Poker Stories

In this special episode of Poker Stories, we revisit three of our most popular early guests to catch up on what's happened in their lives over the last three years.  Jason Koon was first featured on the podcast in December of 2016. At the time, the West Virginia native was coming off of his best year ever on the live tournament circuit, and had amassed $6.5 million in career earnings. Now, Koon has solidified himself as one of the top players on the high roller circuit, and has climbed to no. 9 on the all-time money list with $31 million.  Nick Schulman's episode of the podcast came out in April of 2017. The high-stakes cash game grinder has since added a handful of high roller titles in limited tournament appearances, and even added his third World Series of Poker bracelet in the 2019 summer series. The New York pool hustler turned card shark is also regarded as one of poker's most popular commentators.Bryn Kenney was just a modest 15th on the all-time tournament earnings rankings with $17 million in cashes when his episode aired in the Spring of 2017. He was confident he would some day be no. 1, however, and his premonition turned out to be correct when he won the biggest prize in poker history for $20.6 million. Kenney now has a $7 million lead over Justin Bonomo after his historic high roller run with $57 million total.  Highlights from this episode include feeling the same after $25 million, high-stakes birthday parties in Thailand, Dale Earnhardt Jr. at Cracker Barrel, the exhaustion of telling people you play poker, hanging with Isaac Newton, the ups and downs of gambling life, nobody asks dentists their salary, David Oppenheim the mixed game GOAT, being a reluctant shoplifter, a time of self improvement, poker players are EV hunters, why you don't need a seven-figure watch, playing with your back against the wall, Vin Diesel at the grocery store, and why Uncut Gems was both amazing and terrible.

14 Apr 20201h 7min

Garry Gates has worn many hats in the poker industry. After moving to Las Vegas from his native Titusville, Pennsylvania, Gates attempted to play professionally, with limited success. A chance encounter at the World Series of Poker, however, gave Gates an opening into the media side of the poker world. He then spent ten years working for PokerStars as a senior manager, dealing with player relations and community engagement.  Then last summer, Gates got to put his player hat back on for his annual shot at the WSOP main event. He had previously finished in-the-money three times, including semi-deep runs in 2011 and 2015. Gates surpassed all expectations, however, when he made the final table, ultimately finishing fourth for a $3 million payday. He has since taken a position with daily fantasy sports operator DraftKings as a New Business Executive.  Highlights from this interview include growing up with the Heisman and oil parties, getting the lead in Oliver!, learning about online poker from his dad, Elk's Club games with Loopy and the Butcher, sitting behind Doyle and Puggy at Binion's, how to lose $1,000 at $4-$8 limit, a long walk home from the Bellagio, why Tom Dwan needed six computer mouses, making Vanessa Rousso teach Barry Sanders how to play poker, being one of Jason Mercier's most successful horses, why he wasn't nervous at the final table, ignoring Mike Matusow criticisms, why Australia is his favorite poker trip, working in an underground mine, the resemblance between Justin Verlander and WWE wrestler Cesaro, and getting out of school to hunt deer in traffic.

30 Mars 20201h 5min

Tyler Patterson found poker before the boom, and worked in the industry as a dealer for a few years before making the switch to professional player. The Washington-native has split his time between cash games and tournaments, but has still managed to rack up more than $2.6 million in earnings on the circuit.  Patterson has a World Poker Tour title, having taken down the 2015 bestbet Bounty Scramble for $375,270. He final tabled the event the very next year, taking fourth for another six figures, and he very nearly did it three years in a row, finishing just short in 14th place. Patterson won a World Series of Poker bracelet in 2014, coming out on top of the $1,500 pot-limit Omaha eight-or-better event for $270,992. He's also final tabled the WPT Borgata Poker Open, and has wins at the LA Poker Classic, and Fall and Spring Poker Round Ups. Most recently, he finished fourth after an ICM deal at the Bay 101 Shooting Star for $113,840.Highlights from this interview include having golf in his blood, playing trumpet in a ska band, diving into poker after becoming a dealer, a crazy night at Spanish 21 with a biker bandit, Too Lay Lip Casino, the adrenaline factor in tournaments, playing $25-$50 with half his bankroll on the table, winning his World Poker Tour title, the interesting timing of his WSOP bracelet, a love for PLO, being notoriously bad at prop bets, weigh-ins for marathons, beer-per-hole golf matches, being hospitalized after a race with Matt Savage, Hoge Bogey, losing an $80k+ home game pot, Alabama poker, how feta cheese ruined his pizza job, Parmesan cocaine, bath tub crocodiles, and the link between Chipper Jones and Boyz II Men.

