Doug Polk Defeats Daniel Negreanu in High-Stakes Heads-Up Grudge Match Polk Wins $1.2 Million As Two Rivals Settle Seven-Year Feud

www.CardPlayer.com Vol. 34/No. 7 March 24, 2021

Byran Pellegrino Explains How Artificial Intelligence Helped Team Polk Win

Ankush Mandavia Wins Card Player Poker Tour Venetian Main Event

Poker Strategy: Training Your Mind To Withstand Variance

DOUG POLK DEFEATS DANIEL NEGREANU IN HIGH-STAKES HEADS-UP GRUDGE MATCH POLK WINS $1.2 MILLION AS TWO RIVALS SETTLE SEVEN-YEAR FEUD

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004_MastheadB.indd 4 3/4/21 11:43 AM High-Five-Cardplayer_Ad.indd 3 3/2/21 5:24 PM Table of Contents - Card Player Vol. 34/No. 7 20 12

Features Strategies, Analysis Also In this Issue 20 & Commentary 4 Doug Polk Defeats Daniel Negreanu In 28 About Us High-Stakes Heads-Up Grudge Match The Super Bowl and Game Selection 36 By Steve Schult By Gavin Griffin Tournament Schedules 29 38 The Inside Straight Three Tips For Crushing Live Poker Poker Leaderboards 8 By Jonathan Little Poker News Recap 30 Tournament 12 Pandemic Poker Adjustments Ankush Mandavia Wins 2021 Card Player By Alan Schoonmaker Hand Matchups Poker Tour Venetian $2,500 Main Event 32 31 By Erik Fast Contracts and Poker: Ambiguity Adrian Mateos vs. Damian Salas 14 By Scott J. Burnham 33 Player Of The Year Update 33 Damian Salas vs. Bert Stevens By Erik Fast Behavior At The Table: Part 4 34 By Greg Raymer 16 Bert Stevens vs. Sami Kelopuro Head Games: Training Your Mind To Withstand Variance 35 By Craig Tapscott Sami Kelopuro vs. Damian Salas 24 Team Polk’s Bryan Pellegrino Talks About His AI Research And How It Helped Formulate Strategies To Win $1.2 Million By Steve Schult Cover ©VPokerGO Cover

6 CARDPLAYER.COM VOLUME 34 / ISSUE 7

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CP_Sub_25_FT.indd 2 3/2/21 5:25 PM THE INSIDE STRAIGHT

the INSIDE STRAIGHT News, Reviews, and Interviews From Around the Poker World

POKER LEGENDS PHIL HELLMUTH AND DANIEL NEGREANU WILL PLAY HIGH-STAKES HEADS-UP MATCH By Steve Schult

Negreanu publicly challenged Hellmuth to a heads-up match short- ly after the interview was released. e Canadian pro said that he would play any stakes and seemingly any format. “Yo Phil Hellmuth, you said you watched ‘zero’ of the match but seem to have strong opinions on the play,” said Negreanu. “I’ll play you a heads- up match live, online, at any stakes you feel comfortable with for as many hands as you would like. Wanna play, big guy?” e tweet seemed to imply a set number of hands in a cash game for- aniel Negreanu’s heads- reported $20,000 to Polk, getting 4:1 mat, but the format on High Stakes up match with Doug Polk on Negreanu to win. Duel is structured as a live heads-up is over (check out this “I was disappointed in the way sit-n-go format, which is drastically issue’s cover story), but that Daniel played,” Hellmuth said. diff erent than what Negreanu just he’sD already got a second high-profi le “But I know his coaches. His coaches spent months playing. But it looks battle lined up. are brilliant. Everything that I had like the two will play regardless. Negreanu is set to take on talked about with his coaches… you During Negreanu’s match with 15-time World Series of Poker bracelet see, I talked to these guys for a couple Polk, Polk was considered the mas- winner Phil Hellmuth on PokerGO’s of hours and I loved the way they sive favorite. Most betting markets High Stakes Duel, according to a thought about no-limit [hold’em].” had him as at least a 4:1 favorite. In social media post from Hellmuth. He went on to admit that he Negreanu’s match with Hellmuth, “Looks like they are bringing me thought Negreanu should’ve coun- however, the tables have turned and the great Daniel Negreanu, the guy tered Polk with a diff erent strategy. it’s the Canadian pro that is the get- that studied heads-up for months “I was betting on Daniel’s talent,” ting the nod in the early markets. with coaches I respect,” tweeted said Hellmuth. “I think if Daniel is According to online sportsbook Hellmuth. “So be it. It will be a great going to try to play Doug playing BetOnline, Negreanu is a 2.5:1 favor- challenge for me.” pure GTO [game theory optimal] ite as they are setting the moneyline Despite some kind words in his or next-level GTO, then I think that at -250. tweet, the fuel for the match started Doug has a lot of fi re, so Daniel is Hellmuth played this format last after Hellmuth criticized Negreanu’s going to fi ght fi re with fi re. And I year and defeated Antonio Esfandiari play against Polk while being inter- think Daniel should’ve fought fi re in three straight matches, winning viewed on PokerGO. Hellmuth lost a with Daniel.” $400,000 in the process. m

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8 CARDPLAYER.COM VOLUME 34 / ISSUE 7

008_News.indd 8 3/4/21 7:58 AM THE INSIDE STRAIGHT

FULL TILT POKER OFFICIALLY SHUTDOWN BY POKERSTARS By Steve Schult

e Full Tilt Poker brand is officially called the site a “global ponzi scheme.” extinct. Poker Hall of Fame nominee Isai According to an announcement by Scheinberg, who owned PokerStars during PokerStars, the company officially closed the U.S. federal government’s attack on both desktop and mobile applications for online poker, worked out a deal with the the poker site on Feb. 25 and all account feds to acquire the company and its soft- information and balances have been moved ware for $547 million. to the corresponding PokerStars account. As part of the deal, PokerStars would During the poker boom, Full Tilt Poker repay all of the U.S. players who weren’t emerged as one of the largest online poker paid back by the previous owners. At the sites in the world. It was neck-and-neck with time of the deal, both PokerStars and Full PokerStars as the largest site on the planet. It Phil Ivey Wearing Tilt were not allowed to enter the U.S. was home of the “Rail Heaven” cash games, Full Tilt Gear In 2006 market. U.S. players were paid towards the a $500-$1,000 no-limit hold’em game that end of 2014, but the resentment towards the featured nosebleed legends like Tom Dwan and Phil Galfond site’s former owners remains to this day. regularly playing for six-figure and sometimes seven-figure PokerStars owned both companies and kept them as pots. separate platforms until 2016, when all active accounts on Full Its roster of sponsored pros were some of the most highly Tilt Poker would be merged with a corresponding PokerStars regarded players in the world at the time, including Phil Ivey, account. But now, five years later, e Stars Group, which is Gus Hansen, Howard Lederer, Chris Ferguson, Jennifer owned by Flutter, has decided to shut the site down for good Harman, and Erick Lindgren, among others. and cease all operations regarding Full Tilt. But in the wake of Black Friday, it was revealed that the e Stars Group has access to the U.S. market in New company was insolvent and couldn’t pay back its players’ Jersey, Pennsylvania, and Michigan, but the Full Tilt Poker account balances. e U.S. Department of Justice infamously platform was never re-integrated into the country. m CASINO OWNER AND HIGH-STAKES POKER PLAYER LARRY FLYNT PASSES AWAY AT THE AGE OF 78 By Erik Fast

Adult entertainment magnate Larry Gwinnett County Courthouse in Flynt has passed away at the age of 78, Georgia during one of his legal battles, reportedly from heart failure. Flynt is and was left partially paralyzed due to best known as the founder of Hustler, spinal cord damage. a pornographic magazine he started in In 2000 Flynt opened the Hustler 1974, and owner of the Hustler Casino Casino in Gardena, just outside of Los in Gardena. Angeles. Flynt was an avid poker player Flynt’s career in the adult entertain- for much of his life, having learned the ment industry began with the opening game when he was “ten or eleven.” In of several strip clubs in Ohio in the the late ’90s he started a high-stakes early ’70s, which he called Hustler seven-card stud game at his home, Clubs. When revenues from the clubs which was later moved to his casino. declined, he decided to pivot into pub- Over the years poker legends like lishing with Hustler magazine. e por- Phil Ivey, Barry Greenstein, Chip nographic content in the magazine was Reese, Doyle Brunson, Ted Forrest, often more explicit than other offerings John Hennigan, and many others have that rush. You’ve got to be playing at the time, which drew both publicity had taken part in this massive game for something that’s important. I think and controversy. As a result, Flynt was where the stakes played were as high that a thing that’s given me an edge is often credited as a champion of First as $4,000–$8,000 with a minimum that I’m fortunate to have money, so if Amendment rights. $200,000 buy-in. I lose $200,000 or $300,000 in a night, e creation of his publishing In 2008, Card Player was granted it wouldn’t mean anything to me.” empire and the resulting legal issues behind-the-scenes access to the game Although he was banned from the were chronicled in the 1996 film e and filmed a video that included an summer series for some time by Jack People vs. Larry Flynt, starring Woody interview with Flynt. Binion, Flynt had one World Series of Harrelson as Flynt. “I could never play a slot machine or Poker cash on his tournament résumé, e former Presidential candi- $10 blackjack,” said Flynt in regards to finishing eighth in the 2000 $5,000 date was shot in 1978 outside of the why he likes to play so high. “You got to stud event. m

008_News.indd 9 3/4/21 7:58 AM THE INSIDE STRAIGHT - News, reviews, and interviews from around the poker world

Connecticut Governor Has Tax Revenue From Online Gambling In Budget Proposal By Steve Schult

ast December, a Connecticut lawmaker said Mashantucket Pequot Tribe, which runs Foxwoods Resort that “you can bet on” sports betting becoming a Casino and the Mohegan Tribe, which is in charge of legal activity in 2021. In February, the state’s gov- Mohegan Sun. Currently, nearly all forms of gambling, ernor echoed those sentiments and made it seem outside of the lottery and off-track betting, runs through likeL all forms of online gambling would be legal as well. those two tribes. Gov. Ned Lamont released his two-year state budget e pandemic has hurt the brick-and-mortar revenue in February and allotted $47.3 million in tax revenue of those two tribes’ casinos, which in turn has put a dent from the second year of expanded gambling, according to in the state coffers. Connecticut is facing a $1 billion defi- a report from the Hartford Courant. cit at the time of Lamont’s budget proposal. Based on comments made by Lamont at the time of Lamont made comments in December that seemed the release of his budget proposal, it appears expanded like he was ready for Connecticut to mirror the models in gambling includes both retail and online sports betting, place in New Jersey and Pennsylvania. as well as online casino gaming. “If we found out anything in the course of this hor- “Our neighboring states are moving forward with rible COVID cycle, more and more of the world is going sports betting and iGaming, and Connecticut should not virtual,” said Lamont at the end of last year. “More and leave these opportunities for other states to benefit from more of the world is going online. That’s tele-health and our inaction,” said Lamont. “My administration has been tele-learning, but it’s also iGaming and sports betting. in active negotiations with our tribal partners to bring the And I don’t think you want Connecticut left behind.” state’s gaming economy into the digital age. And I am With any proposed gambling expansion, those two enti- submitting legislation which reflects what I believe to be ties will be at the center of the negotiations. e Hartford the best bet in ending this stalemate of inaction in a way Courant’s report says that the governor and the tribes have which is in the best interest of the entire state.” been in “long-running talks” about whether the tribes will Both Rhode Island and New Hampshire already have exclusive rights, like they currently do, for any form offer online and brick-and-mortar sports betting, and of gambling expansion. New York seems set to expand its sports betting market Foxwoods announced a partnership with daily fan- after recent comments made by Gov. Andrew Cuomo. tasy sports giant DraftKings at the end of 2020, which Pennsylvania has also seen increased revenues after legal- gives the Boston-based online sportsbook a track to the izing all forms of online gambling. Connecticut market regardless of any pending agree- e tribal partners Lamont was referring to are the ments. m AUSTRALIAN REGULATORS SAY CROWN CASINO IS UNFIT TO HOLD GAMING LICENSE By Steve Schult

