Russell Thomas Breaks Down Optimal Preflop Play

www.CardPlayer.com Vol. 34/No. 17 August 11, 2021

Russell Thomas Bernard Lee Talks Jonathan Little Breaks Down Optimal With Poker Hall Of Explains When Not Preflop Play Famer Jack Binion To Slow Play

PLAYER_34_17B_Cover.indd 1 7/22/21 9:39 AM PLAYER_17_GlobalPoker_DT.indd 2 7/19/21 3:58 PM PLAYER_17_GlobalPoker_DT.indd 3 7/19/21 3:58 PM Masthead - Card Player Vol. 34/No. 17

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16 © UNLV Special Collection

Features Tournament Circuit Also In This Issue 28 20 4 Leading Online Site Global Poker To Host Player Of The Year Update About Us U.S. Poker Open By Erik Fast 41 By Card Player News Team 24 Tournament Schedules 32 Tournament Results 42 A Conversation With By Morgan Young Poker Leaderboards Poker Hall Of Famer Jack Binion By Bernard Lee Strategies, Analysis, Tournament & Commentary The Inside Straight Hand Matchups 34 8 14 When Not To Slow Play Poker News Recap By Jonathan Little John Riordan vs. Jason Koon 12 35 18 Head Games: Spotting Leaks, Both In Seven Card Stud Eight-or-Better: Often John Riordan vs. Steve Zolotow Your Own Game And Others Playable Hands By Craig Tapscott 35 By Kevin Haney John Riordan vs. Jason Koon 16 37 Poker Strategy With Russell Thomas: 39 Returning To Live Poker After The Optimal Preflop Play Anuj Agarwal vs. Jason Koon Pandemic: Part 2 By Steve Schult vs. John Riordan By Steve Zolotow 38 Talking Shop By Nathan Gamble 40 Contracts and Poker: WSOP Rules By Scott J. Burnham

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the INSIDE STRAIGHT News, Reviews, and Interviews From Around the Poker World NEVADA CASINOS SET REVENUE RECORD IN MAY WITH WINNINGS OF $1.2 BILLION By Steve Schult

Nevada casinos won more money from gamblers in May numbers. In May, Strip casinos accounted for $655.5 million than in any other month in the state’s gambling history. of the state’s total gambling revenue. According to numbers released by the Nevada Gaming e year-over-year number comparisons are worthless, Control Board, gamblers lost $1.23 billion in Silver State considering that the state’s entire market was forced to close casinos in May. e massive ﬁ gure surpasses the previous for the duration of 2020. Outside of online gambling, which record, which was set in October 2017 when casinos won is mostly just poker, there was nothing for Nevada bettors to $1.17 billion. gamble on. It’s the third straight month that the state’s gambling Regardless, the record-setting ﬁ gures represent an insane operators have combined to surpass the $1 billion mark 20,970% increase. Even when compared to May 2019, before in gross gaming revenue, further cementing the market’s the pandemic, every district in the state experienced a bump rebound in the wake of the COVID-19 pandemic. In in revenue. e Strip was up 26.7% compared to May 2019. April, casinos reported winning $1.039 billion. e massive increase in demand comes as vaccination “We’re surprised. If you would’ve asked me last month, rates are increasing and COVID-induced restrictions are I wouldn’t have said we’d hit $1 billion three months in declining. In mid-May, most Las Vegas casinos began getting a row,” senior research analyst for the Nevada Gaming rid of the plexiglass dividers that were installed to separate Control Board Michael Lawton told Forbes. “ ere’s strong players and increase social distancing. Less than a week demand, consumers are healthy, and visitation to the Strip later, regulators dropped the mask mandate for vaccinated is rebounding.” gamblers, shifting their rules to align with new CDC guide- e Las Vegas Strip generally drives the state’s overall lines. m

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008_News.indd 8 7/22/21 9:13 AM THE INSIDE STRAIGHT 1999 WORLD SERIES OF POKER MAIN EVENT CHAMPION NOEL FURLONG PASSES AWAY By Card Player News Team

J.J. ‘Noel’ Furlong, the 1999 World Series of Poker main event champion, died in June at the age of 83 from natural causes. Nicknamed ‘Noel’ because he was born on Christmas Day, Furlong was a part-time poker player, splitting his time between the tables and a successful carpet manufacturing business based out of his hometown of Dublin, © WSOP flipchip© Ireland. Furlong started playing poker in once again found himself at the final was a “worthy champion to be remem- 1984, and won the Irish Poker Open in table, this time topping the likes of bered, a businessman and gentleman 1987, and again in 1989. Huck Seed, Padraig Parkinson, Alan who was also a world-class player.” e avid horse trainer first made the Goehring, and Erik Seidel for the e victory made Furlong the sec- trip to Las Vegas for the WSOP that bracelet and the $1 million first-place ond oldest main event winner ever, same year and made an immediate prize. behind just Johnny Moss. Moss won impression, finishing sixth in the main e WSOP released a statement fol- the inaugural main event in 1970 (by event eventually won by a young Phil lowing his passing, stating that Furlong vote) at the age of 63, repeated as cham- Hellmuth. “helped put the ‘world’ in the history of pion the next year at age 64, and again Ten years later, the then 61-year-old the World Series of Poker,” and that he a few years later at 67. m

PokerStars Imposes Harsh Restrictions On German Players In Response To New Tax By Steve Schult

e German government added to its new online able tax laws on gambling winnings. gambling legislation implemented last October, which has German players will be allowed to stay on the main caused one of the world’s largest online poker sites to drasti- network and play against the “Rest of World” player pool, cally change its offering to players in the country. but will be treated much differently than other players in it. In October, the government forced sites to limit its For cash games, the highest stakes offered to Germans citizens to a four-table max, a €1,000 monthly deposit will be no-limit and pot-limit games with blinds of $1-$2 limit, and additional Know-Your-Customer requirements. and limit games with $3-$6 limits. e rake for limit games In response, several sites stopped operating in the country, has been increased by 35%, while big bet games saw a rake but PokerStars stayed. While the initial set of regulations bump of 25%. required some more work on the operators’ end, the recent is leads to a segregated rake structure. If there is a addition will cost the company money. split pot between a German and a non-German player, the e government created a new 5.3% turnover tax, which German player will pay more in rake than the other player is in addition to the already restrictive regulations that were to compensate for the government’s new tax. put in place last fall. Tournaments will remain largely unaffected by the new According to the PokerStars blog, this tax is levied on policy, but heads-up sit-n-go’s, sit-n-go satellites, and many buy-ins, meaning that operators will be taxed on how much hyper turbo sit-n-go formats will no longer be offered. But it a player sits with at the table. For every €100 that a German appears that German players should still be able to play the player sits down with, PokerStars will pay €5.30 to the entire slate of multi-table tournaments offered on the site. German government. e last major change to the site for German players e new tax took effect July 1 and in response, is that when they sit at a table, they must play a certain PokerStars is raising rake and eliminating high-stakes offer- number of hands before they get up and leave the game. If ings from German players. It should be noted that most of they do not adhere to this rule, they will be penalized with the top German pros already left the country and took up being unable to return to the table for a certain amount residence elsewhere in the European Union due to unfavor- of time. m

008_News.indd 9 7/22/21 9:13 AM THE INSIDE STRAIGHT - News, reviews, and interviews from around the poker world It’s Raining Cash In Rounder Casino’s Poker Room

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Do what you love and love what you do! Rounders After Dark offers high- stakes players a unique opportunity to get paid cash for playing their favorite games at night with LIVE railing on its Official Twitch Channel. Mondays – Two Tables of No-Limit prior to the start to reserve your bonus Rounder Casino give more points to Hold’em | Wednesdays – Two Tables slot then join the Twitch Show for Weekly Rake Race. So, if your week- of Pot-Limit Omaha more fun and prizes! days are taking you away from tables, Players take their seats by 9 $2000 Weekly Rake Race & Bonus you’ll still be competitive to climb PM EST and play for three hours Tables for the top in Rake Race over the on two tables. e Bonus is $100 per e $2K Weekly Rake Race has weekends! player on $1-$2 tables, and $200 per been a regular thing on Rounder Build Up Your Bankroll – Weekly player on our $2-$4 tables. Casino for months now, starting at Deposit Bonus But WAIT – there’s MORE! midnight each Monday and ending at Rounder Casino makes it fun for Rounder Casino is introducing in- 23:59 the following Sunday. To spice everyone with a 50% Weekly Deposit game-specials which include a vari- it up, Rounder Casino throws in spe- Bonus up to $300, not only for the ety of challenges meant to make the cial Bonus Tables on weekends with newcomers and certainly not once – game even more amusing, and bring an additional $600 in Bonus Cash for but every single week! Don’t miss out! extra perks and bonuses for Rounders low – mid – high cash game players. Visit Rounder Casino today by vis- After Dark players. Be among the In case you are wondering why iting RounderCasino.com/CPME- first five players to take their seats they are so special, Bonus Tables on HOME/. m FLORIDA PARI-MUTUEL FACILITIES FILE LAWSUIT TO STOP STATE’S NEW GAMING COMPACT WITH SEMINOLE TRIBE By Steve Schult

Two pari-mutuel facilities in Florida filed a federal law- by forcing them to partner with the tribe. suit to try and stop the state’s new gaming compact with While the compact was approved by the state legislature the Seminole Tribe from being implemented. in May, it still needs approval from the U.S. Department of Magic City Casino in Miami and Bonita Springs Poker the Interior, which deals with Native American affairs. e Room filed a lawsuit arguing that the new deal, which will compact originally had language in it that could’ve brought bring at least $2.5 billion in new tax revenue over the next online poker to the Sunshine State, but it was removed to five years, violates the Indian Gaming Regulatory Act. secure a smooth passage by lawmakers. e new agreement between the tribe and the state e state and the tribe argue that since the servers for would allow for expanded gambling options at the the online sportsbooks will be located on Seminole land, it Seminole-owned casinos, including craps and roulette, as adheres to federal standards. well as retail and online sports betting. The Seminole Tribe Bob Jarvis, a law professor at Nova Southeastern would function as the hub for the state’s sports betting University, told the Sun-Sentinel that there was a similar operation with the new compact forcing pari-mutuel argument made when a California tribe tried to offer online facilities to partner with the Tribe if it wanted to run a bingo. A federal judge ruled against the tribe and forced the sportsbook. tribe to stop offering the game. Any partnerships that were formed would allow the According to Jarvis, the key difference between the pari-mutuel facility to keep 60% of the revenue, while the California case and the suit filed by the two Florida prop- Tribe would get the other 40%, and pay the state 10% of erties is that California state lawmakers didn’t already its cut. approve the tribe’s offering. e lawsuit argues that since the IGRA only allows U.S. Department of the Interior Secretary Deb Haaland sports betting while physically on Tribal land, the online has another month to approve the 30-year compact. If a sports betting operation violates the federal law, according judge grants the injunction, however, it could take years to the South Florida Sun-Sentinel. It also claims that the before there is any expanded gambling in Florida, depend- pari-mutuel facilities are essentially shut out of the market ing on how high the case rises in federal courts. m

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MGM RESORTS SELLS TWO MORE LAS VEGAS STRIP PROPERTIES TO BLACKSTONE By Steve Schult

Before the COVID-19 pandemic at which point it will start the sale of put a halt to most economic activity, Aria and Vdara to Blackstone. MGM Resorts was unloading the last Blackstone will buy the two pieces of its Las Vegas real estate to raise cash of real estate for a combined $3.89 on hand. billion. Like MGM did with other e company recently restarted casinos over the last few years, they its “asset-light” business strategy as will still handle the actual casino it entered into an agreement with operations, but pay rent to Blackstone, Blackstone and its own real estate Blackstone to purchase two more piec- which will own the physical real estate investment trust, MGM Growth es of Las Vegas Strip real estate. asset. Properties. MGP owns 50.1% of e deal with Blackstone is pend- e New York-based investment MGM Grand and Mandalay Bay. ing the purchase of CityCenter management company already owns “ is transaction demonstrates the by MGM Resorts. According to pieces of four casino properties on unprecedented premium value of our the Wall Street Journal, the gaming the Las Vegas Strip. It purchased real estate assets and is a testament giant plans to buy out Infinity World the Cosmopolitan Las Vegas from to Aria and Vdara’s status as premier Development Corp of its 50% stake Deutsche Bank in 2014 before making destinations on the Las Vegas Strip,” in the complex, which is comprised of multiple deals with MGM in 2019 said MGM CEO Bill Hornbuckle in Aria Resort & Casino, Vdara Condo- and 2020. a statement. “We expect to continue Hotel, the Waldorf Astoria, the Shops In October 2019, Blackstone executing on our asset-light strategy at Crystals, and Veer Towers. bought the Bellagio from MGM for and utilizing the proceeds from our MGM will pay the subsidiary of $4.25 billion. At the start of real estate transactions to enhance our Dubai World $2.1 billion and become 2020, MGM sold MGM Grand financial flexibility and secure new the sole owner of the entire complex, and Mandalay Bay to both growth opportunities.” m

008_News.indd 11 7/22/21 9:13 AM THE INSIDE STRAIGHT - Head Games HEAD GAMES Spoing Leaks, Both In Your Own Game And Others By Craig Tapscott

Players: Brad Owen, Lynne Ji, and Johnnie Moreno move back in with my parents… again. Craig Tapscott: What are a few leaks you had in your game Lynne Ji: Early on, the biggest leak in my game (by far) early on? How did you go about correcting them? was tilt and my lack of patience. I would get bored and start Brad Owen: I’ve been susceptible to all kinds of leaks playing hands that I shouldn’t, and then if I lost a big pot, I throughout my poker career. It all came down to lack of would tilt and play hyper aggressively. discipline in one way or another. Sometimes that meant not In terms of correcting it, it’s definitely still a work in walking away from the tables when I was tired, upset, not progress every time I sit down at the poker table. As some playing my best, or maybe I just wasn’t a favorite to win in people might have seen, my Q-10 hand on High Stakes Poker the game to begin with. against Jean-Robert Bellande and Tom Dwan was a result What was most detrimental, which eventually lead to me of my inconsistent mental game. I found it incredibly disap- going broke, was when I lacked discipline with my bankroll. pointing, because firstly, a bunch of friends had bought a I initially had success in a $5-$10 game at Commerce, prior piece. Secondly, it was really hard to face the reality that my to moving to Los Angeles. But once I did make the move mental game wasn’t what I thought it was. to LA from Las Vegas, I was getting wrecked daily. I had I haven’t done a ton to specifically address in-game tilt, too much ego and pride to move down in stakes. I blamed but I hired a performance coach that taught me a lot of tech- everything on running bad. niques to better manage my emotions. I find that the steps I definitely wasn’t running well, but that wasn’t the real I’ve taken to just try and live a more balanced lifestyle have issue. e real issue was that I was playing too big for my helped the most. I’ve meditated on and off for the last few bankroll/comfort level and the losses, mixed with a higher years, but I’m finally getting to a point where I’m sticking cost of living, was stressing me out. is caused me to play with it, because I’m starting to realize that consistency is key. even worse. It was a vicious downward spiral. Every time I I used to only use it to remedy tilt when I was already off my showed up, I felt like I had to win. It’s significantly easier to game, but now I try to practice a few times a week, because play better when you’re over-rolled and the day-to-day results I feel so much better on and off the felt. don’t matter as much. I had to learn that lesson the hard way. e other thing that I’ve found that really helps me is It’s now my second stint as a professional poker player and very simple, but shockingly effective. I just sit there and I do things quite a bit differently. I make sure I play stakes slowly take deep breaths in and deep breaths out. I count to that I can afford. I’m very cautious and disciplined with a beat of four on the way in, and then I hold for four, breathe bankroll management, game selection, and even financial out for four, and hold for four again and rinse and repeat that decisions away from the poker tables. I’m too old to have to until I feel more calm.

