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Amateur Poker Player Uses PokerCoach to Final Table WPT Malta
Perhaps the most striking example of PokerCoacc's success is amateur poker player Zeljko Krizan.
Six months before entering the WPT main event in Malta, Krizan had never played a hand of poker
Krizan learned from PokerSnowie and used his knowledge to compete with some of the best poker players in the world, ultimately finishing fifth at WPT Malta for nearly $40,000.
“WPT Malta was my first live event ever,” said Krizan. “I played against Phil Helmuth, made the money, ended up on the final table, knocked out Tony G.
"It was a really special feeling. All thanks to the several months of coaching with PokerSnowie."
What Does PokerCoach Offer
Hand History Analysis - Detailed gameplay stats plus optimal game theory advice
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Even More Reasons to Try PokerCoach
PokerSnowie's software is the first to successfully teach GTO in deep-stack multi-player No-Limit Holdem
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Colman, who was the first hyper-turbo player to hit $1 million in a calendar year, beat Austrian Martin "0PIGGYBANK" Finger to clinch his first WCOOP title.
The high-roller tournament drew 61 elite players to create a $610,000 prizepool.
Some of the biggest names in the tournament fell in the first round as Viktor “Isildur1” Blom and Bertrand “Elky” Grospellier couldn’t get much going. Shaun Deeb and Ben Sulsky didn’t last much longer going out in the second and third rounds respectively.
Colman got a stiff test in the quarterfinals when he faced the online player caaaaamel. Despite a long bout, Colman finally pulled away and booked the win.
The final heads-up match proved to be slightly anticlimactic and Colman and 0PIGGYBANK agreed to chop for nearly everything.
Here’s a complete look at the final eight payouts for WCOOP-44 (*reflects two-way deal):
In the other massive tournament this weekend ZIMMY86 bested George Danzer to win WCOOP-40 $1,050 NLHE 6-Max.
WCOOP-40 proved to be a monster with the 1,210 entrants more than doubling the prizepool guarantee of $500k. In total there was $1.2 million up for grabs.
Surprisingly the final table didn’t have a lot of big names other than Danzer.
One of the most successful players in online poker history, Danzer has been tearing up leaderboards over the last couple years and snagged multiple COOP titles.
Danzer couldn’t get past ZIMMY86 in WCOOP-40 however.
The German simply couldn’t overcome the nearly 6-2 chip deficit he was at by the time heads-up play commenced.
Danzer called off his entire stack with king-high and a flopped flush-draw but it wasn’t able to crack ZIMMY86’s flopped pair of queens.
Fortunately for Danzer he still received $156,648 for second place. ZIMMY86 took down $182,852 for his efforts.
Here’s a complete look at the WCOOP-40 final-table payouts:
How do we bring more recreational players into poker and how do we keep them playing?
For an industry that thrives on new blood much of the focus over the last few years has shifted to the hardcore, full-time grinder.
At PokerListings, our mission has always been a little different. We've always strived to bring and keep new players to the game, and that's the essence of our first-ever Spirit of Poker Awards.
To celebrate successful players iin poker who also go out of their way to encourage and inspire new players to pick up the game we all love.
We gave out three awards this year - each of which will be presented live at the PokerListings Battle of Malta - but our marquee award is definitely the Most Inspiring Player award.
With big names like Daniel Negreanu, Max Lykov and Marvin Rettenmaier among the nominees Japan's Naoya Kihara might have been considered a longshot to win.
But those who have met him know just how much time, effort and positivity he brings to the game and it certainly wasn't surprising to us to see his name rise to the top.
We're thrilled to call Kihara our 2013 Most Inspiring Player and got his thoughts on the award, his success and how we can keep bringing the game of poker to the world.
PokerListings: You were matched up with some impressive names in the Most Inspiring Player category. How does it feel to win over such a tough field?
Naoya Kihara: I'm very surprised and thrilled to win the award. Now I really feel like the poker community has an interest in the Japanese market. I need to continue sharing how much fun poker is!
PL: Is there anyone in particular you’ve found inspiring in your poker career?
NK: Four years ago when I went to Las Vegas for the first time I played with one Chinese guy. He played 50% of hands and made really good bluffs and value bets. Before that, all the good players I played with were tight-aggressive but that was my first time to see a really good loose-aggressive pro.
And last year at ACOP I played with Joseph Cheong in a tournament. At that time, I understood we shouldn't worry too much about giving off implied odds but now I think about odds more correctly.
PL: What piece of advice would you give players (young and old) getting into the game now?
To new players: Play a lot of hands. You should play different kinds of poker also. Two years ago I started playing PLO mainly, which made my NLHE better.
Last year I started 8-game, and I learned how important it is to get thin value from limit games.
To older players: Let's enjoy poker more. You don't need to fit the young players' style too much.
If you've played a 3x open style you don't need to switch to small-ball style, just use your own style and enjoy poker. I think it's the best way.
PL: What does the poker community need to do to keep bringing new players into the game? NK: We need to show how fun and exciting a game poker is. When people talk about poker, always a lot of the story is about big money.
When new people hear about poker and big money, it can feel daunting and dangerous. But if we play tournaments we can play poker even without big money. We can enjoy this game even with the new player.
PL: What’s one thing we should definitely stop doing?
NK: Beginners sometimes make bad calls and sometimes catch a few outs. After a bad beat some players try to show how bad that call was. These players don't know what a bad thing they're doing.
Poker is just a game and if we keep to the rules, everything is allowed. The beginner made a bad odds call, but he made no “bad action.” People need to stop yelling at our opponents' playing.
PL: The legal situation for poker in Japan is a bit complex – how hard is it to maintain a professional poker career without much understanding of the game there?
NK: It is really hard to acquire professional skill in Japan with such a small community and live cash games being illegal. If we want to play cash games in Macau or Las Vegas, we need to win much more to pay for hotel and airfare for example.
"We need to show how fun and exciting a game poker is."
But after you learn the skills to be a poker pro it is not as hard to maintain it! Now I have enough skill to win more and pay for hotels and airfare.
Three really good things about being a Japanese poker pro:
Japanese people don't need visas to travel to a lot of countries.
