Loose Cannon Lily Newhouse Shares Her Cancer Survivor Story in Episode 8 of The Big Game on Tour


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Editor & Live Reporter

5 min read

Lily Newhouse

PokerStars recently announced the return of The Big Game on Tour for another season, with new episodes set to be filmed during the NAPT Las Vegas festival. As the show prepares to wrap up its first season, one player remains in the spotlight: Lily Newhouse, the latest Loose Cannon chasing a life-changing payday.

However, Newhouse’s journey is about more than just poker. In the latest episode, she opened up about her battle with breast cancer, revealing how her experience shaped her outlook on life.

“I was diagnosed with breast cancer in 2018. My son was eight years old at the time, and I was 32. I did 12 rounds of chemotherapy. It took about five months. That was the hardest thing I’ve ever done.”

“In the timeframe of going through cancer treatment, your only goal is to survive. Everything else is on the back burner.”

Reflecting on her experience, Newhouse shared the profound impact it had on her: “I’ve really felt and still feel that I was lucky to get cancer so young because I learned things that most people don’t learn till they’re older. I learned that life is now, that you don’t know how long you have and that anything can happen to anyone at any time, and that really taught me to go for it. To follow my passions, to follow my dreams, to be myself unapologetically, and that is something that I think is priceless.”

Loose Cannon Heads in the Right Direction

The third session kicked off with last week’s star of the show Dave Krosky limping in from under the gun with KJ. Newhouse woke up with A9 from the cutoff and made it $800. Phil Laak defended his big blind with A7, and the three players saw the A108 flop. Newhouse continued for $1,300 and was called in both spots.

The 5 turn put a third spade on the board, and after Laak checked, Krosly led out for $3,000. Newhouse called with the best hand, prompting Laak to get rid of his inferior pair of aces.

The J river checked through to showdown, and the Loose Cannon dragged in the $12,600 and aided her quest to get back to even.

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Krosky’s Sun Run Over?

Dave Klosky
Dave Krosky

While Krosky took a small hit in the opening hand, he still had a profit of around $40,000. However, he would soon find out that poker is no easy game.

He dropped pots to Laak, Maria Ho and Sam Grafton after making an ambitious hero call and some speculative bluffs.

With only $3,700 in the middle on the 97458 board, Laak had the stone-cold nuts with J10. Krosky had J8 for a pair of eights. Laak fired out an overbet of $12,000 and even told Krosky that he’d show his hand regardless of whether he was called. The businessman was a non-believer and paid off the huge bet to continue his descent.

Krosky then tried bluffing Ho with 42 on the river with the J538Q board on show. Ho, with 1010, checked after betting the flop and turn. Krosky fired out $6,000 and was looked up to see another pot pushed in the wrong direction.

After getting the better of Grafton throughout much of last week’s episode, the poker pro turned the tables this time around. Grafton made it Q9 from the cutoff, and Krosky called from the big blind with K8.

Grafton flopped best as the dealer put out the Q77. Krosky check-called for $300 before the A turn checked through to the J river. Krosky, sporting the accent of an English aristocrat, tried to steal the pot with a bet of $3,000. But once again, his bluff was called, and his stack continued to shrink.

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Did Grafton Nitroll Newhouse?

Lily Newhouse
Lily Newhouse

So far, it had been smooth sailing for Newhouse, but the loose cannon would find herself on the wrong end of another cooler. She looked down at AQ in early position and made it $700 and then called after Grafton three-bet to $2,100 with AA.

Newhouse check-called for $1,700 after pairing up on the KQ2 flop, only for the A to peel off on the turn. Newhouse improved to two pair but was drawing dead to Grafton’s top set of aces. She check-called once again, this time for $2,500. The 8 completed the board and Newhouse made a value bet of $5,500.

Grafton then went deep into the tank, giving a speech while he thought over his options. The Brit ended up flicking in a call. Newhouse turned over her hand, fully expecting to take the pot. She then had a stunned look on her face when Grafton told her it was no good.

Behind the scenes, Grafton told the cameras: “I felt like she wasn’t bluffing. That was just my intuition. She just happened to have one of the few hands that I beat…I mean nit roll — guilty as charged.

Despite the setback, Newhouse remained composed and received a small rebate from Grafton soon after. She then caught Krosky running another bluff and then made a correct king-hero call against Laak on a doubled paired board to keep her hopes of a big win alive.

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Can Newhouse’s Big Slick Hold?

Near the end of the episode, Newhouse picked up another premium, this time finding AK. She opened to $700 from the cutoff and was called by Grafton and Laak from the button and big blind, who held K10 and A6, respectively.

The trio all found a piece of the KQ3 flop, with Newhouse and Grafting making top pair while Laak had the nut-flush draw. Newhouse fired out $1,300 and was called by both opponents. The 2 turn kept Newhouse ahead, and she sized up to $4,500, and again, Grafton and Laak stuck around. The 7 river gave the cannon the checkmark, and a third barrel of $8,800 got the job done as Grafton and Laak released their hands.

That hand took Newhouse to $49,300, and she was all smiles as she added to her stack.

Standings After Episode 8

The Big Game on Tour

After episode 8, Ho remained the biggest winner, adding $6,000 to her stack. Black moved up to second place thanks to Krosky’s downfall. Black booked a small loss in the latest session but is still up by more than $30,000.

Newhouse has put in her best performance so far, cutting the deficit she faced and is a few big blinds away from making a profit.

Krosky lost more than $50,000 and is now in the hole for $4,900. Sparks failed to ignite for Laak, who continues to prop up the table.

Rank Player Profit/Loss Stack
1 Maria Ho +$56,800 $156,800
2 Michael Ian Black +$34,200 $84,200
3 Lily Newhouse -$1,400 $48,600
4 Sam Grafton -$3,200 $96,800
5 Dave Krosky -$4,900 $45,100
6 Phil Laak -$81,500 $218,500

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Editor & Live Reporter

Calum has been a part of the CelestialPoker team since September 2021 after working in the UK energy sector. He played his first hand of poker in 2017 and immediately fell in love with the game.

Calum has written for various poker outlets but found his home at CelestialPoker, where he has contributed to various articles and live updates, providing insights and reporting on major poker events, including the World Series of Poker (WSOP).




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