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Brad Owen Lynne Li Johnnie Moreno © PokerGO © PokerGO ©

Johnnie Moreno: Identifying your leaks is one of the most bad river calls because it’s much more fun for a vlog (video difficult things to do in poker, especially in the early stages blog) if we’re able to find out what the villain had. of your career. We don’t know what we don’t know, and as a e big leaks I see from pros mainly stem from laziness – result we tend to closely correlate good results to an absence not putting in enough hours playing, not putting in enough of glaring leaks. hours studying, and poor game selection. ere aren’t too I was no exception. Early on I cared about having winning many good reasons to sit in a bad game in Las Vegas if you’re sessions. An example of an adjustment I would make to ensure a $2-$5 player and you’re grinding for a living. ere are a higher session win percentage would be to three-bet less and multiple options on the strip to find soft tables. I’ve noticed play passively from the blinds. I would lose smaller pots as a people tend to get comfortable or just prefer to spend all of result, but at a cost. I’d have difficulty extracting max value their time at one room and at one stake level. ey aren’t from my big hands (which I didn’t realize at the time.) willing to venture out to potentially more lucrative loca- It was hard to identify this leak because my results tions, and they don’t want to play stakes that they think are were stellar. A high win percentage with a solid hourly was beneath them. secretly stunting my growth. e only way through this was My friend, who is one of the most profitable $2-$5 play- to adopt a learner’s mindset. ers in town, if not the most profitable, will regularly play at I distinctly remember describing a strategy I was using two or three locations in a night in order to find the best from the small blind to my brother, Andrew Moreno who games. Occasionally, he’ll even jump into a $1-$3 game if is a well-studied, high level professional, (read more about he thinks he can make more money in it. Spending time Andrew’s big win on pg. 21) and him replying that I needed walking or driving from property to property, and having to to take that strategy and throw it in the garbage. at is potentially wait on multiple lists, can occasionally cut into precisely what I needed to hear to help me shift into that daily win totals, but overall, it’s better for your bottom line learner’s mindset. A massive disruption from someone I to be willing to hop around. respect and trust. Lynne Ji: e first leak that immediately comes to mind So, my overall advice is to drop the ego, seek out high are opponents that don’t know (or do not care about) preflop level training (through a coach or a website), and adopt a ranges. I find that most of my opponents play way too many learner’s mindset. hands, although occasionally, in ante games with people that Craig Tapscott: What are a few of the most egregious leaks don’t know their ranges yet, some pros will play too tight. you come across in many of your opponents? And why do I don’t think people are necessarily oblivious to having this you think they are so oblivious to working on them? leak, I just don’t think they realize exactly how costly preflop Brad Owen: e big leaks I see regularly in live cash mistakes are. games from recreational players is that they’re playing too Moreover, I think plenty of people just don’t care. Some many hands preflop and playing too passively in general. recreational players aren’t there to grind out a living, they’re Calling a lot is a losing strategy. More often than not, you there to have fun. Some professionals have grinded out a want to be in there as a preflop raiser or three-bettor, dictat- living despite rather large deviations from what the charts ing the pace of the hand. e same is true post-flop. It’s not would recommend. often profitable to be calling bets from an opponent on all Another leak I notice occasionally, more so from recre- three streets. Calling river bets in cash games is particularly ational players, are bet sizing tells. I think it’s very natural bad because people are very rarely bluffing once all the cards for people to want to put more money in the pot when they are out. have a strong hand and less money in the pot when they My guess why people fall into these patterns of playing have a weak hand, but it’s a rather large mistake and a rather too many hands and calling light is that I think they just common one. I feel like if bet sizing isn’t something someone want to get involved in the action as much as possible. Once is actively looking for, it’s easy to miss, and for that reason, they make it to the river, they get curious and have to see bet sizing tells aren’t that punishing. However, if someone is whether or not they got bluffed. ey want a conclusion. looking to take their game to the next level, I would encour- Sometimes I fall victim to this as well. I occasionally make age them to pay close attention to their own sizes as well as

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their opponents. sit and be miserable in a tough session, than leave and book Finally, I think the last leak that I notice in some of my a loss. Intellectually we know it’s one long session, but for opponents is the tendency to play a little too passively. It some reason we feel the need to try and climb back to even is a great counter to an aggressive opponent like me, but while being miserable at the table. One hack I’ve done to I frequently see people miss a street of value or an obvious help me leave tough sessions is to track the stat of average spot to bluff. Once again, I think many people are naturally win and average loss. I know when my average loss is 2x my somewhat risk averse, but in poker, the only thing that mat- average win, I’m doing a terrible job of leaving while being ters is EV (Expected Value). Perhaps, it isn’t so much that down. When I have the discipline to book a small loss, I’ll people are oblivious to this mistake; rather, it’s just a hard take a peek at how much my average loss drops and find one to correct. some satisfaction that the number has decreased. m Johnnie Moreno: e number one leak that I see amongst the population is playing too passively, especially from late Brad Owen is one of the most popular poker vloggers on YouTube. He position. In 2021, the majority of preflop situations have learned how to play poker from his father and played through college been solved through the mainstream accessibility of simu- at tribal casinos. Owen received a bachelor’s degree at University lation software. Yet if you handed the preflop answers to of San Diego, then a master’s at UNLV, and has appeared on Poker the majority of players, they would ignore the advice and After Dark and Live at the Bike. You can follow him on Twitter @ do what they want. Granted if they listened to the preflop TheBradOwen or visit his YouTube channel Brad Owen Poker. strategy perfectly they would often be put in uncomfort- able spots post-flop. But the simple truth is that there’s no Lynne Ji first started playing poker at her local Los Angeles casinos. growth inside your comfort zone. Solvers, in general, call for While moving up the stakes, she’s had opportunities to play in London, raising first in from late position with wide ranges and most Macau, and Las Vegas, appearing on shows such as Poker After Dark, players aren’t willing to do this. High Stakes Poker, and the WPT Theta Network Cash Game. She e second thing that seems obvious but is more also enjoys board games, yoga, and traveling. Find her on Twitter @ nuanced, is tilt control. So often people are convinced that HelloItsLynne or check out her YouTube vlogs Hello Its Lynne. they aren’t tilting, when in actuality there are subtle changes to their strategy. For example, after experiencing a tough Johnnie “Vibes” Moreno has been a poker professional for 15 years, beat you may play a nut flush draw more aggressively. Sure, primarily focusing on no-limit hold’em cash games. He began creating this isn’t classic tilt because you have great equity, but your content on YouTube nearly four years ago, documenting his life as a willingness to embrace variance has changed. poker player, and has since appeared on a Poker After Dark, the WPT Lastly, people have a very difficult time leaving the table Cash Game, and Live at the Bike. Follow him on Twitter @JohnnieVibes, when down (I’ve had this issue in the past.) We would rather or his YouTube show Embrace The Grind.

ANALYSISAnalysis TOURNAMENT HAND MATCHUP John Riordan made four cashes during the recent U.S. Poker Open, including a win in the $10,000 big-bet mix 2021 PokerGO Cup event for $163,200. After such a successful showing at the USPO in June, the 2011 WSOP Circuit Palm Beach $25,000 No-Limit Hold’em High Roller Kennel Club main event winner returned to Las Vegas for the ﬁ rst-ever running of the PokerGO Cup. In this John Riordan Jason Koon hand Riordan clashed with high-stakes tournament regular Jason Koon, who was already sitting in ninth 1,700,000 Chips 385,000 Chips place on poker’s all-time money list prior to making this ﬁ nal table. With six players remaining, Koon was the A Q K 3 second-shortest stack with 25 big blinds. Steve Zolotow Winning Percentage Winning Percentage had just 14 big blinds to start this hand, a fact that likely

Before Flop: 61.0% Before Flop: 38.0% impacted how things played out. Riordan, who was the

Q A chip leader at the time, picked up A-Q as the fi rst to 3 After Flop: 13.0% K After Flop: 87.0% After Turn: 7.0% After Turn: 93.0% act and min-raised. Koon defended his big blind with a suited K-3 and fl opped top pair. Koon check-called Riordan’s small bet of 20,000 on the fl op and the turn made a backdoor fl ush draw possible. Koon checked PREFLOP again and Riordan fi red a larger bet of 75,000 into the 125,000 pot on the turn, likely trying to force folds from With six players remaining and blinds of 10,000-15,000 and a big blind ante of weak middle and bottom pair holdings. Riordan’s bet p 15,000, John Riordan raised to 30,000 from under-the-gun. Jason Koon called from was called, and the river brought the 10 . Koon now sat with just 245,000 left in his stack, while the pot had the big blind. already grown to 275,000. Koon checked his top pair for a third time. Riordan had a queen in his hand, an important blocker to possible straight holdings, and K 5 4 9 10 he elected to fi re the third barrel, betting enough to put Koon all-in for his remaining 16 or so big blinds. FLOP

TURN While Koon had top pair, his table talk while in the

RIVER tank made it clear that his kicker made him unsure of

9 10 5 4 K how to proceed. “King very good, other card… very bad,” said Koon while in the tank. “I have a three in my Koon checked for a third hand. A three is a really bad card. You could have A-3 Koon checked, and Riordan Koon checked again. suited, that’s a fun hand to bluﬀ with.” After considering bet 20,000. Koon called. Riordan bet 75,000, time. Riordan bet 500,000. the situation for a bit longer, Koon made the call for his and Koon called. Koon called all-in for tournament life. His hand was the winner, earning him 245,000. the double up to over 50 big blinds. Riordan remained the chip leader despite the loss.

NOTE: WINNING PERCENTAGES DO NOT INCLUDE TIES. ODDS PROVIDED BY CARDPLAYER.COM/POKER-TOOLS/ODDS-CALCULATOR/TEXAS-HOLDEM

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012_HeadGames.indd 14 7/22/21 9:15 AM PLAYER_17_Coushatta_FP.indd 3 7/19/21 3:58 PM THE INSIDE STRAIGHT - poker Strategy

POKER STRATEGY Poker Strategy With Russell Thomas: Optimal Preﬂop Play By Steve Schult

Correct preflop strategy is one of the cornerstones of becoming a winning poker player, especially late in tournaments, when stack sizes get shallower and more of the play is focused on earlier streets. Beyond that, if preflop play is incorrect, players will find themselves getting to later streets with hands that shouldn’t be in their range. As poker strategy evolved, many of the game’s best players began focusing on what was game theory optimal and used “solvers” to help them improve their game from a theoretical standpoint. Having racked up nearly $3.85 million in live tournament earnings, as well as significant success online, poker pro Russell Thomas understands just how important the first street of the game is to having success. The Pennsylvania native made his mark in the poker world with a fourth-place finish in the 2012 World Series of Poker main event for $2.8 million, which jump-started his career. He went on to become a successful regular in high-stakes events all over the world, including a pair of wins in high roller events in Asia, as well as a final table in the 2013 AUD$10,000 WSOP Asia Pacific main event in Australia. Thomas’ wife, poker pro Kitty Kuo, is also very accomplished on the circuit with more than $2.5 million in earnings, including final table appearances at the Aussie Millions, and on the World Poker Tour. The former actuary partnered with close friend, fellow poker pro, and runner-up finisher from his WSOP main event final table, Jesse Sylvia, to launch Floptimal. Their product is a piece of software that allows poker players of all skill levels to get more familiar with any preflop situation they may encounter. It’s designed to make new players more comfortable both at the table and with the new game theory optimal approach to poker. Floptimal.com allows its users to access an interface that displays optimal preflop strategy for all types of hands, positions, and stack depths in easy-to-digest visualizations and grids. Thomas sat down with Card Player to discuss several aspects of preflop strategy and why it is essential to turning a profit at the table.

