Pitch any poker-related game show to executives, and they’ll start to have a fit for a number of reasons. The questions back to any hopeful suggesting a brightly-lit set with poker ‘questions’ going back and forth, or poker-related abilities being tested in some other format must always be the same: how much will it cost, why don’t you just show poker and how much will it cost?!
The Big Blind on PokerGO got off to a great start, as we told you back in November of last year, and has only continued to please audiences on the subscription-based streaming service. In fact, by the time of the final, all three men who made it that far were in the money.
Of Season 1’s 18 combatants, Norman Chad entered the fray with plenty of pundits saying he was the favourite. A seemingly endless well of knowledge, Chad has of course brought the World Series of Poker to spectacular life over many years, and he has done exactly the same in The Big Blind, dominating his group stage and knockout rounds.
Alex Jacob is a competitor who’ll need no introduction if you’re already a fan of quiz shows, as he has conquered Jeopardy! With one of the longest runs in fans memories. If it wasn’t for James Holzhauer, Jacob would be the poker player known for his appearances on the hit American quiz show.
Lastly, but by no means least, Ben Yu is taking on Jacob and Chad with one of the most consistent mindsets in recent years. Known to have tracked his own progress through last year’s WSOP Fantasy Draft, Yu is not to be underestimated.
Whoever finishes third would go home with $5,000, and the runner-up would take down a stack of high society, cashing for $10,000. Only the winner would be able to brag of their status as reigning champion of the inaugural series and claim the $15,000 top prize.
With Jeff Platt presiding over matters from the comfort of the purpose-built PokerGO studio in Las Vegas, the final was as bit a riot of fun as the previous episodes and it’s well worth a watch. While we loved the interactions between the players in the final, Platt’s dry wit combined with the genuinely ingenious scoring system mean the format is a winner no matter who plays.
There’s one question which is the easiest to answer, namely that brought to what will surely be the easiest recommissioning meetings since the sit-down chin-wag held over whether a sequel to The Godfather ‘might work’.
Will there be a second series of The Big Blind? You can bet your whole stack on that and know you’re getting a green light!
You can watch the final in its entirety right here.
