This week’s episodes of The PokerStars.net Big Game once again featured a murderer’s row lineup of professional poker players, and the lone “Loose Cannon” online qualifier – who is staked $100,000 and allowed to keep any profits he or she makes. However, the term “Loose Cannon” seems to be a bit of a misnomer up to this point in the show’s history.
After 4 weeks of the show we have witnessed two really solid players –Will Davis and Nadya Magnus– and two very amateurish players –Ernest Wiggins and Troy Howard– and after the first two episodes of Week 5 I would have to say that we will be adding another mark in the solid column. Aaron Jensen has proven to be no slouch at the poker tables, and has even out aggro’d the pros thus far!
Playing against a lineup that includes Scott Seiver, Tony G, Daniel Negreanu, Vanessa Rousso, and Todd Brunson, Jensen is the first pro we’ve seen that is making “moves” against the best players in poker, and his demeanor and personality at the table just exude confidence thus far.
In earlier episodes we saw Ernest Wiggins and Troy Howard implement what can only be called a Weak/Tight strategy, and Will Davis and Nadya Magnus employ a tight/aggressive approach, all with varying success –Magnus and Wiggins made their hands and ended up +$63,600 and +$50,400 respectively, Davis was outdrawn in a crucial pot, and Howard was chopped off little by little—but none of the “Loose Cannons” up to this point have been willing to float flops or check-raise scare cards like we’ve seen Jensen do.
Heading into the third episode of the show the table makeup has changed drastically since Tony G has left the game, having been replaced by Lex Veldhuis, who brings the count up to three players willing to mix-it-up with lesser holdings and make unorthodox plays — Neagreanu and Seiver being the other two. We’ll see if having Veldhuis on his left forces Jensen to slow down his aggression, which according to the Big Game’s stats is at 5 (meaning he is 5 times more likely to bet or raise than to check or call).
Jensen’s strategy could lead to a very big win on his part, since I don’t see him slowing down if he starts to win –which I think plagued both Nadya Magnus and the other “Loose Cannon” who posted a profit Ernest Wiggins, both of whom I think maxed out their winning potential given the show’s format. Jensen on the other hand is playing to win, and win big! Which he may just do since he still has about 60% of the 150 hands left to play.
Visit PokerStars.com to have a chance to qualify as the next “Loose Cannon” in the Big Game!
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Written by Steve Ruddock on August 19th, 2010
I liked his strategy that he never slowing down. That was a great and positive outlook of being a professional poker player. Thanks for your great posting on this episode. I enjoyed reading this article because I wanted more updates on poker stars.