Steve Schult: During the heyday of the poker boom, pre- edge to call off your stack. You’d rather preserve your stack, flop strategy was far from solved and there were many play- especially in a tournament where you have an edge post-flop ers who would openly advocate for taking -EV spots preflop and the field is not particularly tough. because their post-flop edge was so massive. Why is preflop But in general, especially in tougher tournaments, I’ve strategy so important now? found you just want to play as GTO as possible preflop and Russell Thomas: If you’re making consistent mistakes, then make adjustments towards your opponents if you have where you’re either playing too little or too many hands information to justify it. It should also be pointed out that against certain actions on the table, it’s going to add up to knowing the optimal solutions preflop will allow you to a significant amount of lost EV. It’s very important to get adjust to your opponents better, because you know what the your preflop strategy down so you’re not leaking [expected baseline strategy is. value] and you’re not getting post-flop with hands that you SS: If you have flaws in your preflop game, how does that shouldn’t be playing to begin with. affect you for the rest of the hand? For example, if you’re e player pools have improved substantially both preflop defending too many hands from the blinds, does that leave and post-flop over the past ten years, so I think there is a you open to certain exploits from your opponents? stronger case for playing a strong theoretical preflop strategy. RT: If you have a good understanding of preflop, you’ll e argument about giving up some EV preflop because understand what your opponents’ ranges look like in differ- you have a post-flop edge has some merit in soft fields. I can ent spots, and that’s going to inform your post-flop decision definitely see some logic to that where maybe you don’t want making. Whereas, if you have an incorrect view of the types

to take a high variance spot where you only have a very small of hands that someone will have in a spot, you may be execut- © WPT

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016_PokerStrategy.indd 16 7/22/21 9:18 AM THE INSIDE STRAIGHT

ing the wrong post-flop strategy. Most amateurs are leaking massive amounts of EV preflop. If these amateurs were able to execute some of the preflop strategies on Floptimal they would improve greatly. Some common mistakes I see from amateurs are… Not open raising wide enough, especially from late position. Playing way too tight vs open raises from all positions. Playing way too loose vs open raises. ree-betting so infrequently that their three-bets are transparently strong. Observant professional players will adjust to this player by playing tight and proceeding with caution. Not defending the blinds properly. ese mistakes add up and cost amateurs a lot of money in tournaments. Post-flop is obviously very important as well. SS: You said that you generally stick to rigid preflop strategies derived from computer simulations. And that you only deviate from what is optimal in your post-flop game. But how are those ranges created? What concepts is the computing using to create them? RT: Solvers are basically a computer program that we use to generate preflop charts. What we do is we set up assumptions for preflop and post-flop and we get the results from the computer’s simulations. For our website, we used MonkerSolver to generate our preflop solutions. For preflop, we’re setting up bet size parameters. Like how big can players raise? What are the three-bet sizes? What are the four-bet sizes? Stuff like that. We have to set up the reraises as often and the reraises aren’t all in. So it’s possible preflop game-tree to allow what combinations of actions can you’ll be able to call the three-bet depending on your hand. occur before the flop. We had to decide whether to allow play- Whereas versus the all-in, you just need the raw equity to call ers to limp preflop from certain positions. it off. And a lot of the hands don’t have the equity to do that, Basically, you set up this preflop game tree for the eight which tightens the preflop ranges. But once you get above 30 players at the table, and then you have to set up other assump- blinds, the ranges start expanding a bit because there aren’t tions for post-flop as well, which is what bet sizes can be used as many all-in raises occurring, so it becomes profitable to post-flop? en the solver runs through all the hands and raise more hands. comes up with the optimal strategy. I don’t know the exact SS: Is 20 big blinds where you’re considered short stacked? mechanics about how the solver is actually calculating it, Old school poker strategy was essentially that once you have but it’s all centered around building a preflop and post-flop 10 big blinds, your only play was to go all in. ere was no game tree, and then it solves the optimal solution in terms of more open raising. Has that number changed? preflop ranges. RT: e line when you start playing shove-or-fold poker? SS: So, it basically runs through entire hands and then at is around 10 big blinds. At 11 and 12, you can min-raise comes back with which hands should be played from the start as the open raiser, but below 10, you should still probably just based on theoretical results. be going all in. RT: Exactly. Based on what game tree and bet sizing SS: What about preflop differences between tournaments assumptions we used, the program will generate solutions and cash games? for us. RT: e biggest differences between cash games and tour- SS: I wanted to touch on stack depth with you. How do naments for preflop strategy is that in cash games, there’s deeper stacks affect hand selection? Are there hands that are rake, which means that a percentage of the pot is paid to playable at 50 big blinds that aren’t playable at 20? Or 100? the house. We’ll also assume there is no ante since most cash RT: One of the big patterns is that at shorter stacks, at 20 games don’t have one. blinds, you should be opening tighter than you would be at Rake essentially decreases your EV for calling preflop. So, 50 blinds. At 20 blinds, you face more all-in raises than you if someone raises in the cutoff and you call on the button, and do when you are deeper stacked. you play this pot, five percent of this pot (with a cap) is going Your opponents can go all in for 20 blinds and there’s to go to the house. Your EV in this hand is a little bit less, going to be your two big blind raise plus the blinds, so there is strictly because of the rake. And what that does is it directly four and a half in the middle. When someone re-raises you all reduces the amount of hands you can profitably play. in for 20 blinds, there is a decent risk-reward ratio there where What ends up happening in cash games is, the solver they win 4.5 blinds if you fold. So what ends up happening is prefers three-betting versus raises instead of calling. Now, it that at 20 blinds, the optimal solutions for preflop ranges are does mix in calling in a lot of spots as well, but there’s a lot a bit tighter because if you start raising too wide, the hands more three-betting going on because of the rake, and because on the margin just aren’t profitable anymore because they face there’s no ante. too many reraises where they have to fold. What the ante does is affect your pot odds. Without an Whereas when you’re deeper stacked, you don’t face ante, your pot odds are worse to call a raise. So, if someone

016_PokerStrategy.indd 17 7/22/21 9:18 AM THE INSIDE STRAIGHT - poker Strategy

raises to two and a half blinds, you have to call two and a half to win their two and a half plus the one and a half in there from the blinds. It’s 2.5 divided by 6.5, so it comes to like 37% equity needed to breakeven. If there was an ante in there you’d only need 33%, and the difference between 37% and 33% changes the number of hands you can actually play. e difference in pot odds that you’re actually getting actually tightens the game up quite a bit moving from tournament to cash games. And when you three-bet and your opponent folds, you actually don’t pay any rake in most casinos and online sites. So that’s one of the added reasons why three-betting is more preferred in cash games in a lot of spots. Like an eight-handed game with no ante in cash should be played substantially tighter. If you were to compare button raises, the GTO ranges are to raise around 41% in cash games and in tournaments with antes, the button raise range in, you had to make one decision, and the decision wasn’t can be greater than 50% of hands. You can see there’s a big that difficult. gap in the number of hands you play. And then versus opens But when you’re 200 blinds deep, the game gets really as well, you’re just playing much wider in tournaments. complicated, especially post-flop as you find yourself in spots Versus a hijack raise, you’re playing 26% of hands on the where you’re not as comfortable putting all your chips in. button, and in cash, you are playing 15% of hands. So it’s just e shorter you are, the less strong a hand you need to put literally wider from every spot in tournaments at reasonable all your money in post-flop. If you’re only 20 blinds deep, stack sizes. and you flop top pair in a single raised pot, generally all the SS: At what stack depth in tournaments does the strategy money should be going in. become the most complex? Is it as simple as the deeper you Whereas if you’re 200 blinds deep, and you’re in a three- are, the more complex because you have more options at your bet pot, and you have top pair, you can’t be putting all your disposal? money in. So, your decisions get very difficult. Do you call RT: In general, the game gets more complicated the deeper the big barrel on the turn? Are there certain rivers you call? you are. Because at 20 blinds you can go all in preflop. Like, It’s very difficult to play perfectly 200 big blinds deep because

if there is a raise and then your best play is simply to go all the decisions get very complicated. m © WPT

ANALYSISAnalysis TOURNAMENT HAND MATCHUP Two-time bracelet winner and Card Player columnist 2021 PokerGO Cup Steve Zolotow had just shy of 17 big blinds when this hand got underway, making him the clear short $25,000 No-Limit Hold’em High Roller stack. e next-lowest player on the leaderboard, Cary Katz, had more than double his chips. John Riordan John Riordan Steve Zolotow remained the chip leader, starting with over 90 big blinds. He placed two of those into the pot as the fi rst 1,380,000 Chips 250,000 Chips to act with A-10 suited. Zolotow made the call on his A 10 K Q left with K-Q off suit. Riordan fl opped the nut fl ush draw and checked. Zolotow checked behind and the Winning Percentage Winning Percentage o

Before Flop: 38.0% Q on the turn gave him top pair while complet-

Before Flop: 62.0% ing Riordan’s ﬂ ush draw. Riordan had his opponent

A 10 Q After Flop: 86.0% K After Flop: 14.0% After Turn: 0% drawing dead, and he decided to check a second time, After Turn: 100% prompting Zolotow to make a bet of just under three big blinds. Zolotow’s top pair with a king kicker could likely get called by worse hands. In this instance, PREFLOP though, he had run into the nuts. With his short- stacked opponent having a strong enough hand to bet With six players remaining and blinds of 10,000-15,000 and a big blind ante of on the turn, Riordan decided to go for a check-raise, 15,000, John Riordan raised to 30,000 from under-the-gun. Steve Zolotow called clicking it back to Zolotow for 80,000 total. Zolotow from the hijack. made the call and the 9m completed the board. Riordan bet enough to put Zolotow all-in. Not too long before this, Riordan had made a similar river bet against Jason J 7 3 Q 9 Koon with an unimproved A-Q high, so Zolotow was deﬁ nitely aware that his opponent could be making a FLOP

TURN

RIVER move in a spot like this. Zolotow seemed wary, though,

Q 9 7 3 J perhaps because of the small check-raise he faced on the turn. “I have a really good hand that feels like it’s no good,” he said. Unfortunately for him, he made the Riordan checked, and Riordan checked. Zolotow Riordan bet call after some more thought and was shown the exit. Zolotow checked behind. bet 40,000, and Riordan 140,000, and Zolotow earned $45,000 as the sixth-place ﬁ nisher. check-raised to 80,000. Zolotow called. is was his sixth cash in the past two months, bring- Zolotow called. ing his year-to-date earnings to $434,600.

NOTE: WINNING PERCENTAGES DO NOT INCLUDE TIES. ODDS PROVIDED BY CARDPLAYER.COM/POKER-TOOLS/ODDS-CALCULATOR/TEXAS-HOLDEM

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016_PokerStrategy.indd 18 7/22/21 9:18 AM PLAYER_14_bestbet_FP.indd 3 6/7/21 8:19 PM Tournaments As of 7-14-2021

Place Player Points Final Tables POY Earnings

1 Ali Imsirovic 4,578 17 $2,793,960

2 Chad Eveslage 3,768 3 $1,779,518

3 Qing Liu 3,674 10 $1,092,042

4 Brian Altman 3,558 5 $1,124,401

5 Andrew Moreno 3,547 3 $1,626,754

6 Sean Perry 3,264 12 $2,206,378

7 Matas Cimbolas 2,930 5 $1,101,205

8 Chance Kornuth 2,850 3 $961,062

9 Joseph McKeehen 2,740 4 $1,018,260

10 Tuan Mai 2,546 14 $313,702

11 Alex Foxen 2,398 12 $887,257

12 James Anderson 2,392 5 $568,560

13 Ilyas Muradi 2,308 3 $760,920

14 James Carroll 2,272 3 $622,566

15 Sung Joo Hyun 2,238 4 $536,475

16 Balakrishna Patur 2,224 3 $1,075,985

17 Jesse Lonis 2,130 6 $454,722

18 Viet Vo 2,050 3 $822,480

19 Sean Winter 2,026 9 $1,660,090

20 Jordan Cristos 2,022 6 $476,775

ALI IMSIROVIC CONTINUES HIGH ROLLER DOMINANCE AT POKERGO CUP

Ali Imsirovic was already leading the 2021 Card Player Player of the Year race before Ali Imsirovic the inaugural PokerGO Cup series of high-stakes tournaments began in early July, but he was far from fi nished with his domination of the high roller circuit. rough the fi rst six events of the eight-tournament series, Imsirovic managed to come out on top twice to bring his total titles won on the year to eight. e 26-year-old Bosnian-born poker pro from Vancouver, Washington started his latest campaign in a PokerGO Tour series by taking down a $10,000 buy-in no-limit hold’em tournament. He beat out a fi eld of 61 entries to earn $183,000 and 360 POY points. Just two days later, Imsirovic emerged victorious yet again, this time by beating out a 50-entry fi eld in the $15,000 buy-in event. e $240,000 and 360 he took home as the champion increased his year-to-date POY earnings to just shy of $2.8 million. He has now accumulated 4,578 points across 17 fi nal-table fi nishes. Imsirovic has three more titles and three more fi nal-table fi nishes than any other player in the race, and as a result has an 810-point lead over his nearest competitor. He is also a runaway leader in the PokerGO

