Poker Stories: Mike Watson

Mark Herm is a longtime professional poker player from Philadelphia who found the game in high school and has spent the last 15 years piling up results. Known as 'Dipthrong,' he has racked up more than $5 million online and was among the highest ranked players in the world for a time. Most recently, Herm became the first player to ever win a bracelet in the inaugural WSOP Online series in Pennsylvania.  Herm has also done well in live tournaments despite a limited schedule with nearly $2 million banked. He won two DeepStack Extravaganza events at Venetian and has four WSOP final tables on his resume. Herm also final tabled a $25,000 buy-in high roller at Aria and the EPT Prague main event. Although many players have warned against staking others, Herm has been quite successful with backing and at one point had a stable of 60 players.Highlights from this episode include winning a 'dusty' bracelet, being a 'social mutant,' discovering poker in school, proving mom wrong, being a bankroll nit, finding sobriety, saying no to solvers, dealing with close calls, how to win money staking players, backing everybody, what is fair mark up, all the uses of 'chirp,' high-stakes crypto plays, washing dishes at a seafood restaurant, traveling in style, poker's elite, and paying for food convenience.

30 Sep 20211h 9min

Fedor Holz is just 28 years old but has already put together one of the most impressive tournament résumés in poker history. The German phenom seemingly came out of nowhere in 2015 to tear up the high roller circuit, but he had already reached the highest levels online before making the transition to live play, and in fact was at one point ranked no. 1 in the world.In 2014, he banked $1.3 million in the World Championship of Online Poker (WCOOP) main event, and that was just the first of many seven-figure scores. He won the Five Diamond World Poker Classic high roller the next year, and followed it up with victories at WPT National Philippines, EPT Barcelona, and the World Series of Poker.His first bracelet win was particularly massive, taking down the $111,111 buy-in One Drop high roller for nearly $5 million. Two years later he finished runner-up to Justin Bonomo in the Big One For One Drop for another $6 million. He also finished second in the Triton Super High Roller Series, and the Super High Roller Bowl. Although he has taken a few extended breaks from the game in recent years, last year he returned to the online arena and did quite well, earning another $1.1 million and his second bracelet in the WSOP Online $25,000 buy-in heads-up event. Holz has racked up more than $34 million on the tournament circuit, which is good for no. 8 on poker's All-Time Money List. He's also added another $11 million online. Off the felt, Holz is also the founder and CEO of Pokercode, a training site and community dedicated to making players the best they can be. You can see Holz and his most promising students on the second season of Grindhouse. The series, available on Pokercode's YouTube page, follows the group's progress as they share strategies and a house in the Austrian Alps. Highlights from this interview include ice baths, gambling with dad's DMV money, early bankroll struggles, a rapid rise up the ranks, not thinking about the money, maximizing his EV, avoiding $25,000 nightclub bills, winning and losing seven-figure pots, getting 'slowrolled' in the Super High Roller Bowl, the $150,000 hotel room match, the four-hour job, playing exploitatively, and what's left on his travel bucket list.

16 Sep 20211h 2min

Joe Stapleton got his start in the poker world at Card Player, working the WSOP while on hiatus from his job at Mad TV. The Albany, New York native then moved on to other projects, including writing and podcasting, and commentating work for a number of poker broadcasts and TV shows.  Over the years, Stapleton has become a jack-of-all-trades voice for PokerStars, hosting shows such as The Big Game and Shark Cage, reporting from online tournament series like the SCOOP and WCOOP, and working alongside James Hartigan for EPT Live broadcasts and the Poker In The Ears podcast. The 38-year-old was a sideline reporter for the WSOP for ESPN and PokerGO, and was also the host for Poker Night In America and Poker Night Live.In recent years, Stapleton has been touring as a stand up comedian, and even opened for fellow poker player and funnyman Norm Macdonald. He was also hired by legendary screenwriter Paul Schrader as a gambling and poker consultant for the upcoming movie The Card Counter. The film stars Oscar Isaac, Willem Dafoe, and Tiffany Haddish, and opens Sept. 10.  Highlights from this interview include styling it out, 'mistakes are my brand,' Smallbany and world expansion, Scott sacks up to L.A., stumbling into a Full Tilt meeting, tagging along for an internship, blowing off Jordan Peele, a strong nudge from Bobby Lee, debuting at the Comedy Store, scoring in London, mini golf with Norm Macdonald, accidentally criticizing Paul Schrader, spotting bing bong dealers, $2-$4 limit with Oscar Isaac in Biloxi, Jon Hamm - the dual threat, an awkward congratulations with Mike Watson, quitting the post office, Hollywood home games, the spray tan prop bet, and winning the lottery for a Dodge Challenger.