Japan is a really safe country, so we don't need to worry about getting robbed.
Because it is safe we have really a lot of 24-hour shops.
PL: How important/supportive has the Japanese poker community been to your success and can you tell us a bit about it?NK: The biggest Japanese poker forum 'hyahhoo' is really supportive for me. I got the most votes for this award but I guess many of them are from the 'hyahhoo' forum.
We have a hand review forum there and I always give advice to them but sometimes we have a good discussion that can change my poker game for the better.
PL: What things have you seen both in Japan and on the professional circuit that most inspire new players to pick up the game?NK: There is Shogi, Igo and Mahjong in Japan and all are popular in Japan. But the rules are so complicated and difficult.
To teach the rules of them it’s more difficult than to teach a beginner all of 8-game. Poker rules are simple and easy. But, of course, to be a good player is really difficult. And, everybody in every country, people love money! There is a big dream to get a lot of money after our skills go up. I proved this to Japan last year and Moneymaker proved in 2003. PL: Any thoughts on playing the Battle of Malta? Have you been here before? Any expectations for the tournament?NK: It is the first time to come here. We are coming to Malta not only for poker but as a honeymoon too. I'm looking forward to seeing a lot of beautiful sights. Especially we want to see the beautiful sea.
PL: Any special words for your fans/family?
NK: Poker is a really exciting game. Let's enjoy this great game together!
Got a tip for a future 3-Bet? Drop a note in the comments and we'll take a look.
Today in the PokerListings Daily 3-Bet we find Daniel Negreanu ranting and reminiscing about the time Jason Calacanis out-talked him in a hand, Mike "The Mouth" Matusow getting punchy after a Shaun Deeb slowroll and how to spot (and handle) poker burnout.
After a fairly long hiatus Daniel Negreanu is back with another of his rants and, god bless him, another go at the "First Card Off the Deck" rule.
If you don't know what it is, lucky you. Negreanu himself even admits it's not really a big deal despite a lot of recent bluster over it.
He does use it as a jumping-off point for a few other relevant bits, though -- the crux of which is to lay off making more unneccesary rules to "add" seriousness to poker.
Amateurs went a "fun and friendly" environment. Without the ams, pros don't eat. Hear hear to that.
Fast forward to around 14 mins to skip most of the First Card bit and get to the "No Talking" stuff, including a hand from the Big Game where amateur Jason Calacanis dupes Daniel into a big call.
2) Matusow Gets Punchy Over Deeb Slowroll
Speaking of unspoken rules/players policing themselves at the tables ...
TA slow roll (meaning taking an excess amount of time to reveal a sure winning hand) is defintitely one of those things that will make you persona non grata at the poker table.
Even, as Shaun Deeb found out, if you're doing it for the purpose of good television (the new Poker Night in America show) and to grind the gears of one of the most obnoxious poker players in history.
Ever feel like you're mentally exhuasted, losing some of your patience and can't catch a break at the tables?
Sounds like burnout to Dr. Stephen Bloomfield. He writes about it in his latest column for Ante Up magazine, and if you're thinking those symptoms sound familiar you should take a look. An excerpt:
"Burnout is described as a syndrome of emotional exhaustion, depersonalization and feelings of low personal accomplishment ... The two most quoted definitions are:
• 'A state of physical, emotional and mental exhaustion caused by long-term involvement in emotionally demanding situations.'
• 'A state of fatigue or frustration brought about by devotion to a cause, way of life or relationship that failed to produce the expected reward.'
"The real danger of burnout comes from the disillusionment. A poker player tells me the $2-$2 and $1-$3 no-limit hold’em games are too boring; he can’t maintain his patience and no one folds; the $2-$5 game has too much variance and he needs too much bankroll to play, and tournaments involve too much luck.
"When I hear this kind of thinking, I immediately think the player is burning out ..."
Sound like you? Find out what to do about it here.
Owner of one of the most impressive online graphs of all-time, Grundy hadn't sniffed a COOP final table since the 2006 WCOOP main Eevent but made sure to close things out this time, even if he didn't take home the biggest cut.
Meanwhile in Event #45, $2,100 No-Limit Hold'em fellow Brit paphiti was busy holding off high-stakes wreckers Kenney and Batista to take down the second-biggest payout so far in the 2013 WCOOP.
A big field of 1,437 entrants bought in for a prize pool of $2,874,000 with Kenney leading the way into the final table.
Got a tip for a future 3-Bet? Feel free to drop a link in the comments.
Today in the 3-Bet we find Shaun Deeb defending his contentious slowroll on Mike "The Mouth" Matusow, Alexis Conran resurrecting a classic Amarillo Slim hustle and a peculiar argument suggesting ESPN's Main Event coverage is actually ruining poker.
1) Deeb Defends Slowroll: "At the Time a Good Decision"
Says slowrolling is the "one thing" he can't take.
So the recent Poker Night in America clip of Shaun Deeb slowrolling Mike "The Mouth" Matusow is inspiring some raging debate it seems.
Feelings are clearly in three camps: "Mike deserved it," "a bit mean but still funny" and "Deeb is a complete douche." Deeb himself falls somewhere in the middle, based on the defense he posted:
"just to chime in yah I've done a lot of slowrolls in my day a few times for a lot more equity than this pot. Timing was really poor he just did lose that 30k+ pot the hand before.
"But as anyone can see its a fun homegame **** talking was encourage we were there to have a good time and slowrolling was at the time a good decision.
"But, Mike and myself are very close friends have logged many hours and we had discussed years prior his hate of slowrolls I had forgotten that in the moment and regretted it since I feared it would hurt our friendship.
"Anyone who thinks mikey was acting doesn't know him but as you can see the rest of the table thought it was hilarious and that's the type of table it was..."
It's hit the air running with three great episodes so far including a spin through Vegas where magician/prop bettor Alexis Conran revisits a classic Amarillo Slim jailhouse hustle.
Also making an appearance: Prop bettor Brian Zembic, famed for getting breast implants (and keeping them for 17 years!) for $100k.
Watch the full episode by clicking below (Slim hustle at 8:30, boob reveal 31:45):
Ruined poker or brought in millions of dollars to poker economy?
