admin, Author at Paul Phua Poker

Dan Smith has earned more than $36.7m playing live tournament poker, ranking fifth in the All-Time Money List on the Hendon Mob website.

$36.7m is a lot of money, but this story isn’t about money. It’s about humanity coming together at a moment of crisis, and it begins in 2015 with a little musing by the man whose name adorns the first two words of this little ditty.

In 2015, writing about his Burning Man experience, Smith, shared his vision of making the world a better place.

“Sometimes, I like to think about the big picture,” wrote Smith. “And, in an attempt to feel more human, I sometimes will fantasise about making the world a better place. But being practical, if I were to want to make big changes in the world, the most effective way to do it is probably to play as much poker as possible. We live in a society where money can make a big difference, and while reading books to children might be helpful, if I can play poker for 2 hours instead and hire ten more qualified professionals to read instead, that is just strictly better.”

Fortunately, for Las Vegas residents hardest hit by the COVID-19 pandemic, Smith turned his dreams into a reality.

The Double Up Drive

Smith went on to create ‘Double Up Drive’ a non-profit organisation that matches donations given to charities, with those bound by effective altruism ribbons at the centre of his big heart. Matthew Ashton, Stephen Chidwick, Elio Fox, Martin Crowley and Aaron Merchak joined the DoubleUpDrive cast, and together they’ve raised millions in matched donations.

Live tournament poker is dead in the water, but that doesn’t mean Smith’s cape is in storage. Quite the contrary. Smith has teamed up with Chidwick, Daniel’ Jungleman’ Cates and an anonymous donor to pledge $250,000 to those in need, matching up to $500 per donation in his latest Double Up Drive.

Who Are Those in Need?

In previous drives, Smith disseminated donations to a variety of charitable organisations with GiveWell’s knowledge and experience the guiding hand in most cases.

Smith has designed his latest drive for one specific purpose – helping Las Vegas citizens hardest hit by the COVID-19 pandemic. At the time of writing, there have been 330,891 confirmed cases of the virus in the US, with 8,901 deaths, making it the epicentre of the pandemic, globally.

Nevada has recorded 1,836 cases and 46 deaths.

Nevada’s Governor, Steve Sisolak, announced a state of emergency on March 17 and ordered people to stay at home on April 1. Sisolak’s efforts to provide support for victims of the pandemic include banning evictions and relaxing laws on unemployment benefits.

Sisolak isn’t fighting this war, alone.

Double Up Drive Partners With GiveDirectly

Smith has chosen to work with GiveDirectly on this project, and with good reason. GiveDirectly is the leading global non-profit specialising in digital cash transfers raising more than $300m for the extremely poor and those affected by natural disasters.

GiveDirectly will deliver money raised through Smith’s drive to families enrolled in the state’s Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP). A significant number of SNAP registrants are single mothers, and each will receive $1k, digitally, thanks to the sterling work of all involved.

RunItOnce in on The Act

GiveDirectly isn’t Double Up Drive’s only partners. Phil Galfond and the team at Run It Once (RIO) have also offered to help.

On Saturday, April 11, the online poker platform plans to host a 32-player heads-up charity tournament, giving us the double benefit of giving to a worthwhile cause with a much-needed poker fix at the same time.

The bracket already contains 14 names.

Here they are:

Marle Cordeiro
Andreas Froehli
Kevin Rabichow
Daniel Dvoress
Sam Greenwood
Luc Greenwood
Kevin Martin
Parker Talbot
Jamie Kerstetter
David Tuchman
Phil Galfond
Richard Gaylor
Dan Smith
John Cynn

Two more (TBA) pros will round-up that number to sweet 16. The other eight places fill as follows.

The people who donate the eight most significant amounts between now and 25:59 (UTC) on Thursday, April 9 win a seat, as do eight donators chosen randomly within the same timeframe.

RIO pledges to donate €10 for every player who plays a hand on the site on the date in question.

The winner receives an A-Game Poker Masterclass from Elliot Roe, a three-month Elite Plan and three months of RIOs Vision GTO Trainer.

And great news.

As there is no buy-in, RIO can host the tournament on their testing environment, so players locked down in countries that can’t legally play on RIO can get involved.

It’s just like the old days.

If you also want to get involved, then here is the link to GiveDirectly where you can pledge, and take advantage of the $500 matching opportunity.

Las Vegas COVID-19 Fund

The COVID-19 virus is killing people at an unprecedented rate, but there is an even more destructive virus doing the rounds.

