Damian Salas Wins 2020'S $10,000 Buy-In Main Event

www.CardPlayer.com Vol. 34/No. 3 January 27, 2021

Shifts In Poker Strategy With Ping Liu

Bet Sizing For Premium Pocket Pairs

Kentucky Wins $1.3 Billion Lawsuit Against PokerStars

DAMIAN SALAS WINS 2020’S EXTRAORDINARY WORLD SERIES OF POKER $10,000 BUY-IN MAIN EVENT FIRST-EVER ARGENTINIAN WORLD CHAMPION TRIUMPHS IN EVENT MARRED BY DELAYS AND PLAYER DISQUALIFICATIONS

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Features Strategies, Analysis Also In this Issue 18 & Commentary 6 Damian Salas Wins 2020’s Extraordinary 26 About Us World Series of Poker $10,000 Buy-In What Will We Remember About The 2020 33 Main Event WSOP Main Event? Tournament Schedules By Erik Fast By Gavin Griffin 22 34 27 Poker Leaderboards Shifts In Poker Strategy With Ping Liu WWFD? Poker Pros Revisit Hands From The Past By Greg Raymer To Show How The Game Has Changed By Steve Schult 28 Tournament The Inside Straight How I Got Banned For Life From The Hand Matchups Golden Nugget 16 8 By Houston Curtis Michael Deinlein vs. Anton Siden Poker News Recap 30 27 12 Discovering Leaks Samuel Vousden vs. Luc Van Der Beek Player Of The Year Update By Nathan Gamble By Erik Fast 31 29 16 Transitioning From Live To Online Poker Manuel Ruivo vs. William Kassouf Head Games: Proper Bet Sizing With By Jonathan Little 32 Premium Pocket Pairs Manuel Ruivo vs. Samuel Vousden By Craig Tapscott Cover ©WSOP.com Cover

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the INSIDE STRAIGHT News, Reviews, and Interviews From Around the Poker World AS GRUDGE MATCH HITS HALFWAY MARK, DANIEL NEGREANU PUTS A DENT IN DOUG POLK’S LEAD By Steve Schult

After being down nearly seven- Doug Polk Daniel Negreanu fi gures to Doug Polk, Poker Hall of Famer Daniel Negreanu won several buy-ins over the last few sessions of their high-stakes grudge match to fi n- ish the year down slightly more than $770,000 as their high-stakes grudge match reaches its halfway point. Polk had been up more than $957,000 through 9,950 hands heading into one of their mid-December sessions. Up to that point, the general consensus was that Negreanu was running poorly, having been on the wrong end of several coolers. Even Polk admitted as much. But Negreanu won $143,642 over 834 hands in a marathon session to cut Polk’s lead to just over 20 buy- now offi cially leads by $770,254. half. If you were down 49-0 against ins. After Negreanu’s victory, the duo “We kind of thought it made sense a really good team, you might go took some time off to play the online to stop at the halfway point and ‘You know what, guys? Let’s pack it portion of the $10,000 World Series readjust, see if we want to continue in for the second half. Let’s not get of Poker main event, but came back playing or not.” said Negreanu after out there. Let’s go have some beers.’ in late December to play three more the match. “It’s kind of a good time But I don’t think it’s quite that bad,” sessions before the year’s end. because our next match isn’t until Jan. said Negreanu. “It’s 19-0. He’s up 19 e six-time WSOP bracelet win- 4 and we can decide, will the match points. ree touchdowns is what I ner won another $117,962 on Dec. 21 continue?” need, and that’s essentially what three to bring the defi cit below $700,000, According to the agreed-upon big winning sessions could look like. If but Polk won nearly all of that back in terms of the match, the player who you play longer sessions, you can win their penultimate session on Dec. 23. is down at the halfway point has the 10, 12, 15 buy-ins, especially as the After a break for the holidays, Polk option to quit. With Negreanu down stacks get deeper. I’m going to have to and Negreanu played one fi nal session slightly more than 19 buy-ins, he has run really hot to win the match, but he on Dec. 28. the right to stop playing and cut his did that in the fi rst half. As the match Negreanu won roughly a buy-in of losses, if he wants. went longer, I started playing better $40,000 in the fi nal session of 2020 When asked if he was going to keep and better. e version of me today before stopping exactly at hand no. going, however, Negreanu seemed is not the same version of me in the 12,500. rough the halfway point optimistic and made it look like the fi rst week.” of their 25,000-hand match of $200- show would go on. In a tweet promoting a stream of $400 heads-up no-limit hold’em, Polk “It’s [like] a football game at the the match, Polk also made it seem like

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the pair would be playing more heads- all of it, winning more than three buy- the green. up poker in 2021. ins before running a couple massive, e bluff caught the attention “We will be hitting the 12,500- unsuccessful bluffs. of four-time bracelet winner Shaun hand mark today. Will DNegs tap out? With $20,000 in the middle, and Deeb, who needled Polk that the Tune in to find out!” tweeted Polk. the board reading Am Jo 9p 7p 4o, play must have been a setup to keep But in a follow-up post of the Negreanu checked and Polk moved Negreanu playing the second half of thread, Polk simply wrote, “No, he all in for about $60,000 with 8o 2o. the match. won’t.” Negreanu quickly called and showed “Nice to see [Doug] punting today Despite Negreanu winning a buy- the nut straight to take one of the to make sure Daniel has a winning ses- in back in their most recent session, biggest pots of the match. He won a sion and doesn’t quit at 12,500 hands,” Polk was in the driver’s seat for nearly few more pots and ended the day in tweeted Deeb. m KENTUCKY WINS $1.3 BILLION LAWSUIT AGAINST POKERSTARS By Steve Schult

On Dec. 17, the Kentucky Supreme Court reinstated a 2015 ruling from a Franklin Circuit Court, ordering PokerStars to pay roughly $1.3 billion to the state. e suit was originally filed in 2010 by Kentucky Justice and Public Safety Cabinet J. Michael Brown, who now serves as Gov. Andy Beshear’s executive cabinet secretary, for $290 million against the online poker site. e suit claimed that the site was operating illegally inside the state’s borders and that 34,000 residents deposited on the site and lost nearly $300 million. Franklin Circuit Court Judge omas Wingate ruled in favor of the state in 2015. After the state requested trebled damages, Wingate ruled that the site owed the Kentucky government $870 million. e Stars Group (TSG) appealed the ruling, and in 2018, a Kentucky Court of Appeals reversed Wingate’s decision. In Kentucky, anyone can sue “winners” to recover lost wages in a game of chance, but the court ruled that the state itself can’t sue on behalf of its citi- zens. State officials decided to re-appeal the case and took it to the Supreme Court, where they received a 5-4 ruling in their favor ursday. e court agreed with the origi- nal ruling from Wingate and determined that PokerStars Once the court order is finalized, the state will pursue is on the hook for the $870 million. After the state asked payment from PokerStars. e site is expected to pursue for an additional 12% in interest payments, the total fine other legal options, but acknowledged to investors that came to $1.3 billion. it would have to pay at least some part of the massive Although Beshear himself called on lawmakers to fine. Such a blow could have crippled previous ownership pass internet gambling legislation earlier this year, he groups of the company, but Flutter Entertainment, the called the actions of PokerStars “irresponsible” following parent company that purchased TSG in May of 2020, has the ruling. the revenue to survive the hit. Flutter reported revenue of “is will never be enough to make up for the damage $2.9 billion in 2019, while TSG earned $2.5 billion. to Kentucky families and to the state from their years of PokerStars operated in the U.S. in what many would irresponsible and criminal actions, but this is a good day describe as a legal grey area following the 2006 passage for Kentucky,” said Beshear. of the Unlawful Internet Gambling Enforcement Act. It His pro-gambling stance was a cornerstone of the left the market in the wake of Black Friday but returned 2019 Gubernatorial race as he promised to bring brick- in a limited fashion in 2016 after receiving a license to and-mortar casinos to the state, while former Gov. Matt operate an online poker site in New Jersey. e company Bevin made wild claims about nightly suicides occurring expanded into Pennsylvania’s recently legalized market at casinos. Since Beshear’s victory, however, there hasn’t in 2019, and was approved by the Michigan Gaming been any progress on gambling legislation. Control Board in December. m

008_News.indd 9 1/5/21 8:56 AM THE INSIDE STRAIGHT - News, reviews, and interviews from around the poker world BEN GREENWELL WINS INAUGURAL Nebraska WORLD COLLEGE POKER FALL Casinos To BRAWL TOURNAMENT Launch In By Card Player News Team Late 2021

Ben Greenwell has By Steve Schult won the inaugural World College Poker Fall Brawl event. e 22-year-old Ohio State Expanded gambling will launch in Nebraska in late University student defeated a field of 1,000 entries in the 2021 with full-scale casino gambling scheduled to launch free-to-play tournament, which was held on the PokerBROS in early 2022, according to one of the largest operators in social gaming platform. e actuarial science student was the state. awarded a championship belt, a custom PokerBROS avatar, Ho-Chunk, Inc., the incorporated version of the a six-day hotel stay in Cancun, Mazatlan, or Puerto Vallarta, Ho-Chunk tribe, which operates three existing horse rac- and a private lesson with WPT champion Jonathan Little as ing tracks in the state, announced that it has launched a part of his first-place prize package. separate division of the company to operate the new casino. e final table took place on Saturday, Dec. 12, with e Wisconsin-based tribe, which runs several casinos poker professional, coach, and author Alex Fitzgerald and in its home state, created WarHorse Gaming, LLC to run comedian and poker player Clayton Fletcher hosting the casino-style gaming in the Cornhusker State, according to action. A full replay of the final table can be viewed at the a report from a Nebraska NBC affiliate. World College Poker YouTube page. WarHorse Gaming, LLC will oversee operations at Greenwell rivered a straight against the flopped top set Horsemen’s Park in Omaha, Lincoln Racecourse in Lincoln of Ben ‘spartan1122’ Fisher to take a nearly 5:1 lead into the and Atokad in South Sioux City. WarHorse management final showdown against Vanessa ‘Hernandezhh1’ Hernandez, began the initial planning stages and told the local media a full-time mom and student at Midland College in Texas. its anticipated time frame for the rollout of casino gaming. In the final hand of the event, Hernandez raised from the “ is is an exciting time for Nebraskans,” said button with An 7n and Greenwell three-bet to 9,600 with WarHorse Gaming Executive Director Brian Chamberlain the Kp 8p from the big blind. Hernandez called and the in a statement. “Our team is working tirelessly to bring flop came down 8n 7o 6o. Greenwell bet and Hernandez first-class gaming and entertainment to the state. ough raised. Greenwell moved all-in and Hernandez made the there is still a great deal of work to be done, we’re excited call. e 9p and Qm kept Greenwell in the lead, securing for the chance to bring a new industry to the state, and him the title. with it, an entirely new source of tax revenue and career Here are the results from the final table: opportunities.” Place Name Age School e measures will bring poker to Nebraska for the first time in state history. Poker players were forced to travel to 1 Ben ‘OSUNutz’ Greenwell 22 Ohio State neighboring states to play in legal, regulated live games. University Iowa was a popular destination as there was a Caesars- 2 Vanessa ‘Hernandezhh1’ 26 Midland College owned property near the Nebraska-Iowa border in Council Hernandez Bluffs, which was home to a World Series of Poker Circuit stop every year. 3 Ben ‘spartan1122’ Fisher 35 Arizona State Last month, voters in Nebraska were one of five states University that overwhelmingly supported expanded gaming initia- 4 Ryan ‘rtc1755’ Clark 24 Sacramento State tives in their state. With November’s results, Nebraskans University decided that casino-style gambling could come to horse 5 Blake ‘blaclaire23’ LaClaire 20 University of racing tracks, which were already legal. Arizona ere were three separate initiatives regarding casino gaming on the ballot. One would amend the state constitu- 6 Chris ‘FoldsNuts’ Pagel 21 University of tion to allow gambling and the other two dealt with how Colorado at the tax revenue would be distributed. Colorado Springs Despite all three passing with a 64% majority on 7 Jesse ‘JesseKim7’ Kim 18 Montclair State Election Day, it was a bumpy road to get there. After a University pro-gambling group that was backed by the Ho-Chunk 8 John ‘jpitts10’ Pitts 22 University of tribe got enough signatures to get the issue on the ballot, Tennessee at the Secretary of State refused to put it on the ballot, citing Knoxville confusing language. e issue was brought before the state’s Supreme Court, e next WCP event is scheduled for March of 2021 and which voted 4-3 in favor of allowing the initiatives on the registration is now open. e tournament is free to play for ballot in November, ultimately allowing the people of the any college or university student with valid ID 18 years or state to bring poker rooms and other casino games to their older. Sign up at www.WorldCollegePoker.com. m home state. m

