www.CardPlayer.com Vol. 34/No. 5 February 24, 2021 World Poker Tour Sells For $78 Million Q&A With Six-Time WSOP Circuit Winner Max Young Poker Strategy: The Wrong Time To Aggressively Play A Flush Draw JONATHAN ‘APESTYLES’ VAN FLEET CLIMBS TO NO. 3 ON ONLINE POKER’S ALL-TIME TOURNAMENT EARNINGS LIST PLAYER_35_5B_Cover.indd 1 2/4/21 9:43 AM PLAYER_05_GlobalPoker_DT.indd 2 2/2/21 10:24 AM PLAYER_05_GlobalPoker_DT.indd 3 2/2/21 10:24 AM Masthead - Card Player Vol. 34/No. 5 PUBLISHERS Barry Shulman | Jeff Shulman Editorial Corporate Office EDITORIAL DIRECTOR Julio Rodriguez 6940 O’Bannon Drive TOURNAMENT CONTENT MANAGER Erik Fast Las Vegas, Nevada 89117 ONLINE CONTENT MANAGER Steve Schult (702) 871-1720 Art [email protected] ART DIRECTOR Wendy McIntosh Subscriptions/Renewals 1-866-LVPOKER Website And Internet Services (1-866-587-6537) CHIEF TECHNOLOGY OFFICER Jaran Hardman PO Box 434 DATA COORDINATOR Morgan Young Congers, NY 10920-0434 Sales [email protected] ADVERTISING MANAGER Mary Hurbi Advertising Information NATIONAL SALES MANAGER Barbara Rogers [email protected] LAS VEGAS AND COLORADO SALES REPRESENTATIVE (702) 856-2206 Rich Korbin Distribution Information cardplayer Media LLC [email protected] CHAIRMAN AND CEO Barry Shulman PRESIDENT AND COO Jeff Shulman Results GENERAL COUNSEL Allyn Jaffrey Shulman [email protected] VP INTL. 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Published and printed in the United States. 4 CARDPLAYER.COM FOLLOW US ON TWITTER CardPlayerMedia 004_MastheadB.indd 4 2/2/21 10:26 AM PLAYER_05_Bestbet_FP.indd 3 2/2/21 10:24 AM Table of Contents - Card Player Vol. 34/No. 5 22 18 15 Features Strategies, Analysis Also In this Issue 22 & Commentary 4 Jonathan ‘apestyles’ Van Fleet Climbs 26 About Us To No. 3 On Online Poker’s All-Time The Wrong Time To Aggressively 36 Tournament Earnings List Play A Flush Draw Tournament Schedules By Julio Rodriguez By Jonathan Little 18 38 27 Poker Leaderboards Max Young: How He Built His Bankroll Badeucey: Playing Against A Raise And Broke Through As A Live Tournament Before The First Draw Player By Kevin Haney By Steve Schult Tournament 29 Hand Matchups Poker Butterflies 29 The Inside Straight By Nathan Gamble ‘xMFPx’ vs. ‘arbaarba’ 8 30 31 Poker News Recap Player Behavior: Drawing More Vlad ‘dariepoker’ Darie 12 Women To Poker By Greg Raymer vs. Eike ‘Mr. Havener’ Onodera Player Of The Year Update 34 By Erik Fast 32 Vlad ‘dariepoker’ Darie 15 Luck, And All It Entails By Gavin Griffin vs. Fernando ‘fviana’ Viana Phil Galfond Wins Third Consecutive High- 35 Stakes Heads-Up Match After Chance 33 Kornuth Concedes An Epic Blackjack Run Inspired And Saved Lonnie ‘thx4urm0n3y’ Hallett By Erik Fast By My Good Luck Charm Betsy vs. ‘arbaarba’ 16 By Houston Curtis This Week’s Big Winner: Paulius Plausinaitis Wins WSOP Circuit Online Main Event For $1.2 Million By Card Player News Team 6 CARDPLAYER.COM VOLUME 34 / ISSUE 5 006_TOC.indd 6 2/4/21 10:20 AM PLAYER_05_AmericasCardroom_FP.indd 3 2/2/21 10:23 AM THE INSIDE STRAIGHT the INSIDE STRAIGHT News, Reviews, and Interviews From Around the Poker World WORLD POKER TOUR SOLD TO ELEMENT PARTNERS FOR $78 MILLION By Erik Fast e World Poker Tour has been sold by Allied Esports Entertainment (NASDAQ: AESE) for $78,250,000. e deal, announced on Tuesday, Jan. 19, will result in all of Allied Esports Entertainment’s poker-related businesses and assets being acquired by Element Partners, LLC. e privately-held invest- ment vehicle agreed to pay $68,250,000 up front, with the remaining $10 million payable over the following three years via a fully guaranteed fi ve-percent share of entry fees from WPT-branded tourna- ments. “I want to thank Frank Ng and the entire AESE management team for their support in allowing WPT to flourish during this period,” said WPT CEO Adam Pliska. “My management team and I are excited about this next chapter and the tremendous new opportunities for the WPT brand and business.” Ng, the CEO of Allied Esports Entertainment, added that, “Despite the many challenges caused by the COVID-19 pandemic, the WPT business has delivered substantial, impactful results, specifically through its online platforms and services, and