The Fear Virus.

Fear is spreading around the globe faster than when Superman spun the world to save Lois Lane’s life. Even the churchyard angels are looking morose.

It’s not only the fear of death that’s spreading. There’s the fear of the unknown, economic loss, and getting your basic needs met. On the financial side, it’s time for us all to think of ways that we can make a living from home.

Physical constraints aside, it’s fear that prevents change. If there was ever a time to look at this belief from a different perspective, it’s now.

Take Sami Kelopuro and Conor Beresford, for example.

When considering a career in online poker, fear must have been present.

“Playing online poker for a living is a pipe dream?”

“Get a real job.”

And yet here they are, knocking six-figure sums out of the park in nothing but boxer shorts and slippers while outside the door, the birds feel that something’s not quite right.

Sami Kelopuro Wins a $10,000 Pot-Limit Omaha Event.

Kelopuro could have been a chemist, kindergarten teacher or accountant. Instead, he’s carved out one of the most successful online poker careers of all-time, competing under the iconic pseudonym ‘Lrslzk’.

The Finn has earned close to $12.5m playing online tournaments and recently added $200,376 to the kitty claiming the victory in the $10,300, $500,000 GTD Pot-Limit Omaha (PLO) 6-Max at the PokerStars High Rollers Series.

The event attracted 57-entrants and $570,000 in prize money.

Incredibly, it’s only his 11th most significant online cash, with the $735,300 he won after taking down the Spring Championship of Online Poker (SCOOP) Main Event in 2011 his personal best.

Here are the final table results.

Final Table Results

1. Sami “Lrslzk” Kelopuro – $200,376

2. Yara777 – $132,717

3. Zagalo87 – $87,903

4. Terror777727 – $58,221

5. MITS 304 – $38,562

6. Pkrbt – $28,321

7. Xnrobix – $23,896

Conor Beresford Claims an Even Bigger Win

Ranking #2 in the PocketFives World Rankings, Conor’ 1_conor_b_1′ Beresford, has a paintbrush in hand, slapping a new life on a blank canvas.

The British star topped a field of 422-entrants to win the second $5,200 No-Limit Hold ’em (NLHE) Main Event of the PokerStars High Rollers Series, banking $378,204.52.

It’s the most significant score of Beresford’s career, doubling the $180,438 earned after winning the $5,200 buy-in NLHE Kick-Off event in this same series – an incredible feat.

Beresford has now earned $10.2m, playing online tournaments.

Here are the final table results.

Final Table Results

1. Conor ‘1_conor_b_1’ Beresford – $378,204

2. Vicenfish – $281,108

3. Powergolf – $208,939

4. Laszlo ‘omaha4roolz’ Bujitas – $155,429

5. Prof.Hitman – $115,429

6. Alberto.m7 – $85,794

7. Parker ‘tonkaaaa’ Talbot – $63,768

8. Niklas ‘Lena900’ Astedt – $47,397

As a core emotion, fear should be handled like a magpie’s egg in your mouth as you slide down the trunk of a tree. It keeps you on your toes. It’s a protectorate.

Still, if you let it become as snug as a pearl in an oyster, there will be trouble ahead. We’re not guinea pigs, operating on instinct alone. As human beings, we have the capability of introspection.

Use it.

Place your fears under an Auric Goldfinger laser-like focus, and you’ll learn that fear of the future, and concerns from the past, create inertia, procrastination – two debilitating actions that prevent you from realising your true potential.

Find a way to break through to the other side.

You’re more capable than you will ever know.

Don’t become infected by the fear virus.

“This is going to make a great Disney movie.”

Those were the words of Dan Smith, on March 4, after Phil Galfond recovered €183,481.38 of a near one million euro deficit in his heads-up match against VeniVidi1993.

The win arrived on Day 16.

On Day 15, Galfond felt like someone had knocked out all of his teeth, and his fans didn’t even know if he would continue, after calling for a timeout. Day 36, and Galfond has a chocolate pudding smile about him, after finishing the day in the green for the first time in this clash of the titans.

In The Green

The pair have curtseyed clumsily and bowed bravely through four more sessions with Galfond winning 3>1. Most notably, Galfond finished Days 32 & 35 with six-figure wins, whereas VeniVidi1993’s victory was in the minor leagues.