Australian gaming regulators said that Crown Resorts, to the risk of detention in a owners of one of the country’s largest casinos and the larg- foreign jurisdiction and pursu- est in Sydney, is unfit to hold a gaming license, according ing commercial relationships to a Reuters report. with individuals” connected to e statement was released after regulators found “wide- criminal groups. Bergen recom- spread money laundering and governance issues.” Crown mended the audit process that is currently underway. is now undergoing an audit with the authorities to fix the In 2017, three executives of the company did jail time problems if the company is going to keep its license and in China for promoting casino gambling abroad, which is continue doing business. e review began after the allega- illegal under Chinese law. tions surfaced last December. In addition to Barton’s resignation, three other direc- According to a Business Insider report, CEO Ken Barton tors have resigned. Barton will leave the company with stepped down after an investigation found that the casino about $1.08 million in company stock, his $3.3 million was allowing Chinese high rollers associated with orga- annual salary for 2021, and 11.5 million stock options, nized crime to launder money through its casino. which carry an exercise price of $8.89. If those options In the report, commissioner Patricia Bergen said that are exercised, Barton could leave the company with about Crown was “facilitating money laundering, exposing staff $60 million. m

10 CARDPLAYER.COM VOLUME 34 / ISSUE 7

008_News.indd 10 3/4/21 7:58 AM THE INSIDE STRAIGHT NEVADA GOVERNOR RELAXES CASINO CAPACITY RESTRICTIONS By Steve Schult

Nevada Gov. Steve Sisolak relaxed coronavirus-induced restrictions on his state’s casinos in mid-February, while laying out a time frame for further reductions. Sisolak announced that starting Feb. 15, casinos would be allowed to operate at 35 percent capacity, a 10 percent increase from what the after it fi nished the year with a more will begin in March as the government properties were previously allowed. than 50 percent decline in December. begins a serious decline in restrictions. at number will jump to 50 percent ousands of jobs were lost and the “March may hopefully begin to March 15. Las Vegas unemployment rate current- feel like October if we’re lucky,” said At the start of May, casinos will be ly sits at 10.4 percent, which is well Hornbuckle in an earnings call. “I’m permitted to operate at full capacity, at above the 6.3 percent national average. hoping by the end of spring, as we go which point nightclubs and day clubs As travelers regain confi dence and into June, we’ll see yet another signifi - will be allowed to reopen. the city begins to re-establish itself as cant rollback as we get ready for events.” Since the COVID-19 pandemic a global tourist destination as opposed Last March, Sisolak, like most took hold in the U.S., the Las Vegas to a regional gaming hub, these num- other governors around the country, economy has suff ered greatly. Las bers should rebound. shuttered his state’s brick-and-mortar Vegas Strip casinos, which rely heavily According to a report from Yahoo! casino market. He allowed it to reopen on tourism, saw a 43.3 percent decline Finance, MGM Resorts CEO Bill nearly three months later in early June in gaming revenue throughout 2020 Hornbuckle believes that this rebound with heavy restrictions in place. m

008_News.indd 11 3/4/21 7:58 AM ANKUSH MANDAVIA WINS 2021 CARD PLAYER POKER TOUR VENETIAN $2,500 MAIN EVENT By Erik Fast

e 2021 Card Player Poker Tour Venetian $2,500 buy-in Ankush Mandavia no-limit hold’em main event attracted a field of 652 total entries, blowing away and nearly tripling the $500,000 guarantee to create a final prize pool of $1,467,000. e event ran from Feb.19-22, and when the dust settled it was 33-year-old poker pro Ankush Mandavia who emerged victorious with the title and the first-place prize of $260,000. “It’s amazing. is is actually my first tournament back,” said Mandavia, pointing out the long layoff between live events. “When I went to register and got a player’s card, they told me it had been exactly one year since I last played here. at’s kind of crazy, but it feels good.” is was the fifth-largest score of the World Series of Poker bracelet winner’s career, and it brought his lifetime earnings to just shy of $5.4 million. Here is a look back at how this event unfolded. Starting Flights Draw Huge Numbers It didn’t take long for the prize pool guarantee to be sur- passed, as 249 entries were made in the first starting flight with pocket queens against the A-K of 32nd-place finisher alone. at meant that the prize pool had already grown Manuel Labandeira. to $560,250, with registration and re-entry still available Deciding A Champion to players for the entirety of day 1B and the early levels of e action was fast and furious during the early levels day 2. of the final day, with 17 eliminations in the first four hours Ali Imsirovic bagged up the biggest stack among the 86 after cards got back in the air. Among those who were elimi- players to make it through day 1A. e high-roller tourna- nated during the chaos were Justin Lapka (25th – $9,682), ment regular with more than $9.4 million in career tourna- Scott Stewart (24th – $11,589), Frank Marasco (23rd – ment earnings ended with 484,500 in chips, which was good $11,589), Jordan Cristos (19th – $11,589), TK Miles (17th for a whopping 242 big blinds when action resumed. Day 1B – $11,589), Stanley Lee (13th – $16,137), and start-of-day drew another 310 entries to bring the total for the tourna- chip leader James Anderson (11th – $19,071). ment up to 559. After 12 levels of action, just 110 players By the time the official eight-handed final table was set, made it through the day. Karapet Galstyan bagged up the Tim Capretta had worked his way into the chip lead, with largest stack, ending the night with 392,000. Ankush Mandavia sitting on the next-largest stack. Kristen Day 2 saw registration officially close for the event, with Bicknell and her boyfriend, Alex Foxen, both made the final 93 entries made during the early levels of the day to bring table as well. the final total to 652. e $1,467,000 prize pool was paid out e poker power couple have amassed plenty of accolades among the top 72 finishers. during their poker careers, including winning back-to-back Setting Up The Final Day GPI Player of the Year and Female Player of the Year awards e money bubble officially burst when TK Miles cracked in 2018 and 2019. (Bicknell won it in 2017 as well.) Foxen the pockets queens of an opponent holding A-J. With that, has a World Poker Tour title under his belt, taking down the remaining 72 players all ensured themselves at least a the Five Diamond World Poker Classic main event in 2019. $5,135 payday in this event. e final few levels of the night Bicknell, a former SuperNova Elite online player, has won saw a flurry of bustouts, with plenty of highly accomplished three World Series of Poker bracelets. players hitting the rail as the field was narrowed down to Bicknell and Foxen are no strangers to playing against just 27 players. Notables who were eliminated after mak- each other, and in fact, this was not the first time the pair ing the money included 2020 WSOP $10,000 main event made a final table together at the Venetian. In 2018, they ‘Domestic Tournament’ champion Joseph Hebert (69th ruffled some feathers in the poker community by making – $5,135), bracelet winner Erik Cajelais (64th – $5,575), the final table of a $5,000 buy-in MSPT event together, Shannon Shorr (55th – $6,015), start-of-day chip leader Ali ultimately finishing in first and second for a combined total Imsirovic (48th – $6,748), bracelet winner Joseph Cheong of $439,000. (42nd – $6,748), Tim Reilly (36th – $8,069), and Mid-States Qing Liu was the first to be eliminated at the final Poker Tour Venetian champion Korey Payne (33rd – $8,069). table, taken out on a bad beat when his pocket aces were WSOP bracelet winner James Anderson held the chip cracked by Bicknell’s pocket jacks. Liu earned $24,939 while lead among the final 27. e 2019 Little One For One Drop Bicknell climbed into the middle of the pack. Seven-handed event champion bagged up a massive stack of 3,256,000, action continued for quite a while, with multiple short-stack having added to his already sizable stack during the final double-ups along the way. Mandavia overtook the lead few hands of the night by winning a massive preflop race during this stretch, winning a massive pot with a flopped

12 CARDPLAYER.COM VOLUME 34 / ISSUE 7

012_CPPT_Venetian.indd 12 3/4/21 7:58 AM Kristen Bicknell Alex Foxen got all-in with pocket fives racing against the Ap Kp of Anselmo Villarreal. e flop brought a king, and Villarreal sent Bicknell home with $90,954 for her latest deep run, bringing her career tournament earnings to $5.5 million. Mandavia picked off a multi-street bluff from Villarreal to regain the lead during three-handed action. Villarreal was left quite short but doubled through Capretta to regain his footing. Not long after that hand, the two clashed again. With the flop showing An Ao 9n, Capretta bet and Villarreal called. e turn brought the 3m, and Capretta moved all-in. Villarreal made the call, having his opponent covered by a single 25,000 tournament chip. Villareal showed a nine for aces and nines, and it was enough as Capretta had been making a move with Ko 10p. e river brought the 3o and Capretta was knocked out in third place, earning $132,030. With that, Villarreal entered heads-up play with 13,855,000 to Mandavia’s 12,225,000. e two paused the action to discuss a deal. ey ultimately agreed to redistrib- straight against the turned set of Capretta. ute the remaining prize pool, with the more-experienced Yosif Nawabi’s run in this event came to an end when Mandavia taking home $260,000 while Villarreal would his Am 9m ran into Foxen’s pocket queens. is came just earn $253,441. e two agreed to run a flip for the title, and moments after Foxen had spiked a gutshot to double up Mandavia’s 10p 8p beat out Villarreal’s Am 3p. e board through Nawabi. Nawabi earned $35,208 for seventh place. came down Qp 7n 3o 8m 10n to give Mandavia two pair Foxen was the short stack when the next key hand arose. for the win. Foxen raised as the first to act, and Capretta called from In addition to the title and the money, Mandavia also the hijack. e flop brought the 10o 8o 2n. Foxen shoved earned 1,260 Card Player Player of the Year points. is was for 550,000 and Capretta called with Ap Jo. Foxen rolled his first cash of the year, but it alone was enough to catapult over the Jm 8p for a leading pair of eights. e 10p on the him into fourth place in the 2021 POY race, which is spon- turn kept him ahead, but the Ao on the river gave Capretta sored by Global Poker. the winning hand. Foxen earned $45,477 for his sixth-place Here is a look at the payouts and POY points awarded showing. e score increased his career earnings to $17 at the final table: million. Place Player Earnings POY Points A preflop race determined the next player to be eliminated. Derek Gregory called all-in from the big blind fac- 1 Ankush Mandavia $260,000 1,260 ing a shove from Bicknell out of the small blind. Gregory 2 Anselmo Villarreal $253,441 1,050 held the Qo Jp, while Bicknell had 3m 3o. Gregory failed 3 Tim Capretta $132,030 840 to improve and was knocked out in fifth place to bank $60,147. 4 Kristen Bicknell $90,954 630 Bicknell climbed into the chip lead early in four-handed 5 Derek Gregory $60,147 525 action, while Mandavia had fallen to the bottom of the leaderboard. He found a double-up with pocket eights against 6 Alex Foxen $45,477 420 Bicknell’s A-7 offsuit to give himself some breathing room. 7 Yosif Nawabi $35,208 315 Bicknell, on the other hand, continued to see her stack 8 Qing Liu $24,939 210 dwindle as short-handed action continued. In the end, she

DeepStack Extravaganza I Series Attracts Impressive Fields Throughout

The CPPT Venetian main event was the centerpiece of a 35-event tournament series that spanned the month of February. A total of 8,465 entries were made across the 33 non-satellite events on the schedule, with $5,203,973 in total prize money awarded along the way. The series schedule featured something for every tournament player, with a variety of formats, including bounty events, survivor tournaments, multi-day and single-day tournaments. Tournament buy-ins ranged from as low as $200 to as high as the $2,500 buy-in for the CPPT main event. Highlights from the series included: • Blake Whittington won back-to-back events, taking down the $400 buy-in no-limit hold’em MonsterStack kickoff event for $13,000 and then coming out on top in a $600 buy-in MonsterStack event just a day later for another $16,189. • Johnny Oshana earned $130,000 for outlasting a field of 908 entries in the $1,100 buy-in MSPT Poker Bowl event. • WPT main event winner and WSOP bracelet winner Pat Lyons took down a $200 buy-in bounty event for his 12th career tournament victory. • WPT Championship winner Asher Conniff earned his seventh recorded live tournament title by taking down the $800 buy-in no-limit hold’em UltimateStack event, earning $98,669 after overcoming 965 entries, the largest field of the series.

