goes from Substack to Giant Stack in Latest Big Game Drama

Comedian and writer Michael Ian Black was the star of the show after a thrilling sixth episode of the hit show The Big Game on Tour. Taking place at the most recent North American Poker Tour stop in Las Vegas, the poker was fast and funny throughout with $350,000 on the table and a ‘Loose Cannon’ fired into the action courtesy of Stars to the tune of $50,000!

Loose Cannon Lily Newhouse Proves Popular Choice

“That is a loose cannon right there, someone that doesn’t leave the table when her waters break!” ~ Joe ‘Stapes’ Stapleton

A more entertaining hour of cash poker you’re unlikely to find anywhere, as six stars of the poker felt took to the same table to battle it out for over $350,000. The comeback of PokerStars’ The Big Game on Tour has been a huge success, and it’s not hard to see why, with a thrilling mix of poker legends, comedians, entrepreneurs and the infamous ‘loose cannon’ all creating a battle royale at the felt.

The auditions for becoming ‘loose cannon’ produced a thoroughly deserving winner, with Lily Newhouse this episode’s pick for the $50,000 stack. Should Newhouse survive with any of the sit-down cash, then she could keep it, and as comedian and co-presenter of the Big Game on Tour Joe Stapleton said, Newhouse’s dedication to the game was what gave her the nod.

Playing on when she was about to give birth in a cash game sealed the deal for ‘Stapes’.

“That is a loose cannon right there, someone that doesn’t leave the table when her waters break!? Lily, it’s your time.” Stapleton said, to an approving nod from his co-host James Hartigan. With $100/$200 blinds and a $200 big blind ante. In the first hand, Phil Laak bet and got five folds, to an amusing response from comedian and actor Michael Ian Black.

“I haven’t won a f***ing thing all day!” he joked.

That was to change… in the very next hand.

Black Puts Ho in the Red

“What are you doing over there?”

“Trapping, like Phil said.”

An absolute blockbuster developed as Lily Newhouse and Las Vegas entrepreneur Dave Krosky both flirted with the pot only for it to come down to Michael Ian Black and Game of Gold winner Maria Ho post-flop. That was understandable, as not only had the 9-5-2 flop given Ho middle set with pocket fives but it had also given Black a set of nines. Ho’s raise to $7,000 from Krosky’s $2,000 bet post-flop with fresh air was repumped to $20,000.

“What are you doing over there?”

“Trapping, like Phil said.”

“With what, nines?”

“Yeah… yeah!”

Maria Ho made the call and then they saw a jack on the turn.

“I mean, I don’t want to make the move, but I think I have to. I’m all-in!”

“It would be insane to fold this in a cash game, so I call.”

They agreed to run it twice, but both cards missed Ho, who reloaded another $50,000.

“This has been great guys. It’s been so much fun…” laughed Black, making to move. Black, who isn’t just an actor and comedian, providing thousands of avid fans snapshots from his life in his phenomenally popular Substack blog, was delighted with the result.

“From the rest of my life, I will be able to say I won a $100,000 pot from Maria Ho. This is better than my kids being born… by a lot.”

Cannon Shot Down, Grafton Grabs Profit

The rest of the episode was thrilling but no single pot dominated the discussion around the table after Black’s bullying of Ho with set over set. That was until Lily Newhouse found herself with against Sam Grafton’s . A flop of saw plenty of money head into the middle.

The on the turn might have saved Newhouse if it had been followed by a king or queen but instead a terrible landed on the river, giving the loose cannon a set but Grafton a full house. Newhouse lost a huge $34,700 in the hand, dropping to just $14,200 as Grafton made his way firmly into profit, bumping his stack from a starting pile of $50,000 to over $85,000 in the process.

Want to watch all the action? Here’s how the fun went down in Las Vegas.