20 CARDPLAYER.COM VOLUME 34 / ISSUE 17

020_POY.indd 20 7/22/21 9:21 AM Tournaments

Alex Foxen Tour race standings thanks to his success in high-stakes events. Several other high-roller tournament regulars have also made moves inside the top 20 of the POY race as a result of the PokerGO Cup. Sean Perry notched his 12th fi nal-table fi nish of the year with a runner-up showing in the kickoff event of the series. e $132,000 and 300 points he added kept him in sixth place despite several new players making their way towards the top of the standings. Alex Foxen defeated Perry heads-up to win the fi rst event of the series for $178,200 and 360 points. Just a few days later he made another fi nal-table run for an additional $75,000 and 180 points. is one-two punch was enough to catapult the former college football player into 11th place in the standings. Matas Cimbolas made his fourth POY-qualifi ed fi nal table of the year by placing sixth in event no. 2. e $36,600 and 120 points helped keep the Lithuanian poker pro within striking distance of the top fi ve. Sean Winter made his ninth fi nal table of the year, placing fi fth in a $25,000 high roller for $72,000 and 140 points. e score saw Winter take over the 19th-place spot on the POY leaderboard. Jordan Cristos moved into 20th place as a result of a fi fth-place fi nish in the kickoff event and a third-place showing in the $15,000 buy-in. e two scores added $157,800 and 390 points to his annual totals. CHAD EVESLAGE WINS WORLD POKER TOUR VENETIAN MAIN EVENT Chad Eveslage’s nickname should probably be ‘ e Closer’ moving forward. e Chad Eveslage poker pro from Muncie, Indiana has made three POY-qualifi ed fi nal tables so far this year, and each time managed to come away with the title. Eveslage’s latest triumph came in the 2021 World Poker Tour Venetian $5,000 buy-in no-limit hold’em main event. He outlasted a massive fi eld of 1,199 entries to secure his fi rst WPT main tour title and the top prize of $910,370. Eveslage was also awarded a heap of POY points (1,920 to be exact) as the champion of this event. He had previously won a $1,100 buy-in no-limit hold’em side event at the WPT Lucky Hearts Poker Open series to earn $101,572 and 840 points back in January. He went on to take down the $25,500 buy-in no-limit hold’em high roller event at the WPT Seminole Hard Rock Poker Showdown festival for another $767,576 and 1,008 points. With his hat trick of titles, Eveslage has shot up the rankings and into second place in this year’s POY race. Michael Liang fi nished as the runner-up in this event, taking home $606,890 and 1,600 points for his third POY-qualifi ed score of the year. Liang took down this year’s L.A. Poker Classic $10,000 buy-in main event back in March for $175,300 and 360 points. He added another $34,865 and 41 points for a 23rd-place showing in the WPT Seminole Hard Rock Poker Showdown $3,500 main event that drew a record-breaking fi eld of 2,482 entries. With more than 2,000 entries, the massive event qualifi ed for POY points to be awarded to those players among the top 27 fi nishers. With these three scores, Liang has accrued 2,001 points and $817,055 in year-to-date earnings. e upshot is that he now sits in 21st place in the standings. ANDREW MORENO TAKES DOWN WYNN MILLIONS MAIN EVENT

Earlier this spring, Andrew Moreno publicly announced his intention to Andrew Moreno focus on the tournament grind given the current boom taking place in the live arena, and even made a pledge to himself to earn his fi rst seven-fi gure score. Since early May, the 38-year-old poker pro has cashed in eight events, with three fi nal-table fi nishes, two titles won, and more than $1.6 million in earnings accumulated along the way. His most recent score saw him top a fi eld of 1,328 entries in the $10 million guaranteed Wynn Millions $10,000 buy-in no-limit hold’em event. Moreno earned $1,460,106 and 2,400 POY points for the win. Moreno had previously taken home $127,740 and 840 POY points in a Venetian DeepStack Championship Poker Series $1,100 buy-in event in June, along with two other POY-qualifi ed scores made in the past two months. As a result of his hot streak, Moreno has been catapulted into fi fth place on the POY leaderboard with 3,547 total points. e fi nal three players in this event struck a deal that redistributed the prize money and left $300,000 up top to play for in addition to the title. Runner-up Clayton Maguire cashed for $1,443,757 and 2,000 points, moving him into a tie for 22nd place in the rankings. Toby Lewis cashed for $1,235,204 and 1,600 points, enough to move him into 37th place.

020_POY.indd 21 7/22/21 9:21 AM Tournaments

CHANCE KORNUTH EARNS HIS SECOND BIG TITLE OF THE SUMMER Chance Kornuth took down the Mid-States Poker Tour Venetian $1,600 buy-in in Chance Kornuth June, defeating a fi eld of 2,011 entries to earn $412,086 and 1,080 points. Less than a month later, Kornuth navigated his way through a fi eld of 530 entries to take down the Wynn Summer Classic $3,500 buy-in $1 million guaranteed event. Kornuth added another $353,891 and 1,260 POY points for the win after defeating a stacked fi nal table that included the likes of World Poker Tour champion Bahbak Oboodi, three-time WPT main event winner Brian Altman, and 2019 PokerStars Caribbean Adventure $25,00 high roller winner Martin Zamani. Prior to his two title runs, Kornuth had fi nished fourth in the long-delayed 2020 WPT Gardens Poker Championship for $195,085 and 510 points. As a result of his trio of huge scores, Kornuth has shot up the rankings and into eighth place on the leaderboard. He has 2,850 points and $961,062 in POY earnings so far in 2021. Brian Altman took home $110,075 and 630 points for his fourth-place showing in this event. e score helped move him into fourth place overall, with 3,558 points and more than $1.1 million in POY-qualifi ed scores to date. Like Kornuth, Altman was among the players at one of the delayed WPT fi nal tables. He earned $333,012 and 960 points for a third-place showing in the 2020 WPT Borgata Winter Open in May. en in late June, he won this year’s WPT Seminole Hard Rock Tampa for $613,225 and 1,440 points.

TUAN MAI MAKES 14TH FINAL TABLE TO HOLD ONTO THE TOP 10

Tuan Mai has made 14 POY-qualifi ed fi nal tables, the second-most fi nal tables of any player Tuan Mai on the live tournament circuit behind only POY race leader Ali Imsirovic. Mai’s most recent deep run saw him earn $13,694 and 150 points for a fourth-place showing in a $600 buy-in no-limit hold’em MonsterStack event at the DeepStack Championship Poker Series. A total of 358 entries were made in the event held at e Venetian Resort Las Vegas. e score brought Mai’s point total for the year to 2,546, moving him into tenth place in the standings. He has won three titles and cashed for $313,702 so far this year. His biggest score came in April when he took down an UltimateStack event at the Venetian for $75,000.

SUNG JOO HYUN MAKES FOURTH FINAL TABLE, MOVES TO 15TH PLACE

Sung Joo South Korean poker pro Sung Joo Hyun earned a pair of titles in large-fi eld events in Las Hyun Vegas earlier this year to put himself among the top contenders in the POY race. e 2020 WSOP Online bracelet winner kicked off 2021 with a win in the WPT DeepStacks Venetian $1,600 buy-in main event for $208,335 and 912 points. In mid-March he emerged victorious in the Wynn Spring Classic $3,500 buy-in main event, adding another $323,409 and 1,260. Since the spring he has managed two more fi nal-table fi nishes, both coming in smaller buy- in events taking place in his home country. Most recently he fi nished fi fth in the South Korea High Roller Series 500,000 KRW ($442 USD) buy-in deepstack turbo event to add another $2,867 and 40 points to his total. e small score resulted in Hyun landing in 15th place in the rankings for the time being.

JESSE LONIS WINS DEEPSTACK PLO EVENT TO CLIMB TO 17TH Jesse Lonis secured his fi rst tournament title of 2021 by outlasting a fi eld of 248 entries in Jesse Lonis the $200,000 guaranteed Venetian DeepStack Championship Poker Series $1,600 buy-in pot- limit Omaha event. e strong turnout built a fi nal prize pool of $352,160. e lion’s share of that went to Lonis after he defeated Amnon Filippi heads-up to secure the title, the $81,485 top prize, and 408 POY points. is was Lonis’ sixth POY-qualifi ed fi nal table of the year, including a fi fth-place showing in the WPT Lucky Hearts Poker Open $3,500 main event for $223,895 and 675 points, as well as a third-place fi nish in the Wynn Spring Signature Series $1,100 main event for another $89,486 and 608 points. Lonis now sits in 17th place on the leaderboard.

22 CARDPLAYER.COM VOLUME 34 / ISSUE 17

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CP_Sub_23_FP3.indd 3 7/19/21 4:05 PM Tournaments TOURNAMENT RESULTS

Event Player Payout (POY points) Jake Schindler PokerGO Cup 1. Alex Foxen $178,200 (360) 2. Sean Perry $132,000 (300) Aria Las Vegas, NV 3. Sergi Reixach $85,800 (240) 4. David Coleman $66,000 (180) $10,000 NLHE 5. Jordan Cristos $52,800 (150) July 6-7 Entries: 66 6. Kristina Holst $39,600 (120) Prizepool: $660,000 7. Vanessa Kade $33,000 (90)

Event Player Payout (POY points) PokerGO Cup 1. Ali Imsirovic $183,000 (360) 2. Jason Koon $122,000 (300) Aria Event Player Payout Las Vegas, NV 3. Dylan Linde $85,400 (240) (POY points) 4. Mo Rahim $61,000 (180) PokerGO Cup 1. Jake Schindler $324,000 (336) $10,000 NLHE 5. Frank Funaro $48,800 (150) July 7-8 2. David Peters $216,000 (280) Aria Entries: 61 6. Matas Cimbolas $36,600 (120) Las Vegas, NV 3. David Coleman $144,000 (224) Prizepool: $610,000 7. Sam Soverel $30,500 (90) 4. Stephen Chidwick $99,000 (168) Dylan Linde $25,000 NLHE 5. Sean Winter $72,000 (140) July 10-11 6. Daniel Negreanu $45,000 (112) Entries: 36 Prizepool: $900,000

Event Player Payout (POY points) South Korea 1. Ahn Joohyuk $10,753 (96) High Roller Series 2. Kim Taehwan $7,169 (80)

Event Player Payout Very Convention 3. Jung Young $4,301 (64) (POY points) Center 4. Daewoong Song $3,405 (48) Dongnam PokerGO Cup 1. Dylan Linde $169,600 (300) 5. Sung Joo Hyun $2,867 (40) 2. Sam Soverel $111,300 (250) KRW 500,000 ($442) 6. In Ho Song $2,151 (32) Aria NLHE Las Vegas, NV 3. Steve Zolotow $74,200 (200) 7. Oh Ho $1,792 (24) June 13 4. Bill Klein $53,000 (150) 8. Kim Wan $1,434 (16) Entries: 100 $10,000 NLHE 5. Sergi Reixach $42,400 (125) Prizepool: $35,843 9. Cho Geol $1,075 (8) July 8-9 6. Cary Katz $31,800 (100) Entries: 53 Event Player Payout Prizepool: $530,000 7. Chris Brewer $26,500 (75) (POY points) DeepStack 1. Sami Dighlawi $37,874 (420) Event Player Payout Championship (POY points) 2. Thanh Tran $33,418 (350) Poker Series PokerGO Cup 1. Ali Imsirovic $240,000 (360) 3. Michael Cohen $32,218 (280) 2. Daniel Weinand $157,500 (300) Venetian 4. Ira Friedman $25,000 (210) Aria Las Vegas, NV Las Vegas, NV 3. Jordan Cristos $105,000 (240) 5. Matthew Paul $22,581 (175) 4. Alex Foxen $75,000 (180) $600 NLHE 6. Harford Le $10,879 (140) $15,000 NLHE 5. Mo Rahim $60,000 (150) June 26 7. Eric Bunch $8,126 (105) July 9-10 $100,000 GTD 8. Chris Herrin $6,160 (70) Entries: 50 6. David Coleman $45,000 (120) Entries: 514 Prizepool: $750,000 7. Eric Worre $37,500 (90) Prizepool: $262,140 9. Jamaal Williams $4,797 (35)

24 CARDPLAYER.COM VOLUME 34 / ISSUE 17

024_TournamentResults.indd 24 7/22/21 9:23 AM Tournaments

Jason Koon Mark Seif

Event Player Payout (POY points) DeepStack 1. Mark Seif $193,416 (540) Event Player Payout Championship 2. Ryan Hunsinger $124,959 (450) (POY points) Poker Series PokerGO Cup 1. Jason Koon $324,000 (336) 3. Andrew Kaplan $93,719 (360) Venetian 2. Thomas Winters $216,000 (280) 4. Joey Katzen $69,977 (270) Las Vegas, NV Aria 5. Robert Natividad $53,732 (225) Las Vegas, NV 3. John Riordan $144,000 (224) 4. Anuj Agarwal $99,000 (168) $800 NLHE 6. Jason Johnson $41,236 (180) $25,000 NLHE June 28-July 2 5. Cary Katz $72,000 (140) 7. Conrad Simpson $32,489 (135) July 11-12 $400,000 GTD 8. Robert Mather $24,992 (90) Entries: 36 6. Steve Zolotow $45,000 (112) Entries: 1,811 Prizepool: $900,000 Prizepool: $1,249,590 9. Joseph Liberta $19,993 (45)

Event Player Payout Event Player Payout (POY points) (POY points) DeepStack 1. Mark Seif $41,991 (300) DeepStack 1. Zachary Smiley $70,000 (720) Championship Championship 2. Ryan Dodd $27,387 (250) 2. Trevor Rosenberg $59,649 (600) Poker Series Poker Series 3. Michelle Reidy $18,806 (200) 3. Bryan Trischetta $52,000 (480) Venetian 4. Tuan Mai $13,694 (150) Venetian 4. Kilo Krahn $28,622 (360) Las Vegas, NV Las Vegas, NV 5. Matt Paston $10,042 (125) 6. Anselmo Villareal $16,186 (240) $600 NLHE 6. Phuoc Nguyen $7,668 (100) $1,100 NLHE 7. Douglas Foley $12,436 (180) June 27 7. Rudy Sisson $6,025 (75) July 1 8. Fredrick Mowatt $9,751 (120) $100,000 GTD $150,000 GTD 8. Mark Manesh $4,747 (50) 9. Lawrence $7,738 (60) Entries: 358 Entries: 407 Engerman Prizepool: $182,580 9. Jeffrey Hart $3,743 (25) Prizepool: $394,790

Event Player Payout Event Player Payout (POY points) (POY points) DeepStack 1. Jesse Lonis $81,485 (408) DeepStack 1. Chad Eveslage $910,370 (1920) Championship Championship Poker 2. Amnon Filippi $51,063 (340) 2. Michael Liang $606,890 (1600) Series Poker Series 3. Chris Carey $37,681 (272) 3. Kyna England $448,755 (1280) Venetian 4. Manh Nguyen $26,764 (204) Venetian 4. Tim Mcdermott $335,200 (960) Las Vegas, NV Las Vegas, NV 5. Ramali Kusnadi $19,721 (170) 5. Daniela Rodriguez $252,945 (800) 6. Christian Harder $14,791 (136) 6. Kitty Kuo $192,855 (640) $1,600 PLO $5,000 NLHE June 27-29 7. Michael Rocco $11,621 (102) July 2-7 7. Ari Oxman $148,580 (480) $200,000 GTD 8. John Zable $9,508 (68) $3,000,000 GTD 8. Jose Barbero $115,685 (320) Entries: 248 Entries: 1,199 9. Karim Chatur $7,748 (34) 9. Michael Mizrachi $91,035 (160) Prizepool: $352,160 Prizepool: $5,545,375

