The finale of Season 3 of PokerStars' The Big Game On Tour hit the airwaves today, bringing audiences the conclusion to Loose Cannon Andy Taylor's once-in-a-lifetime experience.
After battling it out with top-level professionals Shaun Deeb, Matt Berkey, and Jason Koon for nearly 150 hands, Taylor entered the final frame of play with a modest profit of $8,800. With only a few hands left, he had a decision to make: lock up his existing profit and walk away a small winner or go for broke and take his shot at a serious score.
If you were in Taylor's seat, what would you do? Probably run it, no? Go big or go home.
Taylor agreed – and sent his stack into the middle on Hand 150, the last of the show.
The Loose Cannon goes for it
Earlier in the episode, Taylor ran into a cooler of sorts.
On a 
board, his 
looked good – but Koon's 
was just a little bit better. In the face of a small river bet from Koon, Taylor opted to raise with his trips. Koon didn't love the spot despite his strong holding, but after a bit of back and forth table talk, he made the call and showed Taylor the bad news.
"I have three-of-a-kind so I'm going to call you," Koon said as he showed the winner.
With that, Taylor's stack slipped below the $50,000 mark and he was officially out of the profit zone – setting up a wild conclusion to his time on the show.
In the final hand of his run, Taylor kicked off the action with a blind raise to $800. Deeb quickly three-bet to $1,600 before O'Malley four-bet to $6,500.Berkey looked down at 
and dropped in a five-bet to $20,000. Koon sent his 
into the muck, but when the action returned to him, Taylor announced a pot-sized raise for the entirety of his stack.
Deeb fled the scene, but O'Malley and Berkey both called it off to create a three-way all-in with two players completely blind to their holdings.
With more than $100,000 in the middle, Taylor couldn't even watch, turning his back on the table. Koon assisted by turning over the cards and, while he didn't know it at the time, he was drawing thin with 
.
"You're not in as bad as shape as you usually would be," Koon told him.
The 
flop paired Berkey and O'Malley, while Taylor picked up a gutshot straight draw. The turn 
brought even more outs as Taylor improved to a double gutter.
The 
river completed the board, however, and Taylor's Loose Cannon dreams came to an end.
Images courtesy of PokerStars.