Here is the damage

Day 32, 664 hands, Phil Galfond +€113,680.87

Day 33, 632 hands, VeniVidi1993 +€28,538.21

Day 34, 680 hands, Phil Galfond +€28,722.28

Day 35, 758 hands, Phil Galfond €121,486.95

The pair have cruised through 22,097 hands, and Galfond is currently up €81,064.56, with 2,903 hands left to play. If they continue the pace set in those past four sessions, then you’re looking at the challenge ending in between 4-5 days. It could have been much worse for VeniVidi1993. Galfond was up close to €200k on Day 35, before dropping €80,000 at the back end of the match.

It’s worth noting that although Galfond did take a break to refresh his mental state, VeniVidi1993 has now quit a couple of times prematurely as we head into the home straight. If you fancy a flutter, the smart money is on the man who once stood over a near seven-figure hole, spade in his hand.

Disney is on alert.

Results

Day 1, 655 hands, VeniVidi1993 wins €72,572.68
Day 2, 715 hands, Phil Galfond wins €2,615.26
Day 3, 557 hands, VeniVidi1993 wins €84,437.52
Day 4, 581 hands, VeniVidi1993 wins €17,544.87
Day 5, 726 hands, VeniVidi1993 wins €155,063.52
Day 6, 703 hands, VeniVidi1993 wins €13.31
Day 7, 823 hands, VeniVidi1993 wins €52,057.13
Day 8, 940 hands, VeniVidi1993 wins €60,743.37
Day 9, 446 hands, VeniVidi1993 wins €12,706.51
Day 10, 696 hands, VeniVidi1993 wins €100,993.30
Day 11, 741 hands, VeniVidi1993 wins €15,647.36
Day 12, 622 hands, Phil Galfond wins €87,940.91
Day 13, 470 hands, VeniVidi1993 wins €267,949.70
Day 14, 593 hands, VeniVidi1993 wins €48,473.73
Day 15, 659 hands, VeniVidi1993 wins €102,593.34

Phil Galfond Calls for a Break

Day 16, 574 hands, Phil Galfond wins €183,481.38
Day 17, 582 hands, VeniVidi1993 wins €21,571,51
Day 18, 555 hands, Phil Galfond wins €27,198.94
Day 19, 638 hands, Phil Galfond wins €26,018.41
Day 20, 566 hands, Phil Galfond wins €92,803.89
Day 21, 576 hands, Phil Galfond wins €3,766.94
Day 22, 556 hands, VeniVidi1993 wins €88,465,60
Day 23, 598 hands, Phil Galfond wins €23,821.05
Day 24, 628 hands, Phil Galfond wins €19,099.65
Day 25, 664 hands, Phil Galfond wins €139,485.78
Day 26, 539 hands, Phil Galfond wins €110,752.58
Day 27, 645 hands, VeniVidi1993 wins €76,026.05
Day 28, 503 hands, Phil Galfond wins €140,979.28

VeniVidi1993 Calls for a Break

Day 29, 642 hands, Phil Galfond wins €85,271.31
Day 30, 777 hands, VeniVidi1993 wins €26,992.32
Day 31, 393 hands, Phil Galfond wins €106,328.51
Day 32, 664 hands, Phil Galfond wins €113,680.87
Day 33, 632 hands, VeniVidi1993 wins €28,538.21
Day 34, 680 hands, Phil Galfond wins €28,722.28
Day 35, 758 hands, Phil Galfond wins €121,486.95

Total Hands 22,097
Phil Galfond €81,064.56
Hands Left 2903

Sidebets:

Phil Galfond €200,000
VeniVidi1993 €100,000

Football is the most popular sport in the world, feeding the souls of billions of people worldwide. That didn’t stop Europe’s governing body UEFA from cancelling all international fixtures scheduled for June, including the Euro 2020 play-offs.

At club level, UEFA also postponed the Champions League and Europa League with the possibility of restarting in July or August. The English Premier League (EPL) used the word ‘optimistic’ in suggesting a June kickstart.

So why hasn’t the World Series of Poker (WSOP) cancelled an event due to start on Tuesday, May 26?

The WSOP at the Heart of the Pandemic

On Saturday, April 4, the United States counted 277,965 cases of COVID-19, making it the epicentre of the current pandemic by quite some margin.

The state of Nevada, the home of the WSOP, has confirmed 1,742 cases of COVID-19 and 46 deaths, leaving it slap, bang in the middle of the state-by-state doom charts.

But the WSOP is not merely for Nevadans; it’s a global phenomenon; poker’s Christmas Day. It’s the most significant period in the poker calendar, bar none, and it would be a disaster if it were not to go ahead.

