Poker Stories

Eli Elezra has put together quite the list of poker accomplishments. The former businessman was one of the stars of the poker boom, enduring seven-figure swings by playing in some the biggest cash games in the world. He has also had quite a bit of success in live tournaments with more than $3.6 million in earnings. The 58-year-old won his World Poker Tour title back in 2004 at the Mirage Poker Showdown for $1,024,574. He also has three World Series of Poker bracelets, having taken down a 2007 stud eight-or-better event, a 2013 triple draw event, and a 2015 stud event. But poker was the furthest thing from Elezra's mind growing up in Jerusalem, and later serving in the Israel Defense Force during the Lebanon War. After being wounded in battle, Elezra moved to Alaska, where he worked in a salmon cannery, as a taxi driver, and even hunted bears and whales. He later moved to Las Vegas when he spotted a business opportunity to run a photo processing store on the Strip. It's these stories of high-stakes poker and the near-death experiences of his youth that are featured in his autobiography, Pulling The Trigger. Highlights from this interview include growing up 10 minutes from Jesus, losing the school's money at street poker, spending three weeks in jail, becoming an Israeli Green Beret, enduring starvation week, losing men and being wounded in the war, working 18-hour days in an Alaskan cannery, hunting whales and bears with the Inupiat tribe, moving to Vegas to run photo huts, getting cheated at the Stardust, why the game moved from Mirage to Bellagio, jumping to $4,000-$8,000 stakes, being in the "poker hospital", crushing three-handed games against Chip and Doyle, why they couldn't play props on High Stakes Poker, a $1 million bracelet side-bet score, Scotty Nguyen pieced out, a stinky pickle job, a $1.8 million winning session, ordering one of everything on the menu, and high-stakes games against the KFC colonel.

21 Jan 20191h 13min

Shannon Shorr wasn't even 21 when he found his first taste of success in the poker world. The University of Alabama student won a satellite to the Aussie Millions and finished fourth in the main event for nearly $200,000. Later that summer after turning 21, he chopped the Bellagio Cup main event. With nearly seven-figures in cashes, Shorr decided not to go back to school, at least for the time being. Shorr was one of the most consistent performers on the tournament circuit during the height of the poker boom, scoring final tables and wins all over the world. Shorr was so good during that stretch that in 2013, he was named by GPI as the no. 7 player of the decade. Shorr is coming off a deep run in the 2018 World Series of Poker main event, where he finished 39th for $189,165. He now has $6.6 million in live tournament earnings. Highlights from this interview include the switch from Alabama to Vegas, a passion for baseball, $5 home games, how berating a player led to an important friendship, winning life-changing money, how a coin flip led to Australia and a poker career, leaving college and ultimately going back for the degree, dealing with six-figure downswings, the comfort of Bellagio, a motivating weight-loss prop bet, traveling the world, fighting back the negative thoughts, dealing with fifth-place finishes, being a risk-averse poker player, new thoughts on bet sizing, why poker players have anxiety, and his deep run in the WSOP main event.

7 Jan 201949min

Mohsin Charania became just the sixth person, and is one of only eight total players, who have won poker's Triple Crown. To earn the honor, a player needs to win a World Series of Poker bracelet, a World Poker Tour title, and a European Poker Tour main event. The Chicago-native picked up his EPT title back in 2012, winning the Grand Finale for more than €1.3 million. He won the WPT Grand Prix de Paris in 2013, and then the WPT Five Diamond World Poker Classic in 2014 for almost $1.5 million. The University of Illinois graduate then completed the Triple Crown in 2017 when he took down a $1,500 no-limit hold'em event at the WSOP. Although he briefly worked in finance and considered law school, poker kept calling Charania back. In total, the 33-year-old has earned more than $6.1 million in live tournaments, and just slightly more than that online as well. Before Black Friday, Charania was one of the top-ranked online players, competing under the names 'sms9231' and 'chicagocards1.' Highlights from this interview include getting used to jewelry, an athlete's walk of shame, taking the hard classes for fun, being 21 in Vegas and playing $50-$100 no-limit, going broke and needing mom's debit card to get home, getting a real job for just two weeks, winning TV upgrades and furniture, leaving law school for poker, a diet of coke, pizza, and Indian food, turning a win into a tenth-place finish, a helpful basketball game with Faraz Jaka, interview do-overs, winning poker's Triple Crown, why life is a honeymoon, finding a woman who understands Sundays, swapping with a WSOP main event champion, why Americans are the worst poker players in the world, and Kevin McAllister with a gun.

24 Dec 20181h 10min

Jamie Kerstetter has been a rising star in the poker world for the last few years, but her path to the profession was anything but typical. The New Jersey-native was a two-sport athlete at Rutgers University, and then earned her law degree from the University of Michigan. Her timing, however, couldn't have been worse. Kerstetter passed the bar exam and landed a job, but the recession caused layoffs, leaving her without employment. Rather than submit some more resumes, Kerstetter instead turned to poker, a hobby she had picked up in law school. Her original goal was just to win enough to extend her vacation, but soon, she was taking home enough to make it her full-time job. In addition to playing tournaments and cash games, Kerstetter has also appeared on Friday Night Poker, and Poker Night In America, and has done commentary for events at the Seminole Hard Rock, the Heartland Poker Tour, WPT Deepstacks, and even the World Series of Poker. Highlights from this interview include a playful croutons, soccer at Rutgers, running a five-minute mile, jumping into law school blind, inter-tube water polo, why someone would be drunk at 8 a.m., witnessing a mental breakdown at the bar exam, the blessing of being fired, prolonging the poker vacation, splashing around in the private games, convincing mom that poker is a good idea, the $2 burrito diet, playing her 'husband's chips,' big pots on Poker Night In America, overcoming shyness with live poker commentary, a karmic payout for a late night, poker couple note sharing, envisioning a life of dog hoarding, and lap cats vs. jerk cats.