024_TournamentResults.indd 25 7/22/21 9:23 AM Tournaments

Event Player Payout Benny Glaser (POY points) DeepStack 1. Ken Ware $44,592 (360) Championship 2. Rambo Halpern $39,599 (300) Poker Series 3. Toby Boas $23,358 (240) Venetian 4. Benjamin Garrick $17,310 (180) Las Vegas, NV 5. Dominique Dunn $12,930 (150) $1,100 NLHE 6. Matthew Turner $9,906 (120) July 5 7. Ava Wilensky $7,716 (90) $150,000 GTD 8. Brian Meadows $6,048 (60) Entries: 215 Prizepool: $208,550 9. Jason Daly $4,797 (30)

Ashraf Chehata

Event Player Payout (POY points) Summer Classic 1. Benny Glaser $102,000 (432) 2. Aaron Wallace $72,705 (360) Wynn 3. Stephen Moreschi $67,903 (288) Las Vegas, NV 4. Adam Hendrix $31,773 (216) $3,000 PLO 5. Jordan Spurlin $23,422 (180) July 1 6. Jeremy Ausmus $18,738 (144) $100,000 GTD Entries: 146 7. Giuseppe Iadisernia $15,479 (108) Prizepool: $407,337 8. James Lenaghan $12,994 (72) 9. Brian Batt $11,137 (36) Event Player Payout Event Player Payout (POY points) (POY points) DeepStack 1. Ashraf Chehata $125,462 (480) Summer Classic 1. Chance Kornuth $353,891 (1260) Championship 2. Fred Goldberg $75,000 (400) Poker Series 2. Avi Cohen $231,107 (1050) 3. Alex Greenblatt $72,000 (320) Wynn Las Vegas, NV 3. Martin Zamani $155,995 (840) Venetian 4. Minh Nguyen $72,000 (240) Las Vegas, NV 4. Brian Altman $110,075 (630) 5. Jong Oh $37,067 (200) $3,500 NLHE 5. Bahbak Oboodi $80,973 (525) July 7-9 $800 NLHE 6. Spencer Champlin $28,392 (160) $1,000,000 GTD 6. Kyle Carlston $62,313 (420) July 6-8 7. Trevor Rosenberg $22,083 (120) Entries: 530 $250,000 GTD 7. Justin Saliba $49,987 (315) 8. Gary Margolis $16,956 (80) Prizepool: $1,711,900 Entries: 1,143 8. Dylan Destefano $41,428 (210) Prizepool: $788,670 9. Jerry Robinson $13,802 (40) 9. Ezequiel Waigel $35,008 (105)

Event Player Payout Event Player Payout (POY points) (POY points) Summer Classic 1. Andrew Moreno $1,460,106 (2400) DeepStack 1. Nick Blackburn $50,663 (360) 2. Clayton Maguire $1,443,757 (2000) Championship Wynn 2. Yiyuan Tu $32,139 (300) 3. Toby Lewis $1,235,204 (1600) Poker Series Las Vegas, NV 3. Susan Soto $22,737 (240) 4. Salim Admon $619,160 (1200) Venetian $10,000 NLHE 4. Victor Choupeaux $17,200 (180) 5. Julian $456,629 (1000) Las Vegas, NV June 25-July 3 5. Jason Meindering $13,077 (150) Milliard-Feral $10,000,000 GTD 6. Uri Yochelman $9,778 (120) Entries: 1,328 6. Philip Shing $360,140 (800) $600 NLHE 7. Daniel Marino $7,304 (90) Prizepool: $12,483,200 7. Jaime Cervantes $289,361 (600) July 8 $100,000 GTD 8. Neal Liptak $5,537 (60) 8. Joe Kuether $240,302 (400) Entries: 462 9. Demond Williams $4,312 (30) 9. Lion Yiming Lee $202,765 (200) Prizepool: $235,620

26 CARDPLAYER.COM VOLUME 34 / ISSUE 17

024_TournamentResults.indd 26 7/22/21 9:23 AM SIGN UP AND LEARN FOR FREE

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CP_PokerSchool_1_FP.indd 1 7/19/21 4:05 PM LEADING ONLINE SITE GLOBAL POKER TO HOST U.S. POKER OPEN For The First Time Ever, The USPO Goes Virtual By Card Player News Team

Global Poker, the fastest growing free online poker site in Las Vegas in June, featured 12 high roller events and in the world, has been a top spot for tournament players for many of the best players in the world displaying high-level the last few years with their lineup of events that include the poker skills to the PokerGO viewers at home. In the end, Global Poker Champions, Rattlesnake Open, Grizzly Games, 34-year-old David Peters came away with a ridiculous Eagle Cup, and the GOAT, plus the Bounty Series, Summer three wins, earning the second of his back-to-back USPO Series, and the Micro under Series. championships. Now, the popular online cardroom is adding a new “e 2021 U.S. Poker Open had a record number of event to their schedule, the prestigious U.S. Poker Open. entries and produced some truly incredible performances ‘But the U.S. Poker Open is a live series,’ you might say. from the game’s best players,” said PokerGO President ‘I’d have to go to Las Vegas to play in that.’ Mori Eskandani. “Alongside the growth in the series, our Not this year. For the ﬁrst time ever, the U.S. Poker partnership with Global Poker continues to grow as well. Open will also be played online, hosted by Global Poker. We were thrilled to have them on board as a presenting Eligible players from all over the United States can partici- sponsor of USPO and we think poker fans will thoroughly pate in this inaugural and groundbreaking series. enjoy the televised episodes set to premiere on the NBC “I am really excited about the partnership between Sports Network on Aug. 16, and available on demand from Global Poker and the U.S. Poker Open,” said Global Poker PokerGO.com.” General Manager David Lyons. “In a few short years, the “is year’s live event delivered more excitement than USPO has become one of the premier events on the poker ever, watching David Peters win his third ﬁnal table in calendar, and at the same time Global Poker has established less than a week,” continued Lyons. “And it wasn’t just the itself as the online destination for players looking for an trophy stories. It was great to watch the best players in the authentic online poker experience. So, this partnership world go to battle every day, like when Nick Petrangelo feels right.” used four time extensions before eventually just calling

e live version of the series, which wrapped up at Aria with his nut ﬂush against Cary Katz’s straight ﬂush!” Poker Global ©

28 CARDPLAYER.COM VOLUME 34 / ISSUE 17

028_CoverStory.indd 28 7/22/21 9:26 AM Anyone Can Play And Qualify deep runs during the online series, you may find yourself is August, players can experience that USPO excite- near the top of the USPO leaderboard that Global Poker ment from home with Global Poker. e series officially has set up. ere will be two overall champions crowned, kicks off Aug. 23 and features 16 events for both Gold Coin one for Gold Coins and one for Sweeps Coins. Points are and Sweeps Coins play. awarded based on the number of entries in each tourna- e two-week contest wraps up Sept. 5 with two main ment, and where you finish. events. e Gold Coin main event boasts a GC 125 million e Sweeps Coins leaderboard will award prizes to the guarantee, while the Sweeps Coin main event finishes up top 10 players, with the winner taking home a custom- with a SC 250,000 guaranteed. All told, the site will guar- made trophy, as well as a signed and framed portion of the antee at least GC 500 million and SC 1 million in prizes felt used for the live USPO. e Gold Coins leaderboard during the series. will also pay out the top 10 players with bespoke Global Additionally, the site will be offering up a number of Poker merchandise, in addition to the trophy for the win- satellites and freerolls in the weeks leading up to the series, ner. giving players many chances to qualify for events for free! About Global Poker “We have a uniquely vibrant and engaged grassroots Global Poker is a free-to-play, online social poker room Global Poker community who watch poker, talk poker, and with more than one million registered players. e site is play poker with each other online,” said Lyons. “I have abso- dedicated to its loyal and growing community of players, lutely no doubt that they enjoyed watching the action play with a mission to bring a greater variety of games, a larger out live, but will also jump at the opportunity to participate range of bigger prize pools, and more tournaments and in the online version of the USPO. is first-of-its-kind championships. online series will give poker players a chance to enjoy the Everyday across the United States, Global Poker play- USPO experience at home at a fraction of the buy-in, while ers enjoy reliable, fun, and rewarding online social poker. still winning real prizes and exclusive USPO trophies.” ere is no purchase necessary to play. Climb The USPO Leaderboard For more information on the upcoming U.S. Poker If you manage to pull a David Peters and score a few Open, visit GlobalPoker.com/USPO.

028_CoverStory.indd 29 7/22/21 9:26 AM Schedule Date Time (ET) Event No. Tournament Buy-In Guarantee 23-Aug 20:00 1 NLHE Deep GC 110,000 GC 25M 23-Aug 20:00 1 NLHE Deep SC 100+10 SC 50,000 24-Aug 20:00 2 PLO 6-Max Deep GC 220,000 GC 15M 24-Aug 20:00 2 PLO 6-Max Deep SC 200+18 SC 30,000 25-Aug 20:00 3 NLHE Super Bounty Deep GC 220,000 GC 25M 25-Aug 20:00 3 NLHE Super Bounty Deep SC 200+18 SC 50,000 26-Aug 20:00 4 NLHE Bounty Deep GC 220,000 GC 20M 26-Aug 20:00 4 NLHE Bounty Deep SC 200+18 SC 40,000 27-Aug 20:00 5 NLHE Progressive Bounty Deep GC 220,000 GC 25M 27-Aug 20:00 5 NLHE Progressive Bounty Deep SC 200+18 SC 50,000 28-Aug 17:30 6 NLHE Super Deep GC 220,000 GC 25M 28-Aug 17:30 6 NLHE Super Deep SC 200+18 SC 50,000 29-Aug 17:30 7 NLHE Progressive Bounty Deep GC 220,000 GC 50M 29-Aug 17:30 7 NLHE Progressive Bounty Deep SC 200+18 SC 100,000 29-Aug 20:00 8 NLHE Turbo GC 220,000 GC 20M 29-Aug 20:00 8 NLHE Turbo SC 200+18 SC 40,000 30-Aug 20:00 9 NLHE Deep Turbo GC 220,000 GC 25M 30-Aug 20:00 9 NLHE Deep Turbo SC 200+18 SC 50,000 31-Aug 20:00 10 NLHE Super Bounty Deep GC 220,000 GC 25M 31-Aug 20:00 10 NLHE Super Bounty Deep SC 200+18 SC 50,000 1-Sep 20:00 11 NLHE 6-Max Deep GC 220,000 GC 20M 1-Sep 20:00 11 NLHE 6-Max Deep SC 200+18 SC 40,000 2-Sep 20:00 12 NLHE Progressive Bounty Deep GC 220,000 GC 25M 2-Sep 20:00 12 NLHE Progressive Bounty Deep SC 200+18 SC 50,000 3-Sep 20:00 13 NLHE Progressive Bounty 6-Max Deep GC 220,000 GC 25M 3-Sep 20:00 13 NLHE Progressive Bounty 6-Max Deep SC 200+18 SC 50,000 4-Sep 17:30 14 NLHE Progressive Bounty Super Deep GC 220,000 GC 25M 4-Sep 17:30 14 NLHE Progressive Bounty Super Deep SC 200+18 SC 50,000 5-Sep 17:30 15 NLHE Deep GC 220,000 GC 125M 5-Sep 17:30 15 NLHE Deep SC 200+18 SC 250,000 5-Sep 20:00 16 NLHE Deep Turbo GC 110,000 GC 25M 5-Sep 20:00 16 NLHE Deep Turbo SC 100+10 SC 50,000

30 CARDPLAYER.COM VOLUME 34 / ISSUE 17

028_CoverStory.indd 30 7/22/21 9:26 AM Poker Stories Podcast

Poker Stories is a long-form audio podcast series that features casual interviews with some of the game’s best players and personalities. Each episode highlights a well-known member of the poker world and dives deep into their favorite tales both on and off the felt.

