Poker Stories

Mike Leah gambled on a career in poker, giving up a cushy six-figure salary as a sales manager to try his luck on the felt. The gamble paid off, as the 43-year-old Canadian has been one of the more accomplished tournament grinders of the last decade, having racked up more than $10 million in combined live and online scores. In addition to winning to a World Series of Poker bracelet back in 2014, Leah has also dominated at the Fallsview Poker Classic, having won the same huge event three out of four years. Earlier this year, he returned to Fallsview and won the World Poker Tour main event, but not without a little controversy. Highlights from this interview include unscheduled days off, high-stakes fantasy poker, avoiding cauliflower ear, missing the Moneymaker boom, giving up a good job, a quick start in Vegas, POY expectations, why ego cost him a few hundred grand, Fallsview: the home away from home, the birthday bracelet, chop controversies, loving it at McDonalds, drowning out Kabrhel and Hawkins, and a thing for Alyssa Milano.

11 Kesä 20181h 14min

Brandon Adams is a high-stakes cash game player who now resides in Miami, but in the last 18 months, the 39-year-old has done quite well on the high roller tournament circuit. Adams finished second in the 2017 Aussie Millions $25,000 event, third in the 2017 Hard Rock Poker Open $25,000 event, first in the $50,000 Poker Masters event and most recently, he won another $25,000 event at the Hard Rock Poker Showdown. Adams now has $3 million in live tournament earnings. Adams has also written three books, including Broke: A Poker Novel and Personal Organization For Degenerates. He has gambled for hundreds of thousands of dollars in big prop bets, and faced off against some of the best players in the world, even while teaching game theory courses at Harvard University in his spare time. Highlights from this interview include unfashionable George, graduating college at 19, the desire to be a jock, Ivy League poker, teaching game theory at Harvard, dealing with smoke in Biloxi, Cash Poker at Binion's, clearing his box to play heads-up PLO with Sammy Farha, locking up a win in an insane high-stakes game, a push for transparency in swaps and staking, writing for degenerates, working with Michael Lewis, using Tool the run a 5:33 mile, playing a $600k pot that didn't go to showdown, denying equity vs. realizing equity, owning 100 $300 shirts, and adopting an open-door policy.

28 Touko 20181h 30min

Jeremy Ausmus went into the final table of the 2012 World Series of Poker main event as the shortest stack, but managed to navigate his way to fifth-place finish worth $2.15 million. The Colorado-native may have been a relative unknown to the home audience at the time, but he had already spent years establishing himself as a respected cash game pro in Las Vegas. In the time since, the husband and father of two has split time between his usual daily cash game grind at Bellagio and the occasional tournament. Ausmus has also notched a few wins at the Venetian, and even has a WSOP bracelet, taking down a pot-limit Omaha event in Europe back in 2013. In total, the 38-year-old has amassed more than $5.15 million in live tournament earnings. Highlights from this interview include residual hair product, the flat part of Colorado, being an outdoor-indoor kid, paying bills by building cabinets, an affinity for spreadsheets, putting down roots in Vegas, having six-figures locked up online, getting annihilated in fantasy football bets, learning ICM in the NICU, being a slow deep thinker, a generous Greg Merson freeroll, why list manipulation is bad for poker, Phil Ivey's Punchout, and the greatness of a BJ burger.

14 Touko 20181h 19min

Brandon Shack-Harris was the breakout player of the 2014 World Series of Poker and finished runner-up in the Player of the Year standings only to three-time bracelet winner George Danzer. Shack-Harris won the $1,000 PLO event for $205,000, finished second in the $10,000 razz event for $182,000, took third in the $1,500 limit hold'em for another $78,000, and then he topped it all off by finishing runner-up to John Hennigan in the $50,000 Poker Players Championship for $938,000. In the following years, Shack-Harris proved he wasn't a one-summer wonder with six more final tables, including a win in the 2016 $10,000 PLO event for $895,000 and his second career WSOP bracelet. In total, the 37-year-old mixed-games phenom has cashed for more than $2.8 million in live tournaments, the majority of which came in just the last four years. A jack-of-all-trades musician himself, Shack-Harris was actually introduced to poker by the lead singer of the rock band Muse. Highlights from this interview include birthday interviews, a lack of slurpies, fleeing Silverchair drama in New Jersey, a sensory overload project, bonding with Muse over Chopin tattoos and poker, needing some disco rock band closure, a Super Massive Black Hole of disappointment, being a respectable short-stacker, why the polar bear comes out for stud 8, a dream connection with Phil Laak, selling his grandmother's house with Eric Rodawig, giving rebates to Dan Kelly, and trolling razz players in Russian.

