The Poker Zoo Podcast

The straddle is a third blind added to the traditional two blind structure of hold’em and other related games. It’s not always a neutral proposition. The extra blind can help stimulate action or inhibit it, depending on the players and stack sizes. More controversially, the straddle often gets put into play with a certain amount of social pressure. For this reason, in the games I host, I allow unlimited straddling but never allow it to become mandatory – because there is always That Guy who doesn’t want to straddle, and I don’t think a good host forces peo...

One of the common twists of fate in poker is the change in personal relationships on account of strategy and results. At one point now nearly forgotten, the entrance of Alvin Lau into the Red Chip Poker forum caused a whole chain of events to unfold.

One end result was the rise of Alvin’s first poker teaching and programming, Overnight Monster, as ambitious RCP and other players flocked to his initial offerings. This established Alvin as a strong coaching prospect for low stakes online players. The forum feuding and questions of etiquette in turn led me to...

The Poker Zoo continues its latest revival with an interview on a key poker subject: the quantification of winning and losing in games of chance. Going to play a session of poker is gambling, guest Mason Malmuth asserts unambiguously, but the question becomes more interesting and complex over the horizon of time. In fact, the answer now can change – or may not, depending on your expectation.

A new edition of his Gambling Theory and Other Topics covers this and all kinds of other poker statistics concepts. It seems like a forgotten essential text because the questions and th...

Poker pro and instructor Marc Goone has created a bit of a stir in saying he can beat the low stakes, specifically his local 5/5 game, for at least $100 an hour. Interestingly, it’s been done and is being done – the shock is not actually the number but how few do it or challenge themselves to get there.

On today’s Poker Zoo I get the details on the challenge (he’s already well into it) and find out why he thinks he can take the lead in the under-appreciated, temporal excellence of the modest and modest-stakes crusher. After al...

Legendary poker theorist and writer David Sklansky joins us on the Zoo. We discuss Twoplustwo Publishing’s new book, Small Stakes Hold’em: Help Them Give You Their Money, an already controversial strategy work by David and his business partner Mason Malmuth.

Freshly published in January 2024, the new book focuses on adaptive play in the softest small-stakes games and against the absolutely worst players. “When I started to play these games,” David writes in the book’s introduction, “which are the large majority of poker games spread today, it was shocking at how badly many of the players playe...

OOP Oberleutnant Greg Porter returns to the Zoo pod for an update on his successful career as poker pro. I can’t believe it’s been six years! Time has really flown since the early days of our little group and teaching community.

Greg is an indispensable and senior member of said little community. He runs the OOP training games, providing high-level poker feedback, and specialized coaching. Greg edits my more challenging pieces and, more importantly, provides timely puns in the Poker Zoo chat.

On today’s episode, we hear about his games, and in partic...

It’s been a long time since I played in Washington, but the scene continues to evolve, however strangely. See, it’s all about the weird rules and regulations. Podcast guest Mannes N. gives us an update on the state of the games.

The most important details are the rules for the tribal casinos and the rules for non-tribals, which are particularly hard on the poker player. To complicate matters, the tribes have basically quit the poker business, taking the big bets with them, and forcing all the traffic into small rooms around (but not within) Seattle.

The poker world loves tournaments in the 2020’s. Online, tournament culture is vital and MTT-heavy while cash game action stalls. GG has challenged Pokerstars with huge tournaments series. U.S.-facing ACR continues to thrive. As for the live scene, everyone is amazed at the action, with WSOP and WPT now vying almost non-stop for your dollars; did I see they were bringing back the NAPT? I give in. Today we talk with one of the best in tournament poker, Enrico Camosci, and hear what it takes to rise to the top of the MTT food chain.

En...

Vegas is home to more than just gaming, it is home to the history of those games and to those who created that history. Richie Brodie, lifelong “poker bum,” has played with all the greats, from Doyle and his “southern” crew, to the Mayfair’s Erik Seidel, to California’s rising 1990’s NL scene with Bobby Hoff and Barry Greenstein (along with an apparently more reluctant Dan Harrington). Today we hear his story and the story of a whole age of poker, from the pre-internet obscurity of the late seventies to a comfortable seat at the Sahara deepstack game of the Covid e...

Picture late 2019. Britain was finally Brexiting, Trump was somehow still presidenting, and general protests for a more liberal, freer society were happening all over the world- remember Hong Kong? Remember life before mask and vaccine discourse?  That’s when I last talked with Gerard S., aspiring pro and studied player who had worked with a number of noted pros and organizations, including Fausto Valdez and Solve For Why. Gerard had a poker blog, a girlfriend, a residence in sunny Florida, and was finishing up a year cleaning up at live ring games and MTTs.

Then it happened: Cov...

Swirling beneath the never explicit politics of the poker scheme is the treatment of so-called “recreational” player. A lot of condescending, hypocritical stuff is said every day, on every platform, by every talking head about this source of all poker income. Occasionally, however, that tension is resolved when one decides to stop donating and start taking his own, or in this case, her own.

Jen Gianera is one of those players who decided to turn it around, and to great effect. Since taking on actual poker theory and not the Tips & Tricks clickbait that fuels the mediocre and...

Few are able to get themselves banned from social media sites like Abe Limon, guru of west coast live poker and advantage gambling. Our last pod with Abe was a little rough on the ears, so we make up for it this time with good conversation ranging from his online arguments, why the WSOP is not meaningful for poker, his take on abortion, and even to a little split-pot strategy sideshow.

It’s incredibly funny to hear that Abe, while wandering the social mediascape in the midst of a lifetime ban from Jack Dorsey’s Twitter, found hims...

