The 2023 WPT Choctaw Main Event was played from May 5-8 and had 612 $5,000 unique entries, distributing a total of $2.1 million in prizes. Jaffee was the last one standing, managing to weave his way through the field and gather all the chips, as well as the second biggest prize of his career: $400K. When asked what the victory meant to him he told us: “WPT is as prestigious a tour as there is in poker, so winning two main events on their tour is a special accomplishment.”

While Jaffee has 34 cashes and 6 final tables on the World Poker Tour, the recent win in Choctaw is his best memory from all his years playing on the tour: “Obviously winning makes it special to begin with, but I also had tons of friends there cheering me on as well as my parents. Having my parents there to see it firsthand and seeing them as happy as they were definitely made it extra special.”

With his first place finish, he also won a seat in the 2023 WPT World Championship and rose to third place in the WPT Player of the Year rankings. Bin Weng is currently leading the rankings and we asked Jared if he has aspirations of sitting atop the leaderboard: “I doubt I will be able to catch Bin because his lead is so huge. I may only play one or two more events this season and it would likely take another win at least. Anything is possible, but I consider it highly unlikely and it isn’t really something I’m thinking about.”

Jaffee’s first World Poker Tour win came almost a decade ago, back in November 2013 at the WPT bestbet Jacksonville Fall Poker Scramble, which had 358 entries pay the $3,500 buy-in. For his first place finish, he took home a prize of $252K and got his name affixed to the (now-called) Mike Sexton Cup. Below is a clip of Jaffee’s interview with the WPT’s Tony Dunst after his victory:

When asked what advice he would give someone who is going to play their first WPT Main Event, Jaffee replied “I would just tell them that the structures are very forgiving. You don’t need to panic if you lose a few pots early on and you should still be in a position where you won’t need to force the issue. Try not to think to far ahead and just focus on the next hand. Also, just enjoy it: they are fun events to play with a great staff!”

We wondered if Jaffee was among those who actively utilize poker training sites, but he said that “To be honest I’m not much of a studier. For me it’s more about getting in reps and playing as much as possible. I’ll also talk hands occasionally with people I think are more studied than myself hoping to grab some extra insight the easy way.”

Here’s a list of the six WPT final tables that Jared has made:

Date	Event	Buy-In	Entries	Result	Prize
January 2010	Southern Poker Championship	$10,000	208	4th	$135,079
August 2010	Legends of Poker	$5,000	462	5th	$86,000
November 2013	Jacksonville Fall Poker Scramble	$3,500	358		$252,749
January 2014	Borgata Winter Poker Open	$3,500	1,229	4th	$258,590
October 2019	WPTDeepStacks Pittsburgh	$1,100	386	6th	$14,615
May 2023	Choctaw	$3,800	612		$400,740

The World Poker Tour’s final tables are 6-handed, but Jaffee notably also placed 7th at the 2014 WPT Five Diamond World Poker Classic for $167K, 7th at the 2015 WPT Choctaw for $112K, 8th at the 2016 WPT Seminole Hard Rock Poker Finale for $88K and 8th at the 2021 WPT Venetian for $93K.

His First Cash, Poker’s Triple Crown and December’s Tournaments

Jaffee’s first recorded cash according to HendonMob is a tournament at the 2009 EPT Deuville . When asked what he remembered from that event, he replied “Yeah, I won a seat to the EPT Deauville on PokerStars somewhat accidentally. I thought it was a satellite to something else and next thing I knew I was headed to France. It was a nice trip and a fun experience but honestly at that point I didn’t really know what was going on. I was awful at poker and had no idea what the big time tournament scene was like. I was definitely sort of a deer in headlights, but at the same time it helped solidify that this was something I wanted to pursue and be a part of. So it was a springboard for me.”

With both a WSOP bracelet and WPT titles, Jaffee is just missing an EPT Main Event title to achieve poker’s “Triple Crown”. Is it something he would like to achieve in his career? “I’ve been missing just an EPT title for the Triple Crown now for quite a while, but my EPT experience has been very limited. It would definitely be a very cool accomplishment and I hope to play some EPT’s in the future, but I realize that I’m not likely to play a ton of them so it will be pretty difficult to make it happen. But if I pulled it off, I would definitely find it to be pretty special” he said.

In December the WPT World Championship returns to the Wynn. Jaffee shared his thoughts on the 2022 edition and whether he thinks that this year the tournaments will be even bigger: “I think pretty much everything the Wynn does is top shelf. Last year’s event was tremendous and as soon as it was over, I knew it was there to stay and I was looking forward to playing it again. As far as the field size, I assume it would be similar depending on the exact timing of the WSOP Paradise in the Bahamas. I think having the two series compete is truly unfortunate and undesirable. With that said, I can’t see a time where I won’t support the Wynn and promote their events. I think it’s important to be vocal when venues do things right because sadly that isn’t the norm.”

To finish, Jaffee shared what he enjoyed most about live tournaments: “I think my favorite part of live tournaments is that every time you sit down you get a different experience. Not all of them are good, but never knowing who you are going to be playing with and what you may see definitely makes for an entertaining environment. I’m not a big fan of routine and when it comes to poker tournaments you never know what’s gonna happen from one minute to the next. It’s definitely more my speed.”

*All images courtesy WorldPokerTour.com

Check out some more great interviews here on Cardplayer Lifestyle:

• Scott Eskenazi, 2023 WPT Rolling Thunder champion
• Alex Gray, WPT presenter
• David Costabile, actor and player
• Hili Shakked, former head of 888poker
• Andre Akkari, poker legend from Brazil
• Tom Wheaton and Alec Rome, producers of the documentary “Dreamers”
• Erin Lydon, Poker Power Managing Director
• Kyna England, Poker Power Instructor & 2021 MSPT Player of the Year

Photo credit: PokerNews

Surprisingly, David wasn’t sure if he’d even be playing in the Main Event at all! “I really was 50/50 on actually playing. Would have been fine with me to see Amanda make a deep run. But this was a ‘no regrets’ kind of decision: largest Main Event in history. I played two satellites and didn’t get through. Then I played in a $5/10 cash game the night before Day 2 and had an incredible run… I made just enough to register, so I strongly considered parlaying those winnings. It still seemed crazy, but Amanda and I do well together. And her mother gave me permission to take my best shot. So I did a late reg on Day 2 and started around 3 PM.”

When asked how he felt actually playing the Main Event, David’s answer was insightful: “I didn’t start very well as I went from 60K to 20K in just an hour of play and had work to do. I felt surprisingly comfortable. Seemed to me that everybody else had more fear on their faces than I did, so I played a more aggressive game. Players seemed to think an older guy never bluffs or 3-bets light, so I took advantage. Once we were close to the bubble, I just shut it all down until it burst. Folded J-J twice and A-K until we made sure we got through. Then it was pure joy.”

Once the bubble burst, David went to look for his daughter and they gave each other a big hug in a beautiful moment that captured the fascination of the poker world.

“That moment was just pure love and relief and joy. What a victory! The dream is alive and real, for BOTH of us!”

We made it!! Dad & I are in the money of the World Series of Poker Main Event! https://t.co/EaVdBYQxti pic.twitter.com/JMZ7RiNP1T

— Amanda Botfeld (@amandabotfeld) July 10, 2023

From the Felt to the Rail, Cash in Hand

David was eliminated on Day 4 and finished in 1,166th place, cashing for $17,500. Amanda advanced to Day 5 and eventually finished in 341st place, earning her personal-best result of $44,700.

When asked if he would play the Main Event again or if it was a one time thing, David’s reply was unequivocal: “I would play again. Thought I didn’t have what it really takes to play the fabled Main Event before entering, but I left thinking that I could into the future. Amanda is a pretty competent coach, and I actually learned quite a lot from her.”

It’s funny how sometimes the coach becomes the student. David had taught Amanda how to play poker 17 years ago. But who taught him to play? What was it that attracted him the most to poker in the beginning?

“My father was actually a national bridge champion, and his mother was the real card shark in the family. I played a lot of poker in high school and partially put myself through college playing in Gardena in the 70s. I really loved it all, but got a “real life” and didn’t play again until No Limit Hold’em started surging in popularity around 2000.”

As for whether David himself was a good poker teacher, he replied honestly: “Amanda actually lost a lot of money when she first started, and so we needed to get her familiar with the basics of how to play Texas Hold’em. She had a real aversion to the math at first as well, and so she made her own set of poker flash cards to begin to memorize the odds (33% chance of hitting a flush draw after the flop, things like that). I’m a numbers guy, so once she had basic competence in that arena, she could then became a real student of play and began to educate herself. These days often times I will text her to get her opinion about plays I’ve made, and her analysis is sharp and spot on.”

This is my dad teaching me how to play poker with lime green chips. 15 years later, we have made the final table together in the @wsop Tag Team Tournament.

Love you dad, and couldn't have done it without you. #fatherdaughter #poker @joinpokerpower pic.twitter.com/Mb04y3KaEJ

— Amanda Botfeld (@amandabotfeld) November 2, 2021

In the world of poker, women have historically been in the minority. As such, we were interested in David’s take on how that might perhaps negatively affect Amanda at the tables. “I know she loves the game, and that is the most important thing. Many times I would go to poker clubs with her to make sure that nobody gave her a hard time, but at the end of the day she had to learn how to handle herself and deal with challenging situations. She will often nowadays surprise other players with her astute play, and they will then back off quickly when they recognize she is nobody to be taken lightly. I love that she can be a dangerous player, and making those astute plays is what she loves.”

As for Amanda’s Main Event run in particular, David was practically beside himself reflecting on the rollercoaster experience from his perspective. “First she loses Nadya Magnus‘ Twitter contest, only to then get put in by Scott Ball. At some point, she’s the chip leader… Then she finds herself on the ‘freeroll of all freerolls’ after Bill Perkins bought some of her action midway through the tournament. Meanwhile, we both end up cashing the darn thing. This whole experience has just been surreal and incredible.”

A Proud Poker Papa

Asked for his thoughts on Amanda’s growth as a player, writer, content creator, and teacher, David said that “For me, playing the Main Event is like your daughter playing at Wimbledon. Best in the world. How could I miss seeing her play? She is a great writer, too, and her social media presence is always entertaining. She also learned a lot by being a trainer/teacher at PokerPower, where she has worked with women to play better poker. They say many times the teacher is the one that learns the most, and she has become a very skilled coach in doing so. Her deep run was no accident, and I truly believe she has the intelligence and love for the game to be a force to be reckoned with in the future. I would love that more than anything.”

David during the 2021 Tag Team / Photo credit: PokerNews

As for what it was like to experience that magical run to third place in the 2021 WSOP Tag Team Event together with his daughter, David responded that “The Tag Team is a little different than other tournaments. It’s great to be able to take a break when you need to. And it was an incredible experience to make a deep run together. Then again: who plays the Tag Team with their daughter/father? We were such an unusual commodity that we got people rooting for us. And they still are!”

