Poker Stories

Kitty Kuo has always had gambling in her blood, taking weekend trips to Las Vegas for long blackjack sessions while studying at the University of Southern California. Although she ultimately got her master's degree in electrical engineering, it was poker that she chose to pursue as a profession. Despite being cut off by her parents for the decision, Kuo made the bold move to Vegas to chase her dream.  In the years since, Kuo has earned more than $2.3 million in live tournaments, improving her game along the way with the help of poker superstars such as four-time WPT champion Darren Elias and high roller crusher Steffen Sontheimer. Kuo won the Macau Poker Cup, and has final tabled the Aussie Millions main event, the Hollywood Poker Open, WPT Malta, and the Legends of Poker main event. She also finished runner-up in the WPT Bobby Baldwin Classic and most recently took second in a $5,000 side event at the Five Diamond World Poker Classic.Kuo has also made frequent appearances on live streamed games such as Live At The Bike!, and even had her own cash game on Poker After Dark. Last summer, she was named in an anonymous survey of high rollers as one of poker's best follows on social media. Kuo is also married to 2012 WSOP main event fourth-place finisher Russell Thomas.  Highlights from this interview include growing up in Taiwan, how her parents tried to choose her future, a love for ping pong, weekend trips to Vegas, her USC blackjack team, using the Martingale strategy to deal with losses, why she has gambling in her blood, being disowned by her family for six months, bribing a floorman so she could sit next to Daniel Negreanu, learning from Darren Elias and Steffen Sontheimer, and why she turned down help from Bryn Kenney, why its easy to get Phil Hellmuth to fold, calling her future husband a fish, why men in poker are thirsty, celebrating wins by spending six-figures on Chanel bags, being a social media cartoon, selling CDs on the street, winning a spin class last longer bet, getting mistaken for Maria Ho, and the dance skills of Russell Thomas.

23 Joulu 201955min

Dan Shak is not a professional poker player, but his tournament resume and travel schedule would lead you to believe otherwise. The 60-year-old New Jersey-native has spent the majority of his working time working as a hedge fund manager and commodities trader, and although he's been successful in his day job, poker has also treated him well with more than $10.6 million in tournament earnings. That's good enough for no. 80 on the all-time money list, along side players such as Andrew Lichtenberger, Gus Hansen, and David "The Dragon" Pham.Shak's biggest score came in the 2010 Aussie Millions High Roller, when he pocketed $1.2 million for beating Phil Ivey heads-up. He nearly matched that cash four years later with the second of two runner-up finishes at the PokerStars Caribbean Adventure high roller. Shak also won the 2013 PartyPoker Premier League. Shak doesn't yet have a World Series of Poker bracelet, but he has notched two wins at the series. In 2007, he stunned the poker world by donating all $243,893 of his winnings back to the charity in the inaugural Ante Up For Africa Event. In 2017, he won the €25,000 buy-in high roller at the WSOP Europe series for another $245,831.  Highlights from this episode include why home is relative, discovering poker after wrestling matches, a brief college detour, running coffee on the trading floor at 12, staking and being a market maker, what he's doing on that computer at the table, why the high rollers aren't fun anymore, trying to make a deal with Phil Ivey, emergency landings in Iceland, renting bathing suits with Antonio Esfandiari, two WSOP wins with no bracelets, donating his entire winnings to charity after winning the Ante Up For Africa event, giving the recs a chance to win, getting cheated by nine high, why he sometimes has to leave a good game, losing a $600k pot to JRB, a painful bubble in South Florida, a humble job at KFC, preferring regular Joes to rich people, escaping the golf course, and how to make David Peters smile.

9 Joulu 201958min

Julien Martini is just 27 and has only been grinding the tournament circuit for a few years, but during that stretch he has been red hot, winning more than $4.5 million. It's enough to already place him in France's all-time tournament earnings top 10. Nearly $3 million of those cashes came in January of this year when he finished runner-up in the $25,000 buy-in PokerStars Players Championship. Martini also has a win at the Poker Masters, and recently made the final table in the World Series of Poker Europe main event.  However, the greatest score of Martini's short career came in 2018 at the WSOP in Las Vegas. The former handball standout navigated his way through a field of 911 players in the $1,500 Omaha eight-or-better event, winning his first bracelet, and the $239,711 first-place prize. Although the payout wasn't a personal best, he also managed to land a date with his heads-up opponent, mixed-game specialist Kate Hoang. Martini and Hoang got married in September, in one of the best off-the-felt stories of the year.Highlights from this interview includes one bad jump out of 100,000, an unwise decision to turn pro at 18, going broke and starting a real job, learning life lessons while selling door-to-door, the joy of being your own boss, being an early GTO advocate, why he's not really a tournament pro, gifting his bracelet to his father, finding love at the poker table, what Americans think of the police, France's top five players, the player he couldn't quit in a 42-hour session, losing to a one-outer for a $260k pot, rewarding yourself with expensive watches, last name jokes and a love for red wine, underground cash games in Taipei, bricking an entire WSOP, Ryan Gosling's looks, $25k flips, running from robbers, and why he prefers cats to dogs.

