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PokerStars Big Game

US television program

Manuscripts, fine bindings, an engraving plate and preserved performance ephemera
Arts and lettersInterpretive dossier study · Crown Archives visual atlas
Record originEnglish Wikipedia
Text licenseCC BY-SA 4.0
Source revisionMay 15, 2026
Entity authorityQ2667269 ↗
Source-derived summary

The PokerStars Big Game, also known as the PokerStars.net Big Game or simply the Big Game, was a poker television program sponsored by Pokerstars.net originally airing on Fox Network. The program had a tie-in to the Pokerstars North American Poker Tour (NAPT), which was shut down by the U.S. Attorney's Office for the Southern District of New York after the second season had been filmed in 2011. The PokerStars.net Big Game did not return after the second season. In October 2023, it was announced the show would return with the loose cannon being staked $50,000. The new show premiered on YouTube on May 11, 2024, as The Big Game on Tour.

Format

The Big Game pits an amateur, known as the "loose cannon," who plays 150 hands of no limit Texas hold 'em poker, against five other players, each of whom stake their own money. These five players are mostly professionals, although wealthier amateurs also play occasionally. The game was advertised to consist of thirty hands per day over the course of five weekdays; however, by observing the players and host's clothing it is clear that each "week" was shot in a single session over the course of one day.

To become a contestant, the would-be loose cannon must be a citizen of the United States or Canada. He or she must first make it through three free qualifying rounds on PokerStars.net, placing in the top 300 in a daily tournament, then in the top 1000 on Saturday, and finally in the top 200 on Sunday.

Editorial summary

“PokerStars Big Game” enters the record as uS television program. Crown Archives preserves that source wording while asking what PokerStars, Game and television can confirm, complicate or overturn.

Editorial reviewA productive route into publication, performance and collection histories when the underlying object or edition remains clearly identified. The current lead gives the account dated anchors—2011, 2023, 2024, 1000—that can be checked directly. The linked authority record independently contributes the date 2010-06-14. Its strongest next move is a source search built around PokerStars, Game and television.
Editorial analysis

Why this record matters

“PokerStars Big Game” is worth following because a concise public description often conceals a longer documentary argument. Here, PokerStars, Game and television provides the most credible route into that argument.

Evidence profile

Object files, edition statements, performance records and contemporary criticism preserve different stages of the work’s history. The source revision retrieved here is dated May 15, 2026. The linked authority identifier is Q2667269. 1 of 1 selected statements include explicit references; 0 carry qualifiers and 0 use preferred rank. The first chronological checks are 2011, 2023, 2024 and 1000.

Critical limits

Titles can refer to several editions, objects or performances, making precise identification essential before interpretation. The source lead contains qualifying language; that uncertainty should survive quotation, summary and reuse. Authority statements aid reconciliation but still require their own references, qualifiers and ranks to be checked.

How to read it

Separate the work, its editions or performances, and its later reception. Catalogue records, publication histories and object files often preserve different parts of that story.

Best used for
  • Identifying works and editions
  • Tracing reception history
  • Finding collection records
Verify next

The original object or edition, catalogue raisonné, performance record, rights file and holding institution.

Three-step research path

  1. Establish the record: confirm the title “PokerStars Big Game”, its source revision and the description used here.
  2. Expand the search: follow PokerStars Big Game primary sources, PokerStars Big Game archive and PokerStars research across catalogues and specialist indexes.
  3. Test the account: compare the strongest cited source with the responsible institution’s current record and note any disagreement.

Questions for further research

  1. Which source most directly establishes the central claim about “PokerStars Big Game”?
  2. Which edition, object, performance or recording is being described?
  3. How did later circulation or interpretation alter the work’s reception?
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Source & attribution

This entry incorporates text from “PokerStars Big Game” on English Wikipedia. Contributors are listed in the page history. Text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 License. Selected authority identifiers and statements are retrieved from Wikidata under CC0; their references and qualifiers remain part of the verification path.