012_CPPT_Venetian.indd 13 3/4/21 7:58 AM THE INSIDE STRAIGHT - Player of the year As of 2-24-2021

Place Player Points Final Tables POY Earnings

1 Ilyas Muradi 1,620 1 $809,515

2 Fernando Rodriguez-Vazquez 1,488 5 $283,293

3 Robel Andemichael 1,350 1 $529,690

4 Ankush Mandavia 1,260 1 $260,000

5 Scott Stewart 1,120 2 $199,167

6 Anselmo Villarreal 1,087 2 $255,941

7 Ronnie Bardah 1,080 1 $566,135

8 James Carroll 960 1 $180,850

9 Johnny Oshana 944 2 $131,868

10 Sung Joo Hyun 912 1 $208,335

11 Tim Capretta 840 1 $132,030

11 Chad Eveslage 840 1 $101,572

13 Nicholas Pupillo 833 3 $85,734

14 Francis Margaglione 810 1 $293,510

15 William Chao 800 1 $135,277

15 Tuan Mai 800 6 $91,832

17 Jordan Cristos 760 1 $119,232

18 Roman Shainiuk 760 1 $144,480

19 Chad Bjorkman 720 1 $101,450

20 Matt Mauldin 700 1 $118,422

ASHER CONNIFF CLIMBS INSIDE THE TOP 30 WITH WIN AT

DEEPSTACK EXTRAVAGANZA Asher Conniff 2015 WPT Championship winner Asher Conniff outlasted a fi eld of 965 entries in the $800 buy-in no-limit hold’em UltimateStack event at the DeepStack Extravaganza. e Brooklyn, New York native took home $98,669 as the champion, and now has more than $2.6 million in recorded live tournament earnings to his name. In addition to the title and the money, Conniff also earned 456 POY points for the win. is was his second POY-qualifi ed fi nal table of the year, having fi nished seventh in a $2,200 buy-in event at the Lucky Hearts Poker Open in January. He now sits in 29th place in the 2021 POY race.

14 CARDPLAYER.COM VOLUME 34 / ISSUE 7

014_POY.indd 14 3/4/21 8:00 AM THE INSIDE STRAIGHT

FERNANDO RODRIGUEZ-VAZQUEZ MAKES HIS FIFTH FINAL TABLE OF 2021

Newark, Delaware’s Fernando Rodriguez-Vazquez has already made fi ve fi nal tables in just the fi rst two months of 2021, winning three titles along the way. Rodriguez-Vazquez has made cashes across a number of casinos in Florida, with $283,293 in year-to-date earnings as a result of his impressive consistency on the felt. e largest of those scores saw him defeat a fi eld of 3,004 entries in a $600 buy-in no-limit hold’em event at the Lucky Hearts Poker Open to earn $205,000 and 600 Card Player Player of the Year points. His most recent POY-qualifi ed score was a runner-up fi nish in a $400 buy-in event at the Tampa Poker Classic series. He placed second from a fi eld of 411 entries, earning 240 points and $12,932. As a result, he sur- Fernando Rodriguez-Vazquez passed Robel Andemichael to move into second place in the 2021 POY race standings.

JOHNNY OSHANA TAKES DOWN MSPT POKER BOWL TO JOIN

THE TOP TEN Johnny Oshana e $1,100 buy-in no-limit hold’em Mid-States Poker Tour Poker Bowl event ran from Feb. 4-6 at Venetian Las Vegas, with the fi nal day of action coinciding with the NFL Super Bowl. e tournament attracted 908 entries across two starting fl ights to build a fi nal prize pool of $880,760. e lion’s share of that money was awarded to eventual champion Johnny Oshana. e San Jose, California resident earned $130,000 and 912 POY points for the win, climbing into ninth place in the overall POY race standings as a result. is was his second POY-qualifi ed fi nal table fi nish of the year, having placed sixth in a $600 buy-in event in January for $1,868 and 32 points. 2013 WPT Legends of Poker main event winner Jordan Cristos fi nished second in the event, cashing for $119,232 to bring his lifetime tournament earnings to $3,069,772. is was his fi rst fi nal-table fi nish of the year, but it alone was enough to see him move into 17th place on the POY leaderboard for the time being.

TUAN MAI JOINS THE TOP 20 WITH SIX FINAL-TABLE FINISHES

Tuan Mai Tuan Mai has made six POY-qualifi ed fi nal tables so far this year, with fi ve of the six scores coming at Venetian Las Vegas. He has accu- mulated $91,832 and 800 POY points along the way, enough to see him move into a tie for 15th place in the overall standings. e two largest scores of Mai’s run came in a pair of runner-up fi nishes made just days apart in late January. He fi rst fi nished second from a fi eld of 454 entries in a $400 buy-in MonsterStack event at the DeepStack Showdown series, earning $25,500 and 240 points. ree days later he managed another second-place showing, navigating a fi eld of 298 entries in a $600 buy-in at the same series to add another $26,386 and 190 points. Mai secured his sixth fi nal table in February during the DeepStack Extravaganza series, placing third in a $400 buy-in event for $7,559 and 77 points to further secure his place in the top 20.

014_POY.indd 15 3/4/21 8:00 AM THE INSIDE STRAIGHT - Head Games HEAD GAMES Training Your Mind To Withstand Variance

By Craig Tapscott

The Pros: Jeff Gross, Kelly Minkin, tables I was playing. with me to play the $10-$20 game. Ryan Fee, and Matt Waxman I saw some key mistakes I would Knowing what I know now, that was Craig Tapscott: Variance and down- never have made when playing a rea- not enough for the low-end of vari- swings will hit every poker player at sonable number of tables. My focus ance. It was a five-day trip, and on one time or another. Can you please was clearly off. I came to a big real- the first day I ended up losing my share a few times you have crashed ization that quality is the answer entire roll after a few bad beats and and burned? And more importantly, over quantity. It sounds simple, but bad plays. I felt sick to my stomach how you recovered to be a better it’s really important. Sometimes tak- and wanted to fly back to Phoenix player? ing a real beating is significant. My early. I took the walk of shame back Jeff Gross: Variance is inevitable if dad always told me, ‘It’s not about to my room, but before I packed my you have played poker for any signifi- what happens, but how you react to bags, I decided to give it another cant period of time. I believe being what happens.’ Great players that are shot. I asked the concierge if I could balanced during the highs and lows is able to take negative experiences and get a ride to the bank, which they one of the most important attributes obtain valuable lessons will experi- politely obliged. I withdrew another to be a successful poker player and ence continued success. $10,000 and went back to the tables withstand the test of time. Kelly Minkin: In 2014, I started determined to make a comeback. I I had a rough patch last making regular trips from Phoenix clawed my way back and ended up in September during the PokerStars to e Commerce Casino in Los the black about $35,000. I kept my WCOOP (World Championship Of Angeles to play high-stakes no-limit head on, played solidly, and ran pure. Online Poker) intensive tourney cash games. I had only been playing From that moment on, the regulars grind. I streamed on Twitch and poker for a couple years, but quickly remembered my name. played long days. One day seemed moved up in stakes as I became a Of course, mentally, the lows of to roll into another, and by the winning player at each level. I built poker take a toll. But being able to end of the series I was burned out. up what I believed at the time was recover from a downswing truly is I had taken a good hit from high- a decent bankroll, and decided that what separates the faint of heart from stakes tournaments and had subpar I wanted to take a shot at the bigger those that can withstand the blows. results. This caused me to really games. It boils down to a positive mindset, take a look at my daily preparation, One of the first trips I made as well as the tools that you learn are as well as to evaluate the number of to Commerce, I brought $10,000 necessary to be a successful player. If

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016_HeadGames.indd 16 3/4/21 8:00 AM THE INSIDE STRAIGHT

it is out of my control, I try to focus Jeff Gross Matt Waxman my energy on what I can control, which is my emotions. It is a skill I am good at, and it goes a long way not only in poker, but in all aspects of life. Ryan Fee: A lot of people treat poker like a sprint, when it’s really a marathon. ere are times when you get really lucky and other times really unlucky. Perhaps you were in a good game and you were clear headed and played well. When good games come up, it’s your responsibility to be in the mix and to wait for perfect spots to happen. Be patient. I’ve definitely been too aggressive in my early years as I developed as a player. One time I was staking some tournament players, which turned out to be a huge mistake. ey were losing consistently, and it was extremely with treating the game like a pro- you deal with the emotional swings demoralizing. en I also went on a fession. Ironically, I didn’t have my of poker? downswing. I did silly stuff like flip- first big breakthrough until I stopped Jeff Gross: Going on tilt is a serious ping and lost a bunch. I was depressed caring about the glory so much and problem. We all tilt in some capacity, and sad for a few weeks and stopped started properly managing a bankroll so minimizing this is the key. On my playing entirely, which was rare for and developing a good work ethic. podcast with Kahle Burns, we dis- me at the time. Tournament poker was great cussed this in depth. He reveals that In the long run, however, it was because it provided the opportunity this is possibly his stoniest attribute. a huge learning period for me. I for a lot of freedom at such a young I also believe I deal with this better slowed down, took a break. I began age, both financially and being able than most, but it’s something I am to seek out the best games for me. to travel. And I could take time off constantly aware of and work on. I do And I learned how valuable it was to whenever I chose to. But such a small my best to get as close to a Zen-like play within my bankroll. And to tell percentage of people who try to make mindset as possible. you the truth, that’s really the secret it as a pro, actually succeed. And Showing mental distress will for success. Be financially responsible worst of all, you have a job where the almost always work against you. If with your roll. It’s a major factor as overwhelming majority of days, you’re you take a two outer with only the you move up in stakes. going home disappointed. river to come and pound the table or Matt Waxman: Luckily this was a ese losses would have such a curse, this shows you are vulnerable lesson I learned at an early age when detrimental impact on my psyche, and can add a bigger target on your it was much easier to recover. I was because my head was filled with back. No one likes to be unlucky or blinded by the lure of being a poker dreams of greatness. It’s almost as if unfortunate, but poker, just like life, superstar like the heroes I watched I thought I was destined to win and is a numbers game. Good things hap- on TV such as Gus Hansen and Phil would just be brutally disappointed pen, and not so good things happen. Ivey. When I was 18, I did well in time and time again after extending One trick I find is to quickly games with high school friends and way too much money to take a shot at think of positive things in your life looked for bigger action out on the a big tournament. e fact of the mat- or even something as cliche as the nightly cruise ship games. Back then ter is you can’t control the outcome of miracle of being born and being alive. Florida land-based casinos didn’t host one tournament, so it’s best to focus inking something like this can any games where you could beat the on the things you can control, like shift your mind and may be the dif- rake. I did well in the $4-$8 limit all understanding the math of the game ference between being predator or summer and was feeling confident, or human psychology behind vari- prey. I have picked this up from so I sat down to play $5-$10 no-limit ous table dynamics. e best player some of the game’s best. e players I with my friend Alex Jacob (Jeopardy! doesn’t win every tournament, they respect the most all seem to have this champion), whom I would drive there just have the best chance of winning trait in common, and that carries over with every night. a tournament. Put in the work, don’t into not telling bad beat stories and My whole roll was about $2,000, overextend yourself, and if you’re a constantly complaining. and I lost it all in a big three way all- great player (or a lucky one), you’ll Kelly Minkin: I often get compli- in. Another time, I bought into the end up successful. mented at the table on how well I L.A. Poker Classic with about 75% Craig Tapscott: Going on tilt and handle bad beats in high equity spots. of my net worth for $10,000 and letting a bad beat or bad decision at It is one of the reasons, I believe, that bluffed off most of my stack at level the table affect you can ruin your I have an edge against the average two. e problem was that I was too chances of going deep in a tourna- player. e reality is most people are interested in proving I was a big deal ment or playing your best in a cash not capable of maintaining compo- in poker, and not concerned enough game. What are some of the ways sure in times where the emotional tilt