10 Dec 20181h 10min

Ryan Laplante was barely in high school at the height of the poker boom, but even at that early age, he knew he wanted to be a professional player. The Brainerd, Minnesota-native was so dedicated to poker that he would walk two miles each way to his college campus so that he could play online after his laptop broke. After a rocky start that included some tilt issues, backing troubles, and the rough side of variance, Laplante hit his stride with his game. The 28-year-old has since pocketed just under $2 million in live tournament earnings, along with another $2 million or so won online. In 2015, he topped a massive field of 2,483 to win the World Series of Poker $565 'PLOssus' event, banking the $190,328 first-place prize. The next day while accepting his first bracelet, in the wake of the Pulse Nightclub shooting in Orlando, Laplante delivered an emotional speech to the room saying he was proud to be "an openly gay man," encouraging people to "be proud" of who they are. Highlights from this interview include the subtle difference between a solid year and an incredible year, how emotions can help your poker game, tilt issues, having no time to fly, a three-day Mario session, walking four miles a day for poker, the one college class he showed up for, a bad downswing in Canada, why you shouldn't watch all-ins, forgetting the details, giving his bracelet winner speech, the diversity of live poker, why poker pros are more open-minded, why he loves poker coaching, giving away the keys to the house, adjusting from GTO play, the skill of looking busy, the pros of working at Subway, the realities of deal-making, and preferring Hemsworth with two eyes.

26 Nov 20181h 13min

Kelly Minkin missed the poker boom completely, and has only been playing tournaments for the last five years, but she has already established herself as top competitor on the circuit. Minkin was twice the last woman standing in the World Series of Poker main event, taking 29th in 2015 and 50th last summer. She also has two World Poker Tour final table appearances, taking third in both the 2015 Lucky Hearts Poker Open and the 2018 bestbet Bounty Scramble. In total, the 31-year-old has racked up more than $1.3 million in live tournament earnings, and she's done so mostly while holding down a full-time job. Minkin had her sights set on a career in medicine as a surgeon, but after taking the LSAT on a whim, she got into law school. She decided to finish it out, and eventually took a job with a Phoenix-area law firm, spending her days working with clients and her nights at the poker tables. Highlights from this interview include spelling bee words, having very specific goals, taking the LSAT for fun and getting into law school, heads-up in front of Hellmuth, science's lack of fluidity, being the green M&M, completely missing the poker boom, playing tournaments for dad, lawyer by day-poker pro by night, electrocuted strippers, last-minute trips to South America, two WSOP last-woman-standing titles, $25k pots at Commerce with Danny Wong, getting fired from Abercrombie & Fitch, busting from a tournament with three cards, listening to cool guy music, arm wrestling for cash, and trimming the end for free.

12 Nov 201853min

Chance Kornuth was just one semester shy of graduating from college when he decided to plunge headfirst into life as a professional poker player. He earned his first major taste of success in 2010, when he won the $5,000 PLO event at the WSOP for his first bracelet and $508K. The Denver-native continued to take shots with his bankroll, and found success both live and online. In 2014, he won the Bellagio Cup main event for another $526K. A year later, he finished third in the PokerStars Caribbean Adventure for $641K. He won the AUD$25,000 high roller at the Aussie Millions for $553K, and an event at the EPT Grand Final for $398K, and made several final tables all over the globe along the way. Most recently, he won his second WSOP bracelet, taking down an online event last summer for another $341K. In total, the 32-year-old has racked up nearly $6.4 million in live tournament earnings. Kornuth now runs Chip Leader Coaching, a premier training program for mid-stakes MTT players who want to take their poker career to the next level. Site instructors include notable poker pros such as Nick Petrangelo, Joe McKeehen, Ryan LaPlante, Alex Foxen, Ryan Jones, and Ryan Leng. Highlights from this interview include the difference a new haircut can make, using pennies for poker chips, dropping out one semester before graduating, dominating the Bellagio nightlies, stealing Adam's aces, taking over dad's online poker account, winning the first WSOP bracelet, the PLO palace, learning to treat poker like a job, staying out of the seven-figure club, why he decided to train poker players, winning and losing $450k pots, the importance of shot taking, Ben Lamb running bad at credit card roulette, helping JohnnyBax at the final table, his heist car, weighing dog crap for cash, giving a rebate to impress a dealer, and why live tells still matter.

29 Okt 201855min

Doyle Brunson is widely regarded as the most legendary card player in poker history with a career that spans more than six decades. After a work accident ended his dream of playing in the NBA, the Longworth, Texas-native turned to poker. After years on the road with "Amarillo" Slim and "Sailor" Roberts, playing in dangerous, illegal games often set up by members of organize crime, Brunson finally settled down in Las Vegas. In the years since, Brunson won an incredible ten World Series of Poker bracelets, which is tied for second all-time with Johnny Chan and Phil Ivey, behind Phil Hellmuth's 15 wins. His run included back-to-back main event wins, in 1976 and '77, in which he famously won both events with 10-2. Despite recently turning 85, the Poker Hall of Fame member insists that he's operating at 95 percent, and is still a regular in the high-stakes games in Bobby's Room at Bellagio, where he has held court since it opened in 1998. Highlights from this interview include feeling your age, suffering through poker withdrawal, a trip to March Madness, the two royals he made against Bobby Baldwin, letting his wife get some sleep, the deadly nature of ace-to-five lowball, the mixed results of publishing Super/System, sucking out for the first seven-figure pot in Vegas history, losing out on a $230 million deal, Doyle's top five players, million-dollar weight loss prop bets with Chip Reese and Lyle Berman, and who will play him in the movie of his life.

15 Okt 201856min