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008_News.indd 10 1/5/21 8:56 AM THE INSIDE STRAIGHT MAJOR ONLINE SPORTSBOOK BEGINS GRADING U.S. ELECTION BETS By Card Player News Team

One of the world’s largest online reported that most online sports- test the results in several key battle- gambling sites has fi nally started pay- books were delaying payout while ground states, all of which were won ing out the winning bets it took on the ballots were still being count- by Biden. e Supreme Court threw the U.S. Presidential Election. ed. Following a 2016 blunder when the case out, claiming there wasn’t According to a report Dublin-based Paddy Power paid out enough evidence to hear the case. from Newsweek, London-based nearly seven-fi gures to those who bet Just before the election, there was Betfair began grading and paying on Hillary Clinton, books were care- $337 million bet on the election, its election bets on Dec. 15, a day ful not to make the same mistake. with $170 million wagered on Biden after the Electoral College members BetFair stated publicly that it and $156 million on Trump. e offi cially cast their ballots to give for- would not grade the bets until there largest bet was a man in the U.K. mer Vice President Joe Biden a 306- was a clear winner. With razor thin who bet $1.29 million on Biden to 232 victory over President Donald margins in several states, counting win. Trump. that went on for days after the elec- While American sportsbooks are “ e next President market rules tion, and a handful of lawsuits fi led prohibited from taking bets on the stipulated that we would settle the by the Trump campaign contesting election, off shore books were taking market on the candidate that had the results, the bookmaker opted bets, and many in the poker world the most projected Electoral College to wait until it was certifi ed by the were willing to use lines set by the votes,” said the company in a state- Electoral College. books to wager against one another. ment. “Following the Electoral All of Trump’s attempts at a win Because the odds swung so wildly College votes being cast, that candi- through the court system had been in both directions on election night, date is clearly Joe Biden. anks for thrown out by the time the book some savvy bettors were able to lock your patience.” began paying bets. Most recently, up essentially risk-free profi ts by bet- Shortly after the election, it was the Texas GOP led a lawsuit to con- ting both sides at the right time. m

008_News.indd 11 1/5/21 8:56 AM THE INSIDE STRAIGHT - Player of the year As of 12-29-2020

Place Player Points Final Tables POY Earnings 1 Vincent Wan 2,280 1 $909,420 2 Cary Katz 2,195 9 $2,449,943 3 Tai Hoang 2,188 2 $953,675 4 Farid Jattin 2,177 6 $1,205,493 5 Anton Suarez 2,100 1 $1,000,000 6 Kahle Burns 1,956 6 $2,923,988 7 Aaron Van Blarcum 1,920 9 $1,856,381 8 Alex Foxen 1,897 8 $1,733,059 9 Sam Greenwood 1,881 6 $1,357,807 10 Tim Adams 1,857 6 $5,904,777 11 Brian Altman 1,848 3 $542,866 12 Trung Pham 1,813 7 $277,746 13 Michael Addamo 1,806 5 $2,143,310 14 Pablo Silva 1,800 1 $1,000,000 15 Ricardo Eyzaguirre 1,785 6 $415,575 16 Christian Rudolph 1,750 1 $620,000 17 James Romero 1,736 2 $745,000 18 Erik Seidel 1,686 5 $669,649 19 Eric Afriat 1,680 1 $394,120 20 Benjamin Winsor 1,636 4 $295,054

MAXWELL YOUNG WINS SHR TAMPA WINTER POKER OPEN MAIN EVENT Maxwell Young The Seminole Hard Rock Tampa Winter Poker Open $1,700 buy-in no-limit hold’em main event featured a $200,000 guarantee. That figure was blown away by over a million dollars when 779 entries were made in the event, building a final prize pool of $1,207,450. That sum was paid out among the top 78 finishers in this event, with the lion’s share going to eventual champion Maxwell Young. The six-time WSOP Circuit gold ring winner earned $226,510 and 912 POY points after emerging victorious. This was his first POY-qualified score of the year, but it alone was enough to see him surge into a seven-way tie for 90th place in the rankings. AARON VAN BLARCUM MAKES HIS NINTH FINAL TABLE OF 2020

Aaron Van Aaron Van Blarcum exploded on the live tournament scene in 2019. The Dallas native Blarcum took down the World Poker Tour Legends of Poker main event at the Bicycle Hotel & Casino in the fall and then jumped right into the highest stakes tournaments in the world. He now has more than $4.4 million in career cashes and is proving that he is far from a flash in the pan. Van Blarcum has made nine POY-qualified final tables in 2020, with his most recent deep run being an eighth-place finish in the $1,000 buy-in event at the Bally’s Main Event Mania series. He earned $1,859 and 24 POY points for his deep run in that event. Van Blarcum kicked his year off with a trio of final tables

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in high roller events in Australia, cashing for seven figures along the way. He then went on a cashing spree in the spring, making five final tables during the month of March to add another $750,000 in earnings to his résumé. With his most recent deep run, Van Blarcum has increased his point total for the year to 1,920, which is good for seventh place in the overall POY race standings. He has cashed for more than $1.8 million in POY-qualified events so far this year. ALEX FOXEN CLIMBS INTO EIGHTH PLACE WITH FLURRY OF SCORES IN WYNN HIGH ROLLERS Alex Foxen The Wynn Poker Room in Las Vegas hosted a series of ten high roller events throughout the month of December, each with a buy-in of $10,000. World Poker Tour winner and 2019 POY race runner-up Alex Foxen made the money in half of the events held during the series, cashing for $354,500 in total along the way. Foxen tallied one victory, three runner-up finishes, and one fourth-place showing throughout the high-stakes festival. Only two of the five events that he cashed in qualified for POY points however, as several of them failed to meet the minimum requirements for field size or total prize pool. The two POY-qualified scores he secured during the month of December were enough to see him climb into eighth place in the overall rankings, with 1,897 points and over $1.7 million in POY-qualified earnings on the year. TRUNG PHAM MOVES INTO 12TH PLACE WITH SEVENTH FINAL- TABLE FINISH OF THE YEAR

Trung Pham Trung Pham was able to leapfrog Michael Addamo and Pablo Silva in the 2020 POY race standings with the 19 points he earned as the eighth-place finisher in a $400 buy- in no-limit hold’em event held at the Seminole Hard Rock Tampa Winter Poker Open. The tournament attracted 155 entries to create a $51,150 prize pool. Pham took home $1,688 as the eighth-place finisher. This was his seventh POY-qualified final table of the year. With 1,813 total points and $277,746 in year-to-date earnings, Pham now sits in 12th place on the POY leaderboard. He has won two titles in 2020. He took down a $300 buy-in event at the Million Dollar Heater series at the Beau Rivage Resort & Casino in January for $13,847 and 125 points. In February he won a $360 buy-in event at the Wynn Spring Classic for another $11,703 and 125 points. His largest score of the year came when he finished second in the $1,700 World Series of Poker Circuit Rio Las Vegas main event for $129,305 and 760 points. WILLIAM FIREBAUGH DEFEATS NICHOLAS PUPILLO HEADS-UP IN INAUGURAL BENNY BINION SHOOTOUT EVENT

The first-ever Benny Binion Shootout event was held in mid-December at the Nicholas Pupillo South Point Poker Room. The $2,050 buy-in no-limit hold’em event attracted 128 entries to build a $256,000 prize pool, which was paid out among the top 16 finishers. The largest share was ultimately awarded to William Firebaugh, who defeated deco- rated tournament poker professional Nicholas Pupillo heads-up to secure the title, the top prize of $100,000, and 264 POY points. This was Firebaugh’s third recorded live tournament win, and his first score of six-figures or higher. His biggest previous payday came when he took down the 2019 WSOP Circuit Horseshoe Tunica $600 big-blind ante event for $36,219 and a gold ring. Firebaugh now has $373,530 in career tournament earnings to his name. Pupillo took home $50,000 and 220 points as the second- place finisher. This was his seventh POY-qualified final-table finish of the year. With $249,732 in year-to-date earnings and 1,139 in total points, Pupillo now sits in 53rd place in the overall rankings. The score increased Pupillo’s lifetime earnings to $3.35 million.

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By Craig Tapscott

The Pros: Alex any pair as opposed to a to see. You might know 4-6 though, you should almost Fitzgerald, Jonathan Little, slightly bigger heads-up suited is a fold, but they always three-bet with your and Ryan Laplante pot with one great player. don’t. ey really want to best hands because you Craig Tapscott: When If the initial opener is fan- see that flop with their want to build the pot and you have a big hand preflop tastic post-flop, he’s prob- high VPIP (Voluntarily extract value. You typically (aces, kings, or queens) in ably not going to give me Put $ in Pot). So, in that want to three-bet to about late position and a player a ton of money anyway if case, you can even pump it 2.5 times the initial raise has already opened UTG+1 I three-bet him, so that is to 3.5 times their opening when you are in position at a full table, what are the also a time I will consider bet, because they’ll still and to about 3.5 times variables that determine flatting. call you. With regs who are when you are out of posi- what your bet sizing will at said, the vast comfortable folding pre- tion. If someone raises to be when and if you raise? majority of the time I will flop, you can shade the bet 500 and you are in posi- Alex Fitzgerald: If I’ve three-bet. I find Americans down a little smaller. tion, make it 1,250. If you got an extremely loose love to call three-bets out Jonathan Little: e main are out of position, make player behind me who of position with anything concerns when you have a it 1,750. As stacks get is calling down big bets they opened, so I love tak- hand you want to poten- really deep, perhaps 100 with any pair, then I’ll ing advantage of that. You tially three-bet are the big blinds or more, you definitely consider calling want them to put as much initial raiser’s range, and can instead three-bet to 3x preflop. If that loose recre- money in the middle as the stack depths. As stacks in position and 4x out of ational player is in the big possible, obviously. e get shorter, there is usually position. blind, then I’m even more art form is figuring out some merit to calling with Ryan Laplante: When inclined to smooth call. who can’t fold preflop. aces, and perhaps kings, playing a tournament, you ey will likely call with Typically, people who are because you really want will generally be between close to anything while in always limping, cold call- to get value from those 40-80 big blinds deep the big blind and getting a ing, raising, and trying hands, and calling allows in this type of situation. discount. While multi-way to see flops are the types you to call with a slightly When considering what to pots are messier, I’d prefer of people who get really wider range of hands that three-bet, and the size, we a multi-way pot with one touchy when you try to flop well, like 9-8 suited. need to think about three guy who will pay off with deny them a flop they want As stacks get deeper main factors.

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014_HeadGames.indd 14 1/4/21 12:11 PM THE INSIDE STRAIGHT

Alexander Fitzgerald Jonathan Little

What is their opening an overpair heads-up, bricked, they fold. After the board is excellent for range, how deep are the including all various dif- they call, I judge the turn your opponent’s range or effective stacks, and are we ferent board texture con- and river cards and go for when the board is very in position or out of posi- siderations. After you are the kill with big bets. coordinated), you should tion? Let’s say we are 60 called on the flop, how is If I know the guy can’t typically bet using a large big blinds deep, and we are your sizing on the turn fold top pair and that’s his size of about 75% pot. up against an early posi- or river determined versus most likely holding, I’ll When the board is unco- tion raise. So, their range one player that you have overbet. You trap them this ordinated, you should bet should be somewhat tight position on? way. Most guys can’t fold more often, usually using (8-18% of top tier hands Alex Fitzgerald: I tend a pair of any kind to just a smaller size of about depending on the player). to focus on games where one continuation bet. Most 33% pot. You should also Because of that and how I know people are play- guys can’t fold a pair they tend to bet smaller when deep we are, we need to ing their hand, not my liked after investing huge the board is uncoordinat- make our three-bet size hand. If I’m ever playing on that flop. If they only ed but you lack the nut somewhat large. a player who is effectively called a 33% pot-sized bet advantage, such as when A general rule of thumb ranging me, then I have after you 2.2x three-bet you raise from UTG and to follow against a single to ask myself why I’m in their open, they could get the big blind calls on J-6- raise with no callers is that that game. Because there’s away, but if you play it 6. ere, you have a big 2.5x equals tiny, 3x equals always looser money out like this you get the bad range advantage, but you small, 3.5x equals medium, there and I’ve discovered regs and recreational play- completely lack the nut 4x equals large, and 5x over time that 90% of my ers trapped. e draw miss- advantage because you equals very large. Where x job is game selection. es and you bomb again. have almost no trips in equals their open bet size. In the games I like to ey’re not going anywhere your range whereas your So in this situation, I play, I look at the board with that much money in opponent has some. is would three-bet to 3.5x and I ask myself what the the middle because they should lead to you betting or 4x their opening bet chances are my guy has a feel committed. If the a tiny amount, about one and do so with a range pair. If the flop is Jm 9m board comes J-5-5 however, big blind. After you bet of 10-10+/A-Q+ for the 7o, for example, that is that’s a super hit or miss the flop and get called, you most part and might mix a board where my oppo- board so you’re going to should usually continue in some bluffs like A-5 nent has a ton of pairs and have to cajole them with a betting the turn and river suited, K-9 suited, or J-9 draws with their three-bet different bet. with most of your best suited. Now, if we were calling range. On that Jonathan Little: On the made hands and draws, in the small blind or big kind of board, I’ll blast it, flop, you pretty much again betting somewhat blind I would three-bet to because most of the peo- always want to bet with large due to betting some- 4.5x. So, if they opened to ple I play with can’t raise your best made hands and what infrequently. 2,000, and we were in cut- without two pair or better. draws. And as the board Ryan Laplante: Our flop off I’d three-bet to 7,000, Occasionally, they’ll raise is better for your range, continuation bet size will while if we were in the a big combination draw, you should bet with an be based generally on how small blind, I’d three-bet but I’ll let them get away even wider range of hands dynamic the board is. e to 9,000 or even 10,000. with that. It’s fairly basic including your marginal more dynamic the board, Craig Tapscott: Please what they do, as usually made hands and junky the larger our c-bet (con- breakdown your thoughts with a draw or pair they hands. tinuation bet) size and on how you determine bet call, if they have better, When you are betting more frequently we might sizing on the flop with they raise, and if they less often (usually when have to check back our ace