016_HeadGames.indd 17 3/4/21 8:00 AM THE INSIDE STRAIGHT - Head Games

ing I’m always present at the table, and there is certainly good reason to think about previous hands played with opponents for reconstructing your strategy, but I know I play my best game when I’m totally in the moment. at’s why the people who are always happiest to be playing, have great results, even if they’re ama- teurs. It is because they’re tapped in. Meanwhile, the player who might have the best fundamentals at the table has their head in their phone and they are leaving lots of value out on the table because they’re simply not interested in what’s going on. If Ryan Fee Kelly Minkin you enjoy the process (not just with poker), you will be able to commit a lot more focused energy and be more creeps up on you. Every individual many players in live tournaments lose productive. that plays poker has experienced tilt, a pot and completely self-destruct. but it’s what you do when you feel Tournament success can be like a Jeff Gross is an online ambassador for tilted that matters. If you can recog- roller coaster. You will make some partypoker, and has over $5 million in nize it, acknowledge it, and let it pass, great moves and make some horrid career tournament earnings, which includes then you can defeat the beast that moves. You have to remain focused a runner-up finish in the WPT Montreal main defeats most others. and not let it get the best of you. event. The high-stakes player has built It sounds like an easy solution, As I said in the previous ques- an enormous following for himself, which but it is extremely difficult to for- tion, it comes with playing games includes more than 150,000 viewers and mulate this type of plan and stick you are rolled for. You cannot be listeners across his Twitter, YouTube, and to it when you are in a situation afraid to bust. Instead, you should be Twitch platforms. that elicits that feeling of flushed constantly accessing and reevaluating cheeks and a palpitating heartbeat. where you are at in a hand and mak- Kelly Minkin is a professional poker player When you’re overwhelmed with ing decisions based from that infor- and an attorney at The VerStandig Law emotion, it is a difficult thing to mation. You will be successful if you Firm. The new mom (Congratulations!) twice control. In practice, once you find a can stick to that. But if you start to earned the honor of Last Female Standing solution that works for you, it becomes bitch because you lost a pot, just grow in the WSOP main event, and has over $1.5 possible. My advice to players looking up and act like a professional. No one million in career earnings that includes to overcome tilt is to start with trying wants to hear your bad beat stories. a third-place showing at the WPT Lucky to recognize when you feel tilted and Matt Waxman: Tilt-control was Hearts Poker Open main event. Minkin has be honest with yourself. When I feel one of the toughest obstacles for me been featured on ESPN, Poker Night in tilted to the point of being distracted, to overcome as a player. I’m certainly America, Live At The Bike, and PokerGO. I am disciplined enough to take a a lot more mature and better suited physical break from the game. e to deal with tilt now. An appeal- Ryan Fee started playing online poker in phrase “take a lap” is great advice. ing aspect of tournaments is that high school and worked his way up to Just get up from the game, get some there is a cap on how much you playing the highest stakes cash games and fresh air and allow yourself to recov- can lose in a session. Putting some tournaments. The high roller has recorded er mentally from whatever happened. headphones on can be a great hack more than $3 million in live tournament Unfortunately, if you’re in the to blow off some steam, because the cashes, which includes a WSOP bracelet middle of a tournament, you don’t music takes your mind off things he won with Doug Polk in the 2016 tag- have that luxury. During tourna- and filters out any of the potentially team event. Fee is also one of the leading ments, especially after a bad beat, triggering table talk, like if the recre- teachers at Upswing Poker. I try to avoid entering a pot for ational player who just called off way an orbit. Sometimes this strategy is too much of his stack versus you with Matt Waxman is a successful tournament unrealistic, because I might get dealt bottom pair is explaining to everyone player, having cashed for more than $4.2 a premium the following hand, and how he put you on A-K. million dollars to date. He has two WPT in that case, I recalibrate my strategy e best way to deal with emo- titles, winning the Grand Prix de Paris in and use my image to play aggressively tional swings is to put everything 2011 and the Tournament of Champions in a way that my opponent could into perspective and be totally pres- in 2018. He also earned a WSOP bracelet perceive as tilt. ent. If you’re too busy sulking over in 2013 in a $1,000 no-limit hold’em Ryan Fee: You have to change the an old hand, you might miss a great event. Waxman is one of the founders of way you think about the emotional opportunity to pick up some chips POKERithm. Watch the pros, or play the swings. It is a mindset. I’ve seen in the present moment. I’m not say- game yourself at www.pokerithm.com.

18 CARDPLAYER.COM VOLUME 34 / ISSUE 7

016_HeadGames.indd 18 3/4/21 8:00 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 3/2/21 5:26 PM DOUG POLK DEFEATS DANIEL NEGREANU IN HIGH-STAKES HEADS-UP GRUDGE MATCH Polk Wins $1.2 Million As Two Rivals Settle Seven-Year Feud

By Steve Schult

Despite live poker steadily making a comeback dur- way to the highest stakes available on the internet. e ing the final few months of 2020 and into early 2021, Southern California native is no slouch in the live arena, most of the poker world’s attention remained fixated on either, and owns three World Series of Poker bracelets. the high-stakes, heads-up grudge match between Poker But his bread and butter was always online heads-up Hall of Famer Daniel Negreanu and fellow high-stakes games, and for a long while, he was considered the best poker pro Doug Polk. player in the world in that discipline. e match lasted about three months as the two bat- Polk made his initial splash in the live arena in tled over two tables of $200-$400 no-limit hold’em for 2014 when he won his first bracelet for $251,969 in the 25,000 hands on WSOP.com, with Polk getting the best $1,000 no-limit hold’em turbo event. e same summer, of it and ultimately walking away a $1.2 million winner. Negreanu was on a tear of his own with nine cashes and e bitterness that led to the showdown, however, was a pair of runner-up finishes, one of which came in the $1 several years in the making. million buy-in Big One For One Drop. The Origin Of The Grudge Despite his massive score of $8.2 million, Negreanu During the later years of the poker boom and the faced some criticism on Twitter for some of his play first few years in the post-Black Friday era, Polk cut his during the final table. Online pro Daniel Merrilees said teeth on the virtual felt playing heads-up cash games. He that based on his observations, Negreanu couldn’t beat

discovered he had a knack for heads-up, and grinded his $5-$10 no-limit hold’em online. ©VPokerGO

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020_CoverStory.indd 20 3/4/21 8:02 AM Negreanu responded saying that not only could he In one interview, Negreanu made the argument that beat that stake, but that he could win in the $25-$50 by raising the rake, fewer pros would be willing to play no-limit hold’em six-max games with just two weeks of in the games. While more money would be coming off study. In fact, the six-time bracelet winner and then-Pok- the table, the recreational players wouldn’t feel like they erStars sponsored pro said he “would bet a million” on it. were being beaten down by the pros and would be more e claim got the attention of many high-stakes likely to stick around. online pros, and Polk was one of Negreanu’s loudest “If the rake is too high for the good players, what critics. you’re left with is bad players, who are going to lose,” “It came across like he was undervaluing how hard it said Negreanu. “But they are losing less per 100 hands was to get there,” said Polk in an interview from 2014. than they would be if the pros are playing with them. “If you play $25-$50 these days, you’re really good. And ere’s a lot of games where that is true where the rake I don’t think he realized how that felt to the online com- is really high and it keeps pros away because they’re like, munity.” ‘Well, we can’t beat this.’ But overall, for the game, it’s Polk was willing to bet against Negreanu’s ability to actually better because pros aren’t playing. ey’re losing beat those games, but nothing ever materialized, and the the rake money, which is going to be more, but they’re debate died down. However, it would eventually become not losing as much. ey’re basically passing the money clear that those comments were never forgotten. around. ere is nobody just dominating.” In the years following, Polk gradually stepped away Taking Trolling To The Next Level from life as a poker pro and focused more on his training Polk took the comments that Negreanu made and site, Upswing Poker, while also building a sizable follow- ran with them. He created several videos on his chan- ing on his YouTube channel. He still played occasionally, nel mocking the Canadian pro and even held a contest evident by second and third bracelet wins in 2016 and for his followers where they submitted a photo or video 2017, which included a $3.7 million score for his win in explaining why “more rake is better.” e top 10 winners the $111,111 High Roller for One Drop, but he was no received a free membership to his training site, among a longer interested in playing full time. few other prizes. More Rake Is Better Polk ended up turning the phrase “more rake is bet- Polk’s legion of followers was eating up his regular ter” into a campaign and used it to troll Negreanu any content on YouTube, so when Negreanu uttered the time he could, despite Negreanu’s best efforts to clarify phrase, “more rake is better” during an interview that his comments and deny any sentiment that he believed year, Polk took the opportunity to relentlessly rake more rake was actually better for a poker game. Negreanu over the coals for the comment. En route to his bracelet win, Polk sat next to As PokerStars’ highest profile sponsored pro at the Negreanu during the early stages of the $111,111 High time, Negreanu had been dealing with the public Roller for One Drop at the 2017 WSOP. It was then that relations fall out from several decisions the company Polk took off his jacket to reveal a t-shirt that had the made over the previous year. At the end of 2015, Stars phrase “More Rake Is Better.” Polk pulled the same stunt announced that it would be greatly altering its VIP again during the 2018 Super High Roller Bowl when he rewards program and would not honor Supernova Elite was seated directly to Negreanu’s left. status for the following year. It was a move that cost Just a month later during the 2018 WSOP, Polk took many pros hundreds of thousands of dollars in rake back things to literal new heights by purchasing a billboard payments, not to mention all the time they had put into just outside the Rio All-Suites Hotel & Casino that the promotion. advertised his website MoreRakeIsBetter.com. e web- After eliminating the highest tier of their rewards sys- site is no longer functional. tem, the company then decided to raise the rake for most e billboard eventually came down and the quarrel of its games. As a representative of the site, Negreanu seemed to fizzle for another couple years until Negreanu

©VPokerGO defended both of those moves in multiple interviews. began streaming some of his sessions during the 2020

020_CoverStory.indd 21 3/4/21 8:02 AM online WSOP. agreed to terms for a match. As the former number e adversaries would play one player on the all-time two tables of $200-$400 tournament earnings list no-limit hold’em, with (now number three with automatic top-ups back to $41 million in cashes), the 100-big blind, $40,000 Negreanu had built up initial buy-in. quite an online fanbase of e game seemed tai- his own, posting extremely lored to Polk’s specialty, popular vlogs on his own online heads-up no-limit YouTube channel dur- hold’em, but Negreanu is ing the WSOP, and even no stranger to heads-up streaming some of his own poker matches in general. Poker ©Upswing Billboard online poker play. In 2005, while serving as Negreanu’s Twitch channel was temporarily banned an ambassador for the new Wynn poker room in Las over the summer after he had choice words for one of Vegas, Negreanu offered high-stakes heads-up freezeouts the viewers in the chat. e person in question made to anyone willing to play him. comments about Negreanu’s wife Amanda, and the now- For his challenge, Negreanu was willing to play GGPoker ambassador went on a 40-second tirade where a freezeout for any amount between $100,000 and he told the viewer that he would “break his f***ing teeth” $500,000 in either limit hold’em, Omaha eight-or-better, and “feed them to him anally.” seven card stud, stud eight-or-better, 2-7 triple draw, A-5 e clip picked up steam and was shared all over triple draw, pot-limit Omaha, pot-limit hold’em, or no- social media with varying reactions. Polk took the oppor- limit hold’em. e only stipulation he had was that if he tunity to troll Negreanu once again with a video that cut lost the first match and felt truly outclassed, Negreanu the tirade together with some of their past disagreements. reserved the right to decline a rematch in the game his e post was eventually deleted by YouTube. opponent chose. He had several takers including fellow Setting Up The Match Poker Hall of Famer Barry Greenstein and high-stakes e day after the video was released, poker pro Joe legend Joe Cassidy. Ingram tweeted, “Can Doug and Daniel settle this by When it came to online challenges, Negreanu was playing poker against each other heads-up at some point playing heads-up limit hold’em against anyone willing please?” to play on PokerStars in 2012. He played two matches Polk responded and said, “If this tweet gets 1,000 against Viktor “Isildur1” Blom on two separate occasions retweets, I will come back to poker for a no-limit with mixed results, but neither of those challenges were hold’em, heads-up for rolls grudge match against Daniel anything even remotely close to what Negreanu was Negreanu.” undertaking against Polk in 2020. After a couple weeks of back and forth, Negreanu e betting markets reflected it too.

