Big Game (poker)
Encyclopedia
The Big Game refers to a famous high-stakes poker
ring game
played in "Bobby's Room", a cardroom
named after Bobby Baldwin
, at the Bellagio casino
in Las Vegas, Nevada
. The table features no-limit and pot-limit games with wagers up to $
100,000 per hand. Limit games as high as $4,000/$8,000 are often played but $2,000/$4,000 is normal.
The table features a variety of poker games played in rotation and changing every 8–10 hands. The games are selected from a list of the players' choices, including:
Usually players buy in for $200,000–300,000, but anyone with the minimum buy in of $80,000 is welcome to play.
In addition to the occasional drop-in player, the following players have been known to play regularly in the Big Game over the years:
Poker
Poker is a family of card games that share betting rules and usually hand rankings. Poker games differ in how the cards are dealt, how hands may be formed, whether the high or low hand wins the pot in a showdown , limits on bet sizes, and how many rounds of betting are allowed.In most modern poker...
ring game
Cash game
Cash games, also sometimes referred to as ring games or live action games, are poker games played with "real" chips and money at stake, usually with no predetermined end time, with players able to enter and leave as they see fit...
played in "Bobby's Room", a cardroom
Cardroom
A cardroom or card room is a gaming establishment that exclusively offers card games for play by the public. The term poker room is generally synonymous, since the gambling games played in such establishments are typically, and sometimes exclusively, variations of poker such as Texas hold 'em.Such...
named after Bobby Baldwin
Bobby Baldwin
Bobby Baldwin is a professional poker player, off-road racer and casino executive. As a poker player, Baldwin is best known as the 1978 world champion, becoming the youngest main event champion at that time....
, at the Bellagio casino
Bellagio (hotel and casino)
Bellagio is a hotel and casino located on the Las Vegas Strip in the Paradise area of unincorporated Clark County, Nevada, USA and a member of The Leading Hotels of the World. It is owned by MGM Resorts International and was built on the site of the demolished Dunes hotel and casino.Inspired by the...
in Las Vegas, Nevada
Las Vegas, Nevada
Las Vegas is the most populous city in the U.S. state of Nevada and is also the county seat of Clark County, Nevada. Las Vegas is an internationally renowned major resort city for gambling, shopping, and fine dining. The city bills itself as The Entertainment Capital of the World, and is famous...
. The table features no-limit and pot-limit games with wagers up to $
United States dollar
The United States dollar , also referred to as the American dollar, is the official currency of the United States of America. It is divided into 100 smaller units called cents or pennies....
100,000 per hand. Limit games as high as $4,000/$8,000 are often played but $2,000/$4,000 is normal.
The table features a variety of poker games played in rotation and changing every 8–10 hands. The games are selected from a list of the players' choices, including:
- Texas hold 'emTexas hold 'emTexas Hold 'em is a variation of the standard card game of poker. The game consists of two cards being dealt face down to each player and then five community cards being placed face-up by the dealer—a series of three then two additional single cards , with...
(limit and no limit) - Seven-card studSeven-card studSeven-card stud is a variant of stud poker. Until the recent increase in popularity of Texas hold 'em, seven-card stud was the most popular poker variant in home games across the United States, and in casinos in the eastern part of the country. Two to eight players is common, though eight may...
(straight high, eight or better Hi/Lo, Hi/Lo without qualifiers, limit) - OmahaOmaha hold 'emOmaha hold 'em is a community card poker game similar to Texas hold 'em, where each player is dealt four cards and must make his best hand using exactly two of them, plus exactly three of the five community cards...
(straight high, eight or better Hi/Lo, limit and pot limit) - Deuce-to-seven triple drawDraw pokerDraw poker is any poker variant in which each player is dealt a complete hand before the first betting round, and then develops the hand for later rounds by replacing, or "drawing", cards....
(limit) - Deuce-to-seven single drawDraw pokerDraw poker is any poker variant in which each player is dealt a complete hand before the first betting round, and then develops the hand for later rounds by replacing, or "drawing", cards....
(no limit) - Ace-to-Five triple drawDraw pokerDraw poker is any poker variant in which each player is dealt a complete hand before the first betting round, and then develops the hand for later rounds by replacing, or "drawing", cards....
(limit) - Ace-to-Five single drawDraw pokerDraw poker is any poker variant in which each player is dealt a complete hand before the first betting round, and then develops the hand for later rounds by replacing, or "drawing", cards....
(no limit) - RazzRazz (poker)Razz is a form of stud poker that is normally played for ace-to-five low . The object of Razz is to make the lowest possible five-card hand from the seven cards you are dealt. In Razz, straights and flushes do not count against the player for low, and the ace usually plays low...
(limit)
Usually players buy in for $200,000–300,000, but anyone with the minimum buy in of $80,000 is welcome to play.
In addition to the occasional drop-in player, the following players have been known to play regularly in the Big Game over the years:
- Patrik AntoniusPatrik AntoniusPatrik Antonius is a Finnish professional poker player, former tennis player and coach, and model from Vantaa, Finland. He currently resides in Monte Carlo...