014_HeadGames.indd 15 1/4/21 12:11 PM THE INSIDE STRAIGHT - Head Games

Ryan Laplante 5n flop, I’d c-bet 50-75% working-class people who pot, or 8,000-12,000. want to learn poker. He is the What we do on the turn author of Exploitative Play In will be largely based on Live Poker, as well as The Myth whether the turn is a good Of Poker Talent. card for our range to barrel, or if it is a better card Jonathan Little is a for them. On each of these professional poker player with boards I will be very likely more than $7 million in live to bet the turn with jacks tournament earnings, including plus, and more apt to check two World Poker Tour titles. He pocket tens down. Any is the author of 15 best-selling time you are considering poker books, and the 2019 GPI what type of decisions to Poker Personality of the Year make preflop you need to award winner. Sign up a free consider your opponent’s account today at his training range, stack depths, and site www.PokerCoaching.com/ your position, as that will CardPlayer. heavily dictate both bet sizes to pick and how to Ryan Laplante has been a highs, while the more stat- Kp, and we are 60,000 build your range for bluffs professional poker player for more ic the board the smaller we deep, and I had three-bet and for value. m than a decade and has more c-bet and the more often to 7,000 from the cutoff than $5.5 million in combined live we c-bet. against an early position Alexander Fitzgerald is a and online tournament earnings. Static boards, like 7o 6o raise, and they called. e former commercial fisherman He has made eight WSOP final 5o, are difficult for the best pot now is 16,500, and the and freelance writer who tables, and earned a bracelet hand possible to change. stacks have 53,000 behind. became a professional by taking down the $500 buy-in With dynamic boards, like On the static flop of 7o 6o poker player in 2006. He PLO event in 2016. If you want Qo 9o 5n, it’s easy for 5o, I would c-bet 25-30% of writes a daily strategic to learn from him, you can do so the best hand possible to the pot, or 3,500 to 5,000. poker newsletter at www. easily and affordably through his change. Let’s say I had Ko But on a dynamic Qo 9o PokerHeadRush.com for real website www.LearnProPoker.com. TOURNAMENT HAND MATCHUP ANALYSISAnalysis Like so many other live poker tournament festivals 2020 Irish Poker Masters Online before it in 2020, the Irish Poker Masters series moved online this year. e centerpiece of the €1,100 No-Limit Hold’em Main Event whole aff air was the €1,100 buy-in no-limit hold’em main event. e tournament attracted a fi eld of Michael Deinlein Anton Siden 1,341 entries, creating a prize pool of €1,341,000. 33,460,360 Chips 60,456,095 Chips e fi nal seven players had all locked up at least a €27,433 payday by the time this wild hand arose. A 2 7 6 Germany’s Michael Deinlein looked down at a Winning Percentage Winning Percentage suited A-2 and raised when it folded to him in late

Before Flop: 56.0% Before Flop: 44.0% position. Swedish player Anton Siden was second in

A 2 6 After Flop: 62.0% 7 After Flop: 38.0% chips at the time and defended his big blind with After Turn: 0.0% After Turn: 100.0% 7-6 off suit. Both players picked up gutshot straight draws on the fl op, with both needing a four. Siden checked and Deinlein made a small continuation PREFLOP bet of 1,330,000 into the pot of 4,042,500 with his ace high, gutshot draw and possible backdoor nut With seven players remaining and blinds of 350,000-700,000 and an fl ush draw. Siden opted to use his inside straight ante of 87,500, Michael Deinlein raised to 1,540,000 from the cutoff . draw as a semi-bluff and check-raised. Deinlein called and Siden hit his money card on the turn, Anton Siden called from the big blind. with the 4p giving both players straights. Deinlein had hit what must have seemed like one of the best cards possible after facing a check-raise on the K 5 3 4 K fl op. Instead, he called Siden’s healthy turn bet of 6,965,525 into the 13,142,500 pot drawing stone FLOP

TURN dead. e Kp on the river paired the board and

RIVER completed a backdoor ﬂ ush draw. Deinlein had less 4 K 5 3

K than a pot-sized bet remaining in his stack, which he called oﬀ when Siden moved all-in on the river. Siden checked, and Deinlein bet Siden bet Siden moved all-in for Deinlein ﬁ nished in seventh place, earning €27,433 1,330,000. Siden check-raised to 6,965,525, and 47,313,070. Deinlein called for his deep run in this event, while Siden surged 4,550,000, and Deinlein called. Deinlein called. all-in for 20,317,335. into the chip lead.

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

16 CARDPLAYER.COM VOLUME 34 / ISSUE 3

014_HeadGames.indd 16 1/4/21 12:11 PM 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 12/15/20 11:44 AM DAMIAN SALAS WINS 2020’S EXTRAORDINARY WORLD SERIES OF POKER $10,000 BUY-IN MAIN EVENT FIRST-EVER ARGENTINIAN WORLD CHAMPION TRIUMPHS IN EVENT MARRED BY DELAYS AND PLAYER DISQUALIFICATIONS By Erik Fast

total of 85 gold bracelets were ultimately awarded between July 1 and Sept. 6, with $174.5 million in prize money paid out throughout the series. Bulgarian poker pro Stoyan Madanzhiev captured the title in the WSOP Online $5,000 buy-in main event, earning $3,904,686. e massive payday represented the lion’s share of the $27,559,500 prize pool, which represented the largest prize pool in online poker history. e 29-year-old defeated a field of 5,802 players in the tournament to secure the championship bracelet. It seemed likely that the WSOP Online would be the only series award- ing bracelets in 2020, as no plans for any live series had been announced with roughly seven weeks remaining in the year. In fact, Card Player reached out to the WSOP in late October, but heard no response. Much of the media Ever since the second annual World On April 20, WSOP organizers offi- relations staff was furloughed in the Series of Poker in 1971, the game’s cially announced the postponement of early months of the pandemic and world championship has been decided this year’s planned live series that was subsequently let go. On Nov. 13, how- by a $10,000 buy-in no-limit hold‘em slated to award a record 101 gold brace- ever, tournament organizers suddenly freezeout tournament. e 2020 World lets due to the ongoing COVID-19 revealed plans for a hybrid live and Series of Poker main event did techni- pandemic. e WSOP indicated that online $10,000 no-limit hold’em main cally check all of those boxes, but like they hoped to reschedule some form of event to close out the year. most of what happened in 2020, it was the live and in-person series in the fall, is tournament would be unlike far from typical. but everything remained up in the air. any main event before it. e new-look In the end, Damian Salas emerged With all of the uncertainty surround- format essentially featured the concur- victorious with the championship ing the coronavirus outbreak, many rent running of two tournaments, a bracelet and more than $2.5 million in the poker community speculated, US-facing ‘Domestic Tournament’ and in total prize money. e 45-year-old and even bet on whether or not there an ‘International Tournament,’ both poker pro from Chascomús, Argentina would be any version of the series held of which would begin online and play became the first from his country to in 2020. until their final tables were set. e become poker’s world champion, after “We are committed to running the remaining players would then play out having fallen just a few places short of World Series of Poker this year but those final tables live and in-person doing so when he finished seventh in need additional time to proceed on at the Rio All-Suite Hotel & Casino the 2017 main event. our traditional scale while prioritizing in Las Vegas and the King’s Casino Salas’ road to the title was different guest and staff well-being,” said WSOP Rozvadov in the Czech Republic, with than any world champion before him. Executive Director Ty Stewart in the the two champions of those events Here is a look at how this unique and press release announcing the postpone- meeting in a final heads-up showdown often controversial tournament played ment of the live series. “In the interim, for the championship bracelet and an out. official WSOP competitions are expect- added $1 million prize at the Rio. WSOP Postpones, Reschedules, And ed to be played online this summer.” e last-minute announcement Improvises In Response To COVID-19 e first ever WSOP Online was drew some protests from many players,

Outbreak indeed announced in early June. A including Madanzhiev himself, who © WSOP.com

18 CARDPLAYER.COM VOLUME 34 / ISSUE 3

018_CoverStory.indd 18 1/5/21 12:32 PM world champion from his home coun- Stoyan Madanzhiev Damian Salas try of Argentina. He got off to a better start at the final table this time around, knocking out Hannes Speiser in eighth ($109,982) and Stoyan Obreshkov in seventh ($160,512) to move within strik- ing distance of the chip lead. Like Salas, Manuel Ruivo had some prior experience playing for seven-figures top prizes. e Portuguese player earned more than $2.3 million as the winner of the 2018 partypoker MILLIONS Online $5,300 buy-in main event, which drew a massive field of 4,367 entries. Ruivo disagreed with the marketing of this would see the field narrowed down to started the day as the second largest newly-revealed event as the ‘WSOP a final table of nine players over the stack, and he kept pace with the surg- main event,’ when the tournament he course of ten hours of online action. ing Salas and Botteon by knocking out had won just a month prior was also With just nine competitors left, play Dominykas Mikolaitis in sixth place described that way. was halted for a week to allow time for ($234,255) and Marco Streda in fifth “Looking back, If I had known I the remaining players to make their place ($341,879). In the latter elimina- wasn’t playing the ‘actual’ [WSOP], I way to King’s Casino in the Czech tion, Ruivo’s pocket aces held against probably wouldn’t have re-entered, or Republic to play out the final table in the A-K of Streda after all of the chips maybe even played. It worked well for person. went in preflop. me, but I wonder how many others e final nine were meant to recon- Salas was able to overtake the lead fell for this false advertising trap?” said vene on Tuesday, Dec. 15 at the recent during short-handed play, and he Madanzhiev in a Twitter post. site of the WSOP Europe, but in the extended it even further as the final “ ere must be a world champion end only eight players showed up. four battled it out. He held more than in 2020,” said Stewart in the press According to the official WSOP live three times as many chips as the next release announcing the new hybrid updates, China’s Peiyuan Sun declined largest stack by the time the remaining event. “Poker’s history is too impor- to make the trip to Rozvadov, report- players took their dinner break. Botteon tant. It’s a unique format for the main edly citing travel safety concerns. was able to close the gap somewhat by event, but this is a unique year.” Based on the published rules for the eliminating Ramon Miquel Munoz in WSOP bracelet winner and high- event, Sun was disqualified, his chips fourth place ($498,947). e short stack stakes tournament regular Sam were removed from play, and he was got his last few blinds in with A-6 and Greenwood responded in a social subsequently awarded the ninth-place was unable to outrun the pocket threes media post, stating, “ ere is. His payout of $75,360. of Botteon, who flopped a set and turned name is Stoyan Madanzhiev.” e other eight players were a full house. e event would kick off just over required to wear facial coverings at the Ruivo took his stand against the two weeks after it was first announced. table and were tested for COVID-19 chip leader after the pair took a flop of While much of the focus on the event prior to the start of play. Everyone 9p 4p 2o. Salas checked from out of began to drift to the chip counts and that made the trip tested negative, position and Ruivo bet 750,000. Salas big hands that normally occupy the and cards were soon in the air. Brazil’s check-raised to 5,000,000. Ruivo only poker communities’ attention during a Brunno Botteon came into the day as had around 6,000,000 in total, and marquee event such as this, there were the chip leader. Botteon had a breakout he announced that he was all-in. Salas still a number of controversial develop- summer at the WSOP Online, making called and revealed the 10p 7p for a ments waiting in the wings. three final tables in as many weeks flush draw. Ruivo held 9o 4n for two Salas Triumphs In WSOP International to cash for more than $1 million. He pair. e 8m on the turn gave Salas more Tournament finished runner-up in a $500 buy-in outs with an open-ended straight draw, e ‘International Tournament’ limit hold’em event for $41,855, and and the 5p on the river completed his segment of this event kicked off with then four days later placed sixth in flush, eliminating Ruivo in third place the first of three starting flights on the $25,000 buy-in no-limit hold’em ($728,177). Nov. 29 on online poker site GGPoker. high roller for $388,827. Just a week With that, Salas took roughly a 5:3 A total of 246 entries were made before later he made it down to the final in chip lead into heads-up play against registration closed for the day. e the $25,000 buy-in heads-up no-limit Botteon. e Brazilian was able to second and third starting flights were hold’em event, but lost to Fedor Holz. take back the lead in the early going, held on Dec. 5 and 6, adding another He added another $622,300 for that but Salas regained the advantage and 171 and 257 players to bring the total runner-up showing. never gave it up again. By the time the to 674 entries by the time registration 2017 WSOP main event seventh- final hand was dealt, he held a nearly closed. As a result, the sub-tournament place finisher Damian Salas sat in third 3:1 lead. built a final prize pool of $6,470,400 chip position to start the day. Salas was Salas limped in from the button to be distributed among the top 80 just three years removed from navigat- with Ko 8n and Botteon checked his finishers. ing his way through a field of 7,221 in option holding 7n 3n. e flop came Just 179 players survived the three the big dance, only to fall a few spots down Kp 4p 2n and Botteon checked. starting flights to make day 2, which shy of becoming the first-ever poker Salas checked behind with his top pair