25 Marras 201947min

Jamie Gold was just a teenager when he got started in the entertainment business, and was the youngest talent agent in Hollywood when he broke in, landing clients such as James Gandolfini, Jimmy Fallon, Felicity Huffman, Jeffrey Wright, and Donnie Wahlberg. After getting burned out by being constantly on call, however, Gold decided to take some time off and focus on his new passion, which was poker.Gold jumped head first into some of the biggest cash games in Southern California, and eventually found success playing tournaments. Later that year he worked out a deal to play the World Series of Poker main event, and after navigating his way through a field of 8,773 players, earned the title and the $12 million payout. In the years since, Gold has been seen on numerous poker shows, including High Stakes Poker and Poker After Dark, but has spent the majority of his time on the felt helping to raise more than $500 million for various causes and charities.  Highlights from this interview include missing Dean Cain's birthday party, a Woodstock birth, being the youngest agent in Hollywood, the year Jimmy Fallon slept on his couch, why James Gandolfini hated the spotlight, jumping into the biggest cash games BEFORE winning the WSOP, hanging around Johnny Chan for poker tips, table talk, trading celebrities for buy-ins, the truth about his deal with Crispin Leyser, money misconceptions, 'losing $1 million' in a city he hasn't been to in a decade, being cheated in private games, from Molly's Game to Inside Game, the Hollywood party that made the Playboy Mansion look boring, getting yelled at by Jack Nicholson and being consoled by Paul Reiser, a four-day poker session, what Robert Downey Jr., Stephen Colbert, and Chad Lowe have in common, betting a yacht on the Super Bowl, and seeing Bad News Bears 22 times in the theater.

11 Marras 20191h 17min

Vince Van Patten is a man of many talents. The son of legendary actor Dick Van Patten got his start as a child, appearing in numerous commercials, as well as TV shows and movies such as Bonanza, Baywatch, The Six Million Dollar Man, Hell Night, and The Break. Despite being introduced to gambling at a young age by his father, Van Patten ultimately dedicated himself to tennis, and won the ATP Rookie of the Year award. In 1981, he even beat John McEnroe to win the Seiko World Super Tennis Tournament in Tokyo, reaching a peak of no. 26 in the world.  After his tennis career was over, Van Patten returned to Los Angeles to continue acting, as well play host to some of Hollywood's biggest home poker games. His experience with the game and his time in front of a camera made Van Patten a natural choice for the World Series of Poker in 1998, and when the World Poker Tour made its debut in 2002, he was hired alongside Mike Sexton as commentator. Van Patten is now sharing the duties with poker pro Tony Dunst, and is in the middle of his 18th season on tour.  Van Patten's most recent project is a gambling movie that he co-wrote and stars in called 7 Days To Vegas. The film focuses on a group of poker players who will bet on anyone and anything. As the prop bets get bigger and bigger, Van Patten's character agrees to attempt to walk from Los Angeles to Las Vegas, in under seven days, while wearing a suit. The film is available now on demand through Amazon, iTunes, Google Play, Vudu, and more.  Highlights from this interview include 600 drives to Vegas, selling toothpaste as a child actor, his slow start in tennis, fighting for a top ranking and beating John McEnroe, Dick Van Patten the smart gambling degenerate, learning poker at age 8, running three-card monte games in seventh grade, fake beards and mustaches, scraping up $5 of fountain change for gas money, his new movie 7 Days To Vegas, Hollywood home games with Jerry Van Dyke, John Huston, Ben Affleck, and Tobey Maguire, winning some teeth in a poker game, calling Scotty Nguyen's WSOP win, how he got the WPT gig, dodging the cigar murderers, a three-day poker session, a sketchy game on the Mexican border, bear encounters at Yosemite, and trips to the racetrack with Mel Brooks.