Finally, we asked David about the Botfelds’ future in poker, specifically what other achievements he would like to experience together with Amanda now that they’ve both cashed in the Main Event together. In response, David said that “We know there is a certain magic that happens when we play together. I think at this point we are open to suggestion.”

One thing’s for sure, that whenever and wherever the Botfelds make their next magical run, the poker world will be watching and rooting them along!

2023 WPT Rolling Thunder Recap

The festival’s $3,500 buy-in main event was played from April 1-4 at the Thunder Valley Casino in Lincoln City, California, and attracted 590 entries. It thus became the largest edition of this tournament, surpassing the 465 entries from back in 2014. Just like last year, the World Poker Tour continues to break records, and is at the forefront of the current live poker boom.

Photo: Joe Giron for WPT

The prize pool for the main event totaled $1,888,000 and was distributed among the top 74 players. Among them were notable names such as Allen Kessler (73rd), Angela Jordison (67th), Steven Buckner (65th), Eric Afriat (60th), Giuseppe Pantaleo (51st), Aaron Mermelstein (48th), Matas Cimbolas (35th), David Baker (14th) and James Turner (11th).

The big name at the final table was the World Poker Tour’s own Tony Dunst, who was looking to add to his already stellar career resume. Alas, it was not be due to a tough board runout that benefitted the tournament’s eventual winner. Scott Eskenazi started the final table with the second smallest stack among the final 6, but began winning smaller pots and grew in chip count. Hands later, he eliminated Dunst in sixth place after hitting a flopped straight. You can watch the hand here:

BRUTAL RIVER for @tonydunsttv #WPTChampionsClub Member and Commentator @tonydunsttv got off to an absolutely brutal start at our #WPTRollingThunder Final Table…

In this hand, Tony faces the absolute worst possible river card against Scott Eskenazi — can he make the… pic.twitter.com/Pnqq6xPJbf

— World Poker Tour (@WPT) April 4, 2023

With only 4 players left Scott became the new chip-leader and then eliminated Alberto Tapia when his 9-9 beat Tapia’s A-K. He held the lead until Jeremy Joseph eliminated Alejandro Jauregui in third place.

The heads-up began with these stacks: 11.1M for Scott and 18.2M for Jeremy. Scott won several pots and went on to lead the count. The tournament came to an end when Jeremy went all-in with A-2s and Scott paid with a better hand: A-Ks. The board brought no surprises and Scott Eskenazi became the 2023 WPT Rolling Thunder champion.

Here are the full final table results:

1. Scott Eskenazi – $361,660 + WPT World Championship entry +
2. Jeremy Joseph – $234,000
3. Alejandro Jauregui Reynoso – $172,000
4. Alberto Tapia – $128,000
5. Victor Paredes – $97,000
6. Tony Dunst – $73,400

Congratulations to Scott Eskenazi our new #WPTRollingThunder Champion!

After navigating the 590 entry field @TVPokerRoom, Eskenazi showed up as one of the short stacks going into the Final Table before battling Jeremy Joseph heads-up to take home the title, $361,660 and the… pic.twitter.com/94Px20434l

— World Poker Tour (@WPT) April 5, 2023

2023 WPT Rolling Thunder Champion Scott Eskenazi Speaks

We got in touch with the brand new champion and asked him what it felt like to win his first WPT title at his first final table on the circuit: “It feels great but still a little surreal. It’s a poker dream come true.”

When we asked with whom Scott celebrated his the victory, he said “I was very lucky that my wife was there railing me. She’s my biggest fan and my soulmate. We didn’t get to celebrate that night but we’ve been celebrating ever since – we actually had to rush to the airport right after the tourney as we were hosting a big family dinner the next night. I’ve gotten so many congratulatory calls and texts from friends and family which means so much to me.”

Photo: Joe Giron for WPT

What does it mean for Scott to join the WPT Champions Club and have his name on the Mike Sexton Trophy? “It’s humbling. My last dinner at a restaurant before COVID was a group dinner where I met and sat next to Mike Sexton. He was telling these great poker stories and it was such an honor to meet him. He was a wonderful ambassador for poker.”

In addition to Scott’s best result, he also won an entry to the 2023 WPT World Championship at Wynn, Las Vegas. Naturally, he hopes to parlay this success to even bigger success at that event later in the year.

Scott has been collecting cashes on the live circuit for 15 years, with his first result being a win in a Las Vegas event. While he doesn’t remember too much from that specific event, Scott remembers that “after winning it, I was definitely hooked.”

We asked Scott what he enjoys most about playing World Poker Tour tournaments in particular and he responded that he “loves the competitiveness. I’m also a numbers guy so poker allows me to use my math skills.”

Beyond hopefully winning the 2023 WPT World Championship, Scott told us that he also has ambitions to “win a WSOP bracelet and to have fun doing it.”

Photo: Joe Giron for WPT

Robbie: Let’s start by asking how much you think you’ve won at previous PCA events prior to this year?

Parker: Negative hundreds of thousands.

Robbie: Well, the public records show it to be $29,530.

Parker: That’s what I would have cashed for; that’s not what I won.

Robbie: LOL, okay point made. Well, in the 2019 PSPC you finished 177th, and also there was a $2,200 side event that you played. What was it like that first time, back in 2019, to be a part of the PSPC? How has it changed over the years since you’ve now become a PokerStars Pro and now that you’re here for a second time?

Parker: Yeah, definitely a different vibe being a part of the team here. But both events have very similar vibes. Everyone is just very excited to be here. Just a great place to be, the Bahamas. I prefer this venue, and everyone’s having a good time. It’s hard not to have a good time when a third of the field is here on a Platinum Pass and we’re here playing a $25,000 buy-in tournament. You know, it’s difficult to be too upset.

Robbie: For sure. Ok, let’s rewind. Back in 2020, you were one of the last players to cash in a live ranking event before COVID closed all the doors. You finished 15th in the WPT Fallsview event at Niagara Falls. What are your memories of that event and what was daily life like in Toronto for you at the time?

Parker: Daily life would have been normal I think. That was a little bit pre-COVID I think. But I do have a funny story from that tournament. Seventeen players left. We have 15 minutes left in Day 3, I guess. It must have been Day 3. An old fellow on my left, must be about 70-75 years old. With 15 minutes left in the day, he’s got about 18 blinds. And he just turns to me and goes “I’m too tired, I’ve got to go to bed.” And I was like “Yeah. Fair enough. I mean there’s only like 15 minutes left.” And he didn’t understand, I guess, that it was an option that he could just leave. So he sat there and went all in until he busted.

Robbie: Wow!

Parker: And he just blasted it off. He busted in like 16th or 17th place, right away.

Robbie: So that’s something you aspire to when you’re 70? Same thing?

Parker: [laughs] Listen, I do aspire to become a recreational player. That should be everyone’s aspiration. If you can become recreational, you know. Then you don’t have to be one of these sharks, licking their chops, playing. You can just sit there and play and have a great time. But I would probably never do this. I would probably just get up and leave. And hope to come back with 8 big blinds the following day or something.

Robbie: Ok. Well, you really pushed yourself in the 2020 WSOP online series, cashing eight times. It was a unique experience in general, the fact that all poker was online exclusively for a long time. Do you think that that period of time that we all went through and yourself as primarily an online player helps us all appreciate the live poker experience more?

Parker: I think so. I feel like live poker is booming at the moment. I feel like everywhere we go it’s decent fields. Especially in America. There’s a lot popping off in America right now. But in Europe we had massive fields in EPT Prague in December; record breaking. There’s a lot of people looking to play live poker right now. And I feel COVID has to have a hand in that. People must have been so fired up to play after two years of not playing.

Robbie: Yeah.

Parker: I know a lot more private games, underground games, started during COVID. People couldn’t play at the casinos, live cash games, like that. I feel like people are so excited just to get back in the casinos and that.

Robbie: Well, that’s other people. How about you? I specifically ask about you, again, because you made your name primarily online. Obviously, you’re doing a lot more live poker now. But how do you feel about it now, having gone through that period where it just wasn’t possible?

Parker: Yeah, I’m a lot more interested in live poker these days, to be honest. I’ll be playing all the EPTs this year. I’ll be going to Vegas to play the World Series, probably just to play the Main Event, maybe a couple of other tournaments. I’m definitely a lot more interested in live. I was just saying, it’s been 13 years of live poker and I have never won. I’ve never even gotten second, actually.

That’s my only real goal in poker right now, to win a live poker trophy. To get a nice winner’s photo and a win in a tournament. I see a lot of people win a lot of live poker tournaments. I see a lot of players win multiple – even back-to-back sometimes. I see they may be a decent player, but I know that I’ve put in the work. I know that I am definitely better than some of these individuals. And some of these players just rip through a bunch of titles.

I’m just like “I could do that! Surely that’s going to happen at some point.” I just want to win a trophy. I’d love to win a spade at an EPT or something. I’ve been out here trying. I’ve been grinding a lot. I’ve played a lot of tournaments here. I’ve played lots of side events. But still no luck. But yeah. I’m definitely loving live poker big time. I’ve definitely enjoyed playing live poker a little bit more than online. I love the atmosphere. I love the game. I love the live poker game at the moment. I’ll be definitely playing a lot this year. Really looking for that trophy.

Robbie: Well, since you brought it up, at the end of the day, poker is a game where you try to “score the most points” and win the most money. Simultaneously, we’re not supposed to be results-oriented – even recreationals – we’re supposed to be process-oriented.

Parker: It’s tough not to be at some point.

Robbie: That’s exactly my question. Given that, why is it that the trophy is so important to you? If you can just keep winning money, being a winning player, and being profitable at the game?

Parker: Well, in a live poker setting, I’m feeling like I’m not winning money. I mean I guess I am winning recently, a little bit. I just got a score in Prague where I got fifth place. My biggest score ever, actually, $270k or so. It’s obviously a much more profitable venture if you do win. And I’m not being results-oriented in that I’m saying that I think that I’m a bad player or that I’ve really screwed it up. Listen, I’ve definitely screwed up some deep runs. You know, I’ve had a lot of sweats. I’ve had a lot of 10-20th place finishes in $10k high rollers and stuff like that. A couple of Main Event final tables, a couple of Main Event final table bubbles, lots of side event nonsense, you know.

I think it’ll just come. It’s just frustrating because it’s 13 years, you know. That’s a long time. I guess only really seven or eight years of actually playing a lot of live poker and taking it seriously. The first four or five years of playing poker and going to live events, I really just treated it like a vacation. Because I really didn’t like live poker too much. So I’d win a package to an EPT, come to an EPT, play the main event, and then go out drinking for a week and a half. That was what we did when I was 23 at live stops.