Welcome back to the Poker Zoo, now a little long in the tooth but looking to finish strong. We never really left, of course, but I did need a personal break to focus on writing; Dean, my co-host and producer, was suffering a significant personal tragedy concurrently. So, a pause in the action.

We persist now, and I am hoping to do about twenty more poker zoos before moving onto something different – consider this season two. Or maybe it’s season three… why do podcasts have seasons?

To restart, I’m pleased to get back to our r...

Merry Christmas and Happy New Year! For our final episode of 2022, Dean and I talk shop and how it’s going for him. We discuss poker swings, education, and the unpleasant, hard reason why some players succeed while others keep running in place.

The conversation branches off into the plan, or lack of, for the Poker Zoo. Oops, letting the outsiders know what we’re thinking.

Then, Dean interrogates me over what’s behind my return to poker writing. Has the new stuff changed in tone from the old? Here’s a bit from Here and Back...

Yes, the Poker Zoo returns amid the poker crisis, but not the one you think. Previous guest Fernando is back, troubled by developments on the casino floor caused by the lack of top-notch dealers. That doesn’t keep me, having restrained myself from much commenting during the most heated days, from getting his thoughts on the Hustler “cheating” scandal. Manager, please!

We touch on all the aspects of the dealing issue, from the bomb pot explosion to the bigger economic picture and the labor shortage.

When we move to the “cheating” blow-up, Fernando focuses more on the “ma...

The poker vlogging movement is only ten years old but has probably done more for keeping poker in the public eye than any pro celebrity of the era: the vloggers matter. It all mostly started with Tim “The Trooper” and few other experimenters and click revenue hopefuls (including the unfortunate Mark Ari). Then, the number rapidly expanded into the more popular second wave featuring the now ascendant Andrew Neeme and Brad Owen, who have been correctly rewarded with amazing gigs and business opportunities.

Andrew’s production quality, including the drone footage novelty, changed everything with its electricity, tour o...

This week Dr. Robert Samuels returns to the Zoo to talk about the latest round of poker cheating accusations and scandals. Robert recently polished up an old solution – can the online game operators work together to fight cheats? Can there be a governing body to adjudicate poker?

While I cynically don’t find this sort of organization feasible, Robert makes some compelling points. He also reminds us of the symbiotic nature of online and live play – it’s important for each to be healthy for the sake of each other. This seems important, whatever we do – or if we do n...

We stay in the live streets this week and talk hands with Ralph B., a low-stakes cash game reg I know through Red Chip Poker. As for many players, Covid shook up Ralph’s poker life, and in his case, decided it was time to turn a break-even passetemps into a winning habit. Today, we find out how the new approach is doing and get into some strategy.

We also get a little deeper into the Detroit and Michigan poker scene, feeding off the Jambasket episode.

Now, Ralph claims to always be the tightest and mo...

Dean is unleashed this week and talks with a familiar face, east coast tournament grinder, limit player, and general smart-ass Yaser Al-Keliddar. If you’re on the tournament joyride, you know Yaser or should get to know him – he’s a great table presence. In today’s pod, Al-Keliddar recounts his rough introduction to the game involving the Trump Taj, a reluctant vehicle, and his parents. It’s all downhill from that, of course, and his Hendon has grown impressive – including a coveted WSOP bracelet.

Yaser plays in Dean’s Charlestown games and gives us the downlow, in case you, t...

Vagabond vet DGAF called him “Tom Brady Jr.” but in reality, the story is more interesting than just always getting there at the right time. Las Vegas live pro Nate Serisky takes us through his year – well, not of living dangerously exactly, as he’s on stake and decent with money management – but of truly being a poker player and making it happen in a pool that has drowned many dreams. We go through Nate’s hot start in the city of sin, his far cooler runnings for much of 2021, and then at last finding his rhythm again among the curious...

Thomas Pinnock of Zenith Poker returns to the Zoo to review his most challenging year in poker. In addition to releasing a controversial new set of exploitative ranges and taking on a six-max challenge, Thomas kicked up a series of related kerfuffles with a video mocking many preflop ranges. Trouble followed on multiple fronts, and I get some of the details from him – including whether any of this has changed his perspective.

Agree with him or not, Pinnock is an increasingly important poker influencer – more and more, the ranges your opponents are using come from this twenty-six-year-old medi...

Today we go behind the scenes and talk to Shaun Yaple, General Manager of the Hustler Casino in Gardena, California. I find out what it takes to run a card room and where does poker fits in. We discuss the unusual ecosystem of L.A. Poker, including some advice for all struggling card rooms and poker rooms. Shaun also tells us about the origin of the freshly popular Hustler Casino Live, L.A. poker’s newest live stream.

For more industry talk, here’s Poker Room Manager Steven Pique on the Zoo.

I used to play...

On the cusp of a new year, new ventures. One is returning guest Michael Lukich’s two-pronged effort to improve your game through better solver and data study, Solver School. It’s still in creation, but Michael has burned the ships: we find out that he has quit his day job and is committed to poker and poker consultation. The question I ask him is, in a now crowded marketplace of trading sites and solver aids, what can Solver School do for you?

Michael on Poker Out Loud, and previously on the Zoo, episode 44.

Check out...

It’s our holiday podcast. When we last checked in with TBR member Luka Vitasovic, he was settling into a long “coaching for profits” contract with Nick Howard’s Poker Detox program. Today, in a continuation of our CFP series, we find out how that’s gone. Is Luka crushing or mushing?

Here’s the rest of our Coaching for Profits series.

