Antoni Esfandiari, Forme N . 1 a -Time Money Leade with $27.8 Mi
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www.CardPlayer.com Vol. 33/No. 8 April 8, 2020 Properly Adjusting For Bounty Tournaments Casino Claims No Foul Play In Poker Cheating Scandal This Week's Big Winner: Eric Afriat Wins Fallsview Poker Classic For His Third World Poker Tour Title Antoni Esfandiari, Forme N. 1 A -Time Money Leade With $27.8 Mi ion In Wi ing, Talk About Hi Legacy PLAYER_33_08_Cover.indd 1 4/1/20 7:31 PM PLAYER_08_GlobalPoker_DT.indd 2 3/24/20 12:45 PM PLAYER_08_GlobalPoker_DT.indd 3 3/24/20 12:45 PM SIGN UP AND LEARN FOR FREE Graduate your game with the CP POKER SCHOOL Ten Comprehensive Poker Courses On Beginner and Advanced Topics Hundreds of Free Articles and Videos On Winning Poker Strategy Learn At Your Own Pace Exclusive Partner Offer Enroll Now IT’S FREE! www.cardplayerpokerschool.com CP_PokerSchool_1_FP.indd 1 4/8/20 10:07 AM PLAYER_08_Bike_FP.indd 3 3/24/20 12:44 PM Masthead - Card Player Vol. 33/No. 8 PUBLISHERS Barry Shulman | Jeff Shulman ASSOCIATE PUBLISHER Justin Marchand Editorial Corporate Office MANAGING EDITOR Julio Rodriguez 6940 O’Bannon Drive TOURNAMENT CONTENT MANAGER Erik Fast Las Vegas, Nevada 89117 ONLINE CONTENT MANAGER Steve Schult (702) 871-1720 Art [email protected] ART DIRECTOR Wendy McIntosh Subscriptions/Renewals 1-866-LVPOKER Website And Internet Services (1-866-587-6537) CHIEF TECHNOLOGY OFFICER Jaran Hardman PO Box 434 DATA COORDINATOR Morgan Young Congers, NY 10920-0434 Sales [email protected] ADVERTISING MANAGER Mary Hurbi Advertising Information NATIONAL SALES MANAGER Barbara Rogers [email protected] LAS VEGAS AND COLORADO SALES REPRESENTATIVE (702) 856-2206 Rich Korbin Distribution Information cardplayer Media LLC [email protected] CHAIRMAN AND CEO Barry Shulman PRESIDENT AND COO Jeff Shulman Results GENERAL COUNSEL Allyn Jaffrey Shulman [email protected] CHIEF MEDIA OFFICER Justin Marchand VP INTL. 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Published and printed in the United States. 6 CARDPLAYER.COM FOLLOW US ON TWITTER CardPlayerMedia 004_Masthead.indd 6 3/24/20 10:44 AM PLAYER_08_OceansEleven_FP.indd 3 3/24/20 12:46 PM Table of Contents - Card Player Vol. 33/No. 8 26 18 24 Features Strategies, Analysis Also In this Issue 26 & Commentary 4 Former No. 1 All-Time Money List Leader 30 About Us Antonio Esfandiari Gets His Priorities Properly Adjusting For Bounty 40 Straight Tournaments Tournament Schedules By Julio Rodriguez By Greg Raymer 46 31 Poker Leaderboards The Inside Straight How to Win More Money Playing Live 10 Poker: Four Game-Changing Strategies By Evan Jarvis Poker News Recap Tournament 16 32 Hand Matchups Music At The Poker Table Player Of The Year Update 34 By Jonathan Little Phil Ivey vs. Ivan Leow vs. Ben Heath 18 33 Table Talk: David Jackson Discusses His 35 Deuce to Seven Triple Draw Lowball: Best Year Ever On The Live Tournament Power Ratings for Two-Card Draws Phil Ivey vs. Sam Trickett Circuit By Kevin Haney 36 By Erik Fast Ivan Leow vs. Tim Adams 24 38 This Week’s Big Winner: Eric Afriat Wins Fallsview Poker Classic Ivan Leow vs. Sam Trickett For His Third World Poker Tour Title By Card Player News Team 8 CARDPLAYER.COM FOLLOW US ON TWITTER CardPlayerMedia 008_TOC.indd 8 4/1/20 7:25 PM PLAYER_08_Coushatta_FP.indd 3 3/24/20 12:44 PM THE INSIDE STRAIGHT the INSIDE STRAIGHT News, Reviews, and Interviews From Around the Poker World CASINO CLAIMS NO FOUL PLAY IN POKER CHEATING SCANDAL Legal Team For Casino Filed Motion To Dismiss The $30 Million Lawsuit Over Possibly Compromised Live-Streamed Cash Games By Steve Schult Stones Gambling Hall doesn’t think highly of the poker community’s intelligence. While the poker world overwhelmingly believes that Mike Postle cheated others out of their money on live- streamed cash games at the Sacramento-area cardroom, the room itself said that there was no wrongdoing. e Sacramento Bee fi rst reported that Kings Casino LLC, owner of Stones Gambling Hall, submitted a motion to dismiss the $30 million lawsuit against Kings Casino, Mike Postle and Stones’ Tournament Director Justin Kuratis, who was in charge of the live stream. “ is lawsuit refl ects the oldest complaints of gam- blers – that their lack of success means they were cheat- ed,” read the fi ling. Stones’ lawyers are asking for a