Season 2 of PokerStars' The Big Game on Tour continued with Episode 12 – bringing audiences another installation of one of poker's most-beloved shows.
In the prior episode, audiences were introduced to the lineup for the season's final five episodes. Antonio Esfandiari and Phil Hellmuth served as the headliners, joined by four-time Super Bowl Champion Rob Gronkowski, sports pundit Nick Wright, Rania Nasreddine, and Loose Cannon Luke Wakelin.
This time around, it was Wright – who co-hosts the FS1 sports talk show First Things First and recently signed on to do the same for PokerGO's No Gamble, No Future – and Esfandiari who drove the action, trading blows in the largest pots of the episode.
'I didn't come here to wait for ace-king'
In the first of the two clashes, Esfandiari kicked off the action with a raise to $800 from the cutoff with 
. Hellmuth called from the button with a dominating holding, 
, before Wright looked down at 
in the big blind and bumped it up to $2,100. In somewhat predictable fashion, Esfandiari made the call while Hellmuth fled the scene.
The 
failed to connect meaningfully with Wright's holding as Esfandiari picked up a flush draw. While he had no pair and no draw to speak of, Wright did have the best hand and plenty of incentive to keep betting – which he did, firing $1,100 into the $5,100. Esfandiari wasted no time in matching the wager.
"You got anything?" he asked after tossing in calling chips.
"Yeah," replied Wright, unconvincingly.
The 
on the turn was a disaster for the sports pundit as he improved to top pair, but was left drawing dead to win the hand as Esfandiari completed his flush. With $7,300 in the middle, Wright bet small again – only $1,400 – before 'The Magician' quickly raised to $7,500. After a moment of thought, Wright announced an all-in for $31,600.
"Go," Esfandiari said as he made the call to bring the pot to $70,500.
"You have a flush?" Wright asked.
Esfandiari nodded in affirmation.
"I'm dead," Wright continued. "Nice hand."
"Nick has seen Antonio bluff too many times," Hellmuth chimed.
"It worked," Gronkowski added. "Because he was bluffing prior... and then he hit."
"As long as the 8-4 suiteds and J-2 suiteds keep making flushes, Antonio is going to win all the money," Hellmuth concluded.
"God, I love you. I really missed you, Phil," Esfandiari said through peals of laughter.
"You're all over the place," Gronkowski observed. "But it's working, I like it."
"Well, I didn't come here to wait for ace-king," Esfandiari replied. "That never happens."
It wasn't over there, though. Later in the episode, Wright took his revenge on Esfandiari – scroll up and hit the play button to see how.