Download it directly to your device from any number of mobile apps, such as Apple Podcasts, Stitcher, Google Play, or Spotify. Catch up on past episodes featuring notables such as Doyle Brunson, Antonio Esfandiari, Daniel Negreanu, Jennifer Harman, Justin Bonomo, Nick Schulman, Barry Greenstein, Michael Mizrachi, Bryn Kenney, Mike Sexton, Maria Ho, and many more.

www.CardPlayer.com/poker-podcasts

CP_Brand_40_Podcast.indd 3 7/19/21 4:05 PM A CONVERSATION WITH POKER HALL OF FAMER JACK BINION Listen To Former President Of Binion’s Horseshoe On The Bernard Lee Poker Show By Bernard Lee

In June of 2019, I wrote an oral history column for Mike called me back 30 minutes later and told me that Jack ESPN.com, reminiscing about the 30th anniversary of then- had some time right now and I needed to call him ASAP! 24-year-old Phil Hellmuth’s epic victory over Johnny Chan After getting over the initial shock and awe of speaking in the 1989 World Series of Poker main event. Hellmuth with such an important figure in poker history, I explained not only became the youngest main event champion at the to Jack the idea for my column, asking if he would be able time, but also prevented Johnny Chan from winning his to discuss that fateful day. Not only did Jack kindly discuss third WSOP main event title in a row. (22-year-old Peter Hellmuth and the 1989 main event, but he also agreed to Eastgate broke this age record in 2008, and then 21-year- participate in a full interview for my radio podcast. (My old Joe Cada claimed the honors the next year.) show, e Bernard Lee Poker Show, celebrated its 14th anni- I interviewed several poker personalities who were pres- versary in May.) ent on that fateful night that the legend of the “Poker Brat” I want to thank Jack for being so gracious and spend- was born. e interviewees included Chris Marlowe, who ing the time with me. Additionally, I am forever grateful was a commentator during the 1989 WSOP main event to the late Mike Sexton for helping set up the interview. broadcast and is the current announcer of the Denver Originally, I planned on releasing the interview during Nuggets, Lyle Berman, who finished in fifth place, Don the 2019 WSOP, but after some delays and unforeseen Zewin, who finished in third place, Mike Sexton, Johnny circumstances, I never aired it. I thought 2020 would be Chan, and of course, the man himself, Phil Hellmuth. the year, but the COVID-19 pandemic changed those It was an incredible lineup of poker luminaries, but I plans as well. also really wanted to speak with Jack Binion, Poker Hall of With poker back in full swing, there’s no reason to wait Famer and former President of Binion’s Horseshoe Casino. any longer. In fact, you can listen to the conversation your- I called Mike Sexton, and knowing it was a longshot, I self, as well as all my other interviews, on iTunes, YouTube, asked if he could help set up an interview. Mike said that he or wherever you get your podcasts. Highlights from the

32 CARDPLAYER.COM VOLUME 34 / ISSUE 17

poker players start slipping when they hit 60. Being 60 is like a guy who is 36 or 37 playing [professional] basketball. As you get older, you are not as alert and your mind doesn’t work as quick. is is why Doyle is so incredible, because he is like a guy who is 50 years old playing in the NBA. He doesn’t play like he once did, but he is so good, he can still © Mike Sexton play (against the young players of today).” On The Origin Of The WSOP On Stu Ungar “We (Binion’s Horseshoe Casino) were going to open a “ ere’s never been anybody who dominated a game like poker room. We wanted to kick it off and so we had been Stuey did with Gin. Stuey was so much ahead of everyone to Reno, where they had what was called the Gambler’s else… it’s just amazing. He was just so good. Gin is not Convention, but it was just a poker game. In fact, that’s as popular now as it once was. Years ago, you went to any where I met Doyle Brunson, my best friend.” country club or anywhere, the whole room was playing Gin. “So, the next year, let’s try this out… So, we put it Stuey just dominated it. Here’s what he could do. In seven together. Everybody could show up, but it was almost all discards, he could tell almost exactly what your hand was.” invites because we didn’t get any publicity out of it. Nobody On Eric Drache had ever heard of anything like this anyway. e idea of “I think Eric has the best personality of anyone I have having a poker tournament or freezeout just didn’t cross ever met in my life. He’s so likable. Eric used to joke, and it’s our mind.” the truth… he would say that he was the seventh best Stud “So the fi rst time, we’ll just ask and see who people feel player in the world. Unfortunately, he said that he played like is the best by voting. I just went around and asked with the six best players in the world.” everybody, and they agreed (on Johnny Moss). A year or On Johnny Chan two later, Amarillo Slim came up with the idea of a freeze- “Johnny Chan even today is a great, great poker player. out. Freezeouts weren’t real popular, and we decided on a He’s not recognized as much as he should be. e last multiple freezeout format.” (several) years, he has been playing over in Macau. ere is On The Explosion Of Poker’s Popularity no telling how much money he has made. Johnny is a very “Tell you what really helped poker… e (hole card) good poker player and is in the very, very top echelon of camera and the internet poker phenomenon made all the poker players ever.” diff erence in the world. ere was so much demand, they On Phil Hellmuth couldn’t believe all the people who wanted to sign up. at’s “What was unbelievable is Phil was just a college kid at what really made poker an overnight phenomenon.” the time. Nobody expected (this young guy) winning the “ e internet made a lot of diff erence in the popularity tournament. Of all the people that poker has changed their of poker because everyone started playing online. It was lives, it really changed the direction of Phil’s life.” m easy. ey didn’t have to go fi nd a game. It was right there.” On The $10,000 WSOP Main Event Buy-In Since finishing 13th in the 2005 WSOP Main “If you really think about it, everything is 10 times high- Event, Bernard Lee has cashed in over 100 er today than back in 1972. So, a guy buys-in for $10,000 tournaments, earning nearly $2.5 million while (back in 1972), that’s like $100,000 today.” capturing 10 titles, including two WSOP Circuit On Amarillo (Slim) Preston rings. Lee is considered “The Voice of New “Slim was really the perfect guy for it. He was an extro- England Poker” and is a staple of the poker vert and was corny. And it worked like a charm. e name media as a columnist for ESPN, Card Player, Metrowest Daily News, Amarillo Slim was the perfect guy to win.” and his radio program, The Bernard Lee Poker Show. Listen every On Doyle Brunson Tuesday from 6-7 p.m. on terrestrial radio in Boston on the Money “At the time, Doyle was the best player. Doyle was the Matter Radio Network (102.9 FM, 1120 AM) or download episodes only guy that I ever saw that could sit down and break up a via podcast. Email him at [email protected] and follow poker game because they didn’t want to face him.” him on Instagram, Twitter, and YouTube at Bernard Lee Poker. “(Also), you have a long-life playing poker, but most Visit BernardLeePoker.com for the latest news and information.

032_Feature.indd 33 7/22/21 9:29 AM Strategies, ANALYSIS & Commentary WHEN NOT TO SLOW PLAY By Jonathan Little

A common mistake some players make is to slow play made hands like Qm 9m and 7n 5n. with hands that are strong, but vulnerable to being out- e turn was the 9n. e big blind bet $20 into the $26 drawn. pot and Hero called. In general, if your premium hand can somewhat easily While I hate the fl op call, I merely dislike the turn call be outdrawn, you should play it aggressively. You also want because in small-stakes games, turn raises are primarily to apply aggression so you can get a lot of money in the pot made by players who have premium hands. As on the fl op, as a clear favorite. Slow playing often results in you getting Hero’s goal should be to play for all his money while also outdrawn and/or playing a small pot, both of which are protecting his hand against all the possible draws. By just terrible outcomes. calling, he makes it nearly impossible to get all-in on the e following hand from a $1-$3 cash game with a $300 river. Again, notice that if Hero raises the turn to $55, he eff ective stack illustrates this point. An unknown player can then reasonably bet $110 on the river, which would be limped in (just called the $3 big blind) from the cutoff . e a fi ne result. player on the button, we will refer to him as Hero, called e river was the Jn. e big blind checked, and Hero with An 5n as well. Both blinds elected to see a cheap fl op. bet $45 into the $66 pot. e big blind called. Hero was While I am fi ne with Hero’s prefl op limp, I would usually raise in this spot, especially if I thought the cut- “When playing with 100 big off ’s limp was a clear sign of weakness. From late position, almost all players blind stacks in limped pots, it is raise with their best hands, meaning that when they limp, they usually mandatory that you raise with your have marginal hands. While An 5n is not too far ahead of the cutoff ’s best hands in order to build the pot range, taking the initiative and apply- ing aggression will allow Hero to steal such that you can reasonably get the pot on fl ops where both players fail to improve. your entire stack (or most of your e fl op came 4p 3m 2m. e small blind checked and the big blind, stack) in by the river. While many another unknown player, bet $7 into the $12 pot. Only Hero called. players are happy whenever they I do not like Hero’s call. ere win a nice pot, they should instead are numerous bad turns for him that will either give his opponent the best ask themselves if there was a hand or make it diffi cult to get paid off . While Hero’s fl opped straight is realistic way to win more.” quite strong, it is vulnerable to being outdrawn, making a raise ideal. overjoyed to win the $156 pot. Also, when playing with 100 big blind stacks in limped I like this river bet. ere are numerous hands that can pots, it is mandatory that you raise with your best hands in call a sizable value bet, plus there are a ton of potential order to build the pot such that you can reasonably get your busted draws, making a large bet the best option. entire stack (or most of your stack) in by the river. If the pot Going back to my fl op and turn complaints, by only on the fl op was larger (because there was a prefl op raise or calling on those streets, Hero missed out on an additional three-bet), calling would be acceptable. $60 or more on the river. While many players are happy Consider how the money will likely go in when Hero whenever they win a nice pot, they should instead ask just calls the fl op. On the turn, the big blind may bet $18 themselves if there was a realistic way to win more. In this into the $26 pot and on the river, he may be $32 into the situation, raising the fl op would have likely led to an even $62 pot. at leaves a large amount of unused money in larger victory for Hero. m Hero’s stack. If Hero raises the fl op to $20 and the big blind calls, he can then bet $40 on the turn and $100 on Jonathan Little is a two-time WPT champion with the river, getting much more money in the pot. Of course, more than $7 million in live tournament earnings, raising may result in everyone folding and Hero winning a best-selling author of 15 educational poker books, tiny pot, but that is the risk you have to take if you want to and 2019 GPI Poker Personality of the Year. If you be able to play large pots with your best hands. want to increase your poker skills and learn to One additional benefi t to your opponents folding to fl op crush the games, check out his training site at raises is that you can start mixing in semi-bluff s with non- PokerCoaching.com/cardplayer.

34 CARDPLAYER.COM VOLUME 34 / ISSUE 17

034_S&A.indd 34 7/22/21 9:36 AM Strategies, ANALYSIS & Commentary SEVEN CARD STUD EIGHT-OR-BETTER: OFTEN PLAYABLE HANDS By Kevin Haney

In our last installment on Seven Card Stud Eight-Or- (8m 6n) 5p is actually a 53% favorite over (2m 3n) 4p Better (Stud 8), we discussed the premium holdings that and is only a slight 49% underdog to (Am 3n) 4p. e are almost always playable, regardless of the exposed cards ability to make higher pairs than our opponent helps us and and the third street action. In this issue, we will take a look somewhat offsets the negative aspect of having an inferior at the next tier of holdings; those that are usually good low draw. enough to play around 75% of the time or more that we If a low card completes from a steal position and poten- are dealt them. tially has hands such as (10p 4m) 4p and (Ao Jn) 4p in One-Gappers (No Ace): ese holdings include 2-3- their range, our reraise has a lot of value. We are an equity 5, 2-4-5, 3-4-6, 3-5-6, 4-5-7, 4-6-7, 5-6-8, and 5-7-8. favorite against these hands and getting aggressive in these With any of these one-gappers, it’s helpful if the key card spots may also disincentivize our opponent from opening you need to pick up an open-ended straight draw is live. light in future hands which will give us more opportunities However, three wheel cards or three to a six are very strong to steal later on. hands and are most often playable even when some of your Three To A Seven Or An Eight With An Ace: ese hands are prime straight outs are exposed. relatively strong especially when the ace is up, and should It’s more important for the rougher 4-6-7 and 5-6-8 usually be played in an aggressive fashion as they prefer type holdings that your key card is nowhere to be seen, shorthanded action. eir value goes way down in multi- especially if it appears many other small cards will be con- way pots, and if some aces are dead they are only slightly testing the pot. Since our potential lows are not that strong, better than a Razz hand such as 2-6-7. we are more dependent on our high potential. In some e average player probably gets too attached to these fourth street scenarios, we may need to pick up a straight holdings and will frequently get caught in the middle draw right away in order to realize our equity. between two better hands. For example, if a five completes In heads-up pots, the 5-6-8 type hands perform surpris- and an ace raises, an (Ao 4m) 8n just isn’t worth very much. ingly well in many different matchups and can look to get At least one of the aces is dead, we don’t have a two-flush, aggressive in some third street situations versus a possible and the eight is front and center for everyone to see. steal. For example, while far from being a powerhouse the Kings And Queens: High pairs are good starting hands in

ANALYSISAnalysis TOURNAMENT HAND MATCHUP is hand sees the two largest stacks at the fi nal table clash in a sizable pot. John Riordan was at the very top 2021 PokerGO Cup of the chip counts with 85 big blinds, with Koon in $25,000 No-Limit Hold’em High Roller second place on 58 big blinds. With the shortest stack, omas Winters, having less than 20 big blinds, Koon Jason Koon had a tricky stack dynamic to navigate in this pot. He John Riordan picked up a strong starting hand in A-Q and min-raised 1,690,000 Chips 1,150,000 Chips from the button. Riordan set the tone for the hand by three-betting to 160,000 with K-10 off suit. Koon K 10 A Q made the call and fl opped two overs and the possible Winning Percentage Winning Percentage backdoor nut fl ush draw. Riordan fl opped middle pair

Before Flop: 37.0% Before Flop: 62.0% with backdoor ﬂ ush outs of his own and bet 90,000

K 10 Q After Flop: 64.0% A After Flop: 36.0% into the pot of 350,000. Koon called and the turn After Turn: 20.0% After Turn: 80.0% was the defi nition of an action card in the Qo. Koon improved to top pair with a nut fl ush redraw. From his perspective, he could make a royal fl ush, but the key PREFLOP Ko was in Riordan’s hand. Riordan had picked up an open-ended straight fl ush draw to go along with his With fi ve players remaining and blinds of 10,000-20,000 and a big blind ante of pair of tens. Koon had 900,000 remaining in his stack, 20,000, Jason Koon raised to 40,000 from the button. John Riordan three-bet to and the pot had ballooned to 530,000. Riordan elected 160,000. Koon called. to leverage the chip stack situation and put maximum pressure on Koon by moving all-in. Koon would still be in second place on the leaderboard were he to fold, but if he made the call and lost the hand, he would be J 10 3 Q eliminated in fi fth place and earn $72,000. Koon was clear about his frustration as soon as Riordan moved FLOP

TURN all in. “Unbelievable. No way man,” said Koon. “If you

have king of diamonds with a ten or jack or queen, it’s

Q 10 3 J a massive punt if I fold.” Koon stood up from the table while continuing to mull over his decision. After a few Riordan bet 90,000, and Riordan moved all- minutes of consideration, he decided to lay down his Koon called. in, and Koon folded. hand and preserve his stack. Riordan’s aggressive line secured him the sizable pot, while Koon slipped down closer to the middle of the pack.