018_CoverStory.indd 19 1/5/21 7:24 AM n and the turn brought the 6 to give Upeshka De Silva Gershon Distenfeld Botteon a flush draw and outs to a straight. He checked and Salas bet 1,000,000. Botteon check-raised to 2,800,000. Salas called and the river brought the 8p. Botteon had missed, but he elected to move all-in as a bluff for around 6.6 million. Salas thought it over before making the call with his kings and eights to secure the pot and the title. Botteon earned $1,062,723 as the runner-up finisher, while Salas earned $1,550,669 and set up a date with the eventual winner of the ‘Domestic Tournament’ to play out the business end of the event “ere is a parallel to investing. in Las Vegas. live and in-person. e players made You don’t blindly invest in companies, Joseph Hebert Wins #ForLinda In their way to Las Vegas in order to play [and] you also don’t blindly invest in a WSOP Domestic Tournament down to a winner on Monday, Dec. 28 charity. You have to do your research. at the Rio All-Suite Hotel & Casino. My wife and I have been very fortu- Joseph Hebert Unfortunately, like its international nate to be blessed with resources. We counterpart, this final table would also have spent our time, not only donating only see eight players take a seat. money but also getting involved in Less than a day before play was set charities and getting our hands dirty. to resume it was reported that De Silva We didn’t have to start from scratch, was being disqualified from the event as we decided to give to charities that due to testing positive for COVID-19. we have been involved with for a long De Silva claimed in social media posts time,” said Distenfeld after being elimi- to have been quarantining since Dec. nated. “We are in a pandemic now and 10 in preparation for the final table, the need is greater than ever.” but had tested positive on both Dec. 20 Seven-handed action continued and Dec. 27, with a negative test result for more than two-and-a-half hours. returned in between. Shawn Stroke was the next to fall. e Although De Silva was to enter 31-year-old Long Island-native came e ‘Domestic Tournament’ fea- the final table among the short stacks, into the day in second chip position but tured just one starting day on Sunday, he was by far the most accomplished fell to the bottom of the leaderboard Dec. 13. e US-facing segment of player remaining in the tournament. during the early hours of play. He got this unique event got underway on e Sri Lanka-born and Texas-raised his last chips in preflop with pocket WSOP.com just two days prior to the pro has just shy of $3.1 million in threes, only to have Harrison Dobin ‘International Tournament’ final table. tournament earnings, with all of his three-bet all-in over the top with A-K By the time the registration was offi- three bracelet wins coming in no-lim- and Jenkins call all-in behind with cially closed there had been 705 entries it hold’em events. He was ultimately pocket queens. Jenkins’ big pair held made, creating a final prize pool of awarded ninth-place money ($98,813) up through the river and Stroke was $6,768,000, the largest ever on a regu- as a result of his disqualification. eliminated in seventh place ($163,786). lated online poker site in the United De Silva’s stack was officially Dobin was left with just four big States. removed from play, which meant that blinds after the hand and was elimi- e top 105 finishers cashed in this only eight players converged on the nated shortly thereafter in sixth place segment of the event, with the money final table stage to battle it out in front ($215,222), while Jenkins surged up the bubble bursting late in the first day’s of ESPN’s cameras. Gershon Distenfeld chip counts. play. After 12 hours of action, three- began the day in sixth chip position Hebert continued to accumulate time bracelet winner Upeshka De Silva but got off to a slow start. He lost a chips by knocking out 25-year-old held the chip lead with 71 players considerable chunk of his stack just Wisconsin-based mathematics doc- remaining heading into day 2 action. a few hands into the action when he toral candidate Ye Yuan in fifth place It took around seven hours to fur- ran pocket tens into the pocket queens ($286,963). e final four battled it ther narrow the field down to the final of short stack Harrison Dobin. Just a out for more than half an hour before table of nine. When the dust settled couple of hands later, he got the last the next elimination took place. In a it was 38-year-old Louisiana native of his stack in with Kp Jp against battle of the blinds, Jenkins shoved Joseph Hebert who bagged up the chip the pocket queens of Ron Jenkins. all-in from the small blind with Am Jo lead. His 13,052,534-stack was nearly Distenfeld failed to improve and was and Ryan Hagerty called from the big 2.5 times larger than the next-biggest eliminated in eighth place ($125,885). blind with An 8o. Both players paired stack at the table and represented more Incredibly, he intends to donate all of their live cards on the flop, but the than 30 percent of the total chips in his prize money to charitable causes. 28-year-old received no further help play. e 44-year-old works in finance and and was sent home in fourth place Like the ‘International Tournament,’ has been committed to philanthropic ($387,130), picking up the largest score this event also saw the final nine travel works for years. of his career.

20 CARDPLAYER.COM VOLUME 34 / ISSUE 3

018_CoverStory.indd 20 1/5/21 12:32 PM his way, building a 3:1 advantage by winning one of the largest pots of the night. He extended that lead to roughly 9:1 before Salas found a double up. Although fighting with a stack disad- vantage for quite some time, Salas was able to survive a handful of all-ins to prolong the match. After 153 hands, the two players found themselves more or less back to even. Every pot became important with the stacks so shallow. By the time the final hand of the event was dealt it was Salas who held the advantage. In the 173rd hand of the match, Hebert looked down at Ao Qm on the button and moved all-in for just shy of eight big blinds. Salas called with Ko Jm for the majority of his stack. e board came down Km 8m 5p 5o Kp, Just six hands after Hagerty was to win this event in his mother’s name. giving Salas kings full to secure the pot eliminated, his sometimes-roommate “I am just so excited!” said Hebert and the title. He earned the champion- on the live tournament circuit Michael at the start of his post-win press confer- ship gold bracelet, becoming the first Cannon joined him on the rail. Cannon ence. He went on to say, “I’m going to main event champion from his home three-bet all-in over the button min- take this all in. Winning this tourna- country of Argentina. raise of Hebert holding Kp Qo. Hebert ment was my ultimate goal, for my Salas added $1 million to his quickly called the shove of around 16 mom, but having the freeroll is just earnings from the ‘International big blinds with pocket aces. A clean another bonus. I’m just going to take Tournament,’ bringing his total score runout saw the 29-year-old former pro- my time and figure out what to do to $2,550,969. He now has more than fessional video game player knocked about that, and go from there.” $5.7 million in career tournament earn- out in third place ($529,258). Salas Wins Lengthy Final Showdown ings to his name. With that, Hebert took just over a To Secure Title “I don’t play for the money, I play 2:1 chip lead into heads-up play against Hebert and Salas were supposed to because of the challenge, because of Jenkins, who had begun the day as begin their final showdown just two my love of poker,” said Salas. “I play the second-shortest stack with just 17 days later, but 2020 wasn’t finished to be better every time, to compete. I big blinds. Jenkins had accumulated with throwing curveballs. A report sur- am very proud of myself to earn this a decent amount of experience on the faced on the morning of the ‘Domestic achievement.” felt, with nearly $400,000 in prior live Tournament’ final table that Salas was When asked about the volatile tournament cashes to his name. initially denied entry into the United swings during his final match with A cooler decided things on the very States because he had been in Europe Hebert, Salas replied, “at is part of first hand of heads-up play. Hebert less than 15 days prior, having had to the magic of poker. It is pure adrena- raised the button with Ap Qm and travel there in order to compete at the line. It is a rollercoaster that you face Jenkins three-bet to 2,300,000 with ‘International Tournament’ final table. down in a moment. at is why poker pocket queens. Hebert four-bet all-in While the initial report was never is so good and so beautiful. What hap- and Jenkins eagerly called off the last of officially confirmed by the WSOP, the pened at the table today was simply his chips. He was ahead preflop with his live updates posted on their website poker in its pure essence. I have worked pocket queens, but an Ao Ko 7p 4n did announce that the final heads-up a lot to accept the good times that poker 8p runout secured the pot and the title battle that was originally scheduled for can give you, and the bad moments, for Hebert. Jenkins earned $1,002,340 the night of Dec. 30 had been instead too.” as the runner-up finisher. moved to Sunday, Jan. 3. Salas also realizes what an opportu- e $1,553,256 win nearly tripled e final two players took their seats nity this is to grow the sport of poker Hebert’s lifetime live tournament earn- with 500 big blinds each to start as they in Argentina. Past international world ings. His largest score prior to this victo- battled for the championship bracelet champions have used their notoriety to ry was $140,932, which he earned as the and the $1 million in added prize help spark poker interest in their home runner-up in the 2013 WSOP Circuit money that was on the line. countries. Harrah’s New Orleans main event. “We have a great battle ahead of us, “I think this performance will help Hebert dedicated the win to his late Joseph and I, and of course I am going Latin American poker, and will also mother, Linda, who passed away earlier to enjoy it,” said Salas via an interpreter. help a lot for Argentinian poker. at this year due to a pulmonary embolism. “I am privileged to be able to be here makes me feel very happy. I don’t know His last text conversation with his moth- again, at the final stage of the sport that what this moment will have as far as er had been about his dream of win- I am so passionate about.” an impact there. I wish that all Latin ning a WSOP bracelet. He created the e early action saw both play- American countries could start to see hashtag ‘#ForLinda’ online to help rally ers hold a small lead for some time. poker as a mental sport, which is what his friends and family around his efforts Hebert was able to swing the advantage it is.” m

018_CoverStory.indd 21 1/5/21 7:24 AM THE INSIDE STRAIGHT - poker Strategy

Shi s In Poker Strategy With Ping Liu Poker Pros Revisit Hands From The Past To Show How The Game Has Changed By Steve Schult

In the nearly two decades since poker experienced a boom thanks to Chris Moneymaker’s historic World Series of Poker main event victory in 2003, the strategy surrounding the game has evolved at a pace never before seen. With online poker, the game’s best players were able to see more hands quickly and develop more complex strategies to win. Bet sizing, aggression levels, and even something as basic as preflop hand selection has changed drastically since the game went mainstream. Chicago native and Southern California resident Ping Liu has been playing long enough to see most of these changes. With his first significant cash as a pro coming back in 2011 and experience playing online before that, Liu emerged as a true force in 2018 as a contender for the World Poker Tour Player of the Year title. Not only did he finish fourth in the Five Diamond World Poker Classic for $599,147, but he also took fourth in the Rolling Thunder main event for another $97,510, and fifth in the bestbet Bounty Scramble for another $73,734. Last year, Liu picked up a win at the LA Poker Classic, while also final tabling the $10,000 super turbo bounty event at the WSOP and finishing third in the WSOP Circuit Planet Hollywood main event. He now has $2.1 million in career tournament earnings, and is currently accepting students for poker coaching and can found on Twitter @PingDotCom. Liu sat down with Card Player to break down a couple hands from the 2007 WPT Borgata Poker Open main event final table, which featured Mike Matusow, Eugene Todd, Mark Weitzman, Haralabos Voulgaris, and eventual winner Roy Winston.