So tbh we've read this piece by Argun M. Ulgen a couple times and we're still not sure we understand what ESPN has done to "ruin" poker. The crux seems to be:
"For a network so responsible for the online poker boom, its continual emphasis on short-run, high variance coverage of poker hands – Aces winning one hand and then getting quashed by a bad beat ten minutes later – continually ebbed against strengthening the perception of poker as a game of skill.
"ESPN’s World Series of Poker coverage routinely failed to provide by way of non-intrusive info graphics or quick commentary fundamental, skill-based pieces of information.
"Rarely did the broadcast provide players’ positions and stack sizes, or the tournament’s blind levels. The audience was mostly treated to showdown results, which, whether it is poker, basketball, or finance, is always heavily flavored with luck. And eventually luck runs out."
So, we think, basically ESPN downplays the skill/strategy parries of talented pros in favor of splashy all-ins/feel-good storylines. End result is less perception as a skill game and delayed legality.
Ruined poker, though? Guess that depends on how you see the millions (billions?) of dollars pumped into the poker economy by people who discovered poker through ESPN over the last decade.
Breaking attendance records at the Playground Poker Club right from Event #1 last Saturday, the first of three Day 1s for the $1m GTD Full Tilt Poker Montreal main event hits tomorrow.
Confirmed to play the $1,000+$100 buy-in event are FTP pros Hansen, Dermot Blain, Martins Adeniya and Danielle "dmoongirl" Andersen along with FTP ambassador Hana Soljan.
Joining them from Team PokerStars pro are hometown icon Jonathan Duhamel, worldwide icon Chris Moneymaker, Vanessa Rousso, David Williams and Victor Ramdin.
Along with the heavy hitters from the pro poker world two major punchers from the NHL are prepared to join in.
Retired scrappers Matthew Barnaby and Georges Laraque, now a strong supporter of anti-bullying programs, have confirmed they'll play.
Local personaltiies Jean-Michel Anctil and Jean-Thomas Jobin (comedians), Jean-Nicolas Verreault (actor) and Marc Dupré and Émily Bégin (singer/songwriters) will also hit the tables.
Main Event coverage with live reporting, photographs and videos will be ongoing in the FullTiltPoker blog starting tomorrow with a live stream picking up on Day 2 (Sept. 30).
Got a tip for a future 3-Bet? Drop a note in the comments and we'll take a look.
Today in the PokerListings Daily 3-Bet we find Tom "durrrr" Dwan taking his biggest loss ever in Macau, Dan "Jungleman12" Cates explaining the state of the durrrr Challenge and his dispute with David "viffer" peat and Ashton Griffin wrestles with 10 years of the high-stakes poker life.
1) Tom Dwan Takes Biggest Loss Ever, Enjoys Tiny Tram
In taiwan for the 1st time ever... Not leaving the airport tho. Maybe next trip. Had my biggest loss ever yesterday
If you had to guess what Tom "durrrr" Dwan's "biggest loss ever" might be where would you start?
Given his epic battles with Isildur1 and penchant for random high-stakes gambool it has to be at least seven-figures right? $2m? $3m? $5m?
With the bottomless pockets of the Asian businessmen he's been playing with we'd hate to see what the bottom line on "biggest loss ever" might be, but given his follow-up tweet it doesn't seem to be bothering him too much:
Pocket sized airport tram (I'm touching the other end when I took pic). Amuses me for some reason, not like US ones pic.twitter.com/qsiduLCsNv
Someone who might be a little more bothered by it? Dan "Jungleman12" Cates, who's been waiting patiently on durrrr to finish (and pay off) their much delayed durrrr Challenge.
2) Jungleman on durrrr, Viffer: Dwan's Trying, Viffer Scumbag
Speaking of that lingering durrrr Challenge ...
The forums have been buzzing with speculation about the much-derailed challenge over the last few weeks and, specifically in the last few days, over a nasty dispute Cates has with David "Viffer" Peat about their action in the challenge.
Long story short: durrrr agreed to play 4k hands in August, it didn't happen. A new agreement has been signed and Cates feels more confident hands will be played in September.
As for Viffer? Cates isn't a fan, as he explains in our exclusive video shot yesterday in Malta where Cates is preparing for the 2013 PokerListings Battle of Malta:
3) Ashton Griffin Wrestles with High-Stakes Poker Life
We've done some really great, candid interviews in the past but we might have hit a new peak with this one with high-stakes PLO kingpin Ashton Griffin.
One of the biggest PLO winners ever online Griffin has seen ups and downs in his poker career that would, well, cripple weaker human beings.
From losing his entire net worth many times over to supporting his large extended family through poker to running 70 miles in 24 hours in a life-altering prop bet, Griffin has one of the most amazing stories we've heard.
The kicker? He's still only 24 years old. Check out the interview below:
Based on a public nomination process via WSOP.com and a final vetting by the Poker Hall of Fame Governing Council, the finalists eligible in 2013 have now been officially set.
Six of the candidates made the final nomination list last year but failed to accumulate enough votes from current living Hall of Famers and a media panel to make it in.
The 2013 Poker Hall of Fame Finalists List (alphabetically):
Chris Björin
Humberto Brenes
David Chiu
Thor Hansen
Jennifer Harman
Mike Matusow
Tom McEvoy
Carlos Mortenson
Scotty Nguyen
Huckleberry Seed
Matusow, Seed, Mortenson and Brenes are the new additions to the list while Chiu, Björin, Hansen, Harman, McEvoy and Nguyen were on the list last year. Seed made the finalist list once before in 2011.
The above list will be passed on to the 19 living Hall of Fame members and the 18-person media panel for voting, which ends Oct. 11.
A reminder of the induction criteria:
A player must have played poker against acknowledged top competition
Be a minimum of 40 years old at time of nomination
Played for high stakes
Played consistently well, gaining the respect of peers
Stood the test of time
Or, for non-players, contributed to the overall growth and success of the game of poker, with indelible positive and lasting results.
Recent Poker Hall of Fame inductees include Eric Drache, Brian "Sailor" Roberts, Barry Greenstein and Linda Johnson. For more on the current nominees, find brief bios here.