NOTE: WINNING PERCENTAGES DO NOT INCLUDE TIES. ODDS PROVIDED BY CARDPLAYER.COM/POKER-TOOLS/ODDS-CALCULATOR/TEXAS-HOLDEM

034_S&A.indd 35 7/22/21 9:36 AM Strategies, ANALYSIS & Commentary

Stud 8, provided the exposed cards and action suggests we Just calling the bring-in to see what the ace does isn’t a are a big favorite to have best high hand and the pot is also particularly appealing strategy. We don’t get reliable infor- not likely to go off multi-way. Playing against many low mation on the ace’s range when he completes against our cards can get rough as we can easily get jammed on a later limp and it also makes it easier for the bring-in to come street and be forced to fold out our equity. in with his raggedy low holdings that may have probably High pairs should be folded against an ace that com- folded to a complete and a reraise. While a hand such as pletes from a non-steal position. In addition, a pair of (3p 7n) 2p doesn’t pose an immediate danger to a pair queens should be folded when a king completes since in of kings on the high side, it can easily end up taking half Stud 8 that player most often has the big pair they are the pot or creating diffi cult situations later on in the hand representing. where we need to fold out our equity. We should also make some tight open-folds in some Low Pair With An Ace: As long as your pair cards are live, situations when there is an ace up-card behind us. e ace these holdings often have a lot of value. Even if you end up will wake up with a pair or better, three low cards, or a getting sandwiched between a good low draw and a high three fl ush around 47% of the time (see the distribution pair (other than aces), the situation isn’t that bad. below) and against this range we have approximately 43% equity. (2p 3m) 5m – 34% equity p n p Trip Aces 0.2% (A 6 ) 6 – 35% equity (Ko 9p) Kn – 31% equity Pair Aces 11.3% Other Pair 5.7% Not only do we hold a slim equity advantage, we have certain playability advantages against the pair of kings Three Flush 5.2% because he doesn’t know the nature of our holding. When Three Low (Not Three 24.8% the king hits trips we can easily fold, but when we pair Flush) the six he will often continue on, thinking our most likely 47.1% hand is a three low with a pair. While we usually do not want to get involved in situ- If we are in early position, it’s probably best to fold ations where we are probably second best in both direc- whenever there is an ace and many other low cards left to tions, the ace kicker is impactful enough to make the act. While you may not end up against a pair of aces, you diff erence. If the low hand bricks out, having the over card can still end up in a multi-way pot against a bunch of low kicker allows us to continue on against the high pair and cards which is not a good spot for high pairs. most often realize our equity. It’s also important to realize that your cause is not Flush Draws (With Two Low Cards): In a multi-way pot, helped when there are two aces left to act behind you. it’s always important that the fl ush outs are very live. Individually they are less likely to hold aces; however, col- When more than one player improves on fourth street, lectively the odds are more likely that you are up against a there is generally a bet and a raise and we can usually pair of aces from at least one of the players. only profi tably continue on when we have picked up a Old school advice will tell you to always fold a high pair f o u r fl u s h . whenever an ace is behind you, but that would probably be In Stud High, we don’t mind volume pots with fl ush too tight. For example, if we are playing a high ante, six- draws. However, in Stud 8 it’s often in our best interest to handed game, it would be mistake to fold a pair of kings try and limit the fi eld. With a high card up, we can rep- if there was only an ace and a low card bring-in left to act. resent a high pair and gain some quick folds when a low In a high 25% ante structure with six players dealt into hand fails to improve. And when an opponent’s low hand the hand, even if we were planning on folding whenever we does improve, we can still make some sneaky strong lows get re-raised, our complete only needs to get through 36% of our own when starting with a hand such as (2m 4m) Qm. of the time to be profi table. Given the distribution listed With a low card up, we should also get aggressive on above, we will either get through the ace around 53% of third street and attempt to knock out raggedy lows that will the time, or the ace will have to expand its defending range try and steal half. High pairs will often continue against us, to include hands such as (2m Jn) Am. but with a live fl ush draw accompanied by two low cards we Many opponents with an ace up will reraise many have good odds to improve one way or another. hands that don’t currently beat a pair of kings; therefore we In the next issue we will conclude our survey of Stud 8 should only fold on third street against someone who plays holdings with the marginal and stealing hands, those that in a straight-forward fashion. We then have to get relatively tend to only be playable when attempting to steal the antes sticky and often get to showdown unless our opponent’s or defending against a possible steal. m board gets really scary. Very aggressive players will occasionally take off with Kevin Haney is a former actuary of MetLife but holdings such as the aforementioned (2m Jn) Am, pick up left the corporate job to focus on his passions a draw or small pair along the way, and continue fi ring on for poker and fitness. He is co-owner of Elite all streets. In these spots, calling down is just a high vari- Fitness Club in Oceanport, NJ and is a certified ance situation that we mostly need to accept and that’s the personal trainer. With regards to poker he got price that must be paid in order to maximize overall profi t his start way back in 2003 and particularly in the long run. On third street, a pair of kings has around enjoys taking new players interested in mixed games under his 57% equity against an ace up-card with two random cards wing and quickly making them proficient in all variants. If inter- underneath, which is too much initial equity to just throw ested in learning more, playing mixed games online, or just saying away. hello he can be reached at [email protected].

36 CARDPLAYER.COM VOLUME 34 / ISSUE 17

034_S&A.indd 36 7/22/21 9:36 AM Strategies, ANALYSIS & Commentary RETURNING TO LIVE POKER AFTER THE PANDEMIC: PART 2 By Steve Zolotow

As I mentioned at the end of the fi rst part of this series, I perfectly. If they make big errors, then you can exploit decided I would play three to fi ve of the $10,000 buy-in them. If you know they’ll fold everything except pocket events at the U.S. Poker Open in the PokerGO studio at aces, then you can happily push with 7-2 off suit, for Aria. I looked on this as more of a learning opportunity example. than as a plus-equity venture. 2. They only compare the value of pushing all-in My modest goal was to break even against the best to the value of folding. It is frequently possible that tournament players in the world, while observing what another option is better than either the shove or the they did and learn from them. e fi nal tables are also fold. There might be a higher EV for flat calling or mak- available to watch online, which allows for detailed ing a smaller raise. reviewing of the hands. 3. There are too many situations to make it feasible Final tables present a lot of very delicate situations. It to memorize what to do with each hand, at each stack is common to fi nd one large stack, a few medium stacks, size and from each position. But it is extremely valu- and a few small stacks. Even if one had memorized all the able to be able to mentally construct a reasonably close relevant Push/Fold Charts for one’s current stack size, approximation at the table. ICM (Independent Chip Model) considerations become very important. Before moving on to ICM models, I want to briefly For readers who are not familiar with these terms, let’s rant about one of the worst terms in poker when dis- look at what they mean. cussing position. That term is under the gun, often just A Push/Fold Chart details what hands have a higher abbreviated as UTG. EV (expected value) when you move all-in (shove) rather In a six-handed game, each position has a distinctive than fold. Each chart covers a specifi c position and num- name; Button, Cutoff, Hijack, Lojack, Small Blind, and ber of big blinds for any structure. e structure relates Big Blind. The Lojack is technically under the gun, but to the presence and size of antes. you need to follow a strategy based on Lojack position, Here is an example: is chart assumes everyone folds not UTG position. to you in the big blind. In this tournament the button When we go up to a nine-handed game, we need antes one big blind and there are no immediate payoff to have names for the three worst positions. It is com- implications (you need an ICM model to incorporate mon to see under the gun (UTG), under the gun plus these.) one (UTG+1) and under the gun plus two (UTG+2). A total of 47.2% of the hands you are dealt should UTG+2 is sometimes also referred to as middle posi- be shoved. tion. 2-2+, A-2s+, A-2o+, K-2s+, K-3o+, Q-3s+, Q-8o+, I prefer to substitute eight people (8P) for under the J-6s+, J-9o+, 10-6s+, 10-9o, 9-6s+, 8-6s+, 7-5s+, 6-5s, gun in a nine-handed game. Meaning eight people will 5-4s act after me. So, in a nine-handed game, the first player is 8P, the next 7P, and the third 6P. Then we reach the Lojack. When taking notes, I use two characters for each position. Thus, I use BB, SB, BU, CO, HJ, LJ, 6P, 7P, and 8P. None of this is standardized. I have seen the Button written as BN, BTN, BUT, etc. The key takeaway is to eliminate under the gun from your vocabulary and your thinking! It is much too vague to be useful. In the next column we will look at the ICM model, and some tournament situations in which it is essential to make the correct play. m

Steve ‘Zee’ Zolotow aka The Bald Eagle or Zebra is a very successful gamesplayer. He has been a full-time gambler for over 40 years. With two WSOP bracelets, over 60 cashes, and a few million in tournament cashes, he is eas- ing into retirement. He currently devotes most of his Vegas gaming time to poker, and can (From PokerCoaching.com/CardPlayer) be found in cash games at Aria and Bellagio and at tournaments during the WSOP. When escaping from poker, he spends the spring Things To Understand About Push/Fold Charts and the fall in New York City where he hangs out at his bars: Doc 1. ey assume your remaining opponents will play Holliday’s, The Library, and DBA.

034_S&A.indd 37 7/22/21 9:36 AM Strategies, ANALYSIS & Commentary Talking Shop By Nathan Gamble

In this segment we’re going take a to plan out how much money you’re break from our regularly scheduled pro- willing to bring, spend, and potentially, gramming as it’s summer time, and that lose. It’s easy to plan on winning, and can only mean one thing in the poker it’s probably a given you’ll win because world. e World Series of Poker is upon you’re the best player in your home us! Well, kind of. game/bar league/online zoom game/ Due to the pandemic, we are in local casino… but let’s plan on the worst phase one of the WSOP, the online ver- happening instead. sion. People put out lists all the time for You’ll need to fi gure out airfare, how to prepare and what to bring for hotel, food, transportation, entertain- You can fi gure out what days events run, the yearly Mecca of live poker, but no ment, how much to set aside for cash how many re-entries are allowed, what one has really discussed what to bring games as well as tournaments. As you games are played, and start mapping out or how to prepare for its online variant. can see, the list is extensive. You need to your journey accordingly. It’s a lot of the same checklist with fi gure out how to maximize your dollars Remember to keep in mind that a couple variations. Matters to address to get the most out of your experience. while bracelet events get the notoriety include… Are you coming from out of ere is no set budget that works for and are probably why you’re in town, state? Do you plan on renting a spot? everyone, just be aware of what your that’s not all that’s available. WSOP. Do you have friends, and do they snore? level of comfort is and plan accordingly. com will be off ering numerous other Do you plan on streaming? How often Look At The Schedule small-to-large buy-in tournaments and do you regularly workout, and is that an In order to plan how much money there will also be many tournament option while in Vegas? you need, it’s important to fi gure out series running all over town. Take a look Figure Out Your Bankroll what tournaments you want to play. at the schedules available and fi nd what Let’s start with the obvious. e Jump online to either the tournament fi ts your budget. Vegas lights only bring you joy as long as tab on CardPlayer.com or go directly to Be Smart With Your Energy you have money to enjoy them. You need WSOP.com and pull up the schedule. It is easy to look at the online sched-

ANALYSISAnalysis TOURNAMENT HAND MATCHUP Anuj Agarwal lost a prefl op coin fl ip shortly 2021 PokerGO Cup before this wild hand went down and was left with just less than four big blinds. He moved $25,000 No-Limit Hold’em High Roller all-in prefl op with J-9 suited on the button. Jason Koon announced a three-bet min-raise, making it Anuj Agarwal John Riordan 270,000 to go. Koon was second in chips behind 155,000 Chips 2,055,000 Chips John Riordan, who had over 50 big blinds to start the hand. Riordan looked down at K-10 suited J 9 K 10 and decided to try to isolate the all-in player by Winning Percentage Winning Percentage moving all-in himself. Unfortunately for him,

Before Flop: 17.0% Before Flop: 16.0% Koon snap-called with the best hand in hold’em

J 9 10 After Flop: 22.0% K After Flop: 23.0% to set up a three-way all-in for the majority of the After Turn: 12.0% After Turn: 12.0% chips in play. Riordan fl opped an open-ended straight draw, while Agarwal hit a pair and a gut- shot straight draw. Koon’s two opponents blocked PREFLOP each other’s outs, but he still was only slightly Jason Koon better than a coin fl ip to win it all after the fl op. 1,620,000 Chips With four players remaining and blinds of e turn and the river ended up bringing two 20,000-40,000, Anuj Agarwal moved all-in for blanks, however, and Koon’s aces held up to earn A A 155,000 from the button. Jason Koon three- him the massive pot. Agarwal was eliminated in Winning Percentage bet to 270,000 from the small blind, and John fourth place, earning $99,000. Riordan fell from the chip lead to the shortest stack heading into

Before Flop: 67.0% Riordan four-bet all-in for 2,055,000. Koon

three-handed play, and was eliminated soon after. A After Flop: 55.0% A called all-in for 1,620,000 total. After Turn: 76.0% He gave an interview to PokerGO commentator Jeﬀ Platt shortly after hitting the rail. “I’m hoping that [Koon] has like sixes. It was only four bigs, so Q J 8 6 3 he risked like seven blinds [with his three-bet]. I was just hoping that he doesn’t have aces or kings,” FLOP

TURN said Riordan when asked about his decision to

RIVER shove. “I was hoping that I’d just take it down.”

6 3 J 8 Q Riordan earned $144,000 as the third-place ﬁ n- isher, while Koon went on to win the event for $324,000.

