PokerStars' The Big Game on Tour kicked off its batch of Heat 2 episodes last week. The players at the table — Maria Ho, Sam Grafton, Dave Krosky, Phil Laak, Michael Ian Black, and Loose Cannon Lily Newhouse — wasted no time in turning up the heat.
In the first instalment of Heat 2, an early set-over-set confrontation between Ho and Black sent the former to the top of the win/loss rankings. Later, a big hand between Grafton and Newhouse saw the Loose Cannon lose over half of her $50,000 staked stack in a spot she couldn't avoid.
Today, Episode 7 has dropped on the PokerStars YouTube channel, and in our humble opinion, it's another must-see 48 minutes of poker programming.
Once again, the key hand of the episode came early in the running. Krosky's preflop raise to $500 with 
was met with two callers: Black with 
and Grafton with 
.
The 
flop smashed both Krosky and Grafton, providing an open-ended straight draw for the former and a set for the latter. With $1,800 in the middle, Krosky threw out five $1,000 chips — an overbet for more than two times the pot size. Black bowed out quickly, but Grafton wasn't going anywhere. After pointing out the unusual sizing, Grafton made the call and the two players saw the 
turn. Grafton checked over to Krosky, who chose to realize his equity with a check-back.
The 
on the river was exactly what Krosky needed, improving his hand to the nut straight. Grafton checked once more, laying a non-existent trap, and Krosky appeared to tap the table twice with all five fingers. Assuming the motion was a check, Grafton tabled his set confidently, only to hear Krosky say he wasn't intending to check: "I was not checking."
The players at the table offered their thoughts, with Laak quickly surmising that Grafton wasn't attempting an angle of any sort. Krosky conferred with the dealer, asking if he could move all-in, but he was told his action would stand as a check ("any kind of tapping is a check") and that he must table his hand. "Correct ruling," said James Hartigan on comms. When he turned over the nuts, the shock rippled around the table exactly as you might expect. Laak even went as far to call it "the craziest hand in the world."
Grafton made his intentions clear, saying, "I'm super sorry. Obviously, I didn't want you to check. I checked to check-raise."
Krosky was left to rue his mistake, admitting, "I'm not ready for this success."
The Big Game on Tour airs Friday evenings on Fox Sports 1, followed by a global release on the PokerStars YouTube channel the following morning.