Day 1b is nearly sold out and players looking to avoid getting shut out would be better suited to register for Day 1a, which takes place on Thursday, Sept. 26.
The Battle of Malta is a unique low buy-in live tournament that costs just €550 with the high-roller style of a much more expensive event.
The tournament offers several VIP parties, exclusive trophies and a picturesque location.
This year Dan “jungleman12” Cates, Luca Moschitta, Sofia Lövgren, Ashton “theASHMAN103” Griffin, Andreas Høivold and many more poker pros are expected to play.
They’ll be joined by a number of celebrities including Finnish stunt crew The Dudesons and adult actress Puma Swede.
Kara Scott returns as video host for the tournament.
The 2013 Battle of Malta takes place from Sept. 26-29 at the Portomaso Casino in beautiful and sunny St. Julian’s, Malta.
This year’s tournament is expected to be one of the biggest ever held in Malta.
“I think there’s a pretty good chance we play 4,000 hands this month. I feel like I’ve said that a million times though.”
According to Cates, Dwan will have a serious incentive to play under the terms of the new agreement.
“With the deal we have now, I’ll make money either way,” he said.
Dwan didn’t want to disclose the deal until they’ve actually started putting in some hands. Cates said if they don’t play any hands in September, he’d probably have to release information about the deal.
Despite the frustration behind the delay, Cates understands why he’s not exactly Dwan’s first choice to play.
“He has a lot of options,” Cates said. “He can play in the good games in Macau against businessmen, so why would he want to play against me?”
“I think it’s against the spirit of the bet though. I think he realizes that and wants to make it right.”
Cates also took the time to share his thoughts on the controversial David “Viffer” Peat who has slammed Cates via Twitter on numerous occasions.
“Basically I think Viffer is a total scumbag,” said Cates. “I think he’s trying to angle me and I don’t think anybody should ever do business with him.”
Cates gave some background on the highly publicized bet between him and Viffer.
“I booked a 20% crossbook with Viffer for the durrrr Challenge,” he said. “I also did a side bet of $50k to his $62k.”
Earlier this year Cates and Viffer traded some action in a live $2k/$4k game. As Cates was leaving he paid out Viffer his $160k piece.
According to Cates it was at this point that Viffer said, “By the way, I’m not paying you for the durrrr Challenge. I just paid him $160,000 and he owed me hundreds of thousands.”
“He compared Black Friday to a rain delay in baseball,” Cates said. “He said it was all a wash.”
Eventually Viffer backed down and said they had action when durrrr and Cates started playing again. According to Cates, Viffer reneged on that promise too, and denied ever saying that.
“No rational person acts like this,” said Cates. Check out even more in our video interiew with Cates:
First up you have the new location of Enghien-les-Bains, which is just outside of a little city named Paris.
Next up you have Daniel Negreanu and Brit Matthew Ashton embroiled in a POY race that could go down to the wire.
It’s all setting the stage for what could be one of the most memorable series of poker tournaments ever played and PokerListings will be there every day as the official live coverage provider.
Not familiar with everything heading into the final WSOP event of the year? Check out the official WSOPE homepage to get information about the venue and schedule.
Looking for something a little more exciting? We’ve compiled a primer below that lists five potentially huge stories going into WSOPE.
Perhaps the biggest story heading into this year’s WSOPE has nothing to do with individual players.
Instead it’s about the new venue just outside of Paris at Casino Barriere in Enghien-les-Bains.
This will be the third time the WSOPE has moved since the inaugural series in London. After taking up residence in London for four years the WSOPE stopped for a couple years in famous Cannes but it’s now headed to the big city in France.
It seems like a great fit for the WSOPE, which has already always been more of a destination-based tour.
Paris is a world-class city and there are plenty of enthusiastic French poker players.
Of course there are still some questions surrounding the move.
Last year numbers were good at the WSOPE but not great. While WSOP events outside of North America have been very good at drawing high rollers, there’s no question organizers would like to see some bigger fields in the smaller buy-in events.
The first open-event – a No-Limit Hold’em re-entry tournament – will likely be a good test.
In addition the series will not take place in central Paris, which is a downside for players looking to spend all their time downtown.
Negreanu, Ashton in Desperate Race for Player of the Year
Last year saw one of the best Player of the Year races in the history of the WSOP go down when Greg Merson narrowly edged Phil Hellmuth by winning the Main Event.
This year could be one for the ages as well as big-name pro Daniel Negreanu is trying to chase down Brit Matthew Ashton to win his second WSOP POY title (he won his first in 2004).
Negreanu (thanks to a massive showing at the WSOP APAC) amassed 598 points but is still looking up to Ashton’s 649.
If Kid Poker takes down a bracelet in Paris, than the title may be his.
The top 10 on the POY leaderboard is full of notable players including David “Bakes” Baker, Tom Schneider (another former WSOP POY winner) and Marco Johnson but the most interesting is Loni Harwood.
Harwood (who had three final tables and one bracelet win this summer) is currently in third place with 487 points and could become the first women to win WSOP POY if she records a big WSOPE.
Whatever happens it won’t be boring.
Will Phil Ivey Go Back to Crushing Tournaments at the WSOPE?
Phil Ivey skipped the entire 2011 WSOP and then came back with a vengeance in 2012 winning five final tables and narrowly missing out on POY.
Ivey was barely a factor in this summer’s WSOP and registered only one paltry cash.
There is a silver lining to Ivey’s WSOP experiences this year, however.
He was a force down under at WSOP APAC and demolished the tiny 81-player field in the $2,200 Mixed Event to win his ninth gold bracelet.
If he can capture some of that fire than he might be able to slay one of the French events to win his 10th bracelet.
The only problem for the mixed-game master is that all the tournaments at WSOPE are either No-Limit Hold’em or Pot-Limit Omaha. Ivey has never won a bracelet in Hold’em.
Ivey tends to bring his A-game for the big events, however, and that €25,000 high-roller tournament at the end of the French series might be just the ticket.
Since the inception of the November Nine the WSOPE has become the one big tournament series that nearly all the most recent Main Event final table contestants will play before heading to Vegas for their showdown.
Traditionally November Niners have also performed very well there.