Robbie: You only live once.

Parker: Yeah. These days I only play live tournaments. So it’s a little bit different.

Robbie: Gotcha. Well I do have to ask, do you think that you’re due for a ridiculous months-long sun run? Or is it that you generally feel that there’s more you need to be getting into the lab to do to take your game to the next level, and that’s when the big scores and wins will happen for you?

Parker: No, I think I just need to get a lucky streak of cards and just absolutely tear through it. I don’t know, the whole “due” stuff. I feel like I want to think that I’m due and I’ll have some sun run. But no one’s owed anything in poker. And especially in live poker where even if you’re a grinder, even if I go to eight live stops this year and spend a big portion of my year playing live poker, I’m still playing literally a handful of tournaments that I could play online in like a week. That’s the crazy thing about live poker. It is just a variance shit-show. Obviously, the elite players have a little bit of a step up on the other players. But at the end of the day it really is a shit-show. Sometimes even a recreational player will go on a heater, win three out of five tournaments, and everyone thinks they’re a god now.

That’s really how it goes in poker. It’s pretty wild how, especially in America. I’m just looking to be that lucky donk. A donk for a couple of months. I just want to be that lucky donk.

Robbie: Well you mentioned Prague. Obviously, that’s got to be one of your favorite experiences, making the final table at EPT Prague Main Event.

Parker: Twice!

Robbie: Twice! Tell us about that journey, and what that meant, being in that spot, just a couple of months ago.

Parker: Yeah, in December. It was an incredible experience. It’s so much fun running deep in live poker tournaments. It’s one of the reasons that you love it so much, you know. Especially because I play quite aggressively. Often when I do I manage to have a big stack. There’s nothing better than having a big chip stack deep in a big live poker tournament.

Robbie: To play your game.

Parker: Yeah. That was a really enjoyable experience. It was an incredible, incredible time. Yeah, it was fun.

Robbie: Ok. Well obviously you do a lot of co-commentary yourself. That final table that you made was commented on the stream by your fellow PokerStars ambassador Sam Grafton. What do you make of his thoughts on your play? Or have you not watched it?

Parker: I haven’t watched it back yet, actually. But I hope he said nice things. Sam’s a very high-level elite player. I think I feel okay about how I played on the final table. There are a couple of spots where I messed up a couple of sizes a little bit. But I don’t think I made any tremendous blunders or anything. I was quite pleased with that. I don’t know why I haven’t watched it back yet. To be honest, I don’t really like to watch myself.

Robbie: Really? You don’t find it instructive to watch for live tells? Or how you would have done things differently?

Parker: You know, live tells is just a myth in my opinion. I don’t really believe in it. I believe there are maybe three to five people in the world who can actually live-read players at the table. And I believe that everyone else who thinks they can are just bullshitting themselves.

Robbie: Interesting.

Parker: I think it’s just important to not give off live tells.

Robbie: That’s fair.

Parker: As long as you do the same thing in every hand, and you don’t do anything weird or foolish, I think you should be good. But in terms of being able to pin down reads on people at the table, I think it’s just a guessing game that people do and people convince themselves they’ve got something on their opponents when they don’t.

Robbie: Playing poker in a location like the Bahamas is pretty amazing. Does it make it harder to focus at the felt? Here, specifically, as opposed to other live stops? Knowing that the beaches, the sand, the pool, the other distractions are there, and that it’s almost a shame that you don’t necessarily leave the building too much.

Parker: Definitely, for sure. And I would say that 6-10 years ago not so much for me. But these days I’m definitely getting older and now I would just like to go to the beach today and just lounge. Whereas 23-year-old me would have been like “Nah. I’m not going to the beach. We’re going to gamble, we’re going to drink, we’re going to go out, and do something.” But these days I’m much more like “Yeah, I would like to sit on the beach and have a little dip in the ocean.” So, yeah, more than ever now. And I would assume for other people, for sure. More than myself. Because usually I’m really into the cards and whatnot. I mean, I don’t really find it hard to stay away from it to be honest, personally. Even though we’re heading in that direction a little bit. I’m still fired up and ready to get in that $2k side event.

Robbie: You’re hugely popular. You’re a known name, a known personality for all the stuff you’ve done over 13 years. You’ve also been an ambassador for other online poker companies, previously. How does being a PokerStars Team Pro differ and is being a sponsored PokerStars Pro all that you might have thought it would be prior to signing your deal?

Parker: Oh definitely. I think maybe it’s a little bit – when I was 18 looking up to PokerStars Pros, I was like “That’s cool. I bet that would be cool.” And it is cool, but it’s such a different world once you’re in it you know. I’d say Stars’ team is incredible. It’s so nice to work at Stars, because all my friends work at Stars. Like Spraggy (Benjamin Spragg) and Lex Veldhuis, and Fintan Hand. I’ve been good friends with the three of those idiots for so many years. It’s honestly incredible. Spragg and I are going to make a ton of content this year. We’re going to make some stuff with Fintan. We’re going to do a lot of YouTube stuff, we’re going to do a whole bunch of stuff this year. I’m really looking forward to doing all that this year. But just in general it’s great to work with Stars. It’s great to work with your buddies.

Robbie: Awesome. Funny you mentioned Mr. Spragg. That is our last question, actually. You can either give up poker for a whole year or you have to spend one straight month rooming with Spraggy, playing every day on stream. Which do you choose and why?

Parker: Ha! I mean, it would be really good content. And really good for me to trip my ass just to stream for a whole month. So I’ll take the streaming with Spragg for sure. Although we’re going to beat each other up.

Robbie: And that’s your final answer, you’re locking it in?

Parker: Final answer. Get me in the mix with Spragg.

Robbie: Awesome. Thanks so much for your time.

Arden’s YouTube videos have hundreds of thousands of views while somehow remaining down-to-earth, frank and inclusive of moving testimonials about everything from laziness being her least favorite trait in others to how her hard work and her belief in how “opportunity and preparation” makes your luck more than just pure happenstance. She believes in “self positivity”, plays in Phil Hellmuth’s online home game, creates music, is a black belt in taekwondo and speaks out and for women in poker. She’s made her place in the world of acting and now poker, by believing in herself, having resiliency and the knowledge that “nothing that’s good or great is easy”.

Arden was kind enough to give Cardplayer Lifestyle some of her time at the 2023 PokerStars Players Championship and discuss the “poker side of her life” in our interview, an edited transcript of which is included below.

Robbie Strazynski – Cardplayer Lifestyle: When and how did you first learn to play poker?

Arden Cho: I attempted to start learning when I was in college and, Boy, was I bad! I feel like you hear that quite often, but I definitely lost a lot at the beginning. Luckily we were playing very small: $0.10/$0.25 and $0.25/$0.50.

But yeah, I played in college mostly in the dorms with friends. I wasn’t really into partying and going out. I wasn’t really quite extroverted, so I really loved that poker was a fun activity to do, and it’s a game.

It’s a very deep, thought-provoking game — and I love the challenge.

Robbie: What was it about the game that initially appealed to you – and is that thing something you still enjoy about poker today?

Arden: The competition; wanting to be better. Of course, there’s always the stigma that women shouldn’t play poker. That was something I heard often in college. The boys would be like, “Oh, this is just a boys’ night. You can’t play.”

So I dabbled a little online and that was even tougher. I think it was just the fact that I wanted to learn.

And of course, back then, I probably should’ve just gotten a coach and read some more poker books or something. I guess you just keep trying and trying. I think the fun thing about poker is that there’s really no “one way to play.” That’s probably the most interesting aspect of it.

I know now that there’s obviously “optimal” play and I hear all that, but at the same time for a recreational player — I don’t play all that much anymore and when I do play it’s just really for fun so I think that I just love that the game is always changing.

I think through the years I’ve met a lot of incredibly talented players. I have friend I respect a lot and their game. And of course, I’m at a point where I don’t really have an ego and I love to ask friends what I did wrong in a situation. Or what I could have done better, and I think that’s what I really enjoy. I love learning and I also love hearing different opinions.

Sometimes people are like, “Oh, that’s an interesting way to play it.” And I guess your result might have been bad, or could have been good, but it’s also one of those things where you try not to be so ‘results-oriented.’ Sometimes it works and sometimes it doesn’t.

Robbie: Hard work and perseverance are two character traits that tend to serve people well in life, and of course at the poker table as well. Your father is a grandmaster in taekwondo, and you’re a black belt. Do you think your training with your father helped form some of your appreciation for hard work and perseverance?

Arden:  Oh, of course. I actually feel like there’s a lot of overlap in entertainment and poker. Anything really competitive in sports in general — you really do have to be resilient. You have to be willing to take shots. You can’t be afraid to fail. You can’t be afraid to lose.

I always see it as a lot of similarities in poker and acting as well. I think having that resilience or foundation; that attitude is very important.

Robbie:  So, I do have to follow up then. As far as that resilience, how do you bounce back? Everyone’s human. How do you bounce back from a bad beat or the day just didn’t go well — it was raining when you wanted it to be sunny?

Arden: Oh, man! Let’s see. At least in acting, I have quit more times than I can count. Whenever I play poker, I’ve probably quit more times than I can count as well. I always tell people that I think that’s pretty normal. I think it’s normal to be like, “You know what? I’m done. I can’t take it anymore. It’s just too brutal.”

Definitely over the years, there have been times when I’ve been, “Wow! I’m really running bad; maybe playing bad.” When you’re running bad you also sometimes play worse. It’s just like this mental battle, right? So, yeah. I’ve had a lot of ups-and-downs but I always think I could just still come back because I love the challenge. I love the fight, and nothing good comes easy.

Robbie: And then when you do win, it feels amazing…

Arden:  It feels so good. Even in the acting career, when you get those wins and you get those great opportunities; the great roles — it’s like winning a tournament. Of course, I’ve never done that in poker yet. Knock on wood! Hopefully one of these days!

I’m quite new to the tournament scene. I’ve played probably less than 15 events. Honestly, it’s been hard for me to find like a big, long sum of time to be able to play an event if it’s going to potentially be multiple days. And you don’t want to try if it’s going to be like, “By Day 2 or 3, in case I make it, I have to go back to work.”

So that’s always tough, but I think definitely getting close is almost more devastating versus busting out the first day and you’re like, “Oh, well. There it goes.”

Robbie:  I’m familiar with that myself. I play cash games exclusively for that exact reason. I don’t want to get stuck in a tournament if maybe, for example, I’m going to have an interview opportunity with Arden Cho! And then come up and say, “I’m in the tournament. Sorry!”

Arden: Well, it’s funny because that’s the thing. I actually play cash games, and the thing I like about that is I play a lot of games with friends and people I know in life, and they’re all incredible people. It’s sort of like a round of golf.

