Antonio Esfandiari is again. The poker growth period fan favourite who famously gained the 2012 $1 million buy-in World Collection of Poker (WSOP) Huge One for One Drop is returning to poker for the second season of the PokerStars Huge Recreation on Tour.
“The Magician,” who hasn’t performed a lot poker the previous few years, will compete in high-stakes money video games in opposition to a stacked lineup and a “Unfastened Cannon,” a non-pro chosen by way of an audition part to be staked right into a recreation that might change their life. Nikki Limo and Lily Newhouse have been chosen throughout auditions at Resorts World in the course of the 2023 North American Poker Tour (NAPT) collection in Las Vegas.
Stacked Poker Recreation Lineup
Talking of the NAPT, the PokerStars US occasion received underway at Resorts on Friday. The audition course of for the subsequent Huge Recreation on Tour present Unfastened Cannons are underway. The winners of these competitions will get staked to face high-profile poker gamers comparable to Esfandiari and Phil Hellmuth, who competed within the recreation earlier this yr.
The Unfastened Cannons will not solely be dealing with skilled poker professionals. Rob Gronkowski, a future Corridor of Fame NFL tight finish and four-time Tremendous Bowl champion, is slated to compete. Hustler On line casino Stay fan favourite Alan Keating, sports activities speak persona Nick Wright, and PokerStars ambassador Lex Veldhuis are among the many star-studded solid of characters who will seem on the Huge Recreation on Tour Season 2.
Esfandiari is, maybe, the most important get for PokerStars this season exterior of “Gronk” on condition that he has primarily retired from poker. The three-time WSOP bracelet winner does not present as much as play in simply any recreation nowadays. He did not even compete within the WSOP final summer time and his final look on a significant televised poker present — Excessive Stakes Poker Season 10 — aired in February 2023.
However the Magician is again, and he’ll be dealing with a stacked lineup of entertaining gamers together with Hellmuth, one of the recognizable faces in poker historical past. The Huge Recreation on Tour is the brand new version to the favored Huge Recreation present, which aired within the early 2010s. PokerStars introduced the present again final yr (taped episodes started airing in 2024) and the relaunch was a rousing success.
Season 1’s video games included Hellmuth, actress Jennifer Tilly, comic Michael Ian Black, and quite a few common poker professionals comparable to Phil Laak and Maria Ho. Extra of the identical intrigue is anticipated when Season 2 launches in 2025.
Including to the leisure side of Season 2 would be the longstanding rivalry between Hellmuth and Esfandiari. The poker legends went head-to-head in the course of the first PokerGO Excessive Stakes Duel heads-up poker recreation in 2020. Hellmuth gained all three matches for a $350,000 revenue in opposition to “The Magician,” who shall be trying to get a few of that cash again on the Huge Recreation on Tour.
NFL Nice Rob “Gronk” Gronkowski Taking part in PokerStars Huge Recreation on Tour Season 2