In 2008 Ivan Demidov made it all the way to third place in the WSOPE Main Event before falling to eventual winner John Juanda.
The next year French poker pro Antoine Saout finished seventh in the WSOPE Main Event.
This year David “Raptor” Benefield has been on one hell of a streak since making the Main Event final table in Las Vegas.
Benefield made a deep run in the EPT Barcelona main event and final tabled both the €48,000 Super High Roller and the €10,000 High Roller.
Even more recently Benefield finished seventh in the EPT London High Roller for $226,348.
Since making the November Nine Benefield has accumulated well over half a million in profit so he’s the one to watch as the WSOP descends on Paris.
Since it’s inception the WSOPE Main Event has counted Annette Obrestad, John Juanda, Barry Schulman, James Bord, Elio Fox and Phil Hellmuth amongst its winners.
In the first year the WSOPE was held in France, Arnauld Mattern painfully bubbled the final table.
French poker has come a long way and players like Bertrand “ElkY” Grospellier, Ludovic Lacay and Nicolas Cardyn are at the forefront of the new wave of French poker.
A French winner Main Event winner would be huge for the host country.
It’s easy to forget just how relevant the WSOP is but the recent explosion of poker in Quebec, in part thanks to Jonathan Duhamel’s historic win, proves that Main Event winners still mean something.
If a French player were to take down the WSOPE Main Event it would help set the standard for what could be years to come in Paris.
A proud member of Team PokerStars Pro since 2007 Akkari has worked on and off the felt in his home country to make poker something that isn't over at the last showdown.
ESPN commentator, editor of the poker magazine Flop and leader of a local poker team, the 39-year-old from Sao Paulo now moves around the country sharing his vision of the future of poker -- and the way the game can be used to fight against prejudice and social inequality.
In London for the ongoing EPT Main Event, Akkari sat down with PokerListings Italy's Giovanni Angioni to talk about his vision and some controversial posts recently published on his personal blog.
PokerListings: I know you are married and you care a lot about your family so, I'll start with this: did you bring them with you in London?
André Akkari: No, I didn’t. My daughters are in school and they cannot travel.
AA: Two. No, wait … three. I have two daughters and one dog. But the dog counts as a third daughter to me.
PL: So – you came here to London leaving a wife, two daughters and a dog at home. I wonder how do they like the life you have as a player?
AA: If I’d tell you that they like it, I would tell you a lie. Let’s say that they don’t hate it.
They know it’s my job, they know that I do it for me and for them. Traveling around is part of the deal and poker changed our lives a lot over the last few years.
We've got a lot from it, so sometimes we have to be ready to give something back.
PL: How about you, then? Do you like this lifestyle?
AA: I get the chance to travel around the world and I try to get all the best of it.
I like visiting new cities, going to museums, having some fun with friends … and then go back as soon as possible to my family.
PL: Which is in Brazil -- to many one of the top future markets for the poker world. How is it to be a player there?
AA: It is getting better. Together with some other people I have been working hard for years to put poker in a good spot in Brazil.
Now we are starting to see the effects of our work. People finally respect the game and my profession.
PL: So when you say your job is to play poker … everyone is fine with it?
AA: Almost. There you get a 50/50 situation.
Fifty per cent of people will be happy and congratulate you while the other 50% will take you as an addicted gambler.
PL: How about when you're not in Brazil then? Does it get any better?
AA: When you start moving around the world you start seeing how differently people react to it.
Here in London, it was amazing. When I told the guy at customs that I was a professional poker player here to play at the EPT, the guy started telling me how much he loved poker and how he wished he was good enough at poker to leave his job.
This was really special.
PL: Now that Ronaldo signed with PokerStars – this should work to make poker more popular back home, right?
AA: Oh, that was great. Ronaldo is the most famous celebrity in Brazil. If he says he is into something … well, that cannot be a bad thing. People always easily accept everything that he does.
The fact that now he joined the PokerStars SportStars team is a real milestone for poker in Brazil.
PL: Speaking of Brazil, I need to get to a point – which I think is probably one of the most serious and sensitive ones I have ever touched on in a poker interview. I saw a few weeks ago you wrote a post on your blog about black people playing poker…
AA: … oh, yes … that one …
PL: …which you used for discussing the very low number of black poker players in your country. Would you mind helping me to understand your message better?
AA: In Brazil we have lived in the illusion of not being a racist country.
Many of us, especially those who are white and belong to the middle class, tend to say that Brazil is not a racist country - but the truth is that it is not like this.
PL: Is it not?
AA: When you go to a good restaurant in Brazil, you do not see black people as you do not see them when you go to a good mall.
This is something Brazilians often do not even realize - and the fact that I have a black brother helped me to understand a bit more about how things works for black people there.
I can tell you that it is only when you go to a restaurant and you see that everyone starts looking at you that you realize how the situation really is.
Let me tell you a story, it will help you understand what I am talking about.
PL: Go ahead, please.
AA: I was once in a car with my mother and my brother. She was driving around our middle-class neighborhood and he was in the back seat.
All of a sudden police stopped our car with policemen pointing their guns at it.
PL: Why?
AA: Because of my brother, because he is black. They just pointed their guns at him thinking he was kidnapping us, maybe pointing a gun at my mother’s back.
Can you imagine how this is for him? The way he lives that?
A country where there are no black poker players as there are practically no black people in the middle class or in the best positions in civil society.
I did it because I believe that those who work in the poker industry have to do something to change what we can.
We have to change things one piece after the other, and maybe in 30 or 40 years we will manage to change something.
PL: I'm all ears. Tell me what to do and I will join you, instantly.
AA: Black people are almost 50% of the whole Brazilian population but we almost do not see them as they live in areas we just don’t visit.
You have to consider that these people do not play poker especially because they do not have the money for doing so.
PL: So? Charity freerolls for a better world?
AA: No, so we can bring poker to them! We can go there, organize boot-camps, give free poker classes.
We can give them the opportunity to try it and make it so that these guys can look at poker and see exactly what the middle class sees in it. We have to do something to make the lives of these people better.
If we go to the poorest areas of Brazil, we can create something to give them more opportunities. And that would be the greatest change of all.