You play together for 4-5 hours. You play for a bit; catch up on life. You maybe watch a game and hang out. It’s sort of like a nice activity if you’re not one to wanna go clubbing every weekend. I’m just sort of not that person.

My girlfriends always tease me because they’re like, “You’re the only girl we know that her ideal Friday night is playing cards.” And I go, “Well, think about it — I can eat, get a massage, and play poker all simultaneously while hanging out with my friends.” I mean, nothing really beats that. You can’t get a massage at the club.

Robbie: Generally speaking, when you prepare yourself for something mentally and physically, you’re able to achieve peak performance. What mental and physical preparation do you do before a big poker event such as the PokerStars Players Championship?

Arden: One: I want to get a good night’s rest. Two: I don’t have huge expectations for myself. I’m so new to tournaments, I’m just happy to play and happy to have a shot.

I’m definitely talking to a lot of my poker-player friends who are pros and getting advice and trying to get some last-minute cramming in.

It’s nice. I feel like I’m very lucky everyone’s very helpful. I kind of like that about the poker industry. I feel like people are open to helping you get better. I feel like it’s interesting. I feel like sometimes certain industries are very competitive and less people want to help you.

Maybe I’m just lucky. I’ve met a lot of great pros who are very nice and want to help; give me tips. And I feel like it’s makes it fun and welcoming because I don’t really know how to play tournaments. I’ve gotten lucky in some and had a couple of deep runs and I feel like there’s definitely a mix of luck.

My first $25k (buy-in), I didn’t last very long. I lost of couple of flips. Things didn’t really go my way.

It happens, but I feel like I’m definitely still trying to figure out how to be prepared because I was definitely really nervous coming into the $25k. It is a very tough field full of amazing players, so that was quite intimidating for someone like me, but it was fun!

Robbie: You’re one of over 1,000 players in this PSPC field, and among those you’re one of over 400 who received a Platinum Pass. You’re no stranger to big time poker events, having racked up $150K in results over the years. How did it feel when you received a Platinum Pass from PokerStars?

Arden: It was so exciting! Honestly, it’s such a treat. I feel really lucky that PokerStars is encouraging to women — especially who are non-pros — wanting to “take a shot” and be a part of this world because it is quite intimidating.

A lot of my friends that might enjoy poker would never even consider coming to something like this. Because, “Why would you?” You might have no shot. But PokerStars giving these Platinum Passes — I feel like it’s such a cool opportunity. I don’t know if I would’ve come otherwise, right?

Robbie: Have you experienced a phenomenon that when other women watch you play under the bright lights, it makes them want to play poker, too?

Arden: I think a lot of friends recently… it’s actually been really funny. I’ll have friend where they see me play and they’ll be like, “Oh, I watched you play!” Or, “She watched your stream and she thinks you’re so cool!”

And I’m like, “Really?” Because I’m a bit embarrassed. I don’t think I’m good enough and I don’t really want people to see me play because it’s embarrassing. I’m like, “Give me a couple of years!”

I think it’s exciting because people are more like, “No, it’s cool! It’s cool that you’re sitting there with the guys, holding your own.” I think I’m also starting to realize that as well — that even if I’m sitting there and feeling nervous and scared — that other people can’t see that. That’s the game.

I always tell people that poker is very similar to acting because you’re telling stories. It’s a very creative game. I think people forget that poker is very creative. You’re convincing your opponent of what hand you have, or what story you’re telling with your bet. It’s way more creative than people think.

So I think as an actor, I have a lot of fun because I feel like — maybe in life I might be this tiny little Asian girl and I’m pretty bubbly, but the number one comment I get at a table is, if I’m all-in they’re like, “Why are you smiling?” And I’m like, “Well, my chips are in there. My decision is over so I’m like enjoying the moment. Bluff or not, I’ve committed myself so it’s up to you now.”

I want to have fun in the process, and of course I know it’s get very serious when we’re in big pots and you get closer to the money it gets very, very intense. But again, I think for me, because it’s still all so new — especially tournaments — I’m just having fun. It’s exciting. It’s scary.

Robbie: I hope you never lose that. I’m the same way. It’s just so important to approach events like that as a fun opportunity to enjoy yourself.

Arden: It was funny because yesterday I had a couple of friends text me and be like, “I can see you, and you are having so much fun. Your table must be amazing.” And I’m like, “Oh, I’ve lost half my chips, and ‘yes,’ I’m having a wonderful time getting crushed by these pros.”

Robbie: Phil Hellmuth has been very supportive of your poker career. How did you first meet and how did you become involved with his online home game?

Arden: Phil’s great. We met through a lot of mutual friends. It was sort of like a networking thing. We’ve got a lot of different types of people in the group. We’ve got athletes, actors, producers, businessmen, and it’s just a big fun networking thing.

Sometimes we do group trips together. We’ll all go to Vegas, or we’ll go somewhere and play and hang out and go mini-golf or… it’s not like it’s always just poker.

Recently, Phil has been very encouraging about saying, “Yeah, maybe you should play more tournaments.” I feel like sometimes with cash games, it’s tough because you can’t really control how much someone wins or loses. Sometimes a player loses so much, and between friends that can feel like a “bummer.”

I like that in tournaments everyone has the same entry; the same buy-in. It doesn’t matter how many times you’ve won. There’s a very “sport” aspect of tournaments where you get one shot in that tournament. I really like that, and I also like that obviously skill is a huge part of it, but you can still get really lucky, run like the sun, and win!

So I’m waiting for one of those, and I think Phil is very encouraging in the sense of, “Yeah, he has so many bracelets along with a lot of the other pros that we know,” but is encouraging to say we can all try. And it’s true. Otherwise, why would we be here, if there was “zero shot?”

Robbie You’re very vocal about the reality of what women face when they play poker, specifically in tournaments. What actions would you like to see in poker to help work towards parity for women in the future?

Arden: This is a tough question for me because again, I have such a small pool of experience in tournaments, so I really don’t know as much. I remember speaking to Maria Ho about it, and just how much I respect her for really being one of the few women I’ve sort of seen in the poker world for so many years.

We always ask, “What would make it better, or easier?” And I think it honestly would come down to having more women feel welcome to play.

I think — especially with PokerStars giving away so many Platinum Passes to women, that’s a start. Making us feel like we belong. Not just in Ladies events but in every event. I think it just comes down to awareness and seeing it.

Even in the media, we always talk about how unless we see minority stories, people don’t realize minorities are a part of this world and the stories we tell. So I think in poker, unless we start seeing more women playing; having more presence, it’s just so tough.

Of course, that start is tough. Obviously, it’s going to be very hard to be 50-50. We have a long way to go, but I will say that the 2023 PSPC has been really refreshing to see so many women. I’ve never seen this many women playing a poker tournament in my life. So that has been really cool.

I always get really excited seeing other women competing. I want to root for them. I might not even know who they are, but I’m like, “I hope you win!” Every woman I see at the table I’m like, “Run good! I hope you run good, too, and I hope all of us make it!” I’m like, “If I don’t make it, I hope she does!”

Robbie: Do you have friends or family joining you in the Bahamas? You do have a little extra time on your hands now; what activities do you hope to partake in off the felt?

Arden: This was so last-minute that I actually came out here alone, but I have a handful of friends out here, so it is fun to hang out and catch up. We’ve been going to the water park; going down the water slide like kids and spending some time on the beach.

That’s actually been really nice. Just walking around in the weather here. It’s amazing and it’s not a bad view! It’s wild. This is such a nice treat. It’s really great to just be here feeling like I’m on vacation, because poker, for me, is a vacation.

I know… for most of the players here it’s a very serious trip. It’s their work and they are working. But for me, I’m like, “Oh, I’m on vacation. Sorry guys, I’m just happy to play!”

So I’m going to take another shot. I think I’m going to play the $3k and the $2k, so hopefully I run better in those. It’s funny because a bunch of my friends — we all busted the $25k PSPC together so we’re all playing that next event or two together.

So again, that feels really fun because, you know, not a big deal. We’re all playing it. I think a lot of great players busted out of the $25k PSPC and so, I’m like, “It’s all right. It’s okay.”

Robbie: What memories would you like to take with you from the PSPC?

Arden: I’m so affected by my environment, so I think — just this island — is so amazing.

It’s so amazing to wake up and to see this view; to be by the ocean; great air; great weather — just good food, good vibes. All of it just feels like the perfect vacation… and then you get to play poker!

I’m going to the spa tomorrow. I feel like really, just the overall experience feels really fun. I had never been to the Bahamas. I had never played a $25k buy-in poker tournament. A lot of “firsts” here, so just the fact that I get to check a couple of things off the “bucket list” feels very memorable.

On the bright side, that meant he had time to do some interviews, and Cardplayer Lifestyle was fortunate enough to have a few minutes of his time. Long a fan specifically of David’s work in Suits, it was a special thrill to get to sit with him and discuss “the poker side of his life”. Below is the transcript of the conversation we had, edited for brevity and clarity.

Robbie Strazynski – Cardplayer Lifestyle: David, you’re no stranger to poker; you’ve got some chops, which we’ll discuss a little later on in this interview. To start out, please share with our audience how and when you first learned to play the game, and what it was about poker that piqued your interest.

David Costabile:  I first started playing with my family. My dad was a really good card player. So we all used to play cards together, and it was really fun. So [my dad] would tell stories about when he was in college — he won a lot of money playing cards and I think he’s sort of, somewhat psychic. So he really had an ability to play. He had never taught me how to play. He was like, “I’m not going to teach you how to play.” And I was like, “Why can’t you teach me how to play?” And he was like, “I’m not going to… no.”

He just refused to ever tell me his secrets or what to do, or how to do it. So I had to just kind of watch him and learn.

So at big holidays, like at Christmas and Thanksgiving, everybody would come around — and he came from a big family. So we were like, Italian Irish Catholics. He was the youngest of nine kids so there were always constantly people to play. It was also just about the camaraderie and the chatter. Growing up, the dinner table was “the place.” We would sit around at dinner at talk and talk and talk.

So that was really about; I wanted to be like the grown-ups. I wanted to be able to play like them and I love games. So it was a super-fun way to be both social and be with your family and also feel like you’re included and really doing something.

Robbie: And you still have that same enjoyment of the social banter?

David: I do. I play in a weekly game. We do it on Zoom because we can’t all be together, but I did that sort of all the way through COVID. I know one or two of the guys in the game. So I met a whole new group of friends and it’s interesting to talk to them. It’s interesting to talk about cards. They’re all going to give me great or terrible reviews when I get back because then they all get to watch me on the stream.

It isn’t as if you could go and tell them about the “glory hands” and then the “sh–ty hands,” but then they get to see all the hands. And they’re just like, “no, no, wrong wrong… again wrong.” And you’re like, does everybody get to see your cards too? Every hand?”