- David BenyamineDavid BenyamineDavid Benyamine is a French professional poker player with a World Poker Tour title. Benyamine was a professional tennis player in his early career but had to retire because of shoulder pain. He was also a successful top ten billiards player in France. He learned poker at the age of 12 and plays...
- Doyle BrunsonDoyle BrunsonDoyle F. Brunson is an American professional poker player who has played professionally for over 50 years. He is the first two-time World Series of Poker main event champion to win consecutively, a Poker Hall of Fame inductee, and the author of several books on poker.Brunson is the first player to...
- Todd BrunsonTodd BrunsonTodd Alan Brunson is an American professional poker player and the son of poker legend Doyle Brunson.Although Brunson's father Doyle is a poker player, Brunson did not learn the game when he was young. It was not until he was studying law at Texas Tech University that he learned on his own how to...
- Johnny ChanJohnny Chan (poker player)Johnny Chan rather than his Chinese birth name. born in Guangzhou, China in 1957) is a Chinese American professional poker player. He has won 10 World Series of Poker bracelets, including 1987 and 1988 World Series of Poker main events consecutively....
- Allen CunninghamAllen CunninghamAllen Cunningham is an American professional poker player.Cunningham studied civil engineering at UCLA before dropping out of school to play poker professionally. At the age of 18, he began playing at in Indian casinos...
- Tom DwanTom DwanThomas Dwan Jr. is an American professional poker player who regularly plays online in the highest-stakes No-Limit Texas hold 'em and Pot-Limit Omaha games, primarily on Full Tilt Poker, where he plays under the screen name "durrrr"...
- Eli ElezraEli ElezraEliahu Ilan Elezra is an Israeli professional poker player and a businessman, now living in Las Vegas, Nevada.While he was in Israel, Elezra was a lieutenant in the Golani Brigade. He was bedridden by a leg injury; during this time he began playing poker...
- Sammy Farha
- Ted ForrestTed ForrestTed Forrest is an American professional poker player, currently residing in Las Vegas, Nevada.- Tournament Wins:...
- Chau GiangChau GiangChau Tu Giang is an American professional poker player of Chinese descent, who is a three time World Series of Poker bracelet winner and a three time final tablist of the World Poker Tour with over $3 million in live tournament winnings alone.- Biography :Giang fled Vietnam in a small boat in the...
- Barry GreensteinBarry GreensteinBarry Greenstein is a professional poker player. He has won a number of major events, including three at the World Series of Poker and two on the World Poker Tour. Greenstein donates his profit from tournament winnings to charities, primarily Children, Incorporated, earning him the nickname "the...
- David GreyDavid GreyDavid F. Grey is an American professional poker player from Henderson, Nevada.Grey is best known as a cash-game player, but he also has several notable poker tournament wins to his name....
- Gus HansenGus HansenGustav "Gus" Hansen is a professional Danish poker player who lives in Monaco. In his poker career, Hansen has won three World Poker Tour open titles, the 2007 Aussie Millions main event and was the season one winner of the Poker Superstars Invitational Tournament...
- Jennifer HarmanJennifer HarmanJennifer C. Harman-Traniello is an American professional poker player.-Early life:Harman was born and raised in Reno, Nevada. She started playing poker in 1972 at the age of eight...
- John HenniganJohn Hennigan (poker player)John Hennigan is an American professional poker player from Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, who, in his career, has won two World Series of Poker bracelets and a World Poker Tour title....
- Phil IveyPhil IveyPhillip Dennis "Phil" Ivey Jr. is an American professional poker player who has won eight World Series of Poker bracelets, one World Poker Tour title and appeared at nine World Poker Tour final tables...
- Guy LalibertéGuy LalibertéGuy Laliberté, OC, CQ is a Canadian entrepreneur, philanthropist, poker player, space tourist and the current CEO of Cirque du Soleil...
- Minh LyMinh LyMinh Hoang Ly is a Vietnamese-American professional poker player based in Temple City, California. He is a regular in "The Big Game" and is married to Lu Binh....
- Daniel NegreanuDaniel NegreanuDaniel Negreanu is a Canadian professional poker player. He has won four World Series of Poker bracelets and two World Poker Tour Championship titles. He is currently ranked second in the all-time career earnings list and is the star of poker game show Million Dollar Challenge. He plays a big...
- David OppenheimDavid OppenheimDavid Oppenheim is an American professional poker player. Duringthe second season of the World Poker Tour, he placed third in the No-Limit Hold 'em Championship at the Borgata Poker Open in Atlantic City, earning $117,500 and third at the 2010 World Series of Poker in the $50,000 The Players...
- Ralph PerryRalph Perry (poker player)Rafael "Ralph" Perry is a professional poker player originally from Russia. He has been playing professionally since 1992.In 2006, Perry represented Russia at the inaugural Intercontinental Poker Championship and reached the semi-finals, during which he was the target of some much-publicised...
- Chip ReeseChip ReeseDavid Edward Reese , more commonly known as Chip Reese, was an American professional poker player and gambler from Centerville, Ohio...
(deceased) - Huck SeedHuck SeedHuckleberry Seed is an American professional poker player best known for winning the main event of the 1996 World Series of Poker.-Early Life:...