PL: You know, for how we are not in Brazil, now I cannot stop looking around and see how even here at the EPT…
AA: Here nobody is black as well, I know. We don’t have many black players but then Phil Ivey is one of the best of all players.
And that makes me wonder: how many black guys that could be even better than Ivey are not playing poker today?
PL: I love the idea of poker being socially relevant, of making something big and useful out of the popularity the game gets. Not to mention the money that this game moves around…
AA: Exactly, and I really think this is going to be the future.
If you now talk to most of the big players today, they will tell you that this idea won’t work because poker is all about money and about who can play the super high roller and who can not.
PL: Yeah, usually that’s a good chunk of what poker is…
AA: I don’t think so. I think poker is the mirror of life, that when you sit at the table you are with nine completely different personalities.
I think every time time you sit at the table you learn a lot and teach a lot at the same time. You learn how to deal with pressure, with leadership and a lot of other things.
If you are intelligent enough, you can use poker to grow as a person.
If I have to tell you the truth, there is no money in what makes poker so great.
PL: Oh, really?
AA: Don’t take me as a hypocrite: money is always good. I just think it is important in this profession as it is in any other one.
If money can really help people to get better, then it should be everywhere. Not just where the middle class is.
It should be in the poor areas as well … and I think it will be like that.
Poker companies around the world are going to see this. Soon they will realize that they can also do this to bring more customers in for the future.
PL: True, also because it would “open a new, untouched market” – if you don’t mind me saying that.
AA: Exactly, that’s why I think this is what is going to happen. There’s no other possible way going forward.
Kozlov, a former ANZPT Melbourne winner, is well ahead of the field with 1,351,000 after reaping the benefits of a couple flopped sets.
Yan, a frequent contributor to the EPT Live Stream commentary, also topped the 1m-chip plateau with 1,046,000 as did UKIPT winner Ludovic Geilich with 1,219,000.
Plenty of intriguing names survived just off the lead pack on Day 3 as well highlighted by former footballer Steven Watts (355,000).
Pros Shannon Shorr (341,000), Salman Behbehani (329,000) and Timothy Adams (279,000) aren't far behind. Dave 'Devilfish' Ulliott (250,000), Nicolau Villa-Lobos (244,000) and Sebastian Blom (216,000) also bagged stacks for Day 4.
Check the PokerStars blog for a recap of all today's action. Tune in to the live stream tomorrow at 1 pm GMT for Day 4 coverage.
Got a tip for a future 3-Bet? Drop a note in the comments and we'll take a look.
Today in the 3-Bet we find Phil Hellmuth paying a premium to get in some heads-up action at EPT London, Xuan Liu sharing her poker story in our latest Easy Game mini-dcoumentary and Brazil's Nicolau Villa-Lobos sharing his own heart-wrenching poker inspiration.
1) Hellmuth Buys Heads-Up Seat at Premium
Want to get your buy-in back, make an easy $500 and get a free sweat for 10% of a poker icon's action without even having to play the tournament?
Just be in the right place at the right time and let the ego/bankroll do the rest:
Paid @Andrexpuppy2p2 £1300 & 10% of me for his £1100 seat in EPT Heads Up Tourney. Field capped at 32, so I paid premium: won 1st match
We've always thought Xuan Liu is the business, both poker-wise and personality-wise, and everything we thought was confirmed when we spent a few days in Toronto filming her for the latest episode of our Easy Game mini-documentary series.
Check it out below; check out the rest of the series with features on Griffin Benger, Matt Salsberg and Shaun Deeb here.
3) Nicolau Villa-Lobos: Makes His Own Name in Legendary Family
Another guy we've always been high on is Brazil's Nicolau Villa-Lobos.
We had no idea his great-great uncle was a world-renowned maestro who was "the single most significant creative figure in 20th-century Brazilian art music," though. That's pretty amazing.
The PokerStars blog has a great feature on him up today, which you can check out here. Follow him Thrusday on the EPT London live stream, where he's made the final 45 players, to see if he can add another chapter to his own amazing story.
Check out our video interview with him during his deep run in the 2012 WSOP Main Event below:
Becoming a member of the first-ever November Nine and finishing runner-up to Peter Eastgate, Demidov took home a mind-boggling $5.8 million.
Five years later it's still enough to keep him on top of Russia's All-Time Money list.
But after all is said and done, not too much in life - or in Russia - has changed. He lives closer to the center of Moscow. He eats at better restaurants. And he still has a distaste for Russian politics - enough so that he might end up leaving the country.
PokerListings Italy's Giovanni Angioni caught up with Demidov at EPT London to see how life is progressing for Russia's most famous Zoom grinder.
PokerListings: My first question is a follow up to the interview we had during last EPT Grand Final when you said you started playing Zoom Poker… but with not too good results. Did anything change since then?
Ivan Demidov: Yes, now I've started making small profits. What changed since Monte Carlo I guess is simply that I got more experience. I've been working a lot with some software to improve my game, to work on my ranges in different spots.
It usually takes a lot of time but it’s also very useful to go this way.
ID: Mostly CardRunners TV to analyze different situations, then I also use PokerTracker a lot.
PL: I remember an interesting bit from Monte Carlo, where you advised young players to play on Zoom – which I think is pretty much the opposite of what the vast majority of us would do. Do you really think Zoom is a beginners kind of thing?
ID: Yes – but I advise it to beginners who want to turn professionals, to beginners that are serious about their career in online poker.
Remember when online poker just came out? Back then we had guys who played offline for 30, 40 years who were very old guys with a lot of experience.
Then, very young guys, with only one or two years of (online) poker experience had played the same number of hands or even more.
It’s the same thing with Zoom. You get a greater number of hands than when you play the usual online games. It’s better for practicing, you learn faster.
Of course, it can be frustrating if you lose or you get in a bad streak but if you want to be a professional you have to learn how to deal with it.
If you were just an amateur playing for fun, maybe Zoom Poker would not be the best for you. Otherwise you can play 30 hours a month a get a very nice volume of hands, even playing for a little.
PL: How about online poker in Russia in general? From a non-Russian point of view, my most spontaneous question is: “can you still even play?”