PZ47 with Alvin Lau

PZ43 with Luka

PZ40 KYT and the Adam Jones Academy

PZ36 Francois, aka DLF/Blackbaron

The argument for coaching for profits, by Jason Gla...

It’s time to reach across the country and check in with Poker Zoo co-host Dean Martin, who lives and plays on the other side of the garbage heap. How did Dean (and Mrs. Dean) get through the ‘rona and what is he up to now?

More from Dean and Persuadeo on learning poker.

Unfortunately, we had to cancel, since the recording was made, the December 16th meetup game. 

Hand #1

2/5 500 eff, 8 handed.

Table just opened – 2nd or 3rd hand of the day.

Straddle 15, 3 callers, I’m on the BU an...

It’s back to what promises to be a bumpy podcast grind with Zoo favorite Jason Burge, aka JamBasket Poker, one of Michigan’s big online cash winners. We hit as many topics as possible with some drive-by commentary. Burge is already kind enough to offer some valuable analysis and recap on his obscure JamBasket Youtube channel; pretty good, player-observant stuff in a world of often irrelevant solver recaps that anyone and their mom can do. (His theory content in TBR is more valuable, in fact.) We last heard from Jason while bisecting the curious Mindblowing Poker.

Toda...

Poker, crypto, and the Non-Fungible Token craze are all well-met bedfellows: exciting, profitable, and a little grimey. Overnight Monster and Bluff Barbarian creator Alvin Lau took a flyer on a new NFT project this year, Hungry Ghosts, and this is his story. Listen to him on today’s Zoo describe many of the truths of NFT projects and the interesting culture that drives them.

Alvin is a professional poker player and coach, and consistent guest on the Zoo. Here are some links relevant to the conversation:

Twitter back and forths between the Hungry Ghost team an...

It’s the end of an era at Twoplustwo, but the conversation, especially on controversial topics, doesn’t stop. Robert Samuels has been a major contributor to the gem of 2+2 media, its monthly magazine, and joins us today on the Zoo for poker psychology talk. Samuels is a double doctorate and professor at UC Santa Barbara who goes beyond rudimentary mental clarity exercises to look at the heart of the poker player and his unusual game. His book Bad Beat Therapy: How to Become a Better Poker Player and Person, much of which is available in selected essays on Twop...

A special episode as the two co-hosts talk together for the first time in a while. Dean starts by getting all the details on the deep stack cash game I started at the Sahara Las Vegas in January. Dean brings up one of the most important questions that can be asked in the poker training field: why is it that so many players get so much help but see so little progress? Then, with a little segue magic, Persuadeo moves to old-fashioned hand analysis in order to help Dean get out of a break-even stretch in his live games...

If you play in the OOP deepstack training game, or more abstractly, in any online game, you’ve played a hand with Travis Moss. An increasingly reformed tight aggressive, Travis is a student of the game, with a lot of training sites and study behind him.  On reflection, Travis seems like a good example of a taking up poker successfully in middle age. He’s the squeaky wheel, someone unafraid to ask a lot of questions in order to get there. We get into some of those answers he found, and now, the ones he’s finding on his own: Tr...

The question of what makes for a successful casino poker room has been on my mind because it has to be: I’ve been running the unusual Sahara deep-stack game and trying to reseed low stakes PLO as well. Hence this series of podcasts dedicated to questions about the industry including Steven Pique, Mason Malmuth, and Fernando Ortiz, each of whom represent a different but critical role in live poker. So, it’s a no-brainer to extend the conversation with Greg Raymer. The WSOP champ can’t help but have a wide and rich experience to draw from; even better...

Twoplustwo publisher and prolific author Mason Malmuth joins the Zoo to discuss a disagreement on luck and skill and how it influences the games, but it quickly turns into a broader conversation about what makes casino poker rooms go. That’s in part thanks to Mason’s announcement of his new book, a work in progress tentatively titled Cardrooms: Everything Bad; An Analysis of Those Areas Where Poker Rooms Need Improvement.

We go over highlights of his concerns, from the microscopic (the angle of the poker tables) to the essential (what makes for a good promotion), and all...

Today we get the perspective of the people who design and run the casino poker show, thanks to guest Steven Pique. Steven has climbed the poker industry ladder in classic fashion, starting with dealing on the WSOP circuit, moving to the Aria, and now running the Sahara Poker Room.

We go over the details a poker room manager cares about, including how he picks out games and promotions. Steven remains sunny about the future of live poker; our discussion covering Covid, the state of the poker industry, and getting the picky regs and mercurial recs into the...

Continuing our recent tour of contemporary poker coaches, today the Zoo welcomes Uri Peleg, formerly of Run It Once and now founder and head coach at Guerrilla Poker. Joined by online poker strategy innovator Grindcore, Guerrilla offers a very experienced and compelling take on the GTO/Exploitation paradigm that we’re always working with in contemporary poker. I talk with Uri about several hot button issues, including simplifications versus full strategies, the reality of how strategy works versus how it is often perceived to function, the technology arms race in the game, and close with what Guerrilla is offering. In...

Episode nine guest FAO returns to give us the word on the live poker market. After being a Vegasite for most of post-Black Friday, he’s resettled in the suddenly popular state of Texas, where everything is growing – including the poker. Fernando describes his search for the way out of LV and the lure of the Texas games inflamed by the poker vlogging boom. He discusses the games there and how the desire to gamble big in bomb pots has led to excitement but also influenced the games and the game structures offered. He compares and contrasts the two cult...