Robbie: Exactly. It’s easy to just watch from the side and not under the lights.

David: Three and a half hours on TV! Look, I work on TV all the time. I shoot television all the time. I know what it’s like to be on camera, but you do it in little chunks. You do it for two minutes, or a minute, and they say, “cut.” And then you go, “I’m not on camera.”

And then they say, “we’re rolling — action!” You do it for two minutes again. But here, it’s just a rolling three hours.

Robbie: But there is obviously a difference as a paid professional actor playing a role as opposed to sitting and playing in a poker tournament. Do you feel, when you’re under the lights, the pressure to be Hollywood actor David Costabile?

David: Yeah, sure. You also want — I mean, I know what those guys in the booth are looking for. I’ve watched their live stream. I spent the whole last week watching the live stream which those guys are killing themselves to do, and I think it’s incredible what they’re doing. It’s hard work. It’s mostly people who are being silent [at the featured table].

That’s a very difficult thing. To make jokes; to make it interesting. Something is happening. There are cards. You can talk about the cards, but for so much of poker, it’s ordinary. Right? It just goes, “raise-call-check-fold.” Once you get into this thing, it was very interesting for me to watch the pros, and to try to glean their strategy and what they were doing.

I’m obviously not going to learn fast enough as I am going down that road. But it was totally fascinating, and also — because you’re “the mark” — so you have to figure out what part of the mark you’re going to play. Are you doing to play-up the mark or play-down the mark? Are you going to pretend that the mark is the mark? Which part of the mark is it? Are you going to reveal the mark or not reveal the mark? So, there were many pieces at stake all at once.

Robbie: You’re of course not the only Hollywood celeb who enjoys some poker. Back in the old days it was folks like Johnny Carson, Frank Sinatra, Telly Savalas, and others of that generation gathering around a table. These days, the Hollywood home games can boast more actors than even Phil Hellmuth could name-drop. Who are some famous film and TV stars who you’ve competed against at the felt over the years, and which have been your favorite to face?

David: I work for Brian Koppelman. We play cards together on occasion, but he’s a high-flier. So I can’t fly as high as he does. Which is good. I don’t go near [those stakes].

Hank Azaria has a game in New York, and this is a dangerous game for anyone who is not at that particular [stake] level. So I can steer clear of that some days. I play in a game with Billy Crudup and Eric Bedoucha now. A bunch of New York actors, which is very fun.

You’re able to talk about work, and you’re able to talk about it in a way that is easy. We can talk about it openly and easily.

Robbie: Is Texas Hold’em the only poker you play, or do you by any chance also enjoy some other poker variants like stud and Omaha… or even perhaps home game favorites like deuces wild, follow the queen, pass the trash and that sort of stuff?

David: It’s just Texas Hold’em and it’s only cash.

Robbie: Generally speaking, a big force bringing poker players to the table, both recreational and professional, is the desire to make money. Typically, Hollywood actors tend to do alright for themselves to the point that I imagine money isn’t the main carrot that brings you to the felt. What do you enjoy the most about competing in a cash game or poker tournament, and what sort of feeling/emotion are you chasing?

David: I like action for sure. You like to feel like you’re in the action. I’ve spent my life thinking about human behavior, psychology, and how one acts under duress. Or any number of aspects of the human spirit. So you’re putting the human experience under pressure which then is going to make it alter. Which is interesting to watch, and then for yourself, too. You’ll see like, “Oh, look how you’re shifting and moving” So I think that aspect is always interesting.

And then it’s sort of like “playing.” My job is to “play.” That’s what I do all day and what I think about all day. And to sort of enliven your spirit; to try to strengthen the spirit of your play inside of your being is essential for me. I want to “play” all the time. When I’m not playing, I feel like you’re missing the boat. You’ve missed it.

Robbie: So win or lose, you come away with a good feeling after a poker session?

David: [audibly screeches] If I had walked away from this and you’re like, “Dude, you got a terrible beat. You got it in great and got a terrible beat. I would be like, “That’s great. That’s as much as I could hope for.” And it seems like I held enough for the first two hours and felt, “Okay, you did it!” You got through the two hours and after the break they’re like, “You’re going to come back and do two more hours.” I’m just like, “Can’t I go to the other dark part where I can just shut my mouth?”

Because there’s no way to guard against it. There’s too many; it’s too much. I mostly wanted to get to the second day, but I couldn’t do it. I couldn’t find the bag.

Robbie: Our crack research team – of me – unearthed a nice little nugget… one of the films you starred in back in 2013 was one with some (online) poker in it, called Runner Runner, where you played Professor Hornstein. What do you remember about that particular role and what did you enjoy the most about that gig?

David Costabile:  [Professor Hornstein] was a degenerate gambler and Brian [Koppelman] and David [Levien] were working on it. And Justin Timberlake. We were in Puerto Rico; we shot in Puerto Rico. It was fun. I got to work with JT. I mean, that was fantastic! Who wouldn’t want to do that?

Robbie:  You’ve mentioned Brian Koppelman a couple of times. Would you want to play a role in a sequel to Rounders if such a movie were ever to be made; and if so, what kind of role?

David:  Yes! Yes, of course! — The guy who wins the poker tournament [laughs]! Whatever they put me in, I’d do. They say, “Jump,” and I say, “How high?”

Robbie: Well, you’re here now at the PSPC, but it’s not your first collaboration with PokerStars. Back in mid-2020 you not only participated in the Stars Call for Action online celebrity tournament; you actually won it! Refresh our memories – what was that tournament about and why was it important to you to participate in it?

David: That’s true! You did the research. Did you do some of the research on the hand history? Did you look up who I beat?

Robbie: Yes, I did. We’ll get there, but first, what was it about that tournament that was important to you to participate in?

David: There were a couple of things. One was, we were all in lockdown and everybody in the world felt like, “We’re living in a hard time and we want to help people as much as we can. And the opportunity to… I knew I could do it. Just like coming here. I knew I was off work from shooting and I could come here which was great.

In that situation, we were home with our kids and my wife was like, “Okay, you should do that for sure.” It was a great opportunity, and I won. I got $100,000 for World Central Kitchen. I’m really proud of that. I believe so deeply in the work that they do around the world and we’re so happy to support them. I really felt like I did make a contribution, which was super-cool.

So to that end, when you ask, “Why do you do it? — You weren’t in it for the money.” It was better than if I had won $100,000 you’d be like, “Really [bored face]? That’s what you did? You spent a Saturday trying to win $100,000?” But if you won $100,000 that you were going to give to something that you deeply believed in, you’re like, “What a great gift! What a gift to me; that I got!” So, I really felt that way afterwards.

One of the things about it is that nobody knew who I was, because they tried to Zoom it and it was post-edited. They couldn’t figure out how to make all of it sort of coalesce, but it was great. It was a great feeling.

Robbie: Ahead of playing in the Stars Call to Action tournament, you posted on Instagram that you were “taking direct aim at fellow players Aaron Paul, Gabriel Macht, and Bryan Cranston.” Of course, you were their co-star in Breaking Bad and Suits, respectively. Among the characters they played in those TV series, namely Jesse Pinkman, Walter White, and Harvey Spector, which of those would be the best poker player and why?

David: Yeah, f— those guys [jokingly]. Walter White would be the best poker player.

Robbie: You’re here now at the 2023 Poker Players Championship but unfortunately you’re no longer playing in the event. You did last until the final level of play yesterday, Day 1, and you had been at the featured table on center stage for a good portion of the day. What were some of the highlights of your experience?

David:  I got to meet a bunch of poker players. Dan Shak gave me absolution after I had f—ed up a hand. I asked him if I played it right and he was like, “That’s exactly how I would’ve played it.” And I felt so much f—ing better. It felt great to get that affirmation because it was right after the hand — and he was like, “Can I have a picture?” And I was like, “Yes! I love watching you play poker. You’re such a good poker player.”

And I was like, “Could you just tell me if I did this wrong or right?” Because even if he had said, “You f—ed it up.” I would’ve been like, “Alright. I did. Big deal.” But he was like, “That’s exactly how I would’ve played.” So it was great to have one of the ‘high priests’ be like, “You’re okay.” And it actually did sort of calm me down, which was nice.

Because it can go so fast, and for me it really wasn’t about the win, but I just wanted to keep playing. I wanted to go to somebody and ask, “Can I have more chips? — I need more chips. I don’t need lots more, but just enough to keep doing it.

Robbie: Well, unfortunately you won’t be making a deep PSPC run, BUT on the flip side, that means you’ve got a good bit of extra time on your hands. What activities are you hoping to enjoy during the rest of your stay here at Baha Mar in the Bahamas?

David: Flamingo Yoga maybe? There might be some Lazy River in my future. I saw the flamingos this morning. They’re very cute.

Robbie: The Lazy River; I would say, “Don’t go just once. Go again and again.” It’s very fun. David, thank you very much.

David:  It’s been nice to meet you.

Robbie: Likewise.

To mark the occasion of his 80th birthday, Neuville has announced that he’ll be campaigning to break some records over the coming poker year, namely aiming to:

• Cross the 250 career cashes mark (which would make him #1 all time in Belgium)
• Record the most cashes by anyone over 80 years old
• Win 2 Seniors tournaments, including the WSOP Seniors event
• Break his own record of being the oldest person to final table the WSOP Main Event

One of the friendliest poker players you’ll ever encounter, Neuville isn’t content to just make a run at these accomplishments alone, but rather he wants to bring along 1000 people for the ride by giving them a collective 50% stake in his action.

We reached out to Pierre to ask him a few questions about his ambitious upcoming poker plans, and —  with the help of his wife Claudine — he was kind enough to reply.

Most retirees are perfectly happy to kick back and relax after a lifetime of hard work. I can understand that poker is something you love and enjoy, but why do you feel it’s important to push yourself hard at 80 years old to keep achieving difficult poker goals?

“Age discrimination” is a very real thing. Official employment is limited by age and being approached with interesting propositions and business opportunities is very rare as you get older.

Our brains need new challenges and to stay creative in order to remain fully functional and not atrophy. Innovation keeps us young both in body and mind. Retirement, the idea of inactivity and boredom, is the worst of inventions.

Poker is an extraordinary activity to develop a brain dynamism at any age. It demands concentration, courage, caution, and patience in order to play well and profitably.

I have undergone various tests at university centers that concluded that my 10,000+ hours of playing poker has certainly had an influence om my biological age, currently estimated at 52.

How long have you been planning towards putting together your 80th birthday challenges?

In 2014, the European Poker Awards granted me the “Lifetime Achievement Award”. It made me very happy because not only did I receive the prize from  the gracious Kara Scott, but my award also came just after the one presented to Leon Tsoukernik as the “Industry Person of the Year”. Our two awards now share a showcase at King’s Casino in Rozvadov.