17 Aug 20211h 28min

Lex Veldhuis was a gamer from an early age, and found poker shortly after the boom thanks to his friends in the StarCraft community. He quickly shot up the ranks, and it wasn't long before he was traveling the world, playing in some of the biggest buy-in tournaments and cash games available. He was even more prolific online, where he achieved SuperNova Elite status three years in a row. His play caught the attention of PokerStars, which signed him to a sponsorship deal as a brand ambassador. In addition to final tabling the $40,000 buy-in 40th Anniversary event at the World Series of Poker, Veldhuis also won the Dutch Poker Open in his home country of the Netherlands, and has appeared on poker TV shows such as The Big Game and High Stakes Poker. In 2016, he began streaming his online play on Twitch, and it wasn't long before he had one of the most popular poker channels on the platform. In fact, last year he set the record for most viewers of a single broadcast.Highlights from this interview include dad wakeup times, sneaking in Nintendo time, 'leveling up' to higher stakes, sweating Patrik Antonius, the emotional investment of the game, getting some good TV time, becoming Dutch national champion, getting the call for High Stakes Poker, calling down Daniel Negreanu with king high, a series of escalating prop bets with Bertrand 'ElkY' Grospellier, kicking a friend in the head for €100,000, reinventing his career on Twitch, winning a $330,000 pot against Doyle Brunson, his football twin, and why the 'degen fund' is just a marketing expense.

25 Juli 20211h 28min

Kristy Arnett Moreno and Andrew Moreno met in college and simultaneously fell in love with each other and the game of poker. Together they made the move from Fort Wayne, Indiana to Las Vegas with the dream of making it in the poker world.  Kristy landed a job in poker media, and almost immediately made an impact, interviewing some of the best players in the world both on camera and in print for Card Player and PokerNews. After starting his career focusing on cash games, Andrew has since transitioned to tournaments. He's had numerous close calls in the past, including a final table in the Monster Stack at the World Series of Poker, and a 28th-place finish in the $10,000 buy-in WSOP main event. However, he recently broke through with a victory in the inaugural Wynn Millions main event for a massive $1.46 million score.Highlights from this interview include poker first dates, winning a wife in a tournament, the Vegas ultimatum, two days on a greyhound bus, shady business partners and a broken nose, going broke, working in poker media, learning from close calls, Ricky Bobby, running deep in the WSOP main event, earning a seven-figure score, losing $5k to Mike Matusow, a quick disaster on Poker Night In America, Taco Bell and corn de-tasseling nightmares, baby run good, check-raising veterans at the Navy Club, Maverick, and flinging Tom Dwan off a jet ski.