Still, we have to add a dose of realism.

Given the reaction to other sporting bodies around the world, and the increasing spread and death toll. It’s highly unlikely that the WSOP will go ahead given the health and safety nightmare that a live poker tournament provides its organisers. This morning, I went to Sprouts to buy some food, and if a store full of people refuse to partake in social distancing protocols, what chance do you have when hundreds of thousands of people turn up to toss dirty chips and cards around tables full of people rubbing elbows.

When weighing up the pros and cons, I don’t think the WSOP is doing anything wrong by waiting until the last minute. There are so many people for whom the WSOP is a significant income source, and for them, every day that passes without the shutters coming down provides hope.

If the series goes ahead, the choice to attend rests with the individual. Many will choose to skip it over safety fears. Most would have already made tother plans irrespective of the nod from the WSOP.

What Are The Alternatives

The most obvious decision is to hold it at a later date. It’s not going to be easy to find a suitable location for eight weeks, but with some thinking outside of the box? Who would have thought a live poker tournament would have happened in Wembley Stadium?

Outside of shifting dates, the only other alternative outside of cancelling it is to host it online at WSOP.com. The 2020 series planned to hand out a record 101 bracelets, and you can’t replicate that online. WSOP.com doesn’t offer the full variety of games, and payment processing rules are too stringent with $500 daily and $1,000 weekly caps.

The other issue is liquidity with WSOP.com only able to serve people living within the borders of Nevada, New Jersey and Delaware, throwing up the question of ‘fairness.’ For many professionals, winning a gold bracelet is a bucket list goal, and I’m not sure how well it would go down, within the community if the WSOP offered the people in those states the chance to win a myriad of bracelets within the $400 to $1,500 price range.

If the officials do cancel the 2020 WSOP, what will happen to the 14 scheduled online bracelets already in situ? If they do go ahead, then the WSOP will surely add to them although you could also see them cancelled with the rest of the series.

WSOP Suffering; WSOP.com Thriving

Whatever the WSOP do, there is an appetite for online games within the three states served by the WSOP.

The new 18 gold ring WSOP.comOnline Super Circuit, that ran between March 14 – 31, guaranteed $1.24m in prize money, and pulled in more than 3-times that amount with an average prize pool of $219,186. The $525 Main Event attracted 1,134 entrants (763-unique), and Champie Douglas won the $130,410 first prize. Matt Stout will join him at the season-ending Global Casino Championships after winning the Casino Championship title, cashing six times, making three final tables and winning two rings (if that event goes ahead).

The WSOP reacted immediately to that fantastic turnout by creating another event. The WSOP.com Spring Online Championships runs April 1 through May 3, and guarantees more than $4m in GTD prize money throughout more than 100 games with buy-ins ranging between $10 to $1,000.

Highlights include the Sunday Special Edition: $215 or $320 buy-in, $100k GTD NLHE events, the $525 buy-in, $300k GTD NLHE Main Event, a $1000 buy-in, $40k GTD NLHE High Roller, and a $500 buy-in, $40k GTD Pot-Limit Omaha (PLO) High Roller.

Whether the WSOP does go the way of the UEFA Champions League remains a mystery, but unlike football, poker players will still get their fix, even in a place as restricted as the US – it’s just never going to be the same.

If you’re a Manchester United fan, then the night of 26 May 1999, is likely the most memorable of your life.

The Red Devils faced the might of the German juggernaut, Bayern Munich, in the final of the UEFA Champions League. United had already secured the domestic league and cup double and was attempting an unprecedented treble.

The game began disastrously for United, with Mario Basler scoring in the sixth minute, and it remained that way as the fourth official signalled three minutes of injury time.

The trophy preparer had already strung Bayern’s ribbons onto the trophy by the time David Beckham swung in a corner, and Teddy Sheringham scored from the subsequent clearance. The time on the clock showed 90.36.

30-second later, and United won another corner. Beckham curled in beautifully once again, Sheringham rose highest at the near post to head it to the far, and Ole Gunnar Solksjaer poked out a toe, connected, and the ball ended up in the net with the clock showing 92.17.

Many of the Munich players fell to the ground in tears.

Pierluigi Collina blew the final whistle, within seconds of the restart, and United had made one of the greatest comebacks in sporting history.

“When the match ended, the crowd sounded like a lion’s roar,” Collina wrote in his autobiography.

Is Phil Galfond about to do a ‘United?’