hearing on April 16 to “This lawsuit reflects hear arguments on their motion to dismiss the case. e casino’s legal team stated that under California law, dam- the oldest complaints ages are not awarded for gambling losses. In 2018 and 2019, Postle had won roughly $250,000 of gamblers – that their in mostly $1-$3 no-limit hold’em cash games on Stones Live Poker. After more than a year of almost exclusively lack of success means winning sessions on the stream, former Stones Live com- mentator Veronica Brill made her cheating concerns they were cheated,” public. According to an October interview with Brill, she had read the filing. initially brought up her concerns privately to Kuraitis. Kuraitis assured her that there was no cheating involved and that an internal investigation cleared Postle of any ducted. suspected foul play. In a statement, Stones once again said that it found When she made her concerns public, however, Stones no cheating. announced publicly that it would run a third-party inves- “We have found no evidence that indicates there was tigation. e last tweet from Stones Gambling Hall was cheating in the games in question,” it read. “Stones is on Nov. 8, 2019, that said it would be shutting down its confi dent that it will prevail in this unwarranted lawsuit.” streaming operations while the investigation was con- Brill’s allegations sparked the dissection of hundreds Sign Up For Card Player’s Free Poker School. Review Hundreds of Articles and Videos On Winning Poker Strategy. www.CardPlayerPokerSchool.com 10 CARDPLAYER.COM FOLLOW US ON TWITTER CardPlayerMedia 010_News.indd 10 4/1/20 7:18 PM THE INSIDE STRAIGHT of hours of Postle’s live-streamed play by some of poker’s Card Player reached out to Stones Gambling Hall best players and brightest minds. After seeing Postle’s and they would not comment on the status of Kuraitis’ ability to nearly always make the right decision on every employment with the company. street combined, his astronomically high win-rate and his According to court documents, Postle is representing unorthodox strategy, the consensus from several high- himself in the matter, confirming what Mac Verstandig, stakes pros was that he was cheating. the lawyer for the numerous plaintiffs, suspected when Even though several top pros, including Scott Seiver, he was having trouble serving Postle legal notice of the Matt Berkey, and Doug Polk, believed he cheated, there suit earlier this year. Postle has until March 24 to file his was still a question of how, which wasn’t as easy to pin response to the lawsuit. down. Diving further into the filing by Stones, it is clear ere were several theories floated around, including that while they are claiming that there was no cheating, the hole cards being streamed right to his phone or that the property is doing its best to distance itself from the he was receiving information from a bone conduction accused cheater. headphone located in his hat. Both of these theories were “Stones had no stake in who won money or lost money supported by video footage of Postle on stream constantly in the poker games,” the motion stated. “All Stones did looking at his phone located in his lap or the appearance was provide a venue for the poker game. of a bulky device located in his hat that he would con- “Plaintiffs do not allege that Stones benefited from Mr. stantly touch during tough decisions. Postle’s alleged cheating. No ill-gotten profits or sinister Since Kuraitis vehemently defended Postle to Brill motivations are imputed to Stones. Plaintiffs even tacitly and others in the community, it was widely believed that concede that cheating by players harms Stones’ business Kuraitis was the one behind the scenes that helped Postle and reputation. It is confounding that Plaintiffs now sue cheat. After the allegations went public, Kuraitis made his Stones rather than seeking its assistance in their shared Twitter account private and has been silent on the issue. goal of preventing cheating in poker.” m DETROIT CASINOS LAUNCH MICHIGAN SPORTS BETTING By Steve Schult ree Detroit casinos launched sportsbooks March 11, Despite the quick turnaround for brick-and-mortar marking the first time those in Michigan will be able to establishments to offer sports betting, online betting won’t legally place a wager on a sporting event inside state lines.