Instagram chip pornographer Fausto Valdez returns to the Zoo; has he been following the rules? In any case, Fausto’s been splashing around L.A. long enough to get into the private games and see the real action, plus play some poker. He gives us the lowdown on his run to the high stakes, including a sweet hand where he makes the nuts on the turn versus four-high in a 60k pot: easy game.

We get an update on Fausto’s Blueprint Poker Coaching business, which is continuing to evolve into a solid live poker pathway. Fausto tells...

Mysterious poker training philanthropist? Imperturbable doctor who RNGs your diagnosis? Legendary Zynga shark? For our first podcast of the new year, I’m pleased to welcome Thomas Pinnock, the enigma who has created one of the most comprehensive poker learning communities on the web. Zenith Poker features every aspect of serious study, including a learning path, an advanced background text, long-form video lectures, challenging tests of concepts including follow-up teaching videos, a staff of coaches, a busy online chat room, a full sim library, and even the development of its own solver. Most of this is offered at no ch...

The year-ending edition of the Zoo. Suitably, I talk with The Back Room standby Jason Burge, author of the JamBasket series of videos. We go over his year in poker, and hit some highlights of the greater poker scene as well. (Apparently I already forgot about Phil Galfond: hey, but what have you done for me lately?) Our piece de resistance for this podcast is, however, Mindblowing Poker, a new book by an English professional player. In it, “Professor Poker” reveals his personal poker philosophy and propounds a way forward for the game at a time when its future is c...

Today on the Zoo I interview Dr. Brian Space, scientist and 2+2 poker writer. Dr. Space came to my attention after Matt Berkey tweeted out the article “GTO, the Value of Information, and the Nature of the Solution to No-limit Hold ‘em,” which supported Matt’s long-held contention that “GTO” poker is not nearly fully explored even in the age of solvers. While I had never spoken to Brian before, we do have a small connection, as both of us are members of the DGAF community forum.

This is an unexplored avenue. Such a strategy removes an additional constraint a...

Professional and coach Alvin Lau of Overnight Monster returns to tackle big subjects in poker. We start with an update on Alvin’s successful move to much bigger games. With that fun news behind us, we advance the discussion Porter and I had on the somewhat exaggerated worries about Real Time Assistance; discuss the noted Brian Space article and the essential difference between a GTO practitioner and a theorist; we talk poker books and why they so many of them just aren’t very helpful (yes, names are named). We close with a discussion about race and role models in p...

I turn to none other than our co-host and production magic man Dean Martin to get the scoop on the Covid pandemic’s effect on the home game/private game scene. Poker has always been in a grey area legally, but with new wrinkles come new opportunities. Dean takes us through all of it, down to competing food offerings. We also get into some live low-stakes strategy. Speaking of, here’s a related Pro Tip: use your fingers and thumb to count to five.

Not everyone stays home, of course; check out this piece on leaving the stat...

Today’s guest is Martin Harris, author of Poker & Pop Culture: Telling the Story of America’s Favorite Card Game. Martin is a top-tier poker writer, responsible for possibly the most informative and researched poker blog ever, a decade of poker journalism, two novels, and as of 2019, what is likely the most complete history of American poker and its influence on our culture. We go over the origin of the book, his ideas on the future of poker, make the pitch to Pokergo for a related documentary, as well as take up a few recurring themes of the game and...

Scientific Poker Strategy creator Greg Porter, who has been grinding hard throughout the Covid lockdown, returns to the Zoo today. It’s a packed episode as we not only go over playing on Ignition, Bros, and the OOP training game, I get back to some strategy with two hand reviews. Porter reports on successfully getting a small band of colluders removed from the Bros union he plays in. Porter gives me some advice on changing my training game teaching strategy, which has gotten a little stale. We also touch on several current affairs in poker, including a consistent public mi...

Today I speak with mental game proselytizer, new author, Poker Detox advisor, and suspiciously even-keeled guest Jason Su on the pod. While Daniel and Doug swordfight for your clicks, Jason has made a more useful splash in poker 2020 with his book, blog, and appearances all over poker training media. I grill him on the necessity of emotional control, tilt avoidance and the intersection of strategy and mental health, but he remains calm – we even get a funny Mason Malmuth story from him.

John Penturn’s comments on Magritte’s Décalcomanie MM, adapted here, echo some of Jason’s...

The Zoo returns with TBR member “BFSkinner”, a grinder on WSOP.com and in the Las Vegas live games. While I was focused on hearing about the state of poker in gambling central, we also ended up covering Skinner’s poker path from Moneymaker to the Covid-19 boom online he’s enjoyed. We also get back to talking through some poker hands – the strat segment has been missing from the pod of late.

Hand 1

Hand 2

A few notes for listeners and TBR members:

We still run our training deepstack game on PPPoker, a...

This week on the Zoo Jerry Monaco, once the popular Imperator on the Red Chip Poker forum, emerges from radio silence. Back in the day on RCP when not only their founders posted but we were joined by Matt Berkey, Christian Soto, and other names in poker, Jerry gave us some of our most thoughtful threads. On today’s pod, we go all over the map from Covid to king-five, pharmaceutical culture to poker culture, and plenty of odds and ends in between.

If we have some knowledge of our own uncertainty about our measurements of...

The Zoo continues to talk to poker coaches, with this week’s guest being Doug Hull of the popular Red Chip Poker low-stakes training site. Doug was one of four original founders, which also include James “Splitsuit” Sweeney, Solve 4 Why’s Christian Soto, and of course the “noted poker authority” himself, Ed Miller. Doug tells us about his unusually well-ordered life in poker, including his involvement in the “F.I.R.E” approach to life planning. We learn from Doug how RCP got started and hear about some of its challenges. Doug closes with his thoughts on how all of us need to ge...