The Hand

ments now use the big size should go down as blind ante, which would well. If there is less in the put 80,000 in antes in the middle, and you’re still rais- middle. So how should the ing three times the blind, ante size dictate your pre- you’re risking more to win Roy Winston Mark Weitzman ﬂ op hand selection? less. So, it’s kind of similar 5,355,000 1,750,000 Ping Liu: It’s pretty sim- preﬂ op where you can just ple, intuitively, that if there think of what you’re raising J 10 7 is less dead money in the by a percentage of the pot.

pot preﬂ op, then you have Let’s say you were in a

J 7 10 less to win by raising and cash game and the blinds trying to steal the blinds. were $1-$2 and you’re rais- erefore, you are less ing 2.5 big blinds to $5. Blinds – 40,000 – 80,000 with a 5,000 ante incentivized to voluntarily at is 62.5% of the pot. Players Remaining: 6 put money in the pot, and And obviously with more because of that, you will dead money in the middle, be opening slightly tighter 60% of the pot gets bigger ranges. and bigger eff ectively. e The Action: Roy Winston Steve Schult: Before we SS: Should it aff ect how bigger the antes, the more raised to 230,000 on even get into the hand large or small you raise? In you should be raising pre- the button and Mark itself, the fi rst thing I this hand, Winston raises fl op, because you stand to Weitzman called out noticed is the ante size. e on the button to 230,000 win more if you take the of the big blind. On the blinds are 40,000-80,000, and nowadays you would blinds down right away. fl op, Weitzman led out but the ante is just 5,000, see something between at being said, back in for 400,000 and Winston meaning there is 30,000 160,000 and 200,000 in the day, people really did raised to 1,400,000. in the middle in antes at this spot. raise close to 3x as the stan- Weitzman folded. the six-handed fi nal table. PL: If there is less money dard and I’m not really sure Nearly all poker tourna- in the middle, your raise why that was. And I think

22 CARDPLAYER.COM VOLUME 34 / ISSUE 3

022_PokerStrategyFeature.indd 22 1/4/21 12:34 PM THE INSIDE STRAIGHT

Roy Winston Mark Weitzman Haralabos Voulgaris

over the years, preflop raise to call two additional big hand. Because the top of play is to check to the pre- sizes just started getting blinds instead of one, it their range isn’t going to be flop raiser and then react smaller and smaller all the does make a big difference. present. ere are certain, accordingly. way down to just a min- Once they start tripling pretty specific board tex- at’s something that raise, which I think started the blind, your risk/reward tures, where the big blind all the solvers have proven. happening around 2014. for just shoving becomes a theoretically could have a Checking your range is SS: Winston raises lot better. If they fold pre range advantage, but those going to be the best play. to 230,000 and Mark to your jam, you’re going are going to be on the lower Back then in the pre-solver Weitzman calls out of to win another big blind board textures. era, people didn’t under- the big blind. Weitzman plus what’s in the middle. I Something like 4-5-6 stand how ranges interact- started the hand with 1.75 think there has been more with a flush draw. at’s ed and they just started million, or about 23 big play post-flop recently at a board where it is more donking on boards where blinds. I remember a man- the shorter stack sizes, but theoretically optimal to they shouldn’t have a lead- tra from this time period that’s also a function of construct a donk-leading ing range on it. with regard to stack sizes the raise sizes preflop going range out of the big blind, e main problem with which generally said that down. because you’ll have a lot doing that is it turns your with around 10 big blinds SS: Weitzman calls and more of the 4-5’s, the 4-6’s, hand face up. Let’s say you should be open-shov- the flop comes jack-high the 5-6’s, and also more you’re playing with a rela- ing and with about 20, you with two clubs. He then straight combos than the tively weak player and they should find spots to just donk-bets (betting from button. e button proba- donk on this board and three-bet shove your stack. out of position into the bly isn’t raising 4-6 offsuit, you have nothing, so you Should Weitzman have aggressor) for 400,000. but from the big blind, you just fold. en the next much of a flatting range? Can you explain the ratio- could defend it. time you play a hand with PL: e first thing is that nale of why you would In terms of what I actu- them and you get a similar you’re right that 13 years want to donk-bet? ally think he’s doing here, board texture, and now ago, people usually played PL: e rationale behind I would guess that he just they check. Because you 20-big blind stacks a lot donk-betting is that you has a hand that he is look- know they have a donking more like you described. connected with that par- ing to go with at this point. range and they put their ey would just shove over ticular flop stronger than He’s just trying to protect strong hands in it, their an open. But over the years, your opponent did. You’re it and take the pot down checking range becomes [we have realized] there is saying that you have the right away. unprotected. Every time still a lot more play any- range advantage on that SS: How have you seen they check, you can just where between 10- and board. Usually, if someone the donk-bet strategy c-bet (continuation bet) 20-big blind stacks. You is the preflop raiser, you are change throughout the everything and expect to can flat and take your hand going to have the strongest years? Is there more or less get a lot of folds because post-flop. hands in your range. You’ll of it now than when you their range will be signifi- But that is also a func- have A-A, K-K, Q-Q, A-K. started posting results a cantly weaker. tion of what we were talk- And if you just flat the raise decade ago? SS: Weitzman had 14 big ing about before. If some- preflop, then those hands PL: I do think the blinds behind, and there one is min-raising, and aren’t going to be present amount of donk-betting was another player with you have 20 big blinds in in your range because you has gone down over the about 18 big blinds. Is this the big blind, you can still most likely would’ve put in years quite substantially. a good spot for Winston to defend and have a decent a three-bet. Most moderately studied apply ICM (Independent amount of playability. But So very often, the play- players know that when Chip Model) pressure or when people are opening er who defends from the you defend out of the big does he usually have a hand to 3x, and now you have big blind, won’t have a big blind, the most common here?

022_PokerStrategyFeature.indd 23 1/4/21 12:34 PM THE INSIDE STRAIGHT - poker Strategy

the small blind. Especially ing the same thing. e Ping Liu with an ante in the pot, the big blind probably doesn’t small blind is getting such have that much, and he’s a good immediate price to just going to bet his hand complete, they really are and deny some equity. I going to be incentivized to think the pot-sizing is not play a lot of their hands. super eff ective. What he’s And because their ranges trying to get him to do are going to be so wide, is get him to fold an air often times, the small blind hand, win the pot right will often play a limp-only away, and protect his low strategy and then respond pair. But since the pot is accordingly if the big blind slightly more than two big does choose to raise. blinds, then all he needs to SS: Weitzman checks do is bet the minimum. his option and the fl op e big blind will fold is A-K-J with two hearts. something like 7-5 off - Both players check and suit, or whatever rags he the 9n comes on the turn. has. And if the big blind Voulgaris decides to take does have a pair, he won’t a pot-sized stab with his fold regardless of wheth- PL: I think he has to big on this board without deuces. I remember a limp- er Haralabos bet one big have some equity. He can’t much behind. He shouldn’t stab strategy being imple- blind or full pot. just do it with air because I expect him to lead this big mented in these spots. Is SS: I know you’re specu- think the big blind is show- and fold. More likely than this just a delayed limp- lating here, but do you ing a signifi cant amount not, he’s got a strong top stab? think Haralabos was plan- of strength by donking so pair. PL: With deuces, now- ning to limp-shove on adays, the standard play Weitzman prefl op? The Hand prefl op would be just to PL: I think it should shove when the big blind just be a shove every time, 2 2 Q J has 20 big blinds and you so I’m not sure. From the cover him. e low pocket small blind, there is a lot

pairs don’t play particular- more limping, but the

2 2 J Q ly well post-ﬂ op, especially deeper you are, with more against the big blind. antes in the middle, the Haralabos Voulgaris Mark Weitzman As played, most play- more you should play a 2,560,000 1,550,000 ers would take a stab right limp-only strategy because away with deuces on the you’re going to be playing A K J 9 7 ﬂ op. On an A-K-J board out of position and deep-

texture, when the big blind stacked.

A J 9 7

K checks back, he is going e shorter and shorter to be really capped and you get, the more open not have any of the strong raising or open shoving Blinds – 40,000 – 80,000 with a 5,000 ante hands in his range. ose you are going to see. At the Players Remaining: 6 are the hands he would’ve 20-big blind stack depth, raised or shoved prefl op. there is a signifi cant por- The Action: e a c t i o n types of hands you would It’s unlikely that the big tion of your range that folded to Haralbos generally see people limp blind has an ace in his is going to want to open Voulgaris, who completed with? hand, whereas the small shove prefl op, and the the small blind. Weitzman PL: Open limping is def- blind can still have some most prevalent part of that checked his option from initely part of a pretty via- of the stronger hands in his range is going to be the the big blind. Both play- ble prefl op strategy, even range that was going for small pocket pairs and low, ers checked the fl op and in 2020. And you’re going a limp-raise. It’s a better off suit aces that don’t play Voulgaris bet 155,000 on to see it a lot more once board texture for the small well post-fl op. And even the turn. Weitzman called. you get to a sub-20 big blind, so I think the better some low suited aces could Both players checked the blind stack depth. You can play would be to stab the shove prefl op. You could river and Weitzman won have some open limps from fl op. Even just for one big shove some suited connec- the pot at showdown. the cutoff with like 15 big blind would be fi ne. If the tors for balance. He will SS: Action folds to blinds or so. And the same big blind has two unders, have some limping in his Haralabos in the small thing for the button. they aren’t going to con- range and will have raise- blind, who completes. But specifically, in tinue regardless of what calls in his range and some Open limping is still some- this spot, blind vs. blind, size he chooses. raise-folds. e shallower what prevalent in today’s the optimal strategy does When we get to the you get, the more options game, but what were the include a lot of limps from turn, he’s probably think- you want to have from the

24 CARDPLAYER.COM VOLUME 34 / ISSUE 3

022_PokerStrategyFeature.indd 24 1/5/21 10:57 AM THE INSIDE STRAIGHT

Roy Winston Wins Borgata Poker Open shoving as well, because the pot down right away. you’re probably going to Weitzman played his hand get him to fold some stuff totally fine. that he shouldn’t. I think his two options are either The Result: Weitzman to check back or shove. finished fourth, taking I don’t think raising is home a payday worth a good strategy because I $380,240. Voulgaris was think there is a portion able to outlast him by one of Haralabos’ range that spot, earning $434,560 will be limp-shoving, and I for third place. It was think 2-2 would be part of also just one spot shy of that range. You don’t want Voulgaris’ career best, to raise something like 3x when he finished runner and then face a shove. up in the 2005 WPT LA SS: Weitzman called the Poker Classic main event. turn bet and both players Winston went on to win small blind. PL: Given that there is a checked the river. the tournament and secure SS: Weitzman actually significant amount of ICM PL: I think the river the $1,575,280 first-place had Q-J offsuit. Should consideration because he’s action is pretty standard at prize. e doctor-turned- he be raising? What do going to get a pretty big this point, but it just sort poker-enthusiast made you think about his option pay jump if he just folds of goes back to what I said a deep run in that year’s check preflop? and lets the other guy bust, about the turn. Haralabos WSOP main event, finish- PL: Did you say he was that would make me want didn’t need to bet so big ing 26th for $333,490, and the shortest stack at this to check back his hand a on the turn because he also won a preliminary point? little bit more often. would’ve accomplished event at the Five Diamond SS: At this point, he is He could just shove what he was trying to with World Poker Classic for the second-shortest stack. over the limp. And if he a one big blind bet. When another $230,365, but ere was one player at the knows that Haralabos is he does bet turn and check mostly abandoned the table who had about seven going to limp something river, it does seem like tournament circuit after big blinds. like 2-2, then I really like his plan was to just take 2010. m

022_PokerStrategyFeature.indd 25 1/4/21 12:34 PM Strategies, ANALYSIS & Commentary WHAT WILL WE REMEMBER ABOUT THE 2020 WSOP MAIN EVENT? By Gavin Grifﬁ n