And the lifetime achievement award goes to @pierre_neuville #EuropeanPokerAwards pic.twitter.com/0f4vGfEvrD

— Shirley Ang (@poolshir) March 25, 2015

On the other hand, the award left me with other emotions, too. Although it was a form of recognition, I did not want “lifetime achievement” to mean an ending of something. Rather, I told the attendees that I wanted that award to be a motivation for the next 25 years with the best results still to come. The audience smiled and gave me a standing ovation. One year later I kept my promise by beating Johnny Moss’ record of oldest to make a WSOP Main Event final table. He was 67 and I was 72, but he won while I finished in 7th place, so there is still some work for me to do.

Leon was the first person who introduced me to the concept of staking. By doing that, without any preconceived notion of age being an obstacle, Leon manifested what’s sure to be a lifelong friendship and gained my full respect. Each time I enter King’s Casino, a smiling welcoming handshake is a boost of rejuvenation for me.

From that moment on his idea of “staking” kept rattling around in my head. So, I thought “there’s no reason to limit it to one person doing the staking; why not multiply from 1 to 100 or maybe 1,000?”

I’ve consulted with a few young pro poker players who are well-versed with the concepts of staking and swaps, and obviously putting together a group of 100+ people to back “an 80-year-old guy” is quite unique.

After a lot of contemplation, I decided to proceed with the initiative in order to give many people the opportunity to participate in something that perhaps never crossed their mind to do (i.e., having a sweat with a player’s WSOP campaign). Rather than just following the action, people can have a rooting interest for just $80. Companies are invited to take a stake as well.

Do you have a full list of the events you are planning to play?

I will start my campaign in Rozvadov with Leon’s WSOPE Main Event in November and I will also fly out to play the WSOP in Las Vegas next year. Of course, I will play all the Seniors tournaments, as I enjoy feeling “the youngest”. In the past I have already won a bit at the Bellagio and Golden Nugget but never at the World Series of Poker.

Having a mass backing of 1,000 stakers will facilitate a budget that will allow me to play all the $1K, $2K and $3K buy-ins, as well as the Main Event at the Wynn Summer Classic.  Hopefully, the WSOP Main Event will be the climax of the campaign.

I am already dreaming of being in Las Vegas, sitting at the televised table under the lights, with cameras focusing on my logo “StakingPierre80”. By the way, if any designers out there have ideas for how to design such a logo, please reach out to me.

Many 80-year-olds are not as fortunate to have maintained good health like you, Pierre. What advice and tips would you advise people to help maintain good health? What has worked for you?

We are so lucky that scientific research has given us ways to live a longer and healthier life. I have been studying anti-aging medicine for 30 years and was extremely lucky to be a friend of Doctor Thierry Hertoghe who is president and pioneer of the World Society of Anti-Aging Medicine.

For my part, I have founded an anti-aging club where I provide some advice: [email protected]

Emotion #November 9 #bestpicture pic.twitter.com/6lMm9KnKQ0

— Pierre Neuville (@pierre_neuville) July 30, 2015

In particular, do you have any secrets that help you maintain your concentration and stamina for long periods of time like poker tournaments constantly demand?

I practice different meditation techniques, including “walking” meditation. At the tables, I switch my focus regularly from “ON-mode” to “relaxing-mode”. I have a monthly medical check-up and try to maintain my vitamins and minerals at a perfect level.

Of course, I eat no sugars, drink no alcohol, do not smoke and keep my cholesterol as low as possible.

My best advice, if you’re looking to stay healthy: get your bloodwork done with a full test every few years, and follow your doctors’ advice based on the results. Make it an active goal to work towards being healthy as long as you live.

Your 80th birthday is on January 2nd. How do you intend to celebrate on the actual day?

My “80th birthday celebration” already started with many encouraging messages. People seem to like my staking idea and tell me to continue pushing it. I receive registrations for shares every day

There will be no better place than King’s Casino to celebrate on the actual day. I will gladly accept Leon’s invitation to attend the year-ending festivities with his entire team. I will play every tournament with passion and delight, knowing that each good result will bring joy to the club of 100+ associates who join me in the staking venture.

If this first year is successful, then I think “StakingPierre80” may go on to become an annual thing.

You mentioned to me privately that about 30% of your action has already been sold. How can players who wish to stake you do so? Is bank transfer in euros the only way or are other currencies and payment methods possible, too?

It is very simple to fill out the registration form (see below).

If you prefer not to use online money transfers, you can fill out the form, send it to me, and arrange to pay me in person with a handshake at the Grand Casino de Namur in Belgium, King’s Casino in Rozvadov, or in Las Vegas.

Companies wishing to buy a stake will receive an official invoice from my company.

A full report will be published after each tournament. For more information, please feel free to email me: [email protected].

Image credit: King’s Resort

That’s what the poker playing public sees. Behind the scenes, however, what people don’t see is the talented team of professionals making it all happen. That team is led by WPT Global General Manager Alex Scott. A longtime poker industry veteran, Alex brings worlds of experience to his position.

I’ve known Alex for many years now, and he’s even been a past contributor right here at Cardplayer Lifestyle. I couldn’t think of a better person to speak with to learn more about the company that’s been making such big waves. I’m grateful he was open to doing this interview, and for his exceptional openness and authenticity throughout. I have no doubt that whatever high regard you already hold the WPT Global brand in, it’ll be further boosted after you read what Alex has to say.

The internet is littered with online poker rooms. WPT Global is basically the newest kid on the block, having launched in mid-April. What would you say are the “unique selling points” (USPs) that set WPT Global apart from the other more established online poker rooms out there?

AS: Our most important USPs can be expressed in just two words: ‘fun’ and ‘fair’.

‘Fun’ because that has been our main focus when developing the product — our games are much more fun than our competitors’ because of the enormous liquidity pool we share with our partners in Asia, and because of how we limit the number of highly-skilled pros at each table. Everyone has a better chance to win in this environment. Besides this, we’ve built fun features like bomb pots, mandatory straddles, and more to bring drama and action to the games.

‘Fair’ because from the very beginning we have invested enormously in technology and people to make the games as fair as possible. We use deep-learning techniques and other advanced tools to detect collusion, bots and the use of real-time assistance. By eliminating these types of parasitic players from our site, we make the game better for everybody else.

READ MORE: 5 Reasons Why Amateurs Should Play at WPT Global

Perhaps understandably, there’s still some confusion out there regarding “what exactly WPT Global is”, as a lot of poker players out there think that it’s the World Poker Tour’s online poker room. Could you please clarify that point?

AS: The World Poker Tour is a hugely popular TV show, broadcast in hundreds of countries worldwide, but for obvious reasons it has only partnered with online gaming operators in a few key markets. We knew there was demand for a high-quality poker experience in many other parts of the world. We developed WPT Global as a way of giving players in over 50 countries the chance to play poker with a brand that they trust.

We licence the WPT brand and are a separate company to the WPT, but we are very close with our friends there and we take our responsibilities to the WPT brand very seriously.

We are the first new online poker room to launch internationally in years, and with the WPT brand behind us we believe we have an excellent chance to grow, and bring our offering to players all over the world.

READ MORE: WPT Global Room Review

Launching a new online poker room takes a massive amount of effort behind the scenes. WPT Global is only about four months old, but I’m hoping you could clue us in to the activity at company headquarters prior to launch. When were you brought on board to begin steering the ship? Plus, it takes a village to run an online poker room, and that’s a team you were instrumental in putting together. Can you describe that process for us and approximately how many employees/departments there are in the company?

AS: I joined WPT Global in early April, about two weeks before we launched. Prior to that, lots of people in the company had been eagerly working away to prepare — integrating with payment processors, preparing marketing plans, getting us licenced to operate, working with our technology partner to refine the software, and more.

As a startup, one of our crucial challenges is growing the team so we can scale up. Thankfully, we have the WPT brand behind us, and all of our staff work remotely, meaning we can hire the most talented people, wherever they are in the world. We’ve grown all of our teams significantly in the past few months and I expect to continue growing at a fast pace in the future.

WPT Global Timeline: Charting the Course of Online Poker’s Newest Room

The team behind WPT Global has a combined decades of experience in the online gaming industry. Players just see the brand name, and of course that’s plenty trustworthy, but could you please give us an idea of the types of experience you and your team have that further give WPT Global that well-deserved credibility as an online poker room?

AS: In my leadership team we have decades of experience in senior online gaming roles.

Often we have been frustrated in the past, as we’ve had big ideas, but very limited resources to achieve them. Well, now we have big ideas, and everything we need to make them happen, which is very exciting!

Our technology was built by a different company, whose staff have hundreds of years of combined experience in the gaming business as well as expertise in AI, machine learning, and big data analytics.

Game integrity is a very hot topic these days in the online poker realm, and for good reason. What procedures and processes does WPT Global have in place to ensure game integrity and that players funds are safe and secure?

AS: All of our player funds are segregated and protected at all times, and we cannot touch that money for operational reasons. This is very important to me, as anyone who has followed my work in the past will know. We intend to protect player funds far in excess of what the regulator requires, and we will be continually upping our game in this respect.

Game Integrity is a different matter. We did extensive due diligence when we chose our technology supplier, and chose a partner that had very advanced data and tech for preventing collusion, the use of bots, and RTA, and had already proven that technology at scale with a large network. We have built a team of poker experts to use those tools to keep our games as fair as possible, and given our past experience in the industry, we’re extremely confident that we have the leading all-round solution for Game Integrity.

READ MORE: A Cyber Security Expert’s Assessment of A5 Labs Challenge to the Online Poker Industry

It seems like WPT Global has very actively embraced the world of NFTs, fully integrating it into your promotional and marketing activity to increase player engagement. Can you talk about this for a bit, and explain why this is an approach/field the company has set its sights on from the get-go?

AS: We know that there is a lot of crossover between the crypto community and the poker community, and it’s our job to make it as easy as possible for people to use their crypto assets with us.

I’m very excited about our NFTs — they are totally different, and far from just a token on a chain. Our NFTs carry real value, as they will give their owners access to special features and promotions that are exclusive to NFT holders. We also have ideas about how the NFTs can be used to authenticate a person’s real identity, to improve trust in the games across multiple operators, but these are a little further down the road.

Let’s talk for a moment about payment methods. Beyond more traditional deposit/withdrawal options – such as wire transfer, Visa, and Skrill – WPT Global has also embraced some newer ones, like cryptocurrency. Could you give us the lowdown, as well as what other payment methods you’re looking to add in the future?

AS: Our goal is pretty simple: we want to make it as easy as possible for you to deposit and withdraw your money, in every market where we offer our product. To do that, we have to dramatically improve the cashier experience, and offer all of the deposit methods that you would expect to see in your country. Crypto was an obvious choice, given the overlap between the poker and crypto communities, as I mentioned earlier, and we have lots of ideas about how we can make crypto easier to use for deposits and withdrawals.