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020_CoverStory.indd 22 3/4/21 8:02 AM When the match was announced, the poker world was itching to put money down on which player would win. Everyone admitted Polk was the clear favorite, but the question was by how much. Of the best made public online, Polk came in as a roughly 4:1 favorite. Phil Hellmuth was looking to bet on Negreanu, and Polk booked the action himself. Hellmuth bet $20,000 with the possibility of winning $80,000 if Negreanu finished the 25,000-hand challenge in the black. Polk also booked a massive bet with millionaire poker enthusiast Bill Perkins, although the amount was never made public. Shuffle Up And Deal In order to publicize and draw attention to the match, the first 200 hands were played on Nov. 4 in the live arena at Aria and streamed on PokerGO. Negreanu won $117,000 during those 200 hands, making many think that he had an advantage in the match, but for the other 24,800 played online Polk dominated.

e first 1,000 hands of online play saw Negreanu ©Ryan Fee go from up $117,000 to down $268,000. Negreanu was able to keep it within four or five buy-ins for about 8,000 and Polk only extended his lead down the stretch, eventu- hands before Polk ultimately pulled away for good. ally banking about $1.2 million when the match was all As the match neared its midpoint, where the losing said and done in the beginning of February. player had the option to quit, Polk was up nearly $1 The Aftermath million on Negreanu. e official halfway mark was In total, Polk won 52.4 percent of the hands dealt, reached just before the new year and Negreanu was able according to his own statistics. While he had a slightly to respond by putting a small dent in Polk’s lead, but was losing winrate of -0.8 big blinds per 100 while playing still down $770,000 through 12,500 hands. out of position, he won a whopping 22 bb/100 when on To his credit, Negreanu wasn’t ready to throw in the the button. towel despite the large deficit. But perhaps he should In Polk’s postgame interview after the final session of have. Following a short winning streak to start the year the challenge, Polk thanked his team that he put together where Negreanu cut the lead to $484,073, Polk found for the challenge. He had hired a group of players to himself on a heater and crossed the seven-figure mark in create optimal preflop ranges, and utilized a couple of the third week of January. heads-up poker coaches to help him refine his strategy. With the number of hands remaining continuing to He also acknowledged a separate team that aggregated dwindle, Negreanu decided to play a higher variance every action of every hand, which allowed him to iden- style, implementing a hyper aggressive strategy which tify patterns and exploits in Negreanu’s game. won him $390,032 in a single session. It was the biggest Despite all of the negativity and mudslinging, what single-session win of the challenge and nearly cut the lead had started out as a grudge match ended up with both in half, giving Negreanu a glimmer of hope. players discovering a mutual respect for one another, or With a massive amount riding in side bets, how- at least each other’s game. In the same way that fight- ever, Polk countered by implementing “small ball poker” ers congratulate each other after trying to knock each against the guy who coined the term. In the following other out, the animosity seemed to fade down the stretch session, Polk began limping buttons and playing a much between the two poker pros. more passive style of poker, hoping to keep the pots small “I’m sure down the road there will be things that and lower the variance for the remaining hands. He lost happen where we don’t see eye-to-eye,” Polk said to the slightly more than a buy-in, but the strategy meant that Las Vegas Review-Journal. “But I think we can come to there was almost no chance of Negreanu being able to it from a perspective more of mutual respect and keep it win a large enough sum to finish the challenge with a a little more within the context of the argument. Maybe profit. not let it get so personal.” e session after that, Negreanu decided he would Negreanu echoed similar sentiments. counter Polk’s newfound passivity with excessive tank- “I feel like we went to war, we went to battle, and in ing. With every decision, Negreanu ran the time bank the end, it’s just one of those things where it needed to down to nearly zero before making a decision. It allowed happen, if you will,” said Negreanu. “And now that we’re him to play as few hands as possible in each session, while past it, I think that chapter’s closed.” also developing a counter strategy with his coaches. is While the chapter may be closed between Polk and angered Polk and eventually, the two turned to high- Negreanu, one of Polk’s good friends and business part- stakes pro and fellow heads-up match specialist Phil ners, Ryan Fee, decided to take one last shot at Negreanu Galfond to mediate the situation. before the feud completely dissolved. Fee, who was Polk’s Galfond ruled that Negreanu could only tank when he tag team partner during a WSOP bracelet win and likely was out of position. Eventually, Polk agreed to stop limp- had a significant piece of Polk’s action, bought a brand- ing and the match resumed as normal. Negreanu was never new Lamborghini with his cut. able to regain the magic he had in his nearly 10 buy-in win e license plate read “TYDNEGS.” m

020_CoverStory.indd 23 3/4/21 8:02 AM Team Polk’s Bryan Pellegrino Talks About His AI Research And How It Helped Formulate Strategies To Win $1.2 Million Former Poker Pro Explains How Doug Polk Defeated Daniel Negreanu By Steve Schult

artificial intelligence research department. e paper was about how artificial intelligence could use game theory to perfect poker strategy and use those same concepts to solve problems in the real world. When Negreanu accepted the challenge, Polk immediately began putting a team together to perfect his overall heads-up game. He hired a couple of heads-up coaches to help him implement strategy in the best way possible, a group of people to log hands to create a database of information on Negreanu’s tendencies, and another team to help cement what Polk called his ‘preflop strategy.’ Pellegrino was brought on to help with the preflop work. He sat down with Card Player to discuss what he was doing behind the scenes with Polk, how his AI was an improve- ment over other solvers available to the public, and how this technology can solve real world problems. Steve Schult: Doug ends up reaching out to you recently to become a part of his team. Did you guys have a relationship while you were playing professionally? How did he find you? Bryan Pellegrino: We both played heads-up. He played heads-up cash and I played heads-up sit-n-go’s. I ended up getting coaching from [Daniel Cates] and started working on heads-up cash, but I never really dove deeply into that scene. But that said, through the AI stuff, we ended up doing the research, and through Facebook AI research we ended up publishing an academic paper. e work that had been done around counter-factual regret minimization, roughout the early days of the poker boom, Bryan specifically the areas that it could be used outside of poker, Pellegrino was arguably one of the best heads-up sit-n-go were one of the areas that we found interesting. But in players on the planet, terrorizing opponents under the name order to kind of prove it, we wanted academic benchmarks ‘PrimordialAA.’ Like many other poker pros of his genera- early on. tion, he dropped out of college to pursue poker full-time Doug reached out asking to see if I was still active in the and made quite a good living beating some of the highest game and the community. I think he was looking to get a stakes available online. varied opinion of the best studying resources and the best He also made a small splash in the live tournament way to prepare for a match. He is unbelievably diligent, world, making three deep runs in the World Series of more than anybody else that I’ve ever known. I’ve played Poker $10,000 no-limit hold’em main event, a runner-up poker for 15 years and I don’t think I’ve seen anyone put in finish in the 2012 WSOP $1,500 pot-limit hold’em event, the work like Doug, in terms of the studying, the repetition and two more deep runs in the WSOP $10,000 no-limit and getting all the right materials together. hold’em heads-up event. And Doug is very familiar with Noam Brown, one of the Around 2015, however, Pellegrino decided to move on people who worked on the paper. Doug and his team were from poker. After a year-long vacation traveling the world the guys that battled Claudico and Libratus (advanced AI with his wife and son, Pellegrino dove into the computer poker bots), so he knew about Noam and his work. I told world. He created a machine learning model that focused him that I had just published this paper with Noam and on pitch sequencing that he sold to a Major League Baseball that the results were pretty phenomenal. He was interested franchise and then founded a cryptocurrency business in in how we could leverage the research into study material. Silicon Valley. SS: What exactly is counterfactual regret minimization? In 2020, however, the computer world brought him back How does it relate to poker? to poker. Last July, the New Hampshire native helped pub- BP: The very simple way to explain it is that in the past,

lish a research paper with Noam Brown from the Facebook a lot of people would model decisions by maximizing your © Bryan Pellegrino

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024_Q&A.indd 24 3/4/21 8:03 AM that we did something pretty impressive here. e academic community has been awesome, and I think was really impressed with the results of our paper. And our paper had just been published right around the time that Doug was thinking about his challenge with Daniel. SS: What did he say to you that made you want to be a part of his team? BP: I don’t want to be too nitpicky against the academic community, but it’s really hard to benchmark against other famous AI’s. We reached out to every other major AI and none of them were interested in benchmark- ing against us, especially since some of these agents cost upwards of millions per day to run. Slumbot happened to be public and very well respected. But after we published it, we had nothing else to do. We are not going to continue down this road of research, and so we dove payoff. You want to try and win the most, right? But what into many other fields… sort of the application of the tech- people found was that what you actually want to try and do nology. But when Doug reached out, it was this interesting is minimize your regret. opportunity to kind of see how someone who studies with at is going to lead you to Nash equilibrium. at is this does out in the wild. Here’s a chance to have this inte- going to lead you to GTO [game theory optimal] strategy. grated into a high-profile challenge. We had reached out Let’s say we are playing rock, paper, scissors and I was using to [Phil] Galfond in the past to see if he was interested in counterfactual regret minimization. If I threw a rock and anything, but ultimately it was just a way to help Doug and you threw a scissors, I would have a regret of -1, meaning potentially bring some attention to the research itself. I wouldn’t have any regret. I’d feel great. If you threw a SS: You mentioned that this type of work can be used rock, I’d be neutral. And if you threw a paper, I’d have 1. in other areas of outside of poker. Can you elaborate where I’d have regret. and how? So what I would do is use those regrets on the three out- BP: This challenge was awesome and publishing with comes to change my strategy. So now instead of throwing Noam Brown from Facebook AI research was a huge honor. rock 100% of the time, I’m going to throw it less, according Some of the things we explored were autonomous vehicles. to my overall regret. And if you do that trillions of times, We were working on routing problems within self-driving you will get a GTO rock, paper, scissors strategy. cars, and we have also looked at robotics in greenhouses. e same thing works for poker. Except rather than a ere are greenhouse technologies that can help create tens simple three options, you have a giant tree with every bet of billions of dollars worth of produce and how AI technolo- size people can use and every action they can take on them. gies can impact this and make a difference. We are explor- And the goal is to take that tree and minimize the regret. ing drug discovery now. We are fascinated by the process If you do that, you’ll come up with GTO strategy. A strat- and excited about what can be done there. egy that will never regret anything. ere is nothing your SS: How does counterfactual regret minimization apply opponent can do to exploit you that is going to make you to something like a self-driving car? regret too heavily. BP: If you’re trying to route through this huge network SS: Can you break down what the research paper was and there is traffic and all these other things that are going about in layman’s terms? on, you can essentially model that problem of how to get BP: We published a paper called Unlocking the Potential to your destination with the least regret. Let’s say time is of Deep Counterfactual Value Networks. e University of the regret and you want to minimize the amount of time it Alberta and Carnegie Mellon University had all done this takes to get there. But it doesn’t have to be time. It can be research on essentially poker AI. ey were using these time, it can be road conditions, or it could be tolls. You can techniques and basically we came up with a bunch of find all these awesome real world applications. variants of these techniques. We created a novel DCFR+ SS: Doug said that you were one of the guys that helped variant, something like 5,000x overall speed performance construct his preflop ranges. How did you do this? over prior top agents such as DeepStack, and we played BP: The paper is essentially a solver. We created a solver the winner of the last ACPC [Annual Computer Poker that just happens to be extremely good and fast. The Competition] which was Slumbot. modern way that most of these solvers work is that when All the academics get together and they run a challenge. they do preflop ranges, they have to heavily abstract what ey have their newest research for poker and they all play they are doing. them against each other. So, we took the winner of that and So, you can build a modestly-sized preflop tree. Not that played it. And we beat it for 20 big blinds per 100 hands. many options and not that big or complex of a tree, but then We completely crushed it. you would be going to a huge number of flops and a huge I’m a college dropout, so the fact that I’m publishing number of turns. So these trees get very large… hundreds

