Bob “The Bus” Ferdinand went wild on the PokerStars Big Game and ran over his competition. In a high-stakes-seemingly-made-for-TV-drama, the very last Loose Cannon of the season, went into full on God mode with under 30 hands remaining, to win a total of $181,500 and take the title as Season 1 PokerStars Big Game Loose Cannon Champion.
For anyone not in the know, the PokerStars Big Game takes an amateur known as the “Loose Cannon”, gives him or her a $100,000 stack, and pits them up against 5 top professionals for 150 hands. The Loose Cannon gets to keep all profit above $100,000.
As the highest earning Loose Cannon of season 1, Bob “The Bus” Ferdinand was awarded with an NAPT Passport, which covers travel and tournament entries, and is valued at $50,000.
Out of 11 Loose Cannons on Season 1, four turned a profit going up against the pros. Here’s how they stack up against one another.
- Bob “The Bus” Ferdinand $181,500
- David Fishman $129,600
- Nadia Magnus $63,600
- Ernest Wiggins $50,300
Bob the Bus battled his way through the first 120 hands to find himself hovering around even $100,000. Then after losing a $50,000 pot with AK vs. Phil Helmuth with A9, Ferdinand’s stack had dwindled down to $67,800 with only 22 hands to go. It appeared as if the sun was going down on Ferdinand’s hope of turning a profit.
On hand 129 things began to change. Ferdinand was dealt 8d 10d, he called a raise preflop from early position, the flop comes 6d 7d 9h giving him the nut straight. Ferdinand check raised all in on the flop. Lex Veldhuis called with Q9 top pair. Ferdinand’s nut straight held up to win a pot of $140,600, for a profit of $40,600 with 21 hands to go.
Then the unthinkable happened on hand 144. With only 7 hands to go in the session, Bob Ferdinand was dealt AA, and gets into a preflop raise war with Peter Jetten who holds KK. All the money went in preflop and Ferdinand opted to run it once. He faded the king like a champ to win a pot of $283,600, the NAPT passport and brings his total profit to $181,500!