WPT Global offers players both cash games and tournaments, specifically the poker variants of No Limit Hold’em and Short Deck (6+ Hold’em). Here at Cardplayer Lifestyle, we’re big proponents of Mixed Games. Are there plans to add any other poker variants in the near future?

AS: Yes, but we’re keeping these under our hat for now. One of our key objectives when launching any new game is to be able to keep that game fair and secure, as we do with the existing games. As much as I personally love mixed games, just as you do, we won’t ever compromise integrity to spread more variants.

While many players are delighted to have opened accounts on WPT Global (many using our bonus code CPL), there are perhaps even more out there who are disappointed that they’re unfortunately not able to do so and play due to where in the world they happen to live. Please tell us a bit about WPT Global’s licensing, and which countries/jurisdictions you hope to soon add to your worldwide player pool?

AS: We launched with a Curaçao licence, as it was our best route to market, giving us everything we needed to launch quickly. In future, it’s likely that we’ll acquire more licences so that we can bring our unique offering to as many players as possible. Regardless of the licence we have, we will always operate to a far higher standard than the regulator requires.

With a great team in place, unique selling points, a strong marketing push, a brand familiar to everyone in the poker world, and lots of promotions in the offing for both new and existing players, WPT Global is poised for strong growth right out of the gates, to grab a nice initial share of the online poker market. What would you say the company’s targets are for Year 1, and to what degree you hope to be established in the online poker world by mid-April next year?

AS: We are probably the only poker startup ever not to have a liquidity target, specifically because we already have a massive pool of players thanks to our Asian partnership. So we are not building liquidity at any cost, as you might expect. I care about different things.

I care about awareness — do players know that WPT Global exists? By the end of this year – everyone in the poker community should know our name. If they don’t, we have really messed up!

I care about making our business sustainable. Do players have a good experience, are the games genuinely beatable? Are the games as safe and secure as we’ve promised?

I care about our people. Are we hiring and keeping the best staff? Are our employees learning all the time, seizing their potential, getting better every day? Are they motivated and happy in their jobs?

I care about the player experience. Are we offering amazing customer service? Can players qualify for their dream events with us? After they try us out, do players stick with us, or do they go back to playing elsewhere?

Our business targets all follow from these higher level aspirations. Of course we want to make money, but we know we won’t do that if we don’t get these basic things right.

Lupe’s term as President has now come to an end, and we caught up with her to hear some of her top highlights from the last few years, her thoughts about the current state of women in poker, and her plans for the future.

The embedded interview is followed by a transcript. Many thanks to the new WPA President Tara Windsor-Smith for her assistance.

Interview Transcript

Hey everybody this is Robbie Strazynski for Cardplayer Lifestyle and I’m here with Lupe Soto, the founder of the Women’s Poker Association and of course a Women in Poker Hall of Famer. How are you today, Lupe?

I’m great. I’m so excited to be here!

Well, a little birdie told me that your term as WPA President has come to an end. So, I figured now would be a good time to catch up with you, talk some about the WPA and your plans moving forward. Sounds good to you?

That sounds great.

Obviously, everyone knows the name Lupe Soto. You’ve done a ton in the poker industry over your career, you founded LIPS, you founded the Senior’s Poker Tour, and all manner of work in the online poker space, and of course you’re probably best known as a fierce advocate to grow the game, specifically for women. What was your vision when you first set out to found the Women’s Poker Association?

It was interesting. When you’re in the trenches of women’s poker and you’re kind of pounding on the doors and trying to get operators to understand the importance of having programming for women so that we can grow the game and all kinds of other reasons. But it was very difficult to do when you’re a proprietary kind of entity. Which I was. Which is LIPS. LIPS is definitely a for-profit business. It’s a poker tour for women. So when you go and share a message under that umbrella, everyone thinks you want something from them. So it’s like yeah, of course I would like your poker room to be a LIPS stop at some point, but that was difficult to separate from the message.

So there was an attempt in about 2009 or something like that. I can’t remember exactly when it was. I got together with a couple of my girlfriends who also had a passion for women in poker and we decided to try the Women’s Poker Association. The challenge with it is that it started to look like a tour. And that was not the objective. And I also believe that the minute you become a tour or another entity that is competing with an operator, there’s a tendency not to have a very open dialogue.

Right.

So we had to go back to the drawing board. Just completely wipe that idea out. And having the association become a non-profit was really the way to go. Simply because, now nobody’s after any dollars, the only dollars that are raised are for the good of the association, and for the betterment and improvement of it overall.

Right.

So that was game-changing.

Right. So I believe the president’s term at the WPA officially is three years. Can you share with us some highlights from your time at the helm of the WPA? Maybe you’ve got some particular achievements that you’re most proud of?

So in the first two years of my five years with the WPA, was in the Executive Director position, in that role. So I didn’t have a vote on the Board. I had a voice, but I didn’t have a vote. So when Bonnie Carl, who was the president at the time, stepped down, I knew that the transition was critical. So I said, ok, I will accept a position as president. But I’m really wanting this to be bigger than me. So I wanted to do one term, which was three years.

I’d say some of the highlights, in our overall mission, one of our missions was to educate women in poker. And having created a partnership with Poker Power, which is another organization that’s mission is to teach women how to play poker, and to instruct women as to how poker as a game translates into real-life business practices and things we can utilize in our regular daily lives. That was a huge thing for me.

Secondly, I think the Raise It Up program, to introduce that into the industry and to ask the industry to embrace it. We are asking all operators and all players to elevate their experience at the game by respecting their players when they’re playing, and to make it more fun so that we can grow the game. So the Raise It Up program is another thing that I’m extremely proud of.

And I would say the third thing, and these are just the top three things that come to mind. For years and years, the men in the game would say “I like LIPS and I like that women are playing in the game, and how can I help and what can I do?” And that’s when the Purple Tie Guy program came through. Purple being the color of the WPA, and ties being the thing that is iconic for a man, the Purple Tie Guy was born.

Absolutely. You have some real feathers in your cap. And of course, I am a very proud Purple Tie Guy myself. I am happy to always support and be an ally of the WPA.

The Board of Directors in particular, but of course all WPA members, are so thankful for everything you’ve done. The time has come to pass the torch once again, so to speak. Of course, even with passing the torch, there’s so much more work to do. With the poker community perhaps more aware than ever before, very much in part due to the work you’ve done, of the need to bring more women to the game, what sorts of milestones for women in poker would you like to see next?

I would like to see every operator on the planet have a program – wait a minute – let’s have a discussion! What are you doing to bring women into the game? What are you doing in your own house, in your own poker room, or your own business, or whatever it is, to bring women into the game. I would like to see that next thing happen, where there’s a conversation about what they’re going to do, and put a little bit of money into it. Even though they’re not looking at what’s happening, they’re only seeing a number. If you look and you see how many women…Maybe there’s the numbers in the highest levels.. If you ask me. If you’re playing in the World Series of Poker Tournaments, those are the highest levels of our game. Correct?

Right

If you’re playing in Main Events of poker tours, that’s an elevation of the game. If you start looking at the smaller buy-in kind of stuff, or even in cash games in poker rooms, there are women everywhere playing.

Right. Sure.

And you’ve seen that before. I think if you look at mixed games, there are a lot more women playing in mixed games than you’ve ever seen before.

That’s great.

So I do think that we are making progress, and I think that the conversation needs to be active every year. “What can we do?” “How can we do things?” That would be my parting thing. What can happen next?

That would be a wonderful thing. Speaking of parting words, do you have any special well wishes to Tara Smith? She was the Vice President of the Women’s Poker Association, now she’ll be stepping into your shoes. Anything that you’d like to wish her?

It’s not just Tara. I love Tara. I’ve known Tara for many years. She worked with me in LIPS back in the day. She got recruited away from me. Because she’s a rock star. And we don’t pay anything and she got paid really well. And she’s now working with an amazing company in her professional life. And she still has the passion for women in poker, and she’s such a rock star. Excellent hands. The Association, and the leadership that’s now in place. Our Board of Directors are simply amazing women. And there’s not just the Board of Directors, there are all the advocates out in the field that are representing women in poker and representing our association, they’re doing amazing work.

So I’m really excited about the next generation of women. I believe that it’s going to be wave after wave after wave of success from this point on. I’m just so proud of them, and the work that they’ve done, and the commitment. Because this is an all-volunteer organization. Nobody gets paid here. And as you know, volunteer jobs are schlep jobs sometimes. And even if it’s just stapling papers together sometimes, or licking stamps, or whatever the heck we need. These women are stepping up to the plate. From the smallest of tasks to the greatest of tasks. So I’m just extremely proud of them and I know they’re going to do a great job. And that the current Board that’s in place are rock stars.

Wonderful. While you’re not going to continue leading the WPA from the president’s seat, I have a hunch that you’re still going to be continuing to advocate for women in poker and growing the game in other ways. What are your upcoming plans with LIPS and your other ventures?

LIPS is always going to be my baby. It’s my passion. Right now, this is like the last chapter for me. I feel like 20 years ago, it was to bring women into the game. Then to add more things, I felt like I really started to understand the industry: who’s out there, who’s doing what, and what’s not being done. And now I feel like I want to use this next chapter as a culmination of everything. I’ve been given an opportunity that I’m so excited about. So I have a plan for the next chapter for me, and the next chapter for me is to introduce a new tour. And that new tour is open to everyone. It will have a Ladies event and it will have a Seniors event. So both SPT and LIPs will still be involved. But I’ve been blessed with the opportunity to grow a legacy and a namesake for Mike Sexton.

Wow.

So, I am going to be launching the Mike Sexton All-American Poker Circuit.

Wow.

So we’re currently in talks and we’re seeking out 10 launch properties across the States who want to be a part of this. There are very few people in this industry who deserve this kind of recognition, and Mike is definitely one of those people. So now we have Mike’s name being edified, and we’ll have the All-American Poker Tour as, I mean, red white and blue, honey. It is the Eagle’s Nest if you’re a champion. We’re talking draped in that stuff, and Mike is a Veteran. So it was really important to us to have an event in there that honors first responders and veterans. And we will have that in there. And that is also a fundraiser for Poker Gives. So it’s really a culmination of Mike’s legacy and what he’s given to this game, and the good that he’s done and to be able to continue that on. So that’s the next chapter!

Beautiful. So exciting to look forward to that and so exciting for you to have that wonderful thing to look forward to. I’m sure it’s going to be super-successful with you leading the charge there.

Lupe, before we let you go, do you have any parting words for the WPA membership, or perhaps for the greater poker audience of both men and women who will likely see or read this interview?