024_Q&A.indd 25 3/4/21 8:03 AM we want to explore this.” We would ask what kind of trees he wanted us to run and figure out what he was trying to get out of this. And then we would go back and run all of these things and just give him a huge report to try and go through. He wasn’t coming back and talking about specific imple- mentation details in his game. at was mainly with his coaching team. For us, it was more about why something was happening. ere were times where he had constructed a tree wrong or he thought something was kind of funky. For us, it was really about getting him as much data as humanly possible. SS: Negreanu was very open about making changes to his game as the match progressed. Did you have to run data specific to those changes? What was it like seeing Negreanu’s game evolve from your perspective? BP: We definitely noticed some of his tendencies. He was doing some things that were just things you should never do. He was flatting pocket kings and pocket queens from So, what they do is that they abstract them down. ey out of position, for example. ere were all these plays that only look at 10 flops or 56 flops, whatever the subset might couldn’t even be considered a mixed strategy. ey were just be. And that comes with its own set of accuracy. You have things that should be at stone zero. to pick flops that you hope are representative of everything We had to figure out what world was his strategy being and give you a good picture. pulled from. Where was he getting these things. I was kind With us, we don’t do that at all. We are using a neural of questioning reality for a little bit. I know this shouldn’t net to query these things. So we can build as big and as be a thing, but it was a thing, especially because he had complex a tree that is humanly possible. ings that would an early heater. ere were some things that had us asking take 500 terabytes that no modern computer could solve, questions, but we just had to go back through it. we could do in 30 seconds. is would allow Doug to He started mixing in other sizings, and after they started say, “Hey, we want to figure out what the best sizing is at playing, you saw where he would change his sizing and every stack size. So let’s run a 2x, a 2.1x, 2.2x, 2.3x” and so when he didn’t change his size at all. Or we thought he’d on, and he can do that at every stack size. It can get very be using a certain three-bet size, but he was actually using granular. another. It was a continuous process and there were a lot of Where is it practical to implement changing your size? ranges being dumped every day throughout the entire chal- What if Daniel… and you have to remember, this is before lenge. Doug was just an animal. He wanted to learn more, they had played any hands originally. What if Daniel opens he wanted to dive in more. to this size? What if he limps? Is he going to three-bet to SS: Hearing you talk about this stuff is remarkably inter- this size? What is our optimal three-bet size? It was just a esting, but do you think the average poker player is scared huge number of runs. away from playing heads-up poker after hearing about how Doug would take these outputs and he would aggregate in-depth some of this stuff goes? them and go through them with his coaches. It’s a balance BP: It’s daunting in a sense, but nobody should be disillu- between what is practical to implement in the real world, sioned at what it takes to become the best in the world. You because you can’t have 57 different sizes and be able to look at an NBA player and you probably want to believe remember all of it. So, you can kind of pick one or two that they are so naturally talented that all they do is step sizes and figure out how complex of a strategy you want to on the court and crush, but in reality they have huge teams implement and whether or not it’s worth it based on the EV of help like dieticians, and free-throw shooting coaches, (expected value). specific coaches for everything they do. Early on, it was a lot of that. Just a huge number of runs Everyone who is elite in something as competitive as trying to figure out what were optimal sizings and how to poker knows that it takes more and more work. When I toy with things, figuring out what ‘DNegs’ might do. But if started in 2002, it was just kind of smart guys that were try- you’re talking about one of these other solvers available on ing to outwit one another. ere weren’t even solvers. You the market, it would take a week to do each of these runs were just talking theory with your friends. I’m sure that’s and get these results, and that is on a small subset of flops. what basketball was like back in the ‘70s, but things evolve We could run 150 of them overnight and just have a as they get more competitive. huge report for him in the morning. And that’s really what Ultimately, that’s just what it takes to become one of the he did. He’d come back with another iteration and say very best in the world. Because the measure of the best in “Hey, this was interesting. Let’s explore this more.” He was the world now is so much better than what it was 10 years in the lab, man. He was definitely in the lab. ago. e same way Steph Curry and Lebron James are bet- SS: What was the schedule like? Did he just come to you ter at basketball than anyone was generations ago. after every match with questions and meet with you on the Most people are just going to watch poker and they’re off-days in between? just going to see these people’s minds working the same way BP: That was more his coaches. I think he’s going you watch an athlete on TV. You don’t see the crazy amount through strategy and how well he did implementing those of work that goes in to getting those skills and being able to strategies with those coaches. And for us, it was like “Hey, compete at those levels. m

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CP_PokerSchool_1_FP.indd 1 3/2/21 5:26 PM Strategies, ANALYSIS & Commentary

THE SUPER BOWL AND GAME SELECTION By Gavin Grifﬁ n

Regardless of your feelings Super Bowl blow out of the best regarding the Doug Polk and team in the league, the Kansas City Daniel Negreanu heads-up match Chiefs, by a score of 31-9. that recently finished, it seems clear I liken Brady’s search for a new after 25,000 hands that Daniel team to finding a good game in a exercised some pretty bad game poker room. He had a list of things selection for this one. he wanted out of a new team and Doug won around $1.2 million, chose based on those criteria. which is roughly 12 big blinds for When choosing a game in a every 100 hands played (BB/100). poker room, you should be certain That is pretty significant. Even if he to understand what you want in a was running exceptionally well dur- game ahead of time. You should ing the match and his true win rate know what game formats you are was five BB/100 less, he still would willing to play. For instance, when have won $700,000. I go to a poker room, I know that I think this proves that even if my first choice for a game would be you’re one of the best in the world some version of pot-limit Omaha, at one thing (in this case, tourna- followed by a limit mixed game, ment poker), you can still be pretty and then finally no-limit hold’em. far behind an expert in a different The second important thing you discipline (heads-up no-limit cash should know is what limits you games). are comfortable playing. I should In the Super Bowl this year, we be willing to play a no-limit game player A is great when they are win- saw Tom Brady, a quarterback who with higher blinds than pot-lim- ning, but plays really poorly when many believe to be the greatest ever it Omaha, because the variance they’re losing. Or that player B isn’t to play football at his position. He is lower in hold’em. So, if I’m very good, but when they get ahead might not be the most talented in comfortable playing $2-$5 PLO, I in a game early, they play much every aspect of the game, but he should feel comfortable with $5-$5 tighter than usual. What looks like almost certainly has one of the best or $5-$10 NLH. a bad game from a distance might football IQs and winning mind- Next, if you are in a room where actually be quite good if the right sets. On the other side of the ball, you regularly play, you should have people are losing or winning. you have Patrick Mahomes, who an idea of which players you like to If you are the best in the world at after only three years as a starter, is play with. That way, if there is more something, it is easy to find a good already considered to be one of the than one table of your preferred game for yourself. For those of us most physically gifted quarterbacks game, you can know which one you that are mere mortals, careful game of all time. should target. selection is even more important. Brady played his whole career My regular room uses must- Tom Brady showed us that it’s pos- previous to this season for the New move tables for games when there sible to be at the top of your game England Patriots. The 43-year-old are more than one table at a given or near the top, and still make intel- wanted a two-year contract, and the limit. That means that you play at ligent, rational decisions about what Patriots did not want to commit to a a second table until a seat opens up games (or teams) you want to be a player who some felt had lost a step. in the main game, which is filled part of. We can take a lesson here So instead, he left New England to in order of arrival. If you are in a from one of the greatest to ever do find a new place to play. must-move game, it’s not possible it in team sports and make sure we He decided that he wanted to to switch to the main game if it’s are as careful about where we play play for a team that could contend better, so you have to take that as he is. m for a Super Bowl. They needed to into account when you’re choosing have a good defense, a good offen- which game type and limit to play. Gavin Griffin was the sive line, and good receivers. He It may be better to play a slightly first poker player to found all three of those things in less profitable game with more free- capture a World Series the Tampa Bay Buccaneers, even dom of movement so you can switch of Poker, European Poker Tour and World games if yours is bad and there is a though they were only 7-9 in 2019. Poker Tour title and He saw in them a great situation better option. has amassed nearly and together, they went 11-5 in the Finally, it is important to under- $5 million in lifetime tournament winnings. regular season. The Bucs won four stand how game dynamics change Griffin is sponsored by HeroPoker.com. You games in the playoffs, including a as you’re playing. It’s possible that can follow him on Twitter @NHGG

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028_S&A.indd 28 3/4/21 8:03 AM Strategies, ANALYSIS & Commentary

Three Tips For Crushing Live Poker By Jonathan Little

Live poker has been essentially shut down for the last the casino feels when someone gets lucky and hits their year due to COVID, but casinos in many parts of the number on the roulette wheel a few times in a row. When world are starting to re-open. Here are three tips that will someone gets lucky against the casino, they celebrate them, give you the best chance for success when you return to the comp them, and do everything they can to keep them play- live arena. ing/coming back in the future. ey certainly do not get Take Advantage Of Opponent Mistakes annoyed or berate them. e casino realizes that every time Whenever poker has a lot of hype surrounding it either someone makes a bet, they are losing little bits of equity. because a major tournament series is in town or because When someone plays poorly against you, they are losing everyone is getting to play for the fi rst time in a year, local little bits of equity to you. Sometimes they are going to recreational players fl ock to the casino to test their luck and hope to turn a little money into a lot. is results in “One helpful way to view bad beats is the games being much softer than normal because there are proportionally to consider how the casino feels when more recreational players in the fi eld. You make money when your oppo- someone gets lucky and hits their number nents make mistakes that you adjust on the roulette wheel a few times in a to take advantage of. While many players see their opponents making row. When someone gets lucky against mistakes, they forget to take advantage of them. the casino, they celebrate them, comp For example, suppose you raise them, and do everything they can to with Ao Jo from middle position and a loose, passive calling station calls keep them playing/coming back in the from the big blind. e fl op comes future. They certainly do not get annoyed Jn 9o 6p. Your opponent checks, you bet, and your opponent calls. e or berate them. The casino realizes that turn is the 2m. Your opponent checks, you bet, and your opponent calls. e every time someone makes a bet, they are river is the Qo. Your opponent checks. losing little bits of equity.” While the Queen is certainly not a great river for you, you should make another small value bet, expecting your calling station beat you, but in the long run, if you play better than your opponent to call with worse jacks, nines, and perhaps even opponents, you will win all the money. some worse made hands. If your opponent raises your river Enjoy Yourself bet, make the disciplined fold unless they are known to Poker is a game, and games are supposed to be fun. check-raise bluff the river. While I fully understand that tensions are high right now, Embrace Variance make a point to enjoy yourself. It is always amazing to me When playing against lots of recreational players, you how after a few days of losing, most people look completely will see all sorts of interesting plays. Recreational players worn down. ey walk the casino like zombies. Instead of will frequently make erratic moves. ey may even get being sad and depressed about standard variance, remember lucky on you. Instead of being disgruntled when this hap- the great opportunity that you have to play the awesome pens, realize that every time they make a mistake, their game of poker. equity goes straight into your pocket. If you fi nd that your mind wanders to a dark place when Suppose you raise with Ao Ap from middle position you are on a downswing, do not forget that you came into and the big blind calls. e fl op comes An 7p 6m. Your this world with nothing. If you have the ability to play opponent checks, you bet, and your opponent calls. e poker (or read this article) then you are one of the most turn is the 2o. Your opponent checks, you bet, and your fortunate humans to ever live. It is all about perspective! opponent goes all-in. You call with the nuts and your oppo- Good luck in your games, and stay safe! m nent turns up 9p 8p for an open-ended straight draw. Whether you win or lose, your opponent just tried to Jonathan Little is a two-time WPT champion give their stack to you. When you happen to lose, realize with more than $7 million in live tournament that if the bad players never won, they would quickly quit earnings, best-selling author of 15 educational playing, making the game unprofi table. In exchange for poker books, and 2019 GPI Poker Personality them getting to win from time to time, the game of poker of the Year. If you want to increase your poker gets to thrive forever. skills and learn to crush the games, check out One helpful way to view bad beats is to consider how his training site at PokerCoaching.com/cardplayer.

028_S&A.indd 29 3/4/21 8:03 AM Strategies, ANALYSIS & Commentary

Pandemic Poker Adjustments By Alan Schoonmaker

he pandemic and lockdowns have had devastating effects on the entire world. Millions of people have died, gotten sick,T lost their jobs, or had their busi- nesses go broke. Nobody knows how long the pandemic and lockdown will last, nor do we know how much economic damage it will cause. Many of us feel frightened, isolated, and angry. We know we can get sick, perhaps even die. We worry about the terrible economy and how it will affect our futures. We feel isolated and lonely because we can’t go to schools, religious services, restaurants, conventions, or sporting events. Many of us are so angry that we overreact to frustrations, including trivial ones. Health professionals know that stresses are additive. carelessly. ey hurt so much that they care more about Each one increases the overall effects on our minds and easing their pain than they do about their bankroll. ey bodies. e combination of all these stresses has made the are too upset to play a solid, patient game. Others are so rates for homicide, suicide, domestic violence, and alcohol worried about the future that they become scared and and drug abuse skyrocket. weak-tight. Extremely Different Playing Conditions Increase Stress If you don’t understand and adjust to your own and your In most of the world there is little or no live casino opponents’ emotions, you will cost yourself a lot of money. poker. People are playing online, in home games, and in Self-Analysis Is The Top Priority illegal “casinos.” Online poker is so different from live Most players are much better at analyzing other people games that Card Player had a recent article about adjusting than at analyzing themselves. To protect our ego we deny to it. our fears, weaknesses, and leaks. We pretend that we’re Home games and illegal cardrooms have a different and stronger, smarter, less emotional, and more controlled very scary problem in that you can get cheated. Worrying than we really are. about cheating greatly increases the stress. It’s a huge mistake. Understanding yourself is immea- Las Vegas is one of the few places with live, legal casino surably more important than understanding your oppo- poker games. It also has open restaurants and bars. People nents. You play only a tiny percentage of your hands come from all over the world to play poker and other against any one opponent, but your emotions, motives, games, eat in restaurants, and live a closer-to-normal life and mindset can affect every hand you play. than they can live at home. Take A Hard Look At Yourself But the games have changed. Tables have fewer players, How do you feel about the pandemic, lockdown, and the dealers and players must wear masks, and there are economy? How do your feelings affect your poker? Are Plexiglas screens between them. e masks and screens you on tilt? Which kind of tilt? drastically reduce the amount of information exchanged. Get An Independent Opinion We can’t see other people clearly, nor can we hear every- Because it’s so hard to be objective about yourself, ask thing the dealer and players say. ese changes make most a coach or trusted friend to observe and analyze your play. people uncomfortable, and we make mistakes because we An independent observer can see things that your ego have less information. prevents you from recognizing. Make sure you tell the “The Whole World Is On Tilt” other person not to worry about hurting your feelings. My friend, Dr. Nick Colon, summarized the current You need and want honest information. situation with that short sentence. e stress level is so If you look hard at yourself and get honest criticism, high that most people feel it, and it affects everything we you will probably find leaks you didn’t suspect you had. do, including the way we play poker. When you’re wor- Test Your Assumptions ried about dying, sickness, unemployment, and economic Even if you have played with people many times, don’t disasters, you can’t play your A-Game. assume that they will play their usual game. Carefully ere are two exactly opposite reactions, plus many observe how they are playing now. You will often find intermediate ones. Some people play more hands, more that they are playing much differently than usual.