30 Huhti 20181h 35min

Sorel Mizzi was at one point, the no. 1 ranked online poker player in the world. After turning his attention to live tournament poker, Mizzi continued to thrive, scoring wins on the European Poker Tour, and at the Borgata Spring Poker Open, Festa al Lago, and Wynn Classic, as well as high roller events at the Grand Prix De Paris, WPT Vienna and the PartyPoker Premier League. Mizzi has also done very well at the Aussie Millions, finishing 16th in 2009, third in 2010, ninth in 2011 and second in 2014. In total, the 33-year-old Toronto native has amassed $11.9 million in live earnings, which is no. 45 on the all-time money list and no. 4 on Canada's list, behind just Mike McDonald, WSOP main event winner Jonathan Duhamel, and of course, Daniel Negreanu. Mizzi is no stranger to controversy, and feels as though he was singled out because of his status in the poker world. However, after some "self-editing," as he puts it, he believes his days of finding trouble are behind him. Highlights from this interview include a family of gamers, punching Brian Rast in the face for charity, early gambling with pogs, getting berated by Phil Hellmuth, living life for the adventure, why poker players can fail math, an unhealthy online poker routine, meeting Bill Nye The Science Guy, learning to self-edit, dealing with bracelet envy, dominating down under, taking mushrooms on the moon, 'sparring' with Forrest Griffin, the worst 'Hi' of Nenad Medic's life, high-stakes Monopoly props, betting on Ari Engel's name, and being a LAG salesman.

16 Huhti 20181h 17min

Mori Eskandani spent the better part of three decades grinding out a living on the poker felt, even notching a handful of tournament wins along the way, but it's his contributions as the President of Poker PROductions that has earned him deserved praise as one of the more influential people in the game today. A natural story teller with a knack for spotting big poker personalities, Eskandani and his crew are responsible for thousands of hours of original poker programming, including shows such as High Stakes Poker, Poker After Dark, Face The Ace, the Poker SuperStars Invitational Tournament, the National Heads-Up Poker Championship, and coverage from events such as the World Series of Poker, WSOP Europe, and the Super High Roller Bowl. Highlights from this interview include working for free, grinding in the 80's, the power of pomegranate, an 80-hour week at the Stardust, naming the game of H.O.R.S.E., showing Henry Orenstein his hole cards, bad TV show ideas, being wrong about mixed games, watching Jamie Gold lose on High Stakes Poker, getting out the pickle business, a $600,000 poker table, the Wild, Wild West, and the importance of a Johnny Chan bad beat story.

2 Huhti 20181h 4min

Freddy Deeb is one of the most accomplished poker players in history, with two World Series of Poker bracelets, two World Poker Tour titles, and more than $8.5 million in live earnings. The Beirut-born Deeb was well on his way to a degree in mechanical engineering at Utah State University before a civil war broke out back home in Lebanon, forcing him to turn to poker to get by. In addition to his success on the tournament circuit, which includes a win in the 2007 WSOP $50,000 Poker Players Championship, the now 62-year-old Deeb has also been a regular in some of the biggest cash games in the world, and appeared on shows such as High Stakes Poker, and the Poker Superstars Invitational. Highlights from this interview include the problem with being a hands-off owner, the meat hustle, escape from LA... to Utah, real estate regret, turning $60 into $97k in one day, why he doesn't play props anymore, losing an $800k pot to George the Greek, a big swap with Chip Reese, a two-hour stint canning fruit, surviving hurricanes, and why a quick bet is usually a bluff.

19 Maalis 201849min

Justin Young was working as a mechanical engineer on an Marine Corps base before his surging bankroll gave him the confidence to pursue a career in poker. His first major score came when he finished second at the 2008 WPT Five Diamond World Poker Classic, earning $936,700. He continued to post good results, with many close calls along the way, before he broke through to win his first World Poker Tour title at the Seminole Hard Rock Poker Showdown in 2016 for $669,161. He now has $4.8 million in live tournament earnings. Most recently, he appeared on Poker After Dark, posting big wins in the high-stakes cash game. Highlights from this interview include painting your own walls, beans in your ears, how the apple can fall far from the tree, checkmate leads to punching, the Varkonyi effect, loose plane bolts, a thorough 30-point check list, a unique nature vs. nurture test, getting shell-shocked by Dan Bilzerian, getting one-upped by Chino Rheem, getting back-roomed at the Wynn, winning at the 7-2 game, a big bet with Devilfish, and the joy of delivering sandwiches.

5 Maalis 20181h 7min