Alvin Lau returns to the Zoo to talk poker industry and to continue our series covering the coaching for profits scene. We go over both coaching successes and failures, and investigate their causes. Yes, Alvin gets in some direct thoughts about other training sites, but his attitude has clearly changed as he settles into a now established poker coaching practice. With the quarantine boom in full swing, we also mull the reasons to play, how much to play, and when, maybe, to put it on the line against the big guns.

You can find more about Alvin’s...

A remarkable guest on today’s Zoo – Andrew Seidman (aka Baluga Whale for the true old schoolers), author of Easy Game. One of poker’s finest texts, TBR members are especially familiar with the book, and really, most poker players should be. Part strategy document, part coaching journal, it can be read in a very light way as a review or for a few new ideas, or Easy Game can be taken very seriously, especially the later chapters, where Seidman is reaching to elucidate concepts that are still relevant in 2020. Andrew and I discuss not only the book, but the ci...

Today on the Zoo we speak with long time sports betting and poker writer Paul Hewson. He’s an avid tournament player who shares with us how he got into the game and became a winner. (For the curious, here’s some Hewson pieces on Bodog.) We talk Corona, how to learn poker, tournament strategy, and try to answer that age-old question: is poker a sport?

The image above is one of Cézanne’s Card Player oils, a favorite of Paul’s.

For those of you who missed it, here’s the link to Greg Porter...

Micheal Lukich returns to the Zoo, and a lot has changed for him. Michael is playing bigger, winning more, and has come into his own as a participant in the poker community. For the student of the game, he has created a poker learning website worth looking at. He’s made public appearances on the controversial Solve For Why show Poker Out Loud. Michael is a data guy so we spend some time reviewing his work on flop texture, but get the inside scoop on POL as well.

Check out Lukich’s earlier appearance on the Zoo.

It’s great to be back talking to a TBR member, in this case Luka V. from Episode 2. Luka’s life has changed significantly since we last talked. In the midst of personal and financial upheaval, Luka turned to Poker Detox for a Coaching for Profits opportunity in order to rebuild his roll and continue his poker education. We go over the turns and twists of his semi-pro poker life that led him here; talk about the game online from the perspective of a former live grinder; learn about the Dextox/Nick Howard CFP program; get an update on poke...

This week’s Zoo brings us to a well-known but still somewhat anonymous player who goes by the moniker DGAF. As you’ll hear or have been hearing through his podcast Sessions, he actually GAF about quite a few things. He’s presently in the fight of his life as he attempts to grind his through troubles, debt, and ultimately, out of poker itself. Although I don’t personally know him, DGAF’s poker story shares many themes with my own, so this interview was far from perfunctory. (You might even note some the similarities in how I described my games b...

Special edition today, focused on OOP’s partner coach, Greg Porter. Greg will present a webinar titled Scientific Poker Strategy: Using GTO+ to Explore and Design Robust Strategies on Saturday, March 21st. Having established himself as a successful professional player, this last year Greg has been quietly expanding his poker coaching practice: this seminar is one of its fruits. We discuss an additional video analysis Greg made for TBR about a spot versus me; talk more about the OOP training game; then round it off with some poker culture and strat stuff.

As a student of...

On the pod this week is Kar Yung Tom, a serious Magic and Chess player who has recently recommitted to winning poker by joining a Coaching For Profits program. We explore what led Kar to a life completely surrounded by competitive gaming, and get opinions from him on the similarities and differences between these pursuits that so many players share. Kar discusses why so much of the poker community falls into small collectives – sometimes quite antipathetic to each other. We finish with the analysis of a fairly simple and common spot through the lens of the Coaching for Profits di...

Thank you for making us the fastest Growing Poker Podcast!

Grant Denison and Jonathan Levy help me kick off 2020’s Zoo podcasts. Known as the The Poker Guys, Grant and Jonathan have a voluminous profile of content, from Youtube videos which include a very fun Portland RFID game, to an extremely in-depth, hand-history focused podcast. I delve into the origins of their partnership and get their opinions on working as active poker content creators in an scene not without criticism and dissonance. We talk a little Portland, one of the most interesting scenes in American poker.

...

Thank you for making us the fastest Growing Poker Podcast!

Dean and listeners share some fun grievances for this important day.

Merry Christmas and enjoy the holidays.

The post The Poker Zoo, Ep. 38: Festivus appeared first on Out of Position.

Thank you for making us the fastest Growing Poker Podcast!

Merry Christmas to all Zoo listeners! I close the year appropriately by interviewing the true hero of the Poker Zoo podcast, co-host and “announcer guy” Dean Martin. I kick things off with some overdue ranting about the blinkered poker community, then Dean coaxes out some of my plans for the podcast. We close by analyzing some hands Dean recently played, looking for some overall themes to help him – and anyone else – out of their rut.

Thanks to everyone for listening to the Poker Zoo in 2019. Best wis...

On this week’s Poker Zoo we take a look at the world of Coaching for Profits through an interview with Francois N., a content creator, trusted TBR poster, and microstakes grinder I have known for many years. Francois has gone by several different screen names, including Adam Wheeler – a name and story you should look into. We talk about his experience in poker, his work with PIO and GTO+, then focus on his experience as part of Adam Jones’ “Academy,” a staking program the popular coach runs. We conclude with a hand Francois played, going into how and why the Aca...