28 Loka 201954min

Dylan Linde didn't find poker until he was 23, instead focusing on competitive video games and Magic: The Gathering during his youth. The Coeur D'Alene, Idaho native began taking poker more seriously after seeing the wins put up by his friend and fellow poker pro Kevin MacPhee.Linde has become a consistent force on the tournament circuit in the years since, having won more than $4.1 million live to go along with another $6 million won online. Last December, Linde earned the biggest score of his career, banking $1.63 million for taking down the WPT Five Diamond World Poker Classic at Bellagio. He also owns a WSOP Circuit ring, haing won the Chicago main event in 2016 for another $350,000.When he's not playing, Linde provides content for training site Run It Once. He also recently wrote a poker book, available now from D&B Publishing, called Mastering Mixed Games: Winning Strategies For Draw, Stud, And Flop Games.Highlights from this interview include an amazing seat draw in his first WPT event, a rude gift from Mike Matusow, all sorts of nerdery, cruising the lake on The Dylan, going to college at 16 and staying there for 7 years, being a Street Fighter, high-stakes video games, unique short-stack strategies, coming up in the game with Kevin MacPhee, teaching Stephen Chidwick how to be an adult, using solvers to find exploitative spots, the barrier to entry in mixed games, getting Phil Hellmuth to endorse his book, escaping arson charges in Canada, a 30-minute crying session at the PCA, and the $1.6 million score that allowed him to play on his own.

14 Loka 20191h 6min

Mike Matusow was born in Los Angeles, but has spent the majority of his 51 years in Las Vegas. His autobiography, Check Raising The Devil, chronicles his time playing video poker before he was taught hold'em in the late '80s and shifted his focus to poker. In 1998, Matusow backed Scotty Nguyen to the World Series of Poker main event title, giving him a third of the $1 million prize. The next year, he won his first bracelet, taking down a $3,500 no-limit hold'em event.  Matusow has four bracelets in total, his other three coming in the 2002 $5,000 Omaha eight-or-better event, the 2008 $5,000 no-limit 2-7 lowball event, and the 2013 $5,000 stud eight-or-better event. He has also made the final table of the WSOP main event twice, and won the Tournament of Champions in 2009 for $1 million. In 2013, he took down the NBC National Heads-Up Poker Championship for another $750,000.The Poker Hall of Fame nominee has more than $9.3 million in career live tournament earnings, but has had as many downs as ups during his career. Matusow served time in jail on drug charges in 2005 after he was set up by undercover police officer. He has also dealt with going broke, and health issues have threatened to derail his playing career.Matusow's popular webshow The Mouthpiece has returned as a podcast, with episodes featuring Jennifer Tilly, Mike Sexton, Michael Mizrachi, Greg Raymer, and Daniel Negreanu. You can also check out his YouTube channel Mike The Mouth, which features action vlogs from his cash game and tournament sessions.  Highlights from this interview an explosive introduction, free speech for comedians and Michael Jackson cosplayers, high school fights, some advice for Michael Phelps, demanding a raise from Full Tilt, a lack of respect for the old school guys, the politics of the Poker Hall Of Fame, Barry Bonds has Phil Hellmuth ego, his WSOP main event final table shot, drugs for world peace, a 72-hour session, two secrets for Phil Hellmuth, Doug Polk and ranges, why GTO is for players with no talent, Trump's biggest problem, beating Daniel Negreanu heads-up for a bracelet while detoxing from crystal meth, the $2 million weight-loss bet with Ted Forrest, and his thoughts on climate change.

30 Syys 20191h 43min

Randy Ohel spends most of his working time grinding high-stakes cash games at Bellagio in Las Vegas, but the 34-year-old mixed-games specialist from Coral Springs, Florida does concentrate on tournaments during the annual World Series of Poker. In the last seven years, Ohel has done quite well at the summer series. In 2012, he won a bracelet, taking down the $2,500 triple draw event. In 2014, he finished runner-up in the $10,000 H.O.R.S.E. championship. In 2016, he took third in the $3,000 pot-limit Omaha six-max event, and second in the $10,000 stud eight-or-better championship. Last year, he finished second once again, this time in the $10,000 triple draw championship.When you add those scores to the occasional no-limit hold'em cash, Ohel has accumulated more than $2.1 million in live tournament earnings. He has appeared on numerous poker live streams to offer commentary, and most recently, Ohel has started sharing his mixed-games expertise in a semi-regular column for Card Player.Players interested in poker lessons can contact Ohel directly on Twitter @RandyOhel. Check out his first three articles on 2-7 no-limit lowball, triple draw, and stud eight-or-better on CardPlayer.com.Highlights from this interview include growing up happily indoors, why his grandmother takes credit for his poker career, being unqualified for McDonald's, a highschool tournament series, going broke and getting a job, grinding his way back, some realism from his grandfather, a sad and lonely dinner break, winning a marathon heads-up battle for a WSOP bracelet, all of the painful close calls since, a bad beat against George Danzer and Justin Bonomo, the politics of a 12-game mix, being a jack of all trades and master of none, playing with Doyle, being a dad in poker, a 24-hour session, a $5,000 prop bet, a secret need to sing, and the future of driving ranges.

16 Syys 20191h 21min