Grit & Hope

Angela Duckworth is the author of Grit: The Power of Passion and Perseverance, and Chapter 9 is on ‘Hope.’

Duckworth writes:

“Grit depends on a different kind of hope. It rests on the expectation that our own efforts can improve our future. I have a feeling tomorrow will be better is different from I resolve to make tomorrow better. The hope that gritty people have has nothing to do with luck and everything to do with getting up again.”

After 15-days of Galfond’s first match in a series of high stakes, heads-up challenges, against a wide variety of pros and non-pros alike, VeniVidi1993 sent Galfond sprawling to the floor with a series of haymakers that knocked close to €1m worth of stuffing out of the man.

Galfond decided he needed a break.

His fans didn’t know whether he would return.

Had they read Duckworth’s New York Times Bestseller, they would have realised that Galfond is a ‘grit paragon,’ and one particular attribute of a paragon of this nature is a never give up attitude.

Once the gritty start things; they finish them.

Henry Ford once said:

“Whether you think you can, or you can’t – you’re right.”

After a few days in the tank, Galfond looked in the mirror and said, “I can.”

No More Chips in Pockets

The days of Phil Galfond standing on the edge of a bridge with a donkey jacket pocket full of chips are long gone.

The last time we covered his match with VeniVidi1993, Galfond had won 10 of 13 games, closing the gap to €318,895.43, forcing VeniVidi1993 also to take a break to settle his nerves.

Since the unknown Pot-Limit Omaha (PLO) star returned, things have not gotten much better.

Here are the results in the past three shifts.

Day 29

Hands played – 642
Phil Galfond +€85,271.31

Day 30

Hands Played – 777
VeniVidi1993 +€26,992.32

Day 31

Hands Played – 393
Phil Galfond +€106,328.51

Days 29 – 31

Hands Played – 1,812
Phil Galfond +€164,607.50

That means, with 5,637 hands left to play, Galfond only has to win €154,287.94 to finish a cent in the black. Given that there is a side bet on the line (Galfond’s €200k versus VeniVidi1993’s €100k), and that Galfond nearly ended up in Arkham Asylum leaving his wife Farah with a million euro bill – that’s a pretty fabulous ending.

Whether Phil Galfond will experience a Nou Camp style injury-time victory is unknown. What we do know, is unlike the lion’s roar that Collina heard moments after blowing his final whistle, Galfond will likely hear the exulted sigh from his wife, Farah.

“Finally, it’s over, right, it’s your turn to look after the baby for the next month.”

Results

Phil Galfond Calls for a Break

VeniVidi1993 Calls for a Break

Day 29, 642 hands, Phil Galfond +€85,271.31
Day 30, 777 hands, VeniVidi1993 wins €26,992.32
Day 31, 393 hands played, Phil Galfond wins +€106,328.51

Total Hands – 19,363
VeniVidi1993 +€154,287.93

Hands Remaining – 5,637

Sidebets:
Phil Galfond €200,000
VeniVidi1993 €100,000

In the mid-90s, when Britpop was at its pomp, a Welsh band called The Stereophonics kicked up a storm in the local pubs and clubs of the South Wales Valleys.

The band called their debut album ‘Word Gets Around,’ and when it comes to the dangers of COVID-19, and the impression it’s having on the South Wales rockers and the people who pogo to their sounds – it doesn’t seem like word gets around at all.

In the wake of Boris Johnson informing the people of the UK to stay indoors to halt the spread of the virus, the Phonics went ahead with plans to hold back-to-back concerts in Cardiff’s Motorpoint Arena, and 10,000 people felt the idea, sound.

We’ve all got to earn a crust, right?

‘Work’ needs a new future.

We have to adapt to the current crisis and quickly.

Rock bands.

Sports teams.

Poker players.

Some get it, and some don’t.

POWERFEST High Roller Roundup

partypoker LIVE’s become a carcass, but that’s ok because Waters, Duthie and Yong continue to enthral with their online jewel, and POWERFEST is the perfect antidote in a time where the biological desire for physical connection needs switching off.

Before partypoker LIVE went the same way as seaweed in the hands of my hungry Korean grandmother, Sam Trickett hit the headlines with a victory in the $25,500 No-Limit Hold ’em (NLHE) event at the partypoker MILLIONS Super High Roller Series in Sochi, Russia.

Trickett conquered a field of 58-entrants to capture the $435,000 first prize in that event, and he’s taken that form into POWERFEST where Sam has been smooth as a pebble.