This week on the Zoo, a busy poster in the TBR forums joins us, the one and only Joe Offsuit. Completely dedicated to playing in our deepstack practice game, Joey records all the action and often posts up to ten hands from the game for discussion. Joe isn’t just a poker player, but a true edge gambler – I’ve sat with him and watched him beat the house myself. We talk about his gambling interest, travels, and writing, then get into some hands from the game. Joe also wins a beer from me when I stumble over a fold e...

This week Dean interviews Pat Bourke, successful businessman, entrepreneur and poker player. Pat was generous enough to share some of his memorable life lessons, how he leveraged risk and opportunities to create financial success, and a few fun poker stories. Have something interesting to share? Call 410 775 6224 and leave a message or record a short audio file and email to ThePokerZoo@gmail.com

Referenced in the podcast:
Persuadeo’s Out Of Position Blog
Pat Bourke
Charles Murray Interview
Perot Systems

The post The Poker Zoo, Ep. 34: Pat Bourke, Lessons in Life, Business an...

New pro alert. Today on the podcast we talk to Solve For Why and Fausto acolyte Gerard S., who is making poker his full time work in Florida. Gerard tells us about his new blog, Gerard Plays Poker, and how his life in education continues to influence his current and future plans. We discuss tournaments, a big piece of that puzzle. In the strategy segment, we take on combating the down bet when out of position, and then close with some sober bankroll talk.

The post The Poker Zoo, Ep. 33: Gerard appeared first on Out of Position.<...

Back after a brief hiatus, I speak with one of the latest TBR members, Greg, who just completed Construction 1 and 2. Greg lives and plays in the PNW with another TBR mainstay, Luka who appeared on episode two. After years of not going anywhere in one-two games, Greg is now applying himself and is, well, looking to go deep, so to speak. We talk through two spots: one is a conceptual solve that Greg created in order to examine betting frequencies on deceptively advantageous boards, and two, a hand he played in the OOP club games.

(By the...

This week Persuadeo is away so Dean interviews east coast pro Chase Bianchi. Chase has almost a million dollars in live tournament winnings, at least one WSOP bracelet that I know of, plays quite a few tournaments as well as live cash, while also keeping a great work/life balance. We discuss life in Boston, his journey through Maryland Live, National Harbor, the new Encore casino and poker room and keeping priorities in line so that being a poker pro is not your only identity. Chase isn’t shy about his faith and the importance that a church community ha...

Today I speak with Ken Kohl, a long, long-time mid-stakes Las Vegas cash game pro. Kenny went through something of a rejuvenation last year after attending the liberating Solve For Why Academy, and has entered the second half of his career with a fresh perspective on how he and Vegas plays (and should play) poker. He also has a keen eye for what’s going on along the strip, and gives the audience and potential pros a good idea of what they have in store for them. (Chris Konvalinka, take notes.)

The post The Poker Zoo, Ep. 30: Ke...

Episode one guest Greg Porter returns to the Zoo. We talk about his post-WSOP shift to Ignition online, discuss the talented streamer Invoker, and confront an interesting hand in TBR that’s really not about the hand. The podcast closes with a hint of what’s come at OOP. Greg also runs the Out of Position PPPoker Club (#505400) with me.

For now, at least, a bunch of us play extremely deep NL20 for practice and fun – what’s better than punishing your friends in poker. Contact one of us for details and instructions on how to get involved...

I check in with player and coach Fausto Valdez, who has made big life changes since we last spoke to him on on episode three. Fausto just completed a long-planned move to L.A. with his girlfriend; his website is up; and – surprise – he’s been caught working with a solver. We talk about the L.A. games, how his style has co-evolved with his Solve For Why influence, and review his WSOP.

The post The Poker Zoo, Ep. 28: Fausto appeared first on Out of Position.

This week I speak with “life-long beginner” Steve B., currently a TBR member, and a lurker on channels and forums throughout the scene. We ramble over a number of poker topics, among them Texas poker, the nearby Winstar, how to learn, who to learn from, and the tribulations of various poker personalities. We focus at the end, closing with a conceptual spot where BU range bets and is met with a big check raise by the BB on a low, two-tone flop.

The post The Poker Zoo, Ep. 27: Steve appeared first on Out of Position.

On this week’s Zoo, I reach out to Soto prodigy and Instagram road rager Chris Konvalinka. We hear about his fast and furious entry into the Vegas scene, including an immediate stake and the roller coaster after. Chris also talks about his S4Y connection and finding his community.

In the strategy section, we go over pot construction and positional issues:

UTG 40 @ wynn 5-10 2k eff I flat QQ UTG1 HU

AQ3r.

he 30 we 110 he calls

turn 4h

he check we 250 he calls.

ri...

I catch up with poker coach Alvin Lau, who first joined the Zoo on episode 6.  Since then, Alvin has been busily becoming a compelling content creator, but most recently has been examining the database of Pluribus hands. We talk about the result, Pluribus’ overall strategy, what a few of those who had success against the computer were doing, what we can learn from the experiment, and examine two of its hands versus Mr. Blue.

We conclude with some hints about his follow up to Overnight Monster, Alvin’s course on GTO NL strategy.

Hand 1

Han...

The Poker Zoo Podcast was created with intention of keeping track of TBR members and others. Today we return to online and live cash player Jason Burge, whom we talked to in Episode 6. Jason, an avid experimenter, has continued to tinker with his game, but is increasingly spending time in PPPoker games. Under the JamBasket name, he’s created some fun videos where he demonstrates understanding his club game opponents through some very simple metrics.

We also talk about a live hand where an aggressive player bombs check bombs it, putting TPTK to the test.