NOTE: WINNING PERCENTAGES DO NOT INCLUDE TIES. ODDS PROVIDED BY CARDPLAYER.COM/POKER-TOOLS/ODDS-CALCULATOR/TEXAS-HOLDEM

38 CARDPLAYER.COM VOLUME 34 / ISSUE 17

034_S&A.indd 38 7/22/21 9:36 AM Strategies, ANALYSIS & Commentary

ule, as well as tournaments around town, Where To Stay And Who To Stay With should expect fewer vacation rentals on and plan on playing a tournament every Let’s start off with the easiest way the market, even fewer that you would day – or perhaps two or three. As many of saving money while traveling, which actually want to stay at, and even less as you want to play, you can fi nd them. is splitting a room. Normally you grab during a jam-packed time of the year. You can charge into Vegas headfi rst and your best bud who will be at the same ink ahead, book early, and don’t be play for 20 hours a day for two weeks location, fi nd a spot that works for you, afraid of staying on strip in one of the straight. Straight off the plane, in the and chop up the cost. But when you’re casinos if all else fails. taxi, to the tournaments! No reason to traveling with the intention of putting in If you have any specifi c questions stop, no end in sight. long, hard, demanding hours of mental about the upcoming WSOP feel free Inevitably, the adrenaline will wear work that requires concentration and to shoot me a message on Twitter @ off , you’ll miss sleep, probably eat terri- stamina, it isn’t that easy. SurfBum4Life and I’ll be happy to help bly and never work out. No matter what What if that friend is loud, or wakes out. Who knows? Maybe your question preparation you put into your game up at 5 am every day to work out? will even be included in the next seg- leading up to the series, it will all go Maybe they aren’t there for poker but ment of talking shop! m out the window and your A-game will instead to party and that isn’t your quickly slip away and your C-game will scene. You have to make sure that you Nathan Gamble is a be all you can muster. can compatibly live with your chosen native of Texas where ere are over a month of online roommate for however long you’re in he learned to play Texas tournaments followed by two months of town, wherever you stay. I am at the hold’em from his father. the live series this year. It’s a marathon point where I’ve told my own father to He is a two-time WSOP and you should pace yourself. If you fi nd a separate room during the WSOP bracelet winner, the first were planning on playing a tournament, because it isn’t worth it to me to jeopar- coming in the 2017 WSOP $1,500 pot limit Omaha but wake up feeling drained and have a dize my sleep with his snoring. Eight-Or-Better Event, the second in the 2020 hangover, do a self-check and just ask In today’s climate it’s easy to jump Online WSOP $600 PLO8/b event. A fixture of yourself a simple question. ‘If I was at on Airbnb and fi nd a spot that fi ts your the mid-stakes, mix game community, he can home and felt like this, would I go play needs. Well, easy unless you’re looking at often be found playing $80-$160 mix games at at my local casino?’ If the answer is no, Las Vegas. Due to the amount of taxes the Wynn since moving to Las Vegas in 2019. you already have your answer on what to the hotels and casinos bring in for the He is active on Twitter under the username do. Take time for sleep and to turn your state of Nevada, they have a bit of pro- Surfbum4life and streams mixed game con- brain off . It’ll win you far more money tection and sub-leasing sites are under tent regularly on Twitch under his username than anything else you can do in Vegas. more strict regulations. at means you Surfbum4lyfe.

034_S&A.indd 39 7/22/21 9:36 AM Strategies, ANALYSIS & Commentary CONTRACTS AND POKER: WSOP RULES By Scott J. Burnham

he schedule for the 2021 tells you not to cheat or otherwise its integrity and public confi dence.” WSOP is out, so maybe misbehave, and outlines some of the Section V, Participant Likeness this would be a good time terrible things that will happen to and Image, reminds us that, unlike to look at the rules that you if you do. ese rules tend to be most tournaments, this one may be governT play at that venue. e 2021 more specifi c than the Tournament televised, so the Rio wants to be rules aren’t posted as of this writing, Directors Association (TDA) Rules careful about what you wear -- even so we will base this column on the and were often adopted in response the size and placement of logos is 2019 rules, which are found at wsop. to a particular event that was not regulated. For example, you might com/2019, and we will report any addressed by the existing rules. For not be aware that the rules prohibit changes, though substantial altera- example, after a player who had not apparel “with images or logos associ- tions are unlikely. bathed in a while was dragged away ated with cryptocurrency and mari- As is always the case, these rules, screaming, “Show me where it says juana products, or entities in these even though they run for 29 pages, in the rules that you have to take a lines of business” or that “[a]dvertises aren’t the only rules that govern bath!” the WSOP adopted Rule 40.d.: any non-prescription or non ‘over the events. Rule 49 states that “the the counter’ drug, tobacco product, WSOP is subject to all applicable is rule [requiring civility and fi rearm or fi rearm ammunition.” If federal, state, and local laws and courtesy] shall include, but is not this rule also applies in 2021, Phil regulations, including gaming, and limited to, any Participant whose Hellmuth may not be able to wear all aspects of the WSOP are subject personal hygiene has become disrup- the bitcoin company cap he wore dur- to the approval of appropriate reg- tive to the other Participants seated ing his High Stakes Duel with Daniel ulatory authorities.” Furthermore, at their table. e determination Negreanu. Before you wear sponsored Rule 52 states that before playing in as to whether an individual’s per- gear or anything potentially contro- an event you will also have to sign sonal hygiene is disruptive to other versial, you might want to check out a release form. An earlier series of Participants shall be determined by these rules. columns discussed the contents of the WSOP T o u r n a m e n t S t a ff w h i c h Section VI, Poker Rules, is the that release. may, in its discretion, implement section that, like the TDA Rules, Section I is called “Tournament sanctions upon any such Participant governs the play of the tournament. Registration and Entry.” Prospective who refuses to remedy the situation Players need to be familiar with these participants might actually examine in a manner satisfactory to Rio. rules, which are often the subject of these rules, for they explain how to this column. pay in advance of an event, which is And when Phil Laak played while Section VII, Tournament a good idea in order to avoid stand- disguised as an old man, they came Operations Policies and Procedures, ing in line with literally thousands up with this one: contains nothing that will surprise of participants. You can also fi nd you. Section VIII, Tournament information about payment methods 55. Participants may not cover Betting Formats, is concerned with under “Key Operational Notes” at or conceal their facial identity. the betting rules for each game. It is wsop.com/2021. One option is to Tournament offi cials must be able unlikely that you will enter an event pay through Bravo Poker, which has to distinguish the identity of each if you don’t know how the game is its own EULA (End User License Participant at all times and may played, but if you do, you will want to Agreement). Of course, if you are a instruct Participants to remove any read those rules. e rules end with a user of the site, I don’t have to tell material that inhibits their identi- fi ve-page “Glossary of Poker Terms.” you that since you checked the box fi cation or is a distraction to other is section defi nes terms that are confi rming that you had read it and Participants or Tournament offi cials. used in the rules and can help further agreed to it. Participants may wear sunglasses and explain a rule that is not clear to you. Section II, WSOP Event sweat shirts with hoods, but may be Like you, I am looking forward Scheduling, is the shortest section asked to remove them if Tournament to this year’s WSOP. And while rule and you can skip it. It won’t surprise offi cials cannot identify them. controversies make great fodder for you to learn that the Rio reserves this column, let’s hope that few of the right to cancel or alter any event. Technically, such specifi c rules are them arise. m Some of the events are online, which not required, for the general catch-all means there are even more rules Rule 51 tells you that “[w]here a situa- Scott J. Burnham is that we will not go into. Similarly, tion arises that is not covered by these Professor Emeritus Section III, Prizes and Seating, con- rules, Rio shall have the sole author- at Gonzaga University tains nothing that would surprise ity to render a judgment, including School of Law in you on those subjects. the imposition of a penalty, in accor- Spokane, Washington. Section IV, Participant Conduct dance with the best interests of the He can be reached at and Tournament Integrity, essentially Tournament and the maintenance of [email protected].

40 CARDPLAYER.COM VOLUME 34 / ISSUE 17

034_S&A.indd 40 7/22/21 9:36 AM Schedules FOR COMPLETE TOURNAMENT RESULTS AND LISTINGS, VISIT CARDPLAYER.COM AUG. Aug. 2-29 DeepStack Showdown III Venetian Hotel & Casino • Las Vegas, NV

Aug. 13-31 WPT bestbet Scramble bestbet Jacksonville • Jacksonville, FL

Aug. 30-Sept. 26 DeepStack Extravaganza IV Venetian Hotel & Casino • Las Vegas, NV

SEPT. Sept. 3-19 Commerce Hold’em Series Commerce Casino • Commerce, CA

Sept. 7-19 Poker Masters Aria Resort & Casino • Las Vegas, NV

Sept. 15-28 WPT Maryland Live! Casino & Hotel • Hanover, MD

Sept. 27-29 Super High Roller Bowl Aria Resort & Casino • Las Vegas, NV

Sept. 30-Nov. 23 World Series of Poker Rio All-Suite Hotel & Casino • Las Vegas, NV

NOV. Nov. 18-30 WPT Rock ‘n’ Roll Poker Open Seminole Hard Rock Hotel & Casino • Hollywood, FL

Nov. 19-Dec. 8 World Series of Poker Europe Kings Casino • Rozvadov, Czech Republic

AO-Add On B-Bonus CP-Crazy Pineapple H.O.R.S.E.-Hold’em, Omaha Eight-or-Better, Razz, Seven-Card Stud, Seven-Card Stud Eight- or-Better R.O.S.E.-Razz, Omaha Eight-or-Better, Seven-Card Stud, Seven-Card Stud Eight-or-Better KO- Knock Out or Bounty LH-Limit Hold’em MP-Mexican Poker NLH-No-Limit Hold’em O H/L-Omaha Eight-or-Better PLO-Pot-Limit Omaha RB-Rebuy SH/L-Seven-Card Stud Eight-or-Better SLH-Spread-Limit Hold’em

MONDAY ARIZONA 12:15 p.m. NLH, $125 KO $25 6:00 p.m. NLH, $70 TALKING STICK RESORT - SCOTTSDALE TUESDAY MONDAY 12:15 p.m. NLH, $70 11:15 a.m. NLH, $125 WEDNESDAY TUESDAY 12:15 p.m. NLH, $100 11:15 a.m. NLH, $125 6:00 p.m. NLH, $125 KO $25 7:15 p.m. NLH, $200 THURSDAY WEDNESDAY 12:15 p.m. NLH, $70 11:15 a.m. NLH, $125 6:00 p.m. NLH, $100 7:15 p.m. NLH, $145 FRIDAY THURSDAY 12:15 p.m. NLH, $125 11:15 a.m. NLH, $125 6:00 p.m. NLH, $40 AO $20 7:15 p.m. NLH, $145 SATURDAY FRIDAY 12:15 p.m. NLH, $250 KO $50 11:15 a.m. NLH, $125 6:00 p.m. NLH, $100 7:15 p.m. NLH, $200 SATURDAY MARYLAND 10:15 a.m. NLH, $200 SUNDAY MGM NATIONAL HARBOR - OXON HILL 10:15 a.m. NLH, $200 MONDAY 11:15 a.m. NLH, $140 ($5K Guarantee) TUESDAY CALIFORNIA 11:15 a.m. NLH, $165 KO $25 ($5K Guarantee) WEDNESDAY COMMERCE CASINO - COMMERCE 11:15 a.m. NLH, $140 ($5K Guarantee) MONDAY-THURSDAY THURSDAY 5:00 p.m. NLH, $125 AO $100 11:15 a.m. NLH, $140 ($5K Guarantee) FRIDAY-SUNDAY SUNDAY 1:00 p.m. NLH, $125 AO $100 11:15 a.m. NLH, $360 ($10K Guarantee) NEVADA OCEAN’S ELEVEN - OCEANSIDE DAILY SAHARA - LAS VEGAS 10:00 a.m. NLH, $75 AO $5 DAILY 1:00 p.m. NLH, $60 RB $20 AO $20 ($500 Guarantee) FLORIDA 7:00 p.m. NLH, $60 RB $20 AO $20 ($750 Guarantee) WEDNESDAY BESTBET - JACKSONVILLE 1:00 p.m. O H/L / SH/L, $60 ($500 Guarantee) MONDAY SATURDAY 7:00 p.m. NLH, $60 1:00 p.m. NLH, $100 RB $50 AO $50 ($3K Guarantee) WEDNESDAY 12:00 p.m. NLH, $60 FRIDAY NORTH CAROLINA 12:00 p.m. NLH, $160 SUNDAY HARRAH’S - CHEROKEE 12:00 p.m. NLH, $160 MONDAY-THURSDAY 7:00 p.m. NLH, $140 PALM BEACH KENNEL CLUB - W. PALM BEACH

041_Schedules.indd 41 7/22/21 9:36 AM Poker Leaderboards

MOST FINAL TABLES MADE IN A SINGLE YEAR

Player (Year) POY-Qualified Final Tables

Jake Schindler (2018) 31 Cary Katz (2019), David Peters (2018), Rainer Kempe (2018), Sam Soverel (2019), 26 Stephen Chidwick (2018), Bryn Kenney (2017), Justin Bonomo (2018) 23

Adrian Mateos (2017), David Peters (2016), Stephen Chidwick (2019) 22

Ali Imsirovic (2019), Adrian Mateos (2018), Cary Katz (2018) 21

Alex Foxen (2019) 20

By mid-July, Ali Imsirovic already made 17 final tables in events that qualified for Card Player Player of the Year rankings points. His nearest competitor, Tuan Mai, has 14 final tables, and there are only seven other players who have even gotten to double digits. In the history of the POY race, there have been just 11 players that have made 20 or more POY-qualified final tables in the course of a single year. Imsirovic is already among those 11 players, having made 21 final tables in 2019. This year, the 26-year-old is currently on pace to make just over 32 final tables. If he were to do so, he would break the record set by Jake Schindler, who made 31 final tables in 2018 and went on to win the Player of the Year award. He would also join the list of four players who have managed to make 20 or more qualified final tables twice. David Peters accomplished the feat in 2016 and 2018, Cary Katz in 2018 and 2019, Stephen Chidwick in 2018 and 2019, and Adrian Mateos in 2017 and 2018. From that list, all but Mateos got to a peak of 26 final-table finishes. 2016 was the first year that any player managed to make 20 or more qualified final tables since the POY race was founded in 1997. Peters was the first player to do so that year, making 22 final tables in the span of 12 months. The proliferation of smaller field, high-stakes events over the past decade has seen the players at the top of the game reach an unprecedented amount of final tables. No player was able to get to 20 in 2020, however, with the live tournament circuit having been shut down for the majority of the year due to the COVID-19 pandemic. Discounting that, each and every POY award winner from 2016 forward had made at least 22 final tables. That trend now seems likely to resume in 2021.

42 CARDPLAYER.COM VOLUME 34 / ISSUE 17

042_Leaderboard.indd 42 7/22/21 9:38 AM PLAYER_17_OceansEleven_FP.indd 3 7/19/21 3:57 PM PLAYER_16_TheBike_FP.indd 3 7/7/21 8:25 AM