The local boy in partypoker’s photograph, made crabmeat of a field of 52-entrants in a $5,200, $150k GTD Pot-Limit Omaha (PLO) 6-Max event, banking $104,000. He then went on to finish fifth in an identical event several days later for $25,937.

Fellow partypoker ambassador, Joni’ JJouhk’ Jouhkimainen, pushed Trickett hard during the Englishman’s victory, finishing fourth for $23,400, the same day Jouhkimainen beat 268 entrants in the $530 NLHE PKO Fast for more than $25k, and a hop, skip and a jump away from a victory in a 46-entrant $5,200 buy-in PLO 6-Max event for $92,000.

Trickett and Jouhkimainen weren’t the only pair of partypoker pros picking prizes from the POWERFEST pantry. Mikita “fish2013” Badziakouski finished fourth in the most significant buy-in event of the series, the $25,500, $2m GTD NLHE Super High Roller.

The event attracted 90-entrants, and Piace1992 earned his second pair of stripes of the series, picking up a check for $596,250. Isaac Haxton finished tenth in that event.

Sami “ChimneyBarrel” Kelopuro is another high stakes star who recently picked up a POWERFEST title. The Finnish high stakes cash game star topped a field of 67-entrants to win a $2,100 PLO 6-Max event for $47,043.50, making that more than $400,000 in POWERFEST dollars in the past eight months.

That’s it for POWERFEST for now.

We’ll let the Stereophonics play us out.

‘Traffic’ is one of the finest songs on ‘Word Gets Around,’ and partypoker is experiencing an upsurge in that very thing since the COVID-19 virus turned into a hurricane.

Kelly Jones sang: “Is anyone going anywhere?”

partypoker hopes not.

Since 2018, The Triton Poker Super High Roller Series has slowly crept to the forefront of the poker community’s mind when it comes to world-class high stakes poker action.

2019 was something else, and 2020 bore high expectations, especially when its founder Paul Phua received the vote for Industry Person of the Year at the Global Poker Awards (GPA).

Then a new virus crept out of the inkpot and splattered itself across the world’s newspapers. COVID-19 started as a Chinese problem, but quickly became everyone’s problem.

In February, Triton Poker felt compelled to postpone the Triton Poker Super High Roller Series in Jeju. In March, the unthinkable happened, as Triton scrubbed the event from the calendar altogether, leaving fans wondering – ‘what about Montenegro?’

More Than 197 Countries and Territories

At the time of the Jeju cancellation, COVID-19 had infected 93,131 people and taken 3,023 lives. Today, there are 378,041 confirmed cases and 16,365 deaths.

With more than 197 countries and territories afflicted by the virus, world leaders have taken the unprecedented step of ordering their citizens to stay at home.

As world cowers in a corner, nobody is thinking about the fate of live tournament poker. It’s an afterthought as we all deal with an unfamiliar feeling of fear.

Still, poker has to dot the I’s and cross the T’s, and today, Triton Poker did that by cancelling their Triton Poker Super High Roller Series in Montenegro.

Scheduled for May 4 – 18, the event didn’t even have a schedule. Still, the draft is in the bin. That leaves, Triton London (29 Jul – 13 Aug) as the last remaining bastion of what promised to be a scintillating season for the best high stakes poker tour in the business.

You Can Take the Poker Out of Triton, But You Can’t Take Triton Out of Poker.

The poker world has two black eyes and a punctured lung. Bubbles collect in the corner of mouths. Fingers tap temples. Lisps develop where perfect speech bubbles lived.

It’s true, there is no live tournament poker, and it’s a killer. Still, once COVID-19 returns to the bats it came from, the world will remerge stronger and more united than ever, and that includes our beautiful game.

Now, it is time for patience.

At the turn of the year, when bats were synonymous with rabies, vampirism and DC Comics, and not viruses intent on killing thousands of people – the Brookings Institution released a report suggesting that artificial intelligence (AI) solutions would replace 25% of jobs in the US.

It’s not a new theory.

Even before the recent spurt in AI interest, experts were talking of this problem. Still, like most of the world’s most pressing issues, nobody pays too much attention until the issue is upon us.

Today, nobody is afraid of AI. Everyone is scared of the Coronavirus (COVID-19). Interestingly, we can see the AI theory play out in real-time, as people who depend on physical interaction see their ability to earn an income vanish into the ether.

AI has a buddy.

Tragedy and Fortune

When the world’s leaders began shoving people into their homes like the rich used to do to pocket watches, a question mark arose at the end of a fundamental question – which businesses would suffer, and which would prosper.