I think the most important thing is that our mission in the WPA is to really actively eliminate the barriers to growing our game. So if you are an operator, have a conversation about what you’re doing for women in poker. If you’re a poker player, have a conversation with yourself about how you behave at the poker table. And what is ok, and what isn’t ok. And be an advocate for a better game. And be an advocate to be a better player, not just in your skillset, but also in your persona.

Sure.

You know, just be friendly, be welcoming. Make sure that if you see somebody that’s new at the game, just introduce yourself. Just say Hi. And just remember to not be critical. I just think being welcoming, being friendly, and respecting the rules, and supporting the staff that’s there to serve you. To me that’s highly important. Treat the dealers correctly. And if you have a problem, don’t sit there and berate a dealer. Stand up and go talk to the floor. Take it away from the atmosphere of the game. Let’s elevate the game in all ways.

Such an important message. Not a better note to end off this talk. Lupe, I just want to thank you again for joining me here today. And I also want to chime in with my best wishes to you in all your future endeavors. Specifically with the Mike Sexton All-American Poker Tour. It sounds super-cool. And a huge thank you for everything you’ve done and everything you continue to do to grow the game of poker that we all love so dearly.

This has been Robbie Strazynski, for Cardplayer Lifestyle; thank you all for joining us.

But at the 2022 WSOP that may change, as T.J. Jurkiewicz took the trouble to analyze the healthiest dining options on the Las Vegas Strip and compiled them into a free book called “WSOP Healthier Eating Guide“.

We spoke to T.J. about his life, the many poker tournaments he’s played, his work and his new book.

First live tournaments

Timothy has Polish ancestry, but was born and raised in New Jersey. From 2013 to 2018 he was living in Maryland and in 2018 he moved to Las Vegas, the city that never sleeps.

He started playing live tournaments in 2014 and his first final table was at the Parx Casino’s Big Stax VIII, where he placed eighth winning $7.6K. In 2016 he claimed his first title when he won a $300 Maryland Casino Live! event for $6.2K. His Hendon Mob profile shows lifetime career earnings of $110K.

In December of last year he played some cash games at The Lodge poker room in Round Rock, Texas and shared a table with 4x WSOP bracelet winner Mike Matusow. You can catch some of that action in the video below.

 

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Playing for a bracelet during the 2019 WSOP

T.J.’s best tournament result so far came during the 2019 WSOP, where he played the final table of Event #57 Tag Team. He and his friend Zach came very close to winning their first bracelets, finishing fourth. Their elimination came on a classic coin-flip: Their A-Ks lost to an opponent’s 5-5 and each team member netted $26K for fourth place.

Speaking to us about that deep run, T.J. reflected, “Placing fourth in the Tag Team event in 2019 was a surreal experience. I chose my partner, Zach Gruneberg, because we had become good friends in years past and in 2019 we were actually filming a vlog series called ‘Behind the Grind.’ We were a perfect pair to play in that event, as my background in poker was playing cash games 98% of the time and he was playing tournaments probably 100% of the time. I played the entire first day of the tournament and bagged a pretty good stack for us. I played the beginning of Day 2 and lost a few tough pots early and then Zach took over when we dipped below 50 BBs and I don’t think I played more than six hands the rest of the tournament, which was totally fine with me as playing that stack size was his bread and butter. I did get to play and win a pot at the final table when he had to run to the bathroom so I’ll always have that on my poker resume!”

T.J. and Zach during the final table. Photo: Jamie Thompson / PokerNews

When asked what his 2022 WSOP plans were, T.J. replied, “Honestly, I am so busy building the business and servicing my clients that I won’t have much time to spend playing tournaments for entire days this summer. I definitely will play the Tag Team event with Zach again and I would like to play the $1,500 Monster Stack, as that has been my favorite event since I’ve been coming to the WSOP. I might sprinkle a few of the other smaller large field lottery tickets events if I find the time but we will see!”

New philosophy of life and nutritional coaching project

T.J. also recently posted a “10 year challenge” photo of himself on his social channels, where his body showed a great transformation. We asked him about it and here’s what he had to say: “I have struggled with my weight since I was in high school, where I peaked at right around 300 pounds. I became obsessed with learning everything I could about nutrition at that point. Along that timeline, I would try all these various fad diets I would read about and they all resulted in me gaining a lot of the weight back.”

T.J. Jurkiewicz 10 year challenge

He added: “There is a lot of very poor nutrition advice doled out to this day that is widely accepted. I realized I needed to have a healthier, sustainable relationship with food, and when COVID lockdowns happened I decided to get properly educated and dedicate myself to learning from trusted sources about nutrition. So, I studied and eventually received my nutrition coaching certification from Precision Nutrition. I had thoughts of becoming a nutrition coach and helping others in the areas that I struggled with for 15 years, which is what I currently do.”

Thus was born T.J.’s idea of founding All In Fitness Coaching: “After I got certified, I slowly started taking on 1-on-1 clients and realized how passionate I was about this as a career. I opened an LLC, got all of the paperwork done to make it official, and have been adding clients to the point where I have a lot of them now. I played poker professionally full-time starting in 2013 and did that all the way up until COVID happened. Now, I’ve shifted my focus to nutrition coaching and helping others. I believe that my experience both struggling with my weight for 16+ years as well as having that experience of being a full-time poker player allows me the unique opportunity to help others in this field. I wish that I knew what I know now 10 years ago because it would have saved me a lot of frustration, but I can find solace in the fact I can now help others avoid those same frustrations I experienced.”

Here’s what one happy customer, Matt Affleck, had to say:

I’ve been working w TJ all year for my weight loss journey. His approach, while taking basic health principals, promotes dieting that is easy and sustainable. Simple changes we can make daily for ever, rather than crash dieting on chicken / rice. Highly rec to anyone struggling https://t.co/0XYvIfw1il

— Matthew Affleck (@mcmattopoker) May 10, 2022

On working with poker players he told us: “I work with several poker players, one of whom you might know, Matt Affleck. Matt hired me at the beginning of this year after entering into a weight loss challenge bet with other poker players. He’s been an A+ client, always trusting the process and he actually hit his goal weight for the 5-month period just four months into our time working together. He’s down 27 pounds so far and, more importantly, I know that he is building the confidence that he knows he will keep the weight off. I’m confident that given the success we have had working together, he is going to have a phenomenal summer at the WSOP. I’m calling it now: he will win his first bracelet!”

The first healthy guide to the WSOP

We asked T.J. how he came up with the idea of creating his WSOP healthy eating guide: “With being the first year of the WSOP being located on the Strip, I thought people would want to know what dining options were nearby within walking distance, where they could access healthier food options. I essentially just wanted people to be able to make overall better decisions with their food choices during the series to enable them to feel and play their best.”

We also asked T.J. about the advantages for players who maintain a healthy diet during the WSOP: “I believe that feeling your best physically will allow you to make the most optimal decisions at the poker table. When you make a deep run in some of these tournaments, and the field is getting tougher and tougher with each elimination, I truly feel like you need to have every possible edge you can have. When Darren Elias 3-bets your open, you don’t want to be holding your stomach regretting the double bacon cheeseburger and fries (with a milkshake) you crammed down 90 minutes earlier. You want to be focused on making the best possible decisions and I believe you can help put yourself in that spot by fueling yourself properly through your food choices.”

WSOP Healthier Eating Guide drops tomorrow morning.

Quick video explaining how it works and why it was made:https://t.co/yC85WAnlE7

— TJ Jurkiewicz (@tj_jurk) May 22, 2022

Eating healthy in Las Vegas

So, if T.J. had to choose three places to eat healthy food in Las Vegas what would they be?

“In terms of walking distance from Bally’s and Paris: Yard House at Linq Promenade, PF Chang’s at Planet Hollywood and Ocean One in Miracle Mile Mall. You can look up the best food options from these places in the guide that I wrote.”

T.J. continued, “In terms of Las Vegas as a whole: For meal prep I like The Good Life Chef the best. I’ve been using them for quite a while myself and what makes them stand out is they don’t make bland bodybuilding style meals. They specialize in healthier Asian style dishes so I highly recommend trying the beef bulgogi, chicken adobo, and grilled sweet spicy sticky chicken. Everything there is good but these three are top tier. If you use my code TIM15 you will get 15% off of your order and they will deliver anywhere in town. Just get orders in by Thursday at midnight and they will deliver the meals to you on Sunday. They also list all calorie and macronutrient counts so you know exactly what you’re getting in each meal.”

“The other two options for me would be: Greens and Proteins and Protein House. Both of these restaurants specialize in healthier, nutrient dense foods and what I like most about them is they list out all of their calorie and macronutrient counts so you know exactly what you’re putting into your body,” T.J. added.

The famous “Poker Kitchen” at the Rio Hotel and Casino, Las Vegas. Photo: PokerNews

Tips for WSOP players

Finally, we asked T.J. for three pieces of healthy eating advice he’d give people attending the WSOP. Here’s what he had to say:

1. Prioritize protein at every meal. Protein is the most satiating macronutrient and it will give you your best bang for your buck in terms of keeping you fuller for longer periods of time, which will come in huge during long tournament days. Make protein the primary food source for your entrees and you’ll be on the right path.
2. Get fibrous carbohydrates and avoid simple carbs. Fibrous carbs include apples (eat the skin, that’s where the most fiber is), strawberries, raspberries, blackberries. Stay away from simple carbs like candy, sugar filled drinks, syrups, table sugar, fruit juice concentrate, and anything loaded with added sugars like cookies or breakfast cereals.
3. Eat healthy fats. You want to go with a good quality extra virgin olive oil (you get what you pay for with olive oil), avocados, almonds, dark chocolate (85% or above). All of these healthy fats have been linked to increased cognitive function; just be careful not to over indulge on them, as they are calorically dense. For meats, stick to grass-fed beef and wild caught salmon whenever possible, if you’re able to cook at an AirBnb.

T.J. had one last important clarification to add: “The WSOP is not a time that you should be trying to diet and lose weight. The time to do that is from August through May. WSOP should be a time that you are giving your body an adequate level of calories and balanced macronutrients so that you are feeling your best and most energized. I understand that people come out here and want to have a good time with friends they haven’t seen in a while, but you need to treat it as a business trip as well. Don’t go out drinking until 3am the night before you know you are going to be playing an earlier tournament. Save those nights for when you know you have a day off the following day. Find a good middle ground between being healthy while still enjoying yourself.”

We invite you to download T.J.’s guide before you travel to Las Vegas so that you’re fully prepared to get the best healthy food options on the Strip and be at your healthiest while bracelet hunting.

The “WSOP Healthier Eating Guide” is officially live!

Download your free copy below:https://t.co/D4ZunqvHos pic.twitter.com/3ojUYflKBH

— TJ Jurkiewicz (@tj_jurk) May 23, 2022