16 Mars 20201h 7min

Faraz Jaka is a former World Poker Tour Player of the Year, and has more than $6.8 million in career live tournament earnings, to go along with another $4.3 million won online. The 34-year-old from San Jose, California has several notable final-table finishes on his poker resume, including runner-up showings at the Bellagio Cup for $774,780 and Seminole Hard Rock Poker Showdown for $454,496. He finished third at the Five Diamond World Poker Classic for $571,374 and third at the PokerStars Caribbean Adventure for another $755,000. He also has six final-table appearances at the World Series of Poker.  Jaka is well known for his nomadic lifestyle, having reduced his belongings to just two small suitcases so that he could more easily travel the globe between tournament stops. CNN even went so far as to dub him 'The Homeless Millionaire' as the University of Illinois graduate split his time between five-star hotels and the couches of strangers. After nearly a decade of non-stop moving, Jaka briefly put down roots in Brazil for an online poker project, before recently resuming his travels on the circuit with his new wife.  Jaka has also started to share his poker knowledge and years of experience to the students at Jonathan Little's Poker Coaching website. For a limited time, get half off your first month by visiting pokercoaching.com/Faraz. Highlights from this interview include being an angry kid, running the mile with a torn ligament, escaping home and crossing the country, being TheToilet, blowing a six-figure bankroll in college, going from dorm games to Vegas, falling from $50-$100 no-limit to $5 sngs, WPT POY, getting Card Player Magazine respect, poker pros who 'fake it', reducing his life to two bags, the ups and downs of launching an online poker site, tying the knot, poker coaching, ten days of silence in Thailand, selling magnets and FUBU, underground cash games in Mexico City, playing with Kevin Hart and Nelly, and an ideal trip into the Congo.

2 Mars 20201h 20min

David Tuchman has one of poker's most well-known voices, having been in the commentator's booth for some of the biggest tournaments and cash games ever filmed. The New York-native got his start with Live At The Bike!, and then later Full Tilt's Million Dollar Cash Game. While living in London and covering the NFL and NASCAR for Sky Sports, Tuchman worked with PokerStars for online and live events. In 2011, he began working with the World Series of Poker, and has continued to call the action every summer since.  Before finding poker and his career in sports broadcasting, Tuchman was in Los Angeles to pursue his passion for acting. He ultimately ended up with a few close calls, including a network TV series that wasn't picked up, and a movie he was cut out of. His IMDB page has half a dozen credits, including appearances on shows such as Beverly Hills 90210, Party Of Five, and Buffy The Vampire Slayer.  Highlights from this interview include childhood nicknames, scoring five goals for grandma, pros and cons of college, wearing many hats, being extra for Pamela Anderson, close calls in Hollywood, why he had to miss his best friend's wedding, getting cut out of a George Clooney movie, shoving Jason Priestley, double pay on Buffy The Vampire Slayer, lonely lunches with Jennifer Love Hewitt, how poker keeps calling, working for Sky Sports in London, calling the WSOP, the player who was banned from the broadcast booth, betting on elections, Springsteen tattoos, Slapshot > Goon, from Corey Haim to Jim Carrey, and casting Shawshank: The Musical.