Those that rely on the live tournament or cash games for a living are suffering. Conversely, those invested in online poker are prospering (for now).

But what about the rest of the companies that form the poker bubble?

What about Poker Central?

Poker Central Suffers and Prospers

Poker Central, and the over-the-top (OTT) subscription service, PokerGO, will survive the pandemic because you won’t find all of their gold teeth inside the same mouth.

Live poker revenue dries up. Nobody will ring that doorbell for a while. The US Poker Open fell by the wayside, and they’ve shelved all other plans as the virus continues to attack.

On the flipside, Poker Central leveraged their relationship with partypoker to create the Poker Masters Online Series, and it’s a convenient time for PokerGO to thrive given the unprecedented number of people sitting at home desperate for something to do other than talk to their other half.

Two New Shows

PokerGO will add two new shows to their library by the end of the month, and that’s good news for those of you who recently took out a Disney+ subscription so that you can watch all the Marvel movies again.

Here they are.

The Championship Run

Jeff Platt hosts, ‘The Championship Run’, a series poring through live poker’s most historic moments. The show premieres on Friday, March 27, on-demand after noon (ET), with Platt walking his audience through the moment that ignited the poker boom – Chris Moneymaker’s iconic 2003 World Series of Poker (WSOP) Main Event win.

New episodes air on Wednesdays and Fridays at noon (ET) beginning March 27.

Run it Back With Remko

Remko Rinkema hosts the second show.

This time, the focus is on a live-streamed conversation as the award-winning Dutch host sits down with some of the games most celebrated stars to discuss some of the greatest poker shows of all time.

The show premieres on Thursday, March 26th at 7 pm (ET), with Daniel Negreanu joining Rinkema to discuss a legendary episode of the phenomenally successful High Stakes Poker.

New episodes air on Thursdays at 7 pm (ET).

If you want to avoid the nocebo effect brought on by watching nothing but 24/7 news on COVID-19, then PokerGO is allowing you to view 24/7 poker content for free. Use the promo code WATCHPARTY, to get that value bomb.

Then once you’re done, think about it – is your job safe?

There was a moment during the Phil Galfond Challenge against the mysterious VeniVidi1993 where the cell door closed, and Galfond’s fans thought they would never see him again.

Things have changed.

It’s as if a poker medical man stuck Thor-powered defibrillators onto the hairy chest of the fan favourite because in the past 13 sessions we’ve seen lightning pouring from his fingers.

The Vulnerability to Take a Break

Day 15 of the Phil Galfond Challenge turned out to be a pivotal moment for many reasons. Galfond was down close to a million euros. Thanks to his willingness to share his vulnerability, we knew, via Twitter, that Galfond’s mindset was all over the place.

The Run It Once (RIO) founder absconded with the deck, promising to decide on the future of the battle in good time, leaving his fans pondering the unthinkable – would their champion quit as early as this?

The Mental Game of Poker

Galfond’s decision to ask for a timeout in such a public challenge shows how critical it is for professional poker players to dedicate enough time to work on their mindset as they do on the technical aspects of their game.

We are witnessing that a 25,000 hand, €100/€200, €20,000 buy-in Pot-Limit Omaha (PLO) heads-up battle is much more than luck and technical ability. With technical edges so subtle when it comes to the talents of titans such as this, the advantage must come from physical shape and the ability to deal with the emotional turbulence of high stakes poker.

We know that Galfond has had his problems when it comes to his fixed mindset preventing him from working on the technical aspect of his game, but we also know his growth mindset led him into the more than capable hands of mindset coach, Elliot Roe.

We wonder if VeniVidi1993 also has this side of his self-improvement covered.

Stacked and Stacked Again

Fans of the Galfond Challenge were left sucking their thumbs after the Day 28 peephole closed dramatically, as Galfond stacked VeniVidi1993 in back-to-back pots.

In the first hand, both players were staring at a flop of Th6c4h and €3,599 in the pot. The aggressor, VeniVidi1993, bet pot, and Galfond called after not much fuss. The 4d arrived on the turn, and VeniVidi1993 bet €3,200 into a €10,797 pot, and once again, Galfond made a swift call. The Kc came on the river, VeniVidi1993 jammed for his remaining €15,940.62, and Galfond called. VeniVidi1993 showed 8d7h6s5d for the airball, and Galfond showed KhKsQsAs, for the rivered full house.