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028_S&A.indd 30 3/4/21 8:03 AM Strategies, ANALYSIS & Commentary

Don’t just observe passively. You may feel reluctant ink. When players are on tilt, they often telegraph that to probe, but many people are so upset that they want to they will fold, check, bet, or raise. If you hesitate and talk about their feelings. A few open-ended questions can look left, you may see what they intend to do before you suggest how they feel and will play. commit yourself. If you take a few seconds to think about What do you think of the way the government is han- their intentions, you will make much better decisions. dling the pandemic? Bluff More Selectively How have the pandemic and lockdown aff ected your If your opponents are playing too loosely, bluff less industry or city? often. ey will generally call you down, even if they How have they aff ected you? are almost certain they are beaten. We call them “peace How long do you think the pandemic and lockdown of mind calls” and “curiosity calls.” ey just want to be will last? sure that they don’t fold the winning hand. I’m really worried about the future. How do you feel? Conversely, if they are playing scared, bluff more I really dislike wearing a mask. How do you feel? often. ese Plexiglas screens feel like a cage. Do they bother Value Bet More Selectively you? e same logic applies to value bets. If they are play- I really dislike playing short-handed. How about you? ing too loosely, bet weak hands because they will call you I can’t hear what the dealer says. Can you? with even weaker ones. If they are playing weak-tight, Choose Your Games More Carefully don’t make thin value bets. If they call, you’re beaten. Game selection is always your most important deci- Constantly Monitor Your Play And Feelings sion, and it is much more important now than usual. Pick Continuously ask yourself: How do I feel? How am I games that minimize stress, especially the kinds of stress playing? Why did I make that play? that really bother you. If you suspect that you’re on tilt, take a break to get For example, if you don’t like wild games, avoid them. your head together. Better yet, go home. ere will always If you get impatient in tight games, play late at night and be another poker game. If you’re on tilt and keep playing, on weekends. Regardless of which kind of game is best for you can blow your bankroll. m you, watch the action before sitting down. Keep watching after you start playing. If you’re in a game that makes you All-time tournament cash leader “Miami” uncomfortable, change tables or go home. John Cernuto and I are writing a book about HALLAT negotiating final table deals. For information at acronym stands for Hesitate, And Look Left And about it, email [email protected].

ANALYSISAnalysis TOURNAMENT HAND MATCHUP e 36th running of the $10,000 buy-in Super MILLION$ online high roller no-limit hold’em event 2021 Super MILLION$ attracted a ﬁ eld of 202 entries to create a prize pool of $10,300 No-Limit Hold’em Online Event $2,020,000. By the time the ﬁ nal table was set, there were still a number of the biggest names in the game remaining with a shot at the title and the top prize of Adrian Mateos Damian Salas $408,406. is hand features a clash between 2020 1,036,430 Chips 4,006,564 Chips World Series of Poker $10,000 main event champion Damian Salas and three-time bracelet winner Adrian A Q 5 4 Mateos, who started the hand as the short stack with Winning Percentage Winning Percentage just shy of 21 big blinds. Mateos opened with A-Q

Before Flop: 62.0% Before Flop: 37.0% and Salas, who began the hand with the second-

largest stack at the table, defended his big blind with

A Q 4 After Flop: 47.0% 5 After Flop: 52.0% After Turn: 32.0% 5-4 off suit. Salas fl opped an open-ended straight draw After Turn: 59.0% on a paired board and decided to seize control of the betting lead by fi ring a bet of roughly one-third of the size of the pot. Mateos called with his ace high PREFLOP and the turn double paired the board with sixes and threes. As the short stack raising from middle posi- With nine players remaining and blinds of 25,000-50,000 and an ante of tion, Mateos’ range isn’t very likely to include a six or 6,000, Adrian Mateos raised to 100,000 from middle position. Damian a three. On the other hand, Salas is much more likely to have defended a hand from the big blind that could Salas called from the big blind. include one of the cards that would give him a full house. Given this perceived range advantage, Salas opted to continue fi ring. His bet of half the pot did receive a call, but this didn’t dissuade the Argentinian. 6 6 3 3 J He opted to bet enough to put his opponent all-in on the river, to apply maximum pressure on Mateos FLOP

TURN

RIVER and the type of holding that he in fact held, which

3 J 6 3 6 was a strong preﬂ op starting hand that had not been improved by the board. Mateos folded and Salas’ aggression earned him a healthy pot without show- Salas bet 92,070, and Salas bet Salas bet 620,000, down. Mateos was left with just over 12 big blinds Mateos called. 231,570, and and Mateos after laying down his hand, but he managed to outlast Mateos called. folded. three opponents to ﬁ nish sixth for $111,342.

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

028_S&A.indd 31 3/4/21 8:03 AM Strategies, ANALYSIS & Commentary CONTRACTS AND POKER: AMBIGUITY By Scott J. Burnham

You hear a news reporter say, “Mrs. Trump greeted Mr. If your answer to my opening question was “Mr. Putin,” Putin wearing a red dress.” then Trump’s DOJ would agree with you. ere are a num- e question is, who was wearing the red dress? ber of “maxims of interpretation” that courts use to resolve Ambiguities are common in the English language, ambiguities. e DOJ urged the court to apply the “rule and unfortunately they plague contracts and statutes. e of the last antecedent.” Under that rule, a phrase ordinar- connectives “and” and “or” are frequently problematic. ily modifies only the noun or phrase that it immediately Recently, the First Circuit Court of Appeals was asked to follows -- like “wearing a red dress” would modify “Mr. resolve such an ambiguity in the federal Wire Act. Putin,” the noun it immediately follows. At the time the Act was enacted in the early 1960’s, there e court was quick to point out that that may be the was of course no internet and the wire was the telephone, general rule, but there are exceptions. In spoken English, often used to connect bookie joints with information about it is awkward to say “Mrs. Trump, wearing a red dress, the outcome of horse races. If you have seen e Sting, you greeted Mr. Putin.” erefore, we often put the modifier at get the idea. e Trump Department of Justice (DOJ) saw an opportunity to use the Act to curtail not just sports betting, The former interpretation, with the broad but internet gambling as well, by exploiting an ambiguity in its word- prohibition of bets, was promulgated by ing. e part of the Act that was in the DOJ, and it was bad news for online issue prohibits “[t]he transmission in interstate or foreign commerce of bets poker players. Under this interpretation, or wagers or information assisting in the placing of bets or wagers on any internet poker could still be conducted sporting event or contest.” For this discussion, let’s get rid of within a state, but interstate compacts some of those connectives and shorten it to prohibiting “[t]he transmission of allowing players in different states to play bets or information assisting in the in the same game would be prohibited. placing of bets on any sporting event.” Do you see the ambiguity? e Fortunately for poker players, the issue is whether the phrase “on any sporting event” modifies only “infor- interpretation offended another powerful mation assisting in the placing of bets” or also “the transmission of interest – state lotteries. bets.” If it does not modify the latter, then all bets transmitted across state lines are prohibited and not just those involving sporting the end and expect the listener to figure out from the con- events. text which part of the sentence it is modifying. Under one view, the Act can be interpreted as prohibit- Similarly, the court pointed out that in the Wire Act, ing two things, one broad and one narrow: “( e trans- literal application of the rule made little sense. It stated: mission of bets) or (information assisting in the placing Under the government’s reading, anyone can transmit of bets on any sporting event).” Under the other view, it over the wires information assisting someone in placing a can be interpreted as prohibiting two narrow things: “( e bet or wager over the wires on a non-sporting event, but transmission of bets or information assisting in the placing the person receiving the assistance commits a crime if he of bets) on any sporting event.” then places the bet or wager. In short, there is no congruity e former interpretation, with the broad prohibition between the two prohibitions under the government’s read- of bets, was promulgated by the DOJ, and it was bad news ing. Conversely, if we read “on any sporting event or con- for online poker players. Under this interpretation, internet test” as qualifying both antecedents, harmony is restored: poker could still be conducted within a state, but interstate You cannot use the wires to place a bet or wager on a sport- compacts allowing players in different states to play in the ing event, and you cannot use the wires to send information same game would be prohibited. assisting in placing that bet or wager. Fortunately for poker players, the interpretation offend- e court also pointed out that the DOJ argument was ed another powerful interest – state lotteries. Under the inconsistent with the next section of the statute. A second DOJ interpretation, interstate lotteries such as Powerball clause in the Act also omits the limiting language, prohib- would be prohibited. So the New Hampshire Lottery iting “[t]he transmission of a wire communication which Commission sued, asking the courts to determine whether entitles the recipient to receive money or credit as a result the DOJ interpretation was correct. of bets or wagers, or for information assisting in the placing

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of bets or wagers.” e court noted that if the ﬁ rst clause is limited to sports betting but the second clause is not, then it does not prohibit placing a bet on a lottery outcome but would prohibit telling the winning lottery participant that Behavior At he is entitled to payment. It is more consistent to read the limitation as applying to sporting events into both clauses. The Table: Finally, another part of the Act exempts from liability transmissions “for use in news reporting of sporting events or contests.” Were the DOJ correct, this exemption’s exclu- Part 4 sive focus on sporting events would not make sense. Why, for example, is there no exception for news reporting on By Greg Raymer other events upon which people might bet? is question does not arise if one reads the prohibition, like the rest of the statute, as limited to bets on sporting events. We have covered a lot of ground in this series of Putting all of this together, the court concluded that in articles. I hope that you have appreciated them all, and this context the rule of the last antecedent did not apply, can look at yourself critically in view of what I have and the Wire Act applies only to sporting events. written. All of us are less than perfect, and all of us can Contract and statute drafters need to practice preven- improve our behavior. At the table, at home, at work… tive law to avoid problems of interpretation. Unfortunately, everywhere. For certain I am just as guilty as any of you, ambiguities are hard to spot and frequently lead to litiga- and have misbehaved at the table. tion. e resolution of the ambiguity in this case is good One of the most important things that makes any news for poker players, as the expansion of internet poker game better is a good pace of play. Slow games with is likely to continue unimpeded by the Wire Act. Unless, of lots of tanking, or lots of time wasted telling players it course, it is argued that poker is a sporting event. But that is their turn, grind down the pace of play. And in turn, is a discussion for another day. m this grinds away a lot of the fun. e new proper term for the kind of player you want Scott J. Burnham is Professor Emeritus in your game is a “fun player.” It is obviously impolite at Gonzaga University School of Law in to call them a ﬁ sh, or a donkey (even more so in front Spokane, Washington. He can be reached at of them). But “fun player” is more than just a friendlier [email protected]. term. It better describes who they are, and why they are there. TOURNAMENT HAND MATCHUP ANALYSISAnalysis 2021 Super MILLION$ 2020 WSOP $10,000 main event champion Damian Salas has a well-earned reputation for $10,300 No-Limit Hold’em Online Event aggressive play, but in this hand, he demon- strated the ability to control the size of a pot Damian Salas Bert Stevens when the situation calls for it. Salas raised to 5,658,874 Chips 3,466,101 Chips three times the size of the big blind when it folded to him in the small blind holding a suited K 7 9 5 K-7. Top ranked online tournament professional Winning Percentage Winning Percentage Bert Stevens, known to many by his screen name

Before Flop: 60.0% Before Flop: 39.0% ‘girafganger7,’ called from the big blind with 9n

K 7 5 9 After Flop: 23.0% After Flop: 77.0% 5n to set up a battle of the blinds between the After Turn: 68.0% After Turn: 32.0% two largest stacks at the table. Salas fl opped top pair and decided to check, perhaps deciding that PREFLOP he was likely either way ahead or way behind. Stevens checked behind with bottom pair. e With nine players remaining and blinds of 30,000-60,000 and an ante of turn brought a second heart to give Stevens a 7,500, Damian Salas raised to 180,000 from the small blind. Bert Stevens backdoor fl ush draw. Salas made a half-pot bet called from the big blind. and Stevens called with his numerous outs to improve. e river completed the fl ush draw and Salas elected to make a blocker bet of 156,000 K Q 5 3 10 into a pot of 855,000. Salas is likely targeting calls from worse one-pair hands. He also proba- FLOP TURN

RIVER bly discounted the likelihood that Stevens would

3 10 Q 5 K raise him as a bluﬀ , given that Aleksei Barkov began this hand with less than seven big blinds Salas checked, and Stevens Salas bet 213,750, Salas bet 156,000. and that there were three other players sitting checked. and Stevens called. Stevens raised to 721,110, below 20 big blinds. Stevens did raise to 721,110 and Salas folded. with his ﬂ ush, and Salas made a disciplined fold of his top pair to preserve his chip lead.