ID: You can still play. People worry because in the Duma (the Russian parliament) they want to pass a law … and they will probably pass it … which does not affect poker directly as there is no mention of “poker” in the text.
The law is against online casinos and online gambling, so it’s not really against poker. So I would say: 80% everything is going to fine and maybe 20% ... well …
PL: Still to me it looks like Russia has a very strange approach to poker. Just think about how they treat live poker.
Someone important didn't like poker, and that's all there is to it.
ID: Yes, that one is banned.
PL: Why?
ID: Because … you first have to understand how things are done in Russia. It works like this: someone very important did not like poker, and so they banned it. There is no other explanation.
PL: But then…does everyone just give up!? Don’t you have anything to push for legalization of the game?
ID: A lot of people try to do that - I am among those too. With some people I created an NGO, a union of poker players for talking to the government to get something done. But so far nothing has happened.
No one in the Russian parliament wants to take the responsibility of talking about poker. Maybe the economic situation in Russia will help because maybe the government will want to put taxes on it and get some money out of the game.
Maybe something will change – but, as for now, I stay on the 80%-20% situation.
PL: Lately Tatjana Barausova and PokerStars “divorced” and she is not part of the team pro anymore – do you know what happened there?
ID: Yes, I do. I spoke to her and she told me she just decided that she did not want to be an open public figure. Nothing went wrong: the contract was over and she decided to step back.
PL: I also have some questions about you as a gamer, as you started off playing games like Age of Empires, Starcraft and World of Warcraft.
ID: I like strategy games, yes. (laughs)
PL: Good. Because I can’t stop wondering if there’s anything you learned from those games that helped you and kept you going in poker as well.
ID: It’s funny – listen. When I started with poker, my day was exactly as when I played computer games.
Different rules, different games but same psychology.
I would wake up, sit at the computer, play for a very long time, work on my game and my strategy and chat with my friends online.
It’s hard to explain it to “regular people," to those who work in an office from 9-5. When I played computer games I did not have a workplace to go to. If I wanted to stay in and sleep I could do that, I could stay around with my friends.
Then it has been the same thing with poker. I kept doing the same thing I was doing before, the same kind of life.
PL: Game-wise, do you think there might be anything that helped you in poker coming from those games?
ID: Of course, in StarCraft you have to understand what your opponent is doing so that you can elaborate a counter strategy, see if he understands what you are doing and switches to a different one too so that you eventually keep changing.
It’s the same thing with poker. Different rules, different games but same psychology. In Starcraft as in poker I always try to structure my play.
PL: How?
ID: Playing StarCraft I always have a base strategy and when I see that my opponent does something particular, then I deviate from my strategy following another one. Usually I have everything planned ahead.
Of course, I cannot be ready for everything but – this helps already. In poker it's the same: I have a base strategy and if I see that my opponent starts adjusting his game to it, then I change it.
PL: As a gamer and online grinder, your computer must be a sort of sanctuary. So, seeing what happened in Barcelona to some Finnish high-stakes players, I wonder: how do you do to keep your computer secure?
ID: First of all, I don’t play from laptops.
PL: What ... why!?
ID: Because when I travel I don’t really have any time to play. I play the tournaments, some side events, do the commentary, some interviews.
PL: So you're not one of those who run to the hotel room to start grinding online after the tournament?
ID: No, really – I don’t play online when I travel. At home I just have a separate computer for playing poker. I just use it for playing, I don’t even surf online with it.
Let’s say that I hope this is enough to make it safe.
PL: You're married and have a three-and-a-half year old. How is it traveling the circuit when you actually have a family?
ID: Most of the time I travel with them, which is really nice. We were planning to come also here to London together but my wife wants to play the ladies event at the WSOPE Europe, so we decided to meet there.
It’s nice to travel with them – now that I am here alone, after I busted from the tournament I just went to my room and stared at the wall because I was depressed and I had nothing to do.
Traveling with them we would just go somewhere, have a nice dinner out.
PL: How is it to be a poker couple? Do you discuss hands, bad beats, strategies together?
ID: We don’t talk about bad beats because that would be just frustrating. She also does not like when I get mad after I lose: she understands that as a poker player but … well … then she gets mad too.
She is playing Open Face Chinese now and I am trying to help her with math calculations. I don’t really imagine myself with anyone else though, especially with someone who is not a poker player. It would be hard to say “you know, I played well but I lost 10K."
PL: As I know you are from Moscow, one of the most chaotic and expensive cities in the world, I wonder: how did things change after your big score at the WSOP?
ID: The biggest thing I did was move from the suburbs to the center of the city. Before I needed 40 to 50 minutes by subway to get there, meet with my friends or go to the movies … now it takes me 5!
Not much else though. I still don’t have a car.
PL: Well, maybe because driving a car in Moscow would be like committing suicide …
ID: …yeah, no need of a car there if you can avoid one. But nothing much changes. I still go to the same places, have the same friends.
Yet, Moscow itself changed a lot since I won at the WSOP. Now we have a lot of things, nice restaurants, nice places to hang out.
You know, traveling a lot as I do, I have very high standards for restaurants. I remember when I used to go back to Moscow thinking “Shit! I don’t have any place to go to."
But now it’s getting better. Let’s say that now, everything that is not run by the State in Moscow is becoming much, much better. In the area I live in, at least.
But then, wait. I still don’t like the city.
PL: Don’t you?
ID: No. Too much traffic, no parks in the center, things like that. Sometimes I go to European places and it’s so different. Take Berlin …
PL: Berlin is nice, isn’t it?
ID: Yes it is nice but I'm used to if at 3am I want to go somewhere, everything is open in Moscow. In Berlin, in Europe … it’s all closed!
PL: Ok, then let’s say that your 20% beats the 80% and Russia shuts down online poker. Would you move out of the country? Where?
I don’t see the situation in Russia changing in the near future.
ID: I would definitely move if something goes wrong. I that happens, at first, I would probably move to Kiev because it’s easy. Otherwise, I like California.
PL: You'd move to the U.S.? Really?
ID: If they legalize online poker, why not? I also like Barcelona.
PL: Oh, but there you would end up playing on the .es online poker system. Would you really do that?