8 Juli 20211h 16min

Martin Jacobson found poker as a teenager, but his initial aspirations were focused on becoming a chef. After serving a year in the Royal Swedish Navy feeding the crew of a battleship, the Stockholm-native continued his culinary career while playing poker on the side. After turning a satellite win into a third-place finish at the 2008 EPT Budapest main event for $247,668, Jacobson was off and running.  Jacobson continued to tear up the European circuit, finishing second at WPT Venice for $319,518, second at EPT Vilamoura for $378,706, fourth at EPT Berlin for $327,337, and second at EPT Deauville for another $762,185. He even started finding consistent success in high roller events, final tabling the $111,111 buy-in One Drop High Roller twice.  Although he was frustrated with the close calls, it all came together in 2014 when he took down the WSOP main event for the championship bracelet and the $10 million first-place prize. His $17 million in career tournament earnings is enough to make the top 40 on the all-time money list, and he has three times his nearest competitor on Sweden's rankings.  Highlights from this interview include attending a culinary high school, choosing a 'practical' career, a long year in the Royal Swedish Navy, inspiring Kitchen Nightmares, getting kicked out of internet cafes, on deck battleship sessions, lasting just three hands in the main event, frustrating close calls, three-months of prep work pays off, why he hasn't watched his WSOP win, the motivation to play following a $10 million score, Stockholm to London, why he hasn't opened a restaurant, losing $70,000 in a Slovakia hotel lobby, James Bond vibes, ear plugs and eye masks, and losing heads-up to a Ratatouille villain.

17 Juni 20211h 18min

Bernard Lee first learned the game from his father, and then later started playing more seriously while at Harvard University, but the Julliard-trained pianist spent years working as a marketing manager before he decided to make poker his focus and profession.  In 2005, Lee made his first trip to the World Series of Poker, and was featured in ESPN's coverage of the main event for his 13th-place finish, worth $400,000. In the years since, Lee has added another $2 million in cashes, including two WSOP Circuit rings, and three WSOP final tables in no-limit 2-7 lowball.The 51-year-old is also a poker author, having written for Card Player, the Boston Herald, Metrowest Daily News, and ESPN, where he was a host of the show The Inside Deal. His radio show and podcast, the Bernard Lee Poker Show, recently celebrated its 14th anniversary, and his latest book, Poker Satellite Success: Turn Affordable Buy-Ins Into Shots At Winning Millions, is now available on Amazon as well as D&B Publishing.Highlights from this episode include tickling the ivories, his time at Harvard, unexpected surgery skills, early trips to Foxwoods, the 22-year home game, the influence of Russell Rosenblum, an obsession with getting to the WSOP, partying for a $400,000 score, wearing many hats in poker media, working at ESPN alongside Usain Bolt, interviewing Doyle Brunson and Jack Binion, losing a four-hour heads-up match for a bracelet, writing a poker book, Eminem's Lose Yourself, clean money, and dealing with empty nest syndrome.

31 Maj 20211h 19min

Patrik Antonius started playing online poker in 1999, and was almost immediately competing at the highest-stakes available. The Finnish pro then broke out on the tournament circuit in 2005, winning an EPT main event and finishing second in the WPT Five Diamond World Poker Classic for $1.04 million. Although he has always preferred cash games to tournaments, the former tennis standout and model has still managed to rack up $12 million in live tournament earnings during his career, including the $3.1 million he banked for finishing runner-up at the 2018 Super High Roller Bowl China.  Antonius is perhaps best known for his success in nosebleed-stakes cash games, and holds a number of records. In 2009, he won the biggest recorded pot in online poker history, scooping $1.376 million in a hand of pot-limit Omaha against Viktor 'Isildur1' Blom. In fact, Antonius was involved in four of the top 10 hands ever, and also has the record on the TV shows Poker After Dark and High Stakes Poker. At the end of 2020, the 40-year-old was nominated for the Poker Hall of Fame.In an effort to help grow the game that gave him so much, Antonius has co-founded FLOP (First Land of Poker), an app that connects the poker community all over the world and allows them to find games and other players. The all-in-one platform features chat, learning tools, and even a session tracker. Download the app for free today on either the Android Google Play store or Apple iOS.  Highlights from this interview include growing up in Finland, moving from tennis to poker, winning a tournament on his first trip to the casino, building a bankroll with relentless aggression, magazine sales to modeling, military or jail, playing in the biggest games, record-breaking pots, cash games over tournaments, what makes someone worthy of the Poker Hall of Fame, being an ambassador for the game, six-figure sports bets, high-stakes golf with Phil Ivey, being 'the Brad Pitt of Poker,' and steak cravings.

4 Maj 20211h 25min