I guess I could have pre-written this column. Just hours before one of the now-three World Series of Poker main event fi nal tables, a player was disqualifi ed for testing positive for COVID-19. Whatever the actual chances are of someone testing positive for a disease that’s been at the heart of so much misery and pain for the year 2020, it felt to me like this was inevitable. Having people play in a tournament online and then fl y to Las Vegas for the live fi nal table in the midst of a pandemic was inviting disaster. In fact, I said as much just a few weeks ago. (Vol. 34 Issue 1: is Is Not e Main Event You’re Looking For) “Off ering a tournament like this where players will have to travel to play in it, during the worst days of the pandemic, is a cynical and irresponsible Republic for the international main event fi nal table? Or move by those in charge at the WSOP and, even though I what about Stoyan Madanzhiev, who won $3.9 million live only a four-hour drive from Las Vegas and have a safe in the fi rst WSOP main event of 2020, held this summer place to play, I will not be participating in this event. I just online?” don’t feel comfortable supporting it.” “(In fact, since Salas’ entry into the U.S. was delayed and ere has been a lot of discussion on the internet about the heads-up match was played in January of 2021, do we what should have been done by the WSOP after someone even consider him a 2020 champion?) tested positive, including many suggestions that would not e sad fact is that there is a terrifi c story in each one of have been so harsh. But for all of the discussion, everyone these people that made one of the fi nal tables, as the people who played in the tournament knew exactly what would who produce the WSOP broadcasts so often prove. e best happen if they made the fi nal table and subsequently con- story this year might be Gershon Distenfeld, who had just tracted coronavirus. It was stated right in the tournament’s $10,375 in tournament earnings going into the fi nal table FAQ that “any player who tests positive for COVID-19 prior but still pledged to donate all of his net winnings from his to the start of fi nal table play will be disqualifi ed and receive $125,885 eighth-place fi nish to charity. I hope that his story, the minimum fi nal table payout.” and all of the interesting stories from the tournament, don’t Everyone who decided to play in this event was aware get overshadowed by the coronavirus disqualifi cation, but I of the risks associated with playing it and agreed to be dis- have my doubts. qualifi ed if they made the fi nal table and tested positive. e With a clear mind, and pure understanding of what they player who tested positive, Upeshka De Silva, received the were getting into, each of the 705 entrants to the US main ninth-place payout of $98,813. event and 674 entrants to the international main event put De Silva was supposed to come into the fi nal table with up their $10,000 buy-in and agreed to the terms and condi- the eighth-most chips and is, therefore, not losing much tions surrounding this most unusual of main events. Now theoretical value. However, the fact that it was De Silva who that the seemingly inevitable has come to fruition, there is was disqualifi ed is an interesting wrinkle. He is by far, the nothing to do but accept the consequences therein. most successful tournament player of those who made the I hope it leads to some introspection on the parts of poker fi nal table, with fi ve times more earnings than his opponents players with regards to how much power they hold in the and three WSOP bracelets already to his name. poker world. And although I think it’s less likely, perhaps e really unfortunate thing about this story, other than some introspection on the part of those operators that con- Upeshka getting a disease that may have long-term eff ects tinue to put profi t over the concerns of the players. on his health, is that I’m now more than halfway through So, while it’s still fresh in our minds. Please join me this column and I still haven’t mentioned the winner of the in wishing congratulations to Stoyan Madanzhiev, Joseph tournament, Joseph Hebert. Hebert, and Damian Salas, the joint-winners of the 2020 It’s often said that nobody remembers the runner-up WSOP main event. m in major sports competitions. is is a situation where we might not even be able to recall the winner. Gavin Griffin was the first poker player to capture “I really hope that we remember Hebert’s accomplish- a World Series of Poker, European Poker Tour and ment, but after losing heads-up to Salas, will we remember World Poker Tour title and has amassed nearly $5 Hebert, or the fact that De Silva was disqualifi ed? For that million in lifetime tournament winnings. Griffin is matter, will we remember Salas’ win, or Peiyuan Sun, the sponsored by HeroPoker.com. You can follow him Chinese poker player who opted to not travel to the Czech on Twitter @NHGG ©WSOP.com

26 CARDPLAYER.COM VOLUME 34 / ISSUE 3

026_S&A.indd 26 1/4/21 4:17 PM Strategies, ANALYSIS & Commentary

But they step back, pretend they have told me about the situation, and now imagine what I would tell them to do. WWFD? en, just do it! Of course, it need not be WWFD, as you can replace me By Greg Raymer with anybody whom you trust to give you good poker advice. If you have a friend with whom you talk strategy regularly, put them in your mind instead. Or, what might work better, is to Often enough, we get lost in a hand, and are very unsure instead imagine that your poker buddy has come to you for what to do. When facing a decision for a lot of chips, emo- advice. Imagine they have described this situation they were in, tions can start to kick in and hinder us in making the smart- and are asking you for help. Now, just follow your own advice. est decision. In those moments, one thing I recommend for I think many of you will be surprised at how well this my students is a technique to take themselves out of the technique can work. Instead of thinking about what you equation for a moment, and thereby help themselves make want to do now, which includes the entire emotional situa- the best decision. tion you are in, you are instead thinking about the advice you We’re all familiar with the common term ‘WWJD,’ or might receive from me, or advice you might give to a friend. ‘What Would Jesus Do?’ It is a technique used by some Next time you face a big decision, are having doubts about Christians to help themselves make life decisions with sig- what to do, and are feeling emotional about the decision, nifi cant moral implications. Instead of fi guring out what give this technique a trial run, and see how it goes. I can’t you should do, you try to fi gure out what this other person, guarantee you will make the best decision, but I can promise whom you trust, would do if they were in your position. you this will increase the chances of your making the smart- is technique can frequently work very well to remove est decision possible. your emotions from the decision. I discuss this technique in Have fun, and play smart! m Chapter 32 of my book, FossilMan’s Winning Tournament Strategies. e title of this chapter is ‘Emotional Concerns,’ and Greg Raymer is the 2004 WSOP world champion, this is just one of the things I discuss. However, for many stu- winner of numerous major titles, and has more dents, this is the best method for avoiding emotional mistakes. than $7 million in earnings. He recently authored Although it may sound a little silly to ask yourself “What “FossilMan’s Winning Tournament Strategies,” Would FossilMan Do?,” that is what I recommend to my available from D&B Publishing, Amazon, and other students. Facing a tough decision, they should step back, and retailers. He is sponsored by Blue Shark Optics, imagine they were talking to me about this hand. Maybe it is YouStake, and ShareMyPair. To contact Greg please tweet at him using @ during a private lesson, or maybe they’ve just read my book. FossilMan or go to www.FossilManPoker.com. ANALYSISAnalysis TOURNAMENT HAND MATCHUP Finnish poker pro Samuel Vousden has become one of the most successful online tournament players 2020 Irish Poker Masters Online in the world in recent years. In this hand Vousden €1,100 No-Limit Hold’em Main Event unleashed calculated bet sizings to help extract the maximum from his opponent. e action began with Luc Van Der Beek Vousden min-raising from the cutoff with pocket Samuel Vousden kings. Dutch player Luc Van Der Beek called from 34,152,417 Chips 33,119,299 Chips the small blind with A-10 off suit. e fl op brought a paired board with two diamonds and Van Der Beek K K A 10 elected to check-call with his ace-high, which could Winning Percentage Winning Percentage very well have been the best hand given that Vousden

Before Flop: 71.0% Before Flop: 28.0% should have a fairly wide range when opening from

K K A After Flop: 87.0% 10 After Flop: 13.0% the cutoff . Vousden’s continuation bet was small, just After Turn: 89.0% After Turn: 11.0% 1,520,000 into the pot of 4,600,000. is smaller sizing helps keep weaker hands like Van Der Beek’s in the pot, allowing Vousden to put him in tough PREFLOP spots on later streets. e turn brought the 10n, giving Van Der Beek tens up. He checked to Vousden, With six players remaining and blinds of 400,000-800,000 and an ante who increased his sizing to full-pot on the turn. is of 100,000, Samuel Vousden raised to 1,600,000 from the cutoff , and larger bet sizing will allow Vousden to extract more Luc Van Der Beek called from the small blind. value in situations like this, where his opponent has a worse value hand. e sizing will also make Vousden’s bet more likely to get through when he is bluffi ng, because bigger bets will off er worse odds for an oppo- 9 3 3 10 4 nent to call. As a result, Van Der Beek was put in a FLOP

TURN tough position, as he could expect Vousden to unleash

RIVER this sizing with both strong hands and the very weak-

10 4 3 3 9 est holdings in his range. Van Der Beek made the call, and the pot ballooned to 22,920,000. Both Vousden Van Der Beek checked, and Van Der Beek checked, Van Der Beek checked, and and Van Der Beek had around a pot-sized bet remain- Vousden bet 1,520,000. Van and Vousden bet Vousden moved all-in for ing in their stacks. Vousden moved all-in after the 4p Der Beek called. 7,640,000. Van Der 23,292,417. Van Der Beek completed the board, and Van Der Beek made the Beek called. called all-in for 22,259,299. call. His hand was second-best, and he hit the rail in sixth place earning €34,894.

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

026_S&A.indd 27 1/4/21 4:17 PM Strategies, ANALYSIS & Commentary HOW I GOT BANNED FOR LIFE FROM THE GOLDEN NUGGET By Houston Curtis

is is one of those stories that sounds so crazy, one would think I had to be making it up. But I can assure you, every word I’m about to share with you is true. e year was 2007 and I was in Las Vegas all week with my entire production crew filming episodes for e Ultimate Blackjack Tour. We were shooting at e Venetian, which was also where I was staying for the week. Now, normally I didn’t play at e Venetian, but since I net profit of $150,000 in less than 45 minutes. When I cashed was shooting there anyway, I found my way to the blackjack out, I had every intention of heading back to e Venetian and tables the night before we were set to tape our first episode. going to bed. at is, until I decided to sit down for just a few I didn’t even have a line of credit set up at e Venetian, hands on the way up to my room. but what I did have was a ton of cash on me just in case a I made my way over to the same high-limit area as before, big poker game broke out while I was there. I was carrying running high from my win. Except this time, I was greeted by around close to $300,000 in this ridiculous Dolce & Gabanna a host who let me know he would like to take me to dinner satchel which, despite its small size, was able to comfortably during my stay, even asking me if I needed tickets to any of fit six $50,000 bricks with enough room left over for a pack the shows. After some polite chit chat, I dove in head first, flat of lifesavers. betting $5,000 a hand as if I had just won the lottery. My first night in town, even though I knew better, I made In another 45 minutes, the $130,000 was gone! I won a beeline for the high-limit tables and bought in for $30,000. $130,000 back, and then proceeded to dump it all back to Half an hour later, when the dealer was done counting all the e Venetian! money and all of the railbirds had come and gone, I placed a After another day of taping, I headed straight for e beautiful white flag on the table for my first $5,000 bet of the Nugget, this time calling them to have my tables roped off night. and ready. I took them for another $110,000 before cashing I was delighted when the dealer dealt me a blackjack on my out, making my way back to e Venetian where I had vowed first hand, which was immediately followed by me splitting to get some sleep. two eights against a six, catching a trey on the first hand and I didn’t even make it to the elevators before I had dumped a deuce on the second. So of course, I doubled down on both it all back again. hands, putting a total of $20,000 at risk. e dealer went mon- After another grueling day of production, my mind clearly key, monkey for a bust and I was elated. If only I had gotten up on the six-figure hole in my pocket, I went back to e Nugget right then and there and spent the night partying my ass off at to dig myself out once again. is time I managed to book a a club, the hangover would have been much less painful than $114,000 win. You can probably guess what happened next. what the casino had in store for me. Like an absolute, sick, degenerate asshole, I went straight back Normally I would have reserved a table and celebrated to e Venetian and gave it all back! my win, but like I said earlier, e Venetian wasn’t my usual But this time I didn’t go to sleep. I was wide awake and stomping ground. I had no RFB comp status where I’d be furious with myself. I needed to play, but the venue I was play- receiving my usual over-the-top Vegas experience complete ing in clearly seemed to matter. I headed back to e Nugget, with butler service and an endless supply of casino hosts stop- but this time when I asked for my usual royal treatment, there ping by to say, ‘hello.’ Hell, I didn’t even have a marker there. was a long pause, followed by lots of whispering. And even though I would be the first to point out that All of a sudden the CFO of Golden Nugget walked up, someone else’s bets don’t actually alter your chances of win- and he informed me that I was no longer welcome to play at ning, when the guy next to me decided to make three min- the property. I was quite frustrated with this development, but bets, I still saw it as a sign of bad luck. It was especially bad still itching to play. I decided to switch it up and play craps, but because I had just pressed my $5,000 bet to $10,000. when I asked for my marker the man said, “I don’t think you Sure enough, like a sign from the gambling gods telling me understand Mr. Curtis. You are no longer welcome to play any to run, the dealer dealt himself a blackjack. Determined to quit game in this casino.” ahead, I still found myself sitting there like a degenerate when To which I replied, “Even the slots?” Turns out that I had the sun came up. apparently won 1.7 million over the past few years and had As I saw my staff heading to work on the show we were tap- somehow never booked a loss. I became one of only two guys ing that day, I decided to play one more shuffle and then call it at the time to ever be banned for excessive winning! quits. Of course, I lost every single hand of that shuffle, putting Knowing there was no way this guy was going to give me me $275,000 in the hole! My Dolce & Gabanna satchel had access to my marker, I started hounding him for a free meal. been almost entirely drained. I had a friend with me, and I wasn’t about to be ran out of a at night, eager to get it back, I decided to play smart and casino without proving I could get something from them. Sure went to e Golden Nugget where I had a marker and pre- enough, they comped us at the buffet under the caveat that I negotiated terms in their high-limit room that gave me two leave e Nugget immediately after I was done eating. private tables all to myself. I got back to e Venetian on a full stomach, but as you can I took out $20,000 on my marker and quickly ran it up to a guess, I was far from satisfied. I put my last $100 into a video