17 Feb 202053min

Steve Albini is regarded as one of the top recording engineers in the world, and has been creating music with his bands Big Black, Rapeman, and Shellac, since 1981. As the owner of Electrical Audio in Chicago, Albini has produced thousands of albums and has worked with numerous notable acts such as Nirvana, Bush, The Pixies, The Breeders, Chevelle, PJ Harvey, Joanna Newsom, Jawbreaker, Robert Plant and Jimmy Page, and Cheap Trick.Despite having his name on some of the most memorable indie rock albums ever made, Albini chooses not to collect royalties and instead earns a flat rate for his time, leaving more cash on the table for the artists themselves. As a result, he has been relying on poker to supplement his income for several years. Albini has been competing in a regular low-stakes home game for years that includes several World Series of Poker bracelet winners, including Brandon Shack-Harris, Eric Rodawig, Jason Gola, Matt Ashton, and Matt Grapenthien. Albini has WSOP cashes dating back to 2010, and in 2018, he earned a bracelet of his own, taking down the $1,500 stud event for $105,629.Highlights from this interview include mixed games with Norman Chad, fires so big they make their own weather, The Problem With Music, Go-go with Dave Grohl, balancing time for touring, engineering, and poker, ignoring his day job for Bill Withers, Bush's surprising American success, the stacked game above a bakery, whammy cards, being ethically poorer than he should be, working differently than Phil Spector and Brian Wilson, Jeff Lisandro reads from Matt Ashton, wearing a guitar like a belt, quitting drummers and nude singers, prank calling Gene Simmons for Kurt Cobain, cured bacon, Krakow poker, being 3% gamble, the problem with circular glasses, Fun House by The Stooges, tar targets in concrete bunkers, and the Krispy Kreme donuts at Gwen Stefani's wedding.

3 Feb 20201h 43min

Eric Rodawig is considered to be a semi-professional poker player, having regularly maintained a day job, but he has managed to put together the poker resume of a solid pro despite a limited schedule on the tournament circuit. The 34-year-old Nebraska resident, who recently appeared on PokerGo's Dolly's Game broadcast, has five final-table appearances at the World Series of Poker, including a gold bracelet win.Rodawig's victory at the summer series came in 2011, when he topped a field of 168 in the $10,000 stud eight-or-better championship, beating Phil Hellmuth heads-up for $442,183. The mixed-game specialist also has final tables in Omaha eight-or-better, pot-limit Omaha eight-or-better, razz, and O.E. A couple summers ago, he narrowly missed out on his second bracelet, finishing runner-up in the $10,000 H.O.R.S.E. championship for another $236,841.Highlights from this interview include 'slumming it' at $50-$100, Thought Crimes at The Hoya, a close call with UIGEA villain Bob Goodlatte, earning a partypoker iPod shuffle, the instant validation of winning a WSOP bracelet, beating a well-behaved Phil Hellmuth heads-up, making poker more accessible to fans, obsessing over curling, flying as a polar bear, being a National Geographic geography bee finalist, meeting Alex Trebek, running the teleprompter for a news station, Jim Carrey's flat top, an affinity for Weird Al, and looking at noses with Crocodile Brandon.

20 Jan 20201h 26min

Antonio Esfandiari stole the attention of the poker world with his breakthrough victory in the 2004 World Poker Tour L.A. Poker Classic main event, and he kept it by showing off his skills as a high-stakes prop gambler while keeping everyone else at the table entertained with his gregarious personality. Originally known at the tables as "The Magician," Esfandiari excelled as a staple of televised poker shows and live streams during the decade that followed the poker boom, and maintained his status as one of the game's best with consistent wins on the tournament circuit.  Esfandiari won his first World Series of Poker bracelet in 2004, and added his second WPT title in 2010 when he took down the Five Diamond World Poker Classic at Bellagio, a tournament in which he has also finished fourth and sixth. He picked up another bracelet at the 2012 WSOP Europe, but his biggest score came at the summer series when he finished on top of the $1 million buy-in Big One For One Drop event, earning a then-record payout of $18.3 million. It was enough to see him temporarily overtake the top spot on poker's all-time money list, before being passed by Daniel Negreanu, Justin Bonomo, and eventually Bryn Kenney. The 41-year-old has more than $27 million in career live tournament earnings.  Highlights from this interview include stage names, a childhood at war, obsessing over sleight-of-hand, why Phil Laak couldn't just enjoy the magic, showing off for dad at spread-limit hold'em, binking at Commerce with the last of his bankroll, being more modest than Phil Hellmuth, focusing on fatherhood, falling off the all-time money list, the exhilaration of getting shot by Dan Bilzerian, the 90 seconds following his One Drop victory, forcing Brian Rast into a tournament beast, how Phil Ivey was stoic in the face of death, considering love during trouble in the skies, washing cars and dishes for work, his Persian calling for real estate, being on the celebrity D- list, autographing body parts, Pinocchio insults, boxing training by Audley Harrison, buying out of a 'no release' prop bet, life as a bird, and being able to tell his kids he beat up Kevin Hart.

6 Jan 202058min