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

028_S&A.indd 33 3/4/21 8:03 AM Strategies, ANALYSIS & Commentary

“Please do not tank for 30 seconds on each decision just because you want to avoid giving off timing tells. Even if you are gaining some tiny edge with this behavior, what you lose from it is even greater. Your slow pace will cause others to play slower. Now you are getting in fewer hands per hour, which if you are a winning player means you win less.”

Anyone who is a weak player, whether a novice, or to $20. Now you try to pull back your $5 and fold, someone with experience who just hasn’t bothered to and then we have to call over the floor, wait for their learn smart strategy, is exactly who you want at your arrival, tell them what happened, and wait for their table. And a player like that is there to have fun. If the ruling. What a total buzzkill for the game. pace is too slow, it is no longer fun. They will quit I’m guilty of sometimes being on my phone. I check sooner, and be less likely to return, which will cost emails, catch up on Twitter, message with people, and you a lot of your potential profit. more. But I don’t do this while I have a live hand. And Therefore, you have to work to keep the game I try to make it a point to always put my phone down moving. Make sure you’re ready when it is your turn. as soon as the dealer starts to pitch cards for the next Know the action before it gets to you. If you are sit- hand. This way, I can do some of these errands, and ting there watching a movie on your phone, reading a not slow the game down. book, or scrolling through Twitter, now the dealer has Even better, try to help keep the game moving. If to alert you to your turn. You don’t know who’s called, you get stuck with the guy watching a movie, alert folded, or raised, or anything else. him to his turn before it gets to him. That way, he can First, we waste extra time getting your attention, look at his cards, and be prepared in time. then we waste time while you catch up in the hand. Also, yes, sometimes you face a tough decision Even worse, sometimes you do something silly, like and need extra time. However, most decisions do not throw out $5 to call the blind, and then the dealer require much time, are not for huge sums of money, says no, you can’t do that, somebody over here raised or huge amounts of tournament chips. Please do not TOURNAMENT HAND MATCHUP ANALYSISAnalysis Bert Stevens eliminated Guillaume Nolet in ninth 2021 Super MILLION$ place ($51,050), when his A-9 suited beat out Nolet’s $10,300 No-Limit Hold’em Online Event A-Q in a prefl op all-in confrontation. e very next hand began with Stevens raising with J-7 suited from the cutoff . Finnish high-stakes cash game regular Bert Stevens Sami Kelopuro Sami Kelopuro called with A-3 suited from the but- 5,175,188 Chips 3,021,710 Chips ton. Stevens picked up backdoor fl ush and straight possibilities on the fl op and made a small con- J 7 A 3 tinuation bet of 132,660 into the pot of 402,000. Winning Percentage Winning Percentage Kelopuro had fl opped the nut fl ush draw and made

Before Flop: 43.0% Before Flop: 57.0% the call. e turn added a pair of threes to Kelopuro’s

J 7 A After Flop: 19.0% 3 After Flop: 81.0% draw. Stevens kept his foot on the gas, upping his bet After Turn: 9.0% After Turn: 91.0% size to 500,490 into the pot of 667,320. Kelopuro made the call and the river brought another three PREFLOP to pair the board, missing Kelopuro’s fl ush but giving him trips instead. “Sometimes when you bet the turn with this hand, you just feel obligated to fi re,” With eight players remaining and blinds of 30,000-60,000 and an ante said commentator Randy ‘Nanonoko’ Lew, who was of 7,500, Bert Stevens raised to 126,000 from the cutoff . Sami Kelopuro doing analysis of the live stream of this fi nal table. called from the button. Stevens had arrived at the river with just jack high for showdown value and nearly 28 big blinds already in the pot. He did ultimately elect to fi re the third bar- K 10 6 3 3 rel, moving all-in for an eff ective bet of 2,255,060. Kelopuro made a quick call, even though his hold- FLOP

TURN

RIVER ing blocks one of the most likely missed draws that

3 3 10 6 K Stevens might be turning into a bluff , which is the nut fl ush draw. Trips were more than enough to earn Kelopuro the pot, and Stevens lost nearly 60 Stevens bet 132,660, and Stevens bet Stevens moved all- percent of his stack with this multi-street bluff gone Kelopuro called. 500,490, and in for 4,408,538, Kelopuro called. and Kelopuro called wrong. He went on to fi nish in seventh place, earning all-in for 2,255,060. $85,856 for his latest deep run in an online event.

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

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tank for 30 seconds on each decision just because you game fun. It is great if you do everything to keep the want to avoid giving off timing tells. First, it really game moving. If you can, also get involved with your doesn’t help. Second, you become the annoying focus fellow players. Talk to them, if they want to talk. of everyone at the table. Sports, weather, celebrity gossip, good places to eat, Even if you are gaining some tiny edge with this anything that will make the game more fun. If this behavior, what you lose from it is even greater. Your just isn’t you, then don’t try to be something you are slow pace will cause others to play slower. Now you not. But if you can, make the game a multi-faceted are getting in fewer hands per hour, which if you are a entertainment event for the fun players. winning player means you win less. More importantly, This is why some players get invited to those juicy creating this annoying atmosphere makes the game no private games, and why some do not. The host may fun. And again, this will cause the fun players to quit avoid inviting winning players to make the game bet- sooner, and return less often. ter for themselves. But if you are a winning player Another annoying behavior is frequent walking. By whom everyone loves to play with, you will still have this, I mean those players who constantly get up from a good shot at being invited. And even in a casino the table (this only applies to cash games), and sit out poker game, players like this attract the fun players for an orbit or two, maybe more. Most players prefer to their table, and the fun players stay longer when at a full table. Whether or not they are correct in that their table. preference is irrelevant. If frequent walkers are mak- You can be a fun player to be around, while not ing the game short-handed, those who don’t like this being a so-called “fun player” yourself. And isn’t that get annoyed. Again, being annoyed is not fun, and the the point anyway? Why play, if you’re not having fun? mood of the game is worsened. So have fun, and play smart! m I understand that sometimes we need to get up for a bit. Whether to use the restroom, get some fresh air, Greg Raymer is the 2004 WSOP world whatever. But I see players out there who regularly champion, winner of numerous major titles, skip at least one orbit per hour. Heck, I’ve seen play- and has more than $7 million in earnings. ers who spend more time away from the table than at He recently authored “FossilMan’s Winning it. Whatever reason you have for doing this, it is very Tournament Strategies,” available from D&B impolite to the rest of us. Please, try to reduce, or bet- Publishing, Amazon, and other retailers. He ter yet, eliminate the walking. After all, how can you is sponsored by Blue Shark Optics, YouStake, and ShareMyPair. win if you’re not even in the game? To contact Greg please tweet at him using @FossilMan or go to Finally, you have to actually work to make the www.FossilManPoker.com. ANALYSISAnalysis TOURNAMENT HAND MATCHUP is is the hand that essentially decided the champion 2021 Super MILLION$ of this event. Damian Salas had knocked out four- time World Poker Tour main event champion Darren $10,300 No-Limit Hold’em Online Event Elias in third place ($242,839) to take a small lead into heads-up play against Sami Kelopuro for the title. Sami Kelopuro Damian Salas Kelopuro picked up 10-9 oﬀ suit on the button and raised to 368,000. Salas looked down at pocket eights 9,141,970 Chips 11,058,030 Chips in the big blind and three-bet to 1,144,000. Kelopuro made the call in position and ﬂ opped a gutshot straight 10 9 8 8 draw. Salas made a continuation bet of roughly one- Winning Percentage Winning Percentage third the size of the pot with his pocket eights and

Before Flop: 46.0% Before Flop: 53.0% Kelopuro came along. e turn was the ultimate

10 9 8 After Flop: 29.0% 8 After Flop: 71.0% action card in the 8o, which completed Kelopuro’s After Turn: 77.0% After Turn: 23.0% straight while giving Salas second set. Salas checked to Kelopuro, who made a smallish bet of 1,275,279 into the pot of 3,864,480. Salas called and the 2p PREFLOP on the river made a ﬂ ush possible. Salas checked and Kelopuro elected to move all-in for 5,934,451 into the With two players remaining and blinds of 80,000-160,000 and an ante of pot of 6,415,038. Salas went deep into the tank. He 20,000, Sami Kelopuro raised to 368,000 from the button. Damian Salas likely ruled out the one higher set possible, assuming three-bet to 1,144,000 from the big blind, and Kelopuro called. that Kelopuro would four-bet pocket jacks preﬂ op. However, this logic would also rule out the overpairs of A-A, K-K, and Q-Q, which he could beat. In order J 7 6 8 2 to call, Salas would have to believe that Kelopuro could have one of the lower sets, such as 7-7 or 6-6. He likely FLOP TURN also factored in that Kelopuro could show up with RIVER

some complete bluﬀ s in this situation. He ultimately 8 2 7 6

J made the call with his set of eights and was left with 1,736,060 after the hand. Salas was knocked out as the Salas bet 768,240, and Salas checked, and Salas checked. runner-up ﬁ nisher just a few minutes later when he ran Kelopuro called. Kelopuro bet 1,275,279. Kelopuro moved top pair into the top two pair of Kelopuro. Salas earned Salas called. all-in for 5,934,451, $314,924 for his second-place showing, while Kelopuro and Salas called. took home $408,406 for the win.

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

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36 CARDPLAYER.COM VOLUME 34 / ISSUE 7

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Making The Best Deal Michael Addamo Wins$100K WPT World Online Championships High Roller

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CARD PLAYER POKER TOUR ALLTIME EARNINGS

The all-time earnings leaderboard for the CPPT is Rank Player CPPT Earnings dominated by players who have performed well at Venetian, as the venue has consistently been one of 1st Jon Turner $737,858 the highest buy-in tournaments on the tour. In fact, the 2nd Javier Gomez $599,735 top four players on the tour’s money list are all CPPT Venetian champions. 2nd Anthony Zinno $575,075 Jon Turner is at the very top of this list with $737,858, having won two separate CPPT Venetian events. He out- 4th Andrey Pateychuk $558,782 lasted a field of 537 entries in the $5,000 buy-in event held in the summer of 2016, earning $536,858 after best- 5th Martin Jacobson $446,371 ing Artem Metalidi heads-up for the title. Turner won his second title in December of 2018, topping a field of 341 6th Ankush Mandavia $442,179 in a $3,500 buy-in tournament to add another $201,000. The 2017 CPPT Venetian $5,000 buy-in event was 7th Stephen Chidwick $422,290 won by Spanish poker pro Javier Gomez. He defeated 8th Paul Hoefer $413,427 a massive field of 688 entries to secure the top prize of $561,349. This victory accounts for nearly all of his 9th Ben Jones $390,956 $599,735 in total earnings on the tour, enough to place him second on this leaderboard. 10th Artem Metalidi $352,913 The 2018 running of the $5,000 buy-in event at Venetian drew 547 entries, with 2015 Card Player Player Ankush Mandavia defeated a field of 652 entries to of the Year award winner Anthony Zinno coming out win the most recent Card Player Poker Tour main event on top in the end to earn $466,670. One of Zinno’s first held at Venetian® Resort Las Vegas, earning $260,000 final-table finishes in a major event came at the 2013 as the champion. This victory was enough to see CPPT Venetian. Before he won his three World Poker Mandavia climb into sixth place on the tour’s all-time Tour main events and two WSOP bracelets, Zinno’s money list. This was the second time that Mandavia fourth-place finish for $86,964 was the largest score earned a six-figure score in a CPPT event, having placed of his then-fledgling career. With $575,075 in total CPPT fifth in a $5,000 buy-in CPPT Venetian event back in 2017 scores, Zinno rounds out the top three on the tour’s all- for $166,358. time money list. m

38 CARDPLAYER.COM VOLUME 34 / ISSUE 7

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