has made meaningful contributions for the [AESE].” e WPT was first founded in 2002 and has since gone on to pay out more than $1 billion in prize money across its tour events. The WPT was sold to PartyGaming in 2009 for $12.3 million. Two years later, PartyGaming merged with bwin to become bwin.Party Digital Entertainment. Ourgame International Holdings Ltd. bought the WPT in 2015 for $35 million. e WPT merged with Allied Esports Entertainment at the start of 2019 after the two companies were purchased by WPT co-founder Lyle Berman’s Black Ridge Acquisition Corporation in a $150 million deal. is latest deal likely won’t have any impact on the slate of events that WPT is currently hosting across the live and online realms. m Sign Up For Card Player’s Free Poker School. Review Hundreds of Articles and Videos On Winning Poker Strategy. www.CardPlayerPokerSchool.com 8 CARDPLAYER.COM VOLUME 34 / ISSUE 5 008_News.indd 8 2/4/21 9:32 AM THE INSIDE STRAIGHT MIKE POSTLE DROPPED BY LEGAL TEAM AS DEFENDANTS FILE ANTI-SLAPP MOTIONS AGAINST HIM By Steve Schult Alleged poker cheat Mike Postle’s $330 million defa- After Postle was free of the charges, he launched a mation lawsuit against several prominent members of the countersuit against almost anyone who commented on poker community hit a huge roadblock as he no longer has the allegations. He filed a defamation and libel lawsuit legal representation for the case and is now facing two anti- against Witteles, whistleblower and former Stones employee SLAPP lawsuits. Veronica Brill, six-time World Series of Poker bracelet winner In December, Mac VerStandig, the attorney who rep- Daniel Negreanu, high-stakes gambler Haralabos Voulgaris, resented the 88 plaintiffs in the original lawsuit surround- poker personality Joey Ingram, as well as ESPN, Poker News ing the cheating allegations, brought to light that Postle’s media, Upswing Poker, Run It Once, Crush Live Poker, lawyer, Steven T. Lowe of the Beverly Hills law firm Lowe Solve For Why, and Poker Coaching, which are run by poker & Associates, filed paperwork to drop Postle as a client. pros Doug Polk, Phil Galfond, Bart Hanson, Matt Berkey Judge Richard K. Sueyoshi was scheduled to make a ruling and Jonathan Little, respectively. on the motion Jan. 14. e following day, poker pro Todd In the face of the libel suit, Witteles and Brill both filed Witteles, who is a defendant in Postle’s defamation lawsuit, anti-SLAPP motions against Postle, which will be difficult tweeted that Sueyoshi granted Lowe’s motion to be relieved for him to fight without a legal team. as counsel. SLAPP is an acronym for strategic lawsuits against public Based on the phrasing used by Lowe in the motion, participation. According to the Reporters Committee for Witteles’ attorney, Eric Bensomochan said that the likely rea- Freedom of the Press, SLAPPs have become a tool used son for the move was a lack of payment. He was on Witteles’ by some to intimidate and silence criticism through an podcast shortly after VerStandig tweeted the motion and expensive and baseless legal process. said that with a lawsuit of this order, even a sizable retainer Anti-SLAPP laws are intended to protect people, who of $15,000 to $20,000 could be used up within a couple of are simply exercising their right to free speech, from these weeks. proceedings. In most situations, the defendant of a case will is leaves Postle without representation for his nine- move to dismiss it unless the plaintiff can prove that they will figure suit against many who spoke out and called him prevail in the suit. Postle would have to provide evidence to a cheater. Postle was accused of cheating in a low-stakes show that he could receive a verdict in his favor or the case live-streamed poker game at Stones Gambling Hall in the would be dismissed and the plaintiff would be forced to pay Sacramento area. He reportedly won upwards of $250,000 attorney fees for the defendants. playing almost exclusively in $1-$3 and $2-$5 no-limit Both Brill and Witteles are using Postle’s career as a hold’em cash games over roughly an 18-month time span professional poker player and his appearances on Stones’ between 2018 and 2019.