2/5, 9 Ha...

In the second episode of the “doubleheader” promised this week, I interview East coast tournament grinder Greg Candido. Our focus is on his run to Day 7 of the 2019 WSOP Main Event (104th for $59,295). We start with Greg’s background and the poker club that helped prepare him, then go over each day of his main event, including four hands he picked out as crucial or troubling.

Greg’s Ugly Tuna Poker Club

WSOP ME Day 2 Hand 1

MY HAND: AQ (Ace of Hearts)

MY STACK:  25K

BLINDS: 500-1000-100

MY POSIT...

After a break for the WSOP, we’re back in the Zoo. Our guest is Adam Zerner, a low stakes online and live player I met in Las Vegas. An accomplished coder, Adam has created NLHE equity analysis software he calls Premium Poker Tools.

This web-based application is an expansion on the Flopzilla and Equilab idea, with some of the scenario-specific flavor of Doug Hull’s Flop Falcon.

Together we explore the software, which is in continuous development. We talk about why and what we are doing when we re-raise preflop, and then go over his...

In this episode of the Zoo, TBR members discuss the culture of low to mid stakes cash at WSOP 2019. We cover strategy trends, game culture, venues, and, of course, the food of Las Vegas.

Also, an announcement from Dean:

Have a comment about the show but don’t feel like typing an email or comment?  Call the new Zoo hotline: (410) 775-6224‬.

The post The Poker Zoo, Ep. 21: The WSOP Cash Scene appeared first on Out of Position.

We return to our regular programming this week, with the hard-working David C., an RCP and TBR member. We talk about his off-table study but focus on a deep, straddled multiway hand where the type of flush draw and potential passive dead money informs which action hero should take.

David reviews the 1%

NB: Hand is recorded using TBR notation where 1 is the SB, etc., and listed with stack size.

1/2

1 800 20

3 600 s 4/f

5 400 4/20

7 600 4/20

9 1200 9h7h 20

Flop 86

Kc 6h 3h

1 780 56<...

Charles Murray @CharlesMurray is a political / social scientist and prolific author.   His writings, although not without controversy, make him a regular guest on the Sunday morning political TV shows.   He also happens to enjoy playing poker and he happens to be rather good at it.   Just a few hours ago he finished in the money at the 2019 WSOP seniors tournament.

With Persuadeo out of town, Dean is our interviewer as he and Charles talk about life, poker, the Mid-Atlantic poker scene and WSOP.

Mentioned in the episode:
Poker Is America – New York Times

Making...

On the Zoo this week, it’s Nick Ronyecz, host of the TBR subforum Chasing the Dragon. We talk about his background, his continuing tournament success, a little WSOP planning, and take apart a low-stakes cash game hand where Nick faces two leads from a reg.

2/5 at the Wynn: 700 effective
Folds to me in the co. I open 20 w QTo. Bb calls
Flop: 8s5s3h
Bb leads 30. I call
Turn (100): 8s5s3h Qc
Bb checks. I bet 65. Bb calls
River (230): 2d
Bb leads 130

The post The (Po...

Rob S. has accrued a nearly unique record of the post-Black Friday live poker scene at the heart of the West Coast game, Las Vegas and California. We talk about poker, his blog, and his observations on the state of what might be the most important pool of players in our game – the novice stakes which feed our scene.

We conclude with the anatomy of a cooler.

$300 buy-in, ~$270 left, early position I open to $12 with JJ. After a call a guy makes it $35. He was new to the table but I’ve played with him befo...

Dean and Persuadeo talk about the poker scene, relieve confusion over poker learning and education, and then lay out a simple recipe for enjoying the WSOP.

(It might include brisket.)

One of the most confusing concepts the aspiring poker player will encounter is the notion of an overall Strategy. Perhaps surprisingly, it is counter-intuitive to many that a relational game of information can have a strategy that is not merely reactionary and essentially reciprocal. For instance, even very smart people balk at the concept, as evidenced in this thread, where a poster posits there can o...

The long-time sage of Los Angeles poker, Abe Limon, calls in from the golf course on this week’s Zoo. We catch up with the life of this successful gambler, now enjoying what he calls “functional retirement.” Limon explains the latest in his string of social media exits, gives poker and life advice, and tells us what he’s drinking: apparently some things do change.

The post The (Poker) Zoo, Ep. 15: Limon appeared first on Out of Position.

We celebrate Christian Holden’s first day as professional player with this week’s podcast.

Christian is an original member of TBR. He participated in the first Easy Game group, which helped send five students to the S4Y, and has gone on to both their Elite and MTT academies. He’s since played steadily online and live, including multiple live stream appearances.

Christian hosts the Human Resources subforum of TBR, our mental game section, and talks in depth about his own struggle to master himself at the tables and cope with his often intuitive and ag...

Known appropriately both online and in TBR as Derdonker, Andrew is fresh off the latest Easy Game study group, and rapidly becoming the volatile live force he wants to be. We discuss the San Jose games, his learning path with Fausto and Solve For Why, heads-up poker with a disgruntled vlogger, and playing on the Stones stream. We finish with a late-night bomb pot hand, including some key line construction points.

it was a bomb pot and i’m in the sb. eff stacks 500
20 each, 9-handed, so it’s 180 in the pot, and the flop is 543r.

Bruce is a Sacramento area player who has worked with me through a number of courses and privates. We discuss his arrival in poker, why he plays, and his games, chiefly at Stones Gambling Hall. We finish with quite some time handling this multi-way spot and related ideas.

