A star-studded roster that includes some of the most entertaining poker pros and a popular comedian headline the upcoming PokerStars Big Game on Tour, which debuts Sunday.
Tony Hinchcliffe, host of the Kill Tony comedy podcast, will make his debut on the PokerStars high-stakes cash game show on YouTube. He’ll be joined by poker stars Doug Polk, Antonio Esfandiari, and Esther Taylor, along with reality TV star Princess Love and the “Loose Cannon,” a player who is staked $50,000 to compete.
This season’s Loose Cannon is Scott Gaughan, a comedian who hosts comedy game shows. He’ll try to impress Hinchcliffe, a professional comedian critic, with his comedy and poker skills. More importantly, Gaughan will try to win some money, but he’ll have to turn a profit over 150 hands to go home with cash.
Entertaining Table
Season 3 of the Big Game on Tour will feature some big hands and rivalries. Viewers can expect a talkative table. Esfandiari, who only plays poker occasionally these days, appeared in Season 2 along with Phil Hellmuth and NFL legend Rob Gronkowski.
Polk and Hinchcliffe, both Austin, Texas residents, have some history. The two met at a bar last year, and an intoxicated Hinchcliffe challenged the heads-up poker legend to a game of heads-up poker for $20,000. They would play, and it only took 20 minutes for the comedian to pull off the upset.
“Since it had only been 20 minutes, I said, ‘I’ll tell you what, even though I won, let’s double or nothing—$40,000 versus a minute of stand-up comedy.’ So I won $20,000, doubled the bet to $40,000, and any day now, he’s going to be popping in on the show,” Hinchcliffe said in a 2025 Kill Tony podcast.
Polk won the second match and Hinchcliffe made good on his promise to allow the poker star to perform a set on Kill Tony, and he crushed it.
“It’s hard to live in Texas without hearing about the immigration debate. They’re bringing in drugs, they’re taking our jobs, we’ve got to do something about these Californians. We’re gonna build a wall. We’re gonna make New Mexico pay for it,” Polk, who grew up in California but now lives in Texas, joked to open his set.
Polk mixed in some puns during his brief set, which shouldn’t come as a surprise to anyone who has followed his YouTube channel the past decade.
“I’ll tell you, I’m pretty sure I’m right here, I’m pretty sure that’s the best set of the night from everybody,” Hinchcliffe told the aspiring comedian. “Absolutely incredible, when you put your mind to it. You’ve been practicing for a month. We’re buddies now. I met you that night.”
Polk and Hinchcliffe will appear together on the PokerStars Big Game on Tour Season 3, with episodes air on the PokerStars YouTube channel each Sunday through Dec. 6.
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