In the very next hand, Galfond raised pre, and VeniVidi1993 made the call. The dealer sent 4d4s8h out to play, VeniVidi1993 bet €899.25, and Galfond called. The 6s arrived on the fourth-street, and VeniVidi1993 bet pot; Galfond called. The 3c came on the river, and VeniVidi1993 bet €8,992.50, and Galfond put him all-in.

“Nice hand,” VeniVidi1993 posted in the chat before calling.

VeniVidi1993 showed JsJh4h3h for the full-house, but Galfond showed KdQs6h6d for the bigger full house.

We then saw a few more orbits, before VeniVidi1993 sat out on both tables, and the commentary team realised that the man who had zoomed out to a near million euro lead, was likely running around his back garden, cold soil between his toes, howling at the moon in a moment of madness.

The pair played 503 hands, and Galfond finished €140,979.28 up in a dominating performance.

A little while later, Galfond confirmed on Twitter that VeniVidi1993 had decided to take a break. It won’t be as long as Galfond’s (the pair are due to butt heads again on Thursday, March 26.

Mindset coaches.

Give the man a call.

Here are the highlights of that final day, including those incredible last hands.

Results

Phil Galfond Calls for a Break

VeniVidi1993 Calls for a Break

Total hands: 17,551

VeniVidi1993 is uo €318,895.43

There are 7,449 hands left to play.

Remember, there is a side bet of Galfond’s €200,000 versus the €100,000 of VeniVidi1993.

No palm reader in the world predicted that potentially, we could have many months without any live tournament poker.

Yet, that’s our saddle.

One of the last tournaments to take place in California, before Governer, Gavin Newsom, ordered its 40 million citizens to find a microscope in the attic, and stare at it for the next month, was the Bay 101 $5,200 buy-in Shooting Star in the Bay 101 Casino, San Jose.

The event, which in recent years ploughed ahead regardless of its lack of affiliation with its former beau the World Poker Tour (WPT), attracted 290-entrants before the event came to a premature end.

The event began Wednesday, 11 March, at a time, according to the Tournament Director, Matt Savage, all of the major American sporting leagues were still in full swing. At the end of that day, things had changed dramatically when the NBA postponed the season after a player had tested positive for Coronavirus (COVID-19). At this time, Savage decided to cut the event short by a day, ending on Friday 13 March.

Day 2 ended with ten players remaining in the hunt for the title, and Savage began looking at ICM calculations.

“I knew there was a chance the ownership of Bay 101 was proactive in looking at closing,” Savage told me in an email.

When the final day came into view, given the fast-moving nature of the pandemic, you imagine the organisers and players welcomed it with the same unease of a man allowing a succubus into his bed.

Still, in the final ten sauntered.

I don’t know if anyone ripped a bag in anger, but I do know thanks to Savage that one of the ten declared that they felt unwell, and at that moment the decision to end the competition and divide the spoils via ICM calculations was made.

Craig Varnell received the top prize of $159,710, and another title to add to his ever-growing collection. An award he wouldn’t have wanted to have won like this.

A View From the TD

In an email from Savage, the WPT Executive Tour Director shared an insight into his world in the weeks leading up to Newsom’s decision to shut down the state.

“It’s a stressful time for me and everyone in the industry, country, and world,” wrote Savage. “I was on the road for two straight months between, LAPC, Thunder Valley, and Bay 101, and I saw a lot of fear and confusion as it closed in on us so fast.

“I was working in LA for seven weeks from January 15-March with 60 Chinese dealers who became like family and saw their fear level rise. I went back to Vegas for two days for the GPI awards and then had to go to Thunder Valley for WPT and saw the industry being more affected before moving on to Bay 101. I think Bay 101 was the first in California to close, and I believe the first in the country to do so.”

Immediately after the event, Savage flew home and had to self-quarantine for ten days.

“I haven’t felt great with a sore throat and occasional cough, but no fever so I didn’t get checked because I want to save for those with worse symptoms,” wrote Savage.

Here are those ICM calculations.

Craig Varnell – $159,710
Kristen Bicknell – $141,520
Navin Mohan – $132,780
Tyler Patterson – $113,860
Anshul Kulshrestha – $101,430
Michael Tureniec – $91,180
John Andress – $88,800
Anthony Zinno – $55,600
Anthony Spinella – $50,000
Lexy Gavin – $41,060

Footnote: This is a revised article. The previous report had a misleading headline and contained inaccurate information. I apologise to Matt Savage, the Bay 101 organisers, and the players for any stress these mistakes caused.