$1/3
$1100 effective with the Villain in Cut Off, MAWG.
For the most part, all the players are at or near 200bb.

Hero, utg, opens AThh to $15.
Utg 1 LAG post calls ($800)
HJ ($900) fit/fold rec type older gent calls
CO $1100 Villain
B...

Persuadeo, aka Cmurray on the Borgata Poker Tournament Blog, talks about his experience writing tournament coverage. We cover incidents common to tournament blogging, the highs and lows of the work, and how it is done. Thanks to Announcer Voice/Poker Zoo producer Dean for running the show.

Example post: covering the Pokermantis for the BFPO

The post The (Poker) Zoo, Ep. 11: Tournament Blogging appeared first on Out of Position.

Michael Lukich, new member of the The Back Room, has a strongly rejuvenated interest in poker. We talk about his path, his coming attendance at the S4Y Academy, but most of all, his first video for TBR, Flop Characteristics and their Effect on EV. There are many flop simplification analyses and efforts in poker circles but Michael’s particular work to detangle value from noise and find some conclusions caught the forum’s eye.

We finish with a finely played hand by him from the Vegas 2/5 games.

I have $1300 in front of me and open...

This week’s guest is the infamous FAO – Fernando Ortiz. He’s been through the Easy Game Group and the Solve For Why Academy, helping make him a solid winner in his games. We talk Vegas, trading, Face Equity, and a multi-way spot facing an unexpected flop lead.

Stakes 1/3

S3 ($900) young asian male, gf beside him
S4 ($300) newly sat
S9 Hero ($705)

S3 L/C $55
S4 $10/$55
S9 $55

Flop ($164) [Ts][5c][2c] S3 $125
S4 Folds
S9 Calls

Turn ($414) [5s] S3 $200/Calls
S9 Shoves $525

A pi...

This week on the Zoo, founding TBR member and cash game player Julie McGrath. She tells how she got into poker, both live and online. There’s a little GOT talk, naturally, and then we discuss a multi-way spot she played on Global.

100 NL 6 max

UTG open $3 ($87)
MP call [Ks][Js] ($100)
SB calls ($45)
Pot $10
[Kc][7h][Qs] UTG bets $6 I call and SB calls
Pot $28
[As] UTG bets $12 I raise to $40 SB folds and UTG goes all in for $37 more I call
[Ac]

Julie McGrath on Twitter

Christian Soto is a pro, coach, and much more. An early TBR member, he comes back after a long absence to talk commentary and strategy. He also discusses his poker academy Solve For Why – and criticism of it.

Christian on Twitter.

The post The (Poker) Zoo, Ep. 7: Soto appeared first on Out of Position.

This week features Jason Burge, who has very actively studied within my coaching circle since the inception of The Back Room, having taken both the Easy Game Group and both Construction courses. Jason has reached the biggest games in his surprisingly active poker home, Detroit.

Hand History: 2/5 live, 9 handed, $500 effective. EP, HJ, CO limp, I limp button with T9o, BB checks. Pot is 25, flop Q97r. HJ bets 10, I call. Pot is 45, Turn 9h. CO bets 25, call. Pot is 95, River 5. CO bets 100.

CO has been a very passive player in this session.

...

Zac Shaw has moved from blogger and podcaster at Red Chip Poker, to working on their growing content and business side. Zac interviewed Persuadeo twice for the RCP Podcast, so today the tradition continues but with the roles reversed.

3 limps, HIJ raises to $7, BTN & SB calls, Hero calls in BB with AdTh. Everyone else calls.

6 players, $45. BTN is short stack of $125.

Flop: QcTcTd

SB checks, I check… Checks around to HIJ (PFR) who bets $25 into $45. BTN shoves for $120. SB folds.

HJ has me covered, I have just under $300. There’s ab...

On the latest Zoo, a discussion with Alvin Lau, who is an influence on member strategy in The Back Room. We talk GTO, its teachings, and the teaching of it.

Overnight Monster

Alvin’s Youtube Channel

The post The (Poker) Zoo, Ep. 4: Alvin appeared first on Out of Position.

This week on the Zoo, Fausto Valdez. Fausto is immersed in poker, and just marked two years in as a professional player.  We discuss his life and challenges, as well as go over a hand he played at the Sands.

Fausto Valdez, member of TBR, coach at Red Chip Poker, and Solve For Why acolyte.

Fausto on Instagram

2/5
V (8-900) 15 late pos, volatile
V (800) sb calls, value heavy
H (cover) bb calls A5ss
—————————-
Pot 40
T74sch

Vx Hx V20
All call
—————————-
Pot 100
3c

Vx Hx...

Episode 2 of the Zoo features Portland reg Luka Vitasovic. His story is a West Coast one, taking him from where Ed Miller got his start in South Seattle’s Muckleshoot Casino, through the dregs of low-stakes, high-rake California games, to the under-appreciated poker scene of Portland, Oregon. Luka shares with us about his many coaching experiences, which run from Lou Krieger to Matt Berkey’s S4Y Academy.

We also discuss an interesting hand where he gets out of line, taking max value from a mediocre hand against a talented player. Was it good or bad? You decid...

For once I can keep this short. OOP: The (Poker) Zoo is a podcast I’ll be developing with Dean Martin and the rest of The Back Room. 

There’s quite a few podcasts out there, so why listen to this one? Well perfect, maybe you shouldn’t. The Zoo is, above all, for and about members of The Back Room, the participant-driven poker forum I loosely oversee.

I’ll be interviewing the active members of TBR all year and finding out what they are working on and seeing if I can do anything to help. Tha...