28 CARDPLAYER.COM VOLUME 34 / ISSUE 3

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poker machine for a few spins while I talked to my buddy and and insightful guest who talked about everything from John tried to fi gure out where I was going to get ahold of more cash Elway being a stiff , to one-upping me with a story even crazier after midnight on a Sunday. than the one I just shared. He also gives his top tips for getting And that’s when things changed! treated like a high roller in Vegas, and how to take advantage I hit a royal fl ush at video poker for $7,500. As I was waiting of the city during COVID-19. to fi ll out the W9 (which was really irritating given the small As always, thanks for reading, and next time you go to amounts I had been gambling for), I turned to my buddy and Vegas, remember to stay sharp! Stay Kardsharp! m said, “It’s Custer’s last stand, let’s run it up!” He begged me to reconsider by reminding me e Venetian had been nothing Houston Curtis, founder of KardSharp.com and but bad luck for me on that trip. is time I agreed and we author of Billion Dollar Hollywood Heist has lived a moved the action over to Caesars Palace. successful double life as both a producer and high I raced over to Caesars with my $7,500 still warm and sat stakes poker player for nearly 30 years. His cred- down at the fi rst high-limit blackjack table I could fi nd. Like its include executive producing gambling-related magic, I ran the $7,500 up to $250,000 in less than an hour! I TV shows such as The Ultimate Blackjack Tour was saved! en, on my way out of town my luck got even bet- on CBS, The Aruba Poker Classic on GSN and pioneering the poker instruc- ter as I dropped by the host desk at e Venetian. Apparently, I tional DVD genre with titles featuring poker legend Phil Hellmuth. Barred was such a degenerate donkey that they decided to give me back for life from Las Vegas Golden Nugget for “excessive winning” at blackjack, $15,000 in cash as a thank you. I had somehow managed to win Houston is one of the world’s most successful card mechanics and sleight- six fi gures at the blackjack tables four nights in a row, but needed of-hand artists of the modern era. Curtis, who rarely plays in tournaments, a lucky spin on the slot machine to save my entire bankroll. won a 2004 Legends of Poker no-limit hold’em championship event besting I was truly living life on the edge and this became a high Scotty Nguyen heads-up at the final table before going on to co-found the roller moment I will never forget. But if you want to head to elite Hollywood poker ring that inspired Aaron Sorkin’s Academy Award- Vegas and get treated like a high roller, don’t do what I did. nominated film Molly’s Game. Curtis now resides in Columbia, Missouri ere are much smarter ways to get tons of perks out of Sin while maintaining offices in Los Angeles, and Phoenix, Arizona. In addition City than bringing a $300,000 bankroll and playing like to running a production company and independent record label, Curtis also you’ve lost your damn mind! consults as a poker protection expert to clients across the globe seeking Instead, check out this issue’s video supplement with spe- insight into master level card cheating tactics via advanced sleight-of-hand cial guest casino host Steve Cyr, now available at my website, technique. In addition, Houston is now available for in-person and online and the KardSharp YouTube page. He’s the man behind the speaking engagements, private sleight-of-hand instruction, and a variety best-selling book, Whale Hunt In e Desert: Secrets Of A Vegas of media creation/production services. Houston can be contacted directly Superhost from Huntington Press. Steve was an entertaining at [email protected].

ANALYSISAnalysis TOURNAMENT HAND MATCHUP William Kassouf became notorious for his motor- mouthed table talk during the 2016 WSOP main event. 2020 Irish Poker Masters Online e British player ultimately fi nished 17th in that €1,100 No-Limit Hold’em Main Event tournament for $338,288, but he was involved in many contentious and controversial hands that featured heav- William Kassouf ily in that year’s ESPN television coverage before he was Manuel Ruivo eliminated. Arguably the most well-known moment 83,501,081 Chips 36,400,000 Chips from his run came when he ran an all-in bluff with 9-6 off suit and drew a fold from Stacy Matuson’s pocket J 7 9 5 queens, which were an overpair to the board. Kassouf Winning Percentage Winning Percentage was penalized for his incessant table talk during the

Before Flop: 64.0% Before Flop: 34.0% hand, but not before he unveiled his now infamous

J 7 5 After Flop: 84.0% 9 After Flop: 15.0% catchphrase: “Nine high, like a boss!” Kassouf very After Turn: 82.0% After Turn: 18.0% likely had that infamous hand in mind when he looked down at 9-5 off suit with three players remaining at this live-streamed online fi nal table. Manuel Ruivo PREFLOP opened as the fi rst to act with J-7 suited and it folded around to Kassouf in the big blind. Kassouf thought it With four players remaining and blinds of 400,000-800,000 and an over before making the call. Ruivo, who won the 2018 ante of 100,000, Manuel Ruivo raised to 1,648,000 from under the gun. MILLIONS Online main event for $2.3 million, picked William Kassouf called from the big blind. up a fl ush draw on the fl op. Kassouf checked and Ruivo made a small continuation bet of 1,200,000 into the pot of 4,096,000. Kassouf unleashed a check-raise to 4,652,000, with nine high and no draws to speak of. A 10 4 3 Kassouf should not only check-raise with his strong hands in this situation, but he likely will have plenty of FLOP

TURN semi-bluﬀ s that would be better suited to use than the

pure air he held in this particular instance. Ruivo made

3 10 4 A the call with his fl ush draw and the turn brought the 3m. e pot now sat at 13,400,000, with Kassouf having Kassouf checked, and Ruivo bet Kassouf bet 30,000,000 behind. He fi red another barrel, making it 1,200,000. Kassouf check-raised to 10,000,000, and 10,000,000 to call. Ruivo folded his unimproved draw 4,652,000. Ruivo called. Ruivo folded. relatively quickly, and Kassouf’s bluff got through.

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

026_S&A.indd 29 1/4/21 4:18 PM Strategies, ANALYSIS & Commentary

Discovering Leaks By Nathan Gamble

As I grew more intrigued by poker, was dashed as they had an error with hadn’t been a fluke, people really were I naturally progressed to pulling up a the tournament and ended up refund- playing the game with a flawed strat- chair behind my dad while he played ing all the buy-ins. I was devasted as egy. At the age of 13, I thought I was online. What kid could resist watch- I told my dad the news, assuming I going to be a millionaire just off that ing the heyday of online poker, where would have to give back the stake. He one game, just because no one else there was a never-ending supply of told me to keep it and to see if I could understood what I did. fish-filled tables and even bad beat run it up. I was riding high with the confi- jackpots that rolled up higher and I drained all the money from my dence of a pre-pubescent boy who had higher. new $11 bankroll except for a pal- solved the world. en they took the He primarily played limit hold’em, try $1.37. Most people wouldn’t even game down. It was done. Finished. which only further piqued my curios- bother playing at that stage of the Over. Not enough players had wanted ity in the world outside of everyone’s game. ey’d either rebuy or leave the to play for the game to continue oper- favorite, no-limit hold’em. Under the funds behind and not even bother, but ating. Overnight, I had gone from shadow of darkness, I transitioned I was determined to make poker work, feeling like the king of the world to from watching to playing. Night after to make those last few coins stretch as feeling like the rug had been yanked night, I opened up the tables and far as I could. out from under my feet. played free-money poker for hours on I started looking around the site My quest for exploiting people’s end. Obviously, there was no money to see what my options were. Maybe strategy wasn’t limited to online. to be won, only chips, but it satisfied micro tournaments, or maybe games While I collected myself and tried to my urge to delve into the poker world with small buy-ins? I discovered a figure out what games to play next, I and pretend that I was playing in game known as royal hold’em, which was introduced to a WSOP computer something as prestigious as the World Series of Poker. ese late-night sessions were accompanied by five songs that I Within the first few months I had run that played on repeat to keep me hyped up, songs which I still hear in my head to $1.37 up to over $1,600. It hadn’t been a this day whenever I play online. It was fluke, people really were playing the game a simple loop. I was too young to have any sort of musical pedigree, so my with a flawed strategy. At the age of 13, I playlist consisted of songs such as Eye of the Tiger and Stairway to Heaven. thought I was going to be a millionaire off e songs were playing during my first real ‘win,’ when I made my first that one game, just because no one else royal flush in stud-eight-or-better on understood what I did. Ultimate Bet. With the high hand of the hour, the site put a $5 bonus in my account. I was ecstatic! A real-money bankroll! I would finally be able to was still in its trial phase. It was the game. It was one of the initial video live out my dreams of being a profes- ultimate version of short deck poker, games of the ‘90s and you started sional player, winning enough money with all the cards removed except for off as a character who had just flown to climb the ranks and eventually tens through aces. to Las Vegas with the hopes of win- battle against my heroes. I watched for a while and real- ning the main event. You started off e dream lasted all of 20 minutes ized that most people had a massive with $1,000 in your pocket and had before I had given the $5 away and was leak in their game. If the board was 24 hours in game time to win your once again relegated to the free-money unpaired on the flop, people would entry fee. tables. have no problem getting it all-in with I didn’t have the patience to try to About two weeks after my $5 jack- a straight. Now, if you think through build up a bankroll as I just wanted pot there was a major tournament things logically, you realize that by to make my way into the WSOP and on UB. It was an $11.25 tourna- the river it will either be a straight play the tournament. Eventually, as I ment which had an absurdly ridicu- and everyone will chop, a flush will explored every nook and cranny of the lous guarantee. It was high enough become possible, or the board will game in hopes of finding a shortcut, I to sweet talk my dad into transferring have paired. Too many people were discovered an Easter egg in the game. money into my account. He went for willing to get it in with a straight, so If you continued to bump your char- it and I was ready to play, geared up if you put the chips in with a set, you acter against the wall of the virtual and stoked to be a professional on the were freerolling. casino buffet, more chips would magi- hunt. Within the first few months I had cally appear. I could just ‘hack’ my Once again, my 13-year-old dream run that $1.37 up to over $1,600. It way into a tournament entry.

30 CARDPLAYER.COM VOLUME 34 / ISSUE 3

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is discovery allowed me to almost like discovering the concept of Nathan Gamble is a bypass the boring part of the game unprotected ranges for the ﬁ rst time. native of Texas where and jump straight into the main event ese tricks that I discovered in the he learned to play to test my poker wits against the com- computer gaming side of poker followed the game of hold’em puter’s best. Once I made it to this me back to the online poker world and from his father. He is a stage of the game, I started discover- I returned online with renewed vigor two-time World Series ing leaks within the AI itself. It would and conﬁ dence. I spent many months of Poker bracelet winner, the first coming repetitively make min-raises, and you learning the tricks, watching moves, in the 2017 WSOP $1,500 PLO8/b Event, the could get into a click back war with and discovering the weaknesses in my second in the 2020 Online WSOP $600 the computer. Once the pot had been opponent’s strategies. Although I am PLO8/b event. A fixture of the mid-stakes built up to just over three-fourths of relatively young in the grand scheme mixed game community since moving to Las the stack, then I would shove all in of things, I believe this unusual poker Vegas in 2019, he can often be found playing and the computer would fold. ere upbringing is the reason why I sub- $80-$160 games at the Wynn. He is active was a fault with the programing, and scribe to the old-school mentality of on Twitter under the username Surfbum4life a min-raise meant that it would fold exploitative play over Game eory and streams mixed game content weekly on out with a large enough raise. It was Optimal decision making. m twitch under the same moniker. TRANSITIONING FROM LIVE TO ONLINE POKER By Jonathan Little

COVID-19 has wreaked havoc on the physical and mental health of many people, the economy, and also the live poker arena. Most poker rooms have closed or reduced capacity substantially, forcing poker players to play online instead. is has resulted in a bit of an online poker resurgence, and many new players. If you are new to online poker, you will fi nd that the game is quite similar to live poker, but there are a few major diff erences. Let’s take a look at a few of them. You Cannot See Your Opponents When you play poker in a casino or home game, you can physically see your opponents. is allows astute readers of people to be able to adjust their strategy to take advantage of the mistakes their opponents are making. per hour win rate. Online though, the players are gener- As an example, if you know your opponent tends to ally much stronger at the same buy-in level. is results slouch down in their seat when they have a weak hand, in win rates being much lower. At $1-$2 online, the best but they perk up when they have a strong hand, you can players in the world win at about $10 per 100 hands, essentially play perfectly. When they are sitting up, you which is about 40% as much as live players. can fold your non-premium hands, and when they are is may not sound too bad, because you will play slouching, you can bluff them out of the pot with your more hands per hour, but consider what it does to those non-premium hands and slow play your premium hands. who are not the best players in the world. If they win at When playing online, you will obviously not have $10 per hour live, they may win only $2 per hour online, the benefi t of seeing your opponent. Many strong live or might even lose. players fail online because their best skill (reading their As your win rate decreases, you must keep a larger opponents’ physical mannerisms) has been taken away. bankroll in order to ensure you do not go broke Instead of relying on physical tells, you must learn due to the standard variance of the game. Check to play a fundamentally sound strategy and only adjust out JonathanLittlePoker.com/bankroll for my Bankroll once you have witnessed your opponents make mistakes Bible. Strong live players may need to keep only 25 buy- that you can capitalize on. I just released a course called ins in their bankroll, whereas online players often need Mastering the Fundamentals, which you can fi nd at 100 buy-ins or more. Make sure you understand the vari- PokerCoaching.com/CardPlayer. Check it out to confi rm ance of the game that you are signing up to play. you are playing fundamentally sound poker. You Can Play More Than One Table At A Time Your Win Rate Will Be Lower When playing live, you only have one table to focus In the live poker arena, your potential win rate can on at a time. If you play one table online, you will fi nd be quite high, perhaps as high as 30 big blinds per 100 that most of your time is spent waiting for your next hands in games fi lled with mostly recreational players. If hand. Since you have a lot of downtime, you might as you play $1-$2 no-limit, this works out to about a $20 well play more tables.

026_S&A.indd 31 1/4/21 4:18 PM Strategies, ANALYSIS & Commentary

When I sit down for a long online tournament ses- ted by any legitimate gaming commission. Legal sites are sion, I load up about 16 tournaments at a time ranging available in some states, while others are forced to play from $100 to $2,500 buy-ins. is allows me to invest a on sites that operate in a grey area. lot of money in a short period of time, although my win I strongly suggest that you only play on the licensed/ rate on each individual table may be relatively low due regulated sites. If none of them are available where you to my focus being strained. You will usually ﬁ nd that live and you decide to play on an unlicensed/unregulated winning a little bit on a lot of tables results in you win- site, only keep enough money in them to play for one ning more money in the long run than winning a decent day. At any point in time, the shady sites may close up amount more on only a few tables. and not give your money back. While the sites currently While I do not suggest you learn to play 16 games at operating in this grey area have mostly cashed out play- the same time, I do suggest you learn to play at least four. ers and generally been secure so far, that does not mean e easiest way to do this is to spend a few hours play- they will continue being safe in the future. If you are ing about twice as many tables as you normally play for going to open yourself up to loss, be sure it is minimal. a few hours in tiny stakes games. is will get you used Over the last year, some extremely shady mobile apps to playing more tables such that your normal amount have come onto the market. I strongly suggest you do not becomes easy. Continue playing tiny stakes while adding play on these apps for many reasons. First, you have to more tables. Once you get to where you can play eight or deposit through a middleman, who reports to someone so at a time, playing four will be a breeze. you do not know. Some people have played, won, and When you are playing lots of tables at a time, get not been paid by their middleman with no potential for comfortable with making decisions quickly and mov- recourse at all. ing onto the next hand. Do not think you have to wait If something seems ﬁ shy, it probably is. Be smart and see what happens whenever you make a substantial and protect yourself. Just because a game exists does not bet. Move onto the next decision. You will soon know mean that you have to play. m whether or not your substantial bet on the other table won or lost. Jonathan Little is a two-time WPT champion You May Be Playing On An Unlicensed Or Unregulated with more than $7 million in live tournament Site earnings, best-selling author of 15 educational While essentially all casinos in the United States are poker books, and 2019 GPI Poker Personality licensed and regulated by some sort of gaming commis- of the Year. If you want to increase your poker sion, that is not necessarily true for all online poker sites. skills and learn to crush the games, check out In America, many sites operate illegally and are not vet- his training site at PokerCoaching.com/cardplayer.

ANALYSISAnalysis TOURNAMENT HAND MATCHUP In this hand, chip leader Manuel Ruivo fl opped a monster in a three-bet pot against fellow top online 2020 Irish Poker Masters Online tournament player Samuel Vousden, who was second €1,100 No-Limit Hold’em Main Event in chips with three players remaining. Ruivo opened from the button with 7-6 suited for just over a min- Samuel Vousden raise. Vousden made a healthy three-bet of around Manuel Ruivo four times the initial raise size with pocket queens 125,130,692 Chips 86,559,308 Chips from the small blind. Ruivo decided to make the call, putting in around 13 percent of his stack pre- 7 6 Q Q fl op with the positional advantage. e pot grew to Winning Percentage Winning Percentage 34,750,000 as the fl op gave Ruivo the nut straight

Before Flop: 21.0% Before Flop: 78.0% while also putting out a ﬂ ush draw. Vousden had

7 6 Q After Flop: 95.0% Q After Flop: 4.0% been roughly a 4:1 favorite preﬂ op, but now sat with After Turn: 91.0% After Turn: 9.0% less than a 1-in-20 chance of having the best hand by the river, although he couldn’t know it. Vousden had 70,309,308 remaining in his stack, or roughly twice PREFLOP what was already in the pot. Even if he were to make a continuation bet as small as around a quarter of the With three players remaining and blinds of 1,000,000-2,000,000 and an size of the pot, he would be left with not much more ante of 250,000, Manuel Ruivo raised to 4,120,000 from the button. Samuel than one pot-sized bet remaining in his stack on the Vousden three-bet to 16,000,000 from the small blind, and Ruivo called. turn. With this likely in mind, he elected to overbet shove all-in on the ﬂ op. Unfortunately for Vousden, Ruivo snap-called with the best possible hand at the moment. Vousden’s odds of winning nearly doubled p 9 8 5 10 K on the turn when the 10 gave him a gutshot draw to a higher straight, but the Ko on the river locked up FLOP

TURN the pot for Ruivo. Vousden earned €101,620 as the

RIVER third-place ﬁ nisher, while Ruivo took more than a 4:1

10 K 8 5 9 chip lead into heads-up play with William Kassouf. Kassouf was able to mount a big comeback and went Vousden moved all-in for on to win the title and the top prize of €215,163, 70,309,308, and Ruivo called. while Ruivo was awarded €148,042 as the runner-up.

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

32 CARDPLAYER.COM VOLUME 34 / ISSUE 3

026_S&A.indd 32 1/4/21 4:18 PM Schedules FOR COMPLETE TOURNAMENT RESULTS AND LISTINGS, VISIT CARDPLAYER.COM

JANUARY Jan. 18-Feb. 1 January Showdown Venetian Hotel & Casino • Las Vegas, NV

Jan. 21-31 bestbet Winter Open bestbet Jacksonville • Jacksonville, FL

FEBRUARY Feb. 2-28 Card Player Poker Tour Venetian Hotel & Casino • Las Vegas, NV

MARCH March 5-9 World Poker Tour Las Vegas Venetian Hotel & Casino • Las Vegas, NV

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6:10 p.m. NLH, $125 ($2K Guarantee) RCG POKER (for locations see RCGPoker.com) EVENTS, NEWS, AND UPDATES CAN BE VIEWED AT RCGPOKER.COM THURSDAY 11:10 a.m. NLH, $150 ($4K Guarantee) 6:10 p.m. NLH, $125 ($4K Guarantee) MARYLAND FRIDAY 11:10 a.m. NLH, $200 AO $100 ($20K Guarantee) LIVE! CASINO & HOTEL - HANOVER SATURDAY MONDAY 12:15 p.m. NLH, $120 KO $25 11:10 a.m. NLH, $340 ($20K Guarantee) 7:15 p.m. NLH, $150 6:10 p.m. NLH, $125 ($4K Guarantee) TUESDAY 12:15 p.m. NLH, $150 SUNDAY 7:15 p.m. NLH, $220 11:10 a.m. NLH, $250 ($12K Guarantee) WEDNESDAY 12:15 p.m. NLH, $140 6:10 p.m. NLH, $125 ($4K Guarantee) 7:15 p.m. NLH, $130 THURSDAY 12:15 p.m. NLH, $150 7:15p.m. NLH, $160 KO $50 NEW YORK FRIDAY 11:15 a.m. NLH, $220 7:15 p.m. NLH, $320 KO $75 SATURDAY EASTERN POKER TOUR 6:15 p.m. NLH, $150 PUB POKER EVENTS, NEWS, RANKINGS AND UPDATES CAN BE SUNDAY 6:15 p.m. NLH, $130 VIEWED AT EASTERNPOKERTOUR.COM

033_Schedules.indd 33 1/4/21 4:18 PM Poker Leaderboards

THE LARGEST WINNER PAYOUTS IN WSOP MAIN EVENT HISTORY

Due to the unique hybrid online and live version of the Year Champion Field Top Prize 2020 $10,000 World Series of Poker main event, the winner of Size this year’s contest walked away with a total of $2,550,969. 2006 Jamie Gold 8,773 $12,000,000 That’s good for no. 17 all-time. 2019 Hossein Ensan 8,569 $10,000,000 The previous 16 champions of the World Series of Poker $10,000 buy-in main event have all earned at least $5 million, 2014 Martin Jacobson 6,683 $10,000,000 a worthy prize for the highlight of the tournament calendar 2008 Peter Eastgate 6,844 $9,152,416 each year. 2003 WSOP world champion Chris Moneymaker 2010 Jonathan Duhamel 7,319 $8,944,310 was the last player to win less than that $5 million bench- mark, having banked $2.5 million for the win that played a 2018 John Cynn 7,874 $8,800,000 large part in sparking the poker boom of the early 2000s. 2011 Pius Heinz 6,865 $8,711,956 Moneymaker also won the last main event to have fewer than 1,000 participants. 2009 Joe Cada 6,494 $8,546,435 The largest first-place prize ever awarded in the ‘big dance’ 2012 Greg Merson 6,598 $8,527,982 was the $12 million paid out to 2006 champion Jamie Gold. 2013 Ryan Riess 6,352 $8,361,570 He topped a record field of 8,773 entries that year to earn the massive eight-figure payday and the championship bracelet. 2007 Jerry Yang 6,358 $8,250,000 Germany’s Hossein Ensan outlasted the second-largest field 2017 Scott Blumstein 7,221 $8,150,000 in the history of the event in 2019 to earn an even $10 million. 2016 Qui Nguyen 6,737 $8,005,310 In 2014 the event featured a guaranteed first-place payout of $10 million as well, which was awarded to Sweden’s Martin 2015 Joe McKeehen 6,420 $7,683,346 Jacobson after he overcame 6,683 entries. 2005 Joe Hachem 5,619 $7,500,000 From 1971 through 2019, more than $162 million in prize 2004 Greg Raymer 2,576 $5,000,000 money has been awarded to WSOP main event champions. The winner of this storied event has earned at least $1 mil- 2020 Damian Salas 1,379* $2,550,969* lion every year since 1991 when Brad Daugherty became the 2003 Chris Moneymaker 839 $2,500,000 first WSOP champ to earn seven figures for the win. In fact, 2002 Robert Varkonyi 631 $2,000,000 all nine winners from 1991 to 1999 earned $1 million for their main event victory. Johnny Moss earned the smallest prize in 2000 Carlos Mortensen 613 $1,500,000 history in the second main event, taking home just $30,000 2000 Chris Ferguson 512 $1,500,000 for topping the field of six. The previous year he was elected winner by vote, and didn’t earn any additional prize money. *Combined field size. Includes $1 million added prize.

34 CARDPLAYER.COM VOLUME 34 / ISSUE 3

034_Leaderboard.indd 34 1/5/21 12:14 PM PLAYER_03_OceansEleven_FP.indd 3 1/4/21 12:03 PM PLAYER_01_Bike_BC.indd 3 12/8/20 12:32 PM