ID: I heard they want to change it and they want to put Italy and Spain together.
PL: Which probably sounds like free money for you, doesn’t it?
ID: (laughs) Yes, maybe.
PL: Very last thing – if you don’t want to answer to this, no problem. But what do you think about the Russian government and it's treatment of homosexuality?
ID: I don’t like what the government is doing and I participated in some rallies as well – to be honest Russian politics really depresses me, and that’s one of the reasons why I might move away.
I don’t see the situation in Russia changing in the near future. I still hope and I still try to help – but I don’t see it changing. So, really, that’s one of the reasons why I might leave Russia at some point.
Daniel Negreanu is, arguably, the most popular and most important player to ever play the game of poker.
Few, if any, have balanced the media spotlight and a de facto role as poker's ambassador for as long and/or as well as Negreanu has and continues to.
In 2013 his poker reputation is impressively being matched by his results as a WSOP APAC main event title, a litany of deep runs and a very good shot at WSOP POY has him more feared at the table than ever.
Busting on Day 2 of the EPT London main event, Negreanu generously returned to the Grand Connaught rooms to sit down with PokerListings Germany's Dirk Oetzmann and share his opinions on some of the most controversial topics in the poker business.
PokerListings: You’ve recently been having issues with certain poker rules like what you're allowed to talk about at the tables. What is really going on?
Daniel Negreanu: The thing is that the TDA have an idea on this and they’re wrong. They are wrong from a reasoning point of view and they’re wrong thinking it’s good for poker.
Their rules are not making it comfortable for the players. The bottom line is, they have invented a rule and now they don’t know how to enforce it.
Their rules are so ambiguous that neither the players nor the people who invented them know what’s actually allowed and what’s not. So the players just live in fear.
DN: Well, the WSOP has found a way. They’ve given the players much more freedom to talk the way they want.
The thing is, the TDA is trying to make poker more serious. But that’s the wrong approach. There has to be an atmosphere that is fun, relaxed.
But they are like “sit down, shut the f*** up, play poker, move your phone, put your chips over here, don’t talk to nobody”.
I say, relax, man, what happened to the good atmosphere we used to have.
PL: Are they killing table talk?
DN: Well, I’m a table talker, and I’m experienced, but even I'm not sure what I am allowed to say. So how is it going to be for less-experienced players?
The rules make it less interesting, less fun, less attractive to play.
DN: I’d say a little bit of both. He’s definitely a stickler, and he sometimes tends to angle-shoot.
He once shot an angle at me, too. He was angle-shooting me and at the same time accused me of it. Let’s leave it at that.
PL: Who are your favorites to be inducted into the Poker Hall of Fame?
DN: They would be John Duthie and Bruno Fitoussi.
PL: Both of which are…
DN: …not nominated, I know. The reason is I think that the board’s nominees are generally way too American-centric.
They don’t show enough respect for the growth of poker in Europe. I mean, there is more poker here in Europe now than there is in the States.
John Duthie is the inventor of the EPT, and Bruno Fitoussi is largely responsible for the poker boom in France.
He was the one who made poker in France so popular that players would come over from the United States, and I think both these guys deserve more credit for it.
In terms of the growth of poker, and the relevance it has in Europe now, I don’t understand how you can leave these two out of the list of nominees.
PL: André Akkari recently wrote about race and poker and how there are so few black players. Then again, Phil Ivey is black and he's the best there is. Is poker racist?
DN: Definitely not! One of the most important features of the game is that it is accessible for anyone. Poker is an equalizer.
At the poker table everybody is the same. It doesn’t matter if you’re fat, short, small, big, black, white, homo- or heterosexual, we’re all equal.
If you have the skill set, you will succeed. You could just as well ask, why are there so few women in poker?
PL: Why are there so few women in poker?
DN: That’s because men and women have different mind sets. In general, men like to do sports, and women are more devoted to buying shoes.
I’m not saying that one is better than the other, I’m saying that’s just how we are. Men and women are just built differently.
PL: Doyle Brunson once said, “every poker player goes broke at some point." Do you agree with this?
DN: I think that was true before the age of the internet. When I was young I went broke 20 or 30 times.
PL: According to Wikipedia, you went broke in Las Vegas once and had to go back to Toronto, when you were 22.
DN: Yes, but I went broke before that. I went broke many times. And I think that this happened to everybody particularly during Doyle’s time.
But today, with the internet, people don’t need to go broke anymore. The young players are too smart for that.
What they do is, they start playing, make some money, then grind 20 tables simultaneously, they invest the money, slowly go up in stakes, and when things go bad, they just move back down again.
In the old days, yes, you had to go broke. You had to be gutsy enough to put everything on the line and then sometimes you just lost.
PL: Did “going broke” in the old days really mean to lose your whole bankroll in one night?
DN: It meant to lose your bankroll and then ask people if they could lend you 500 bucks or 25,000 bucks so you could get back into a game you wanted to be in.
PL: We’ve seen online poker shifting from Hold’em to Omaha, then to 2-7, now to FL Omaha Hi-Lo. What’s going to be the next big thing?
DN: I’ve always been a friend of the Mixed 8-Games. That’s basically all I play when I am online. It’s just more interesting than Hold’em.
Frustrated by seconds but has at least one first this year.
If you think about it, before the poker boom, everybody played mixed games all the time and they were all limit games.
Then No Limit came around and took off. In terms of media and television, I’m sure Hold’em will keep being the number one cause it’s the most interesting to watch.
The players, though, sooner or later look at the their games and will find some of them great and interesting, so online, mixed games will become more popular.
PL: You’ve ended up second in several High Roller events lately, giving away more or less big chipleads. In retrospect, are these results wins or lost titles for you?
DN: Lost titles. I’ve had a bunch of seconds also at the WSOP and other events, and it’s pretty frustrating.
In the early days of my career, the first eight times I made a final table I won every single time. So, I guess, my luck at that time turned round and kicked me in the butt.
PL: Did you get to watch Runner Runner already?
DN: No. I hear that it’s not really about poker, and the reviews aren’t very good.
The general mistake in poker movies is they often make it too much about poker. If I would produce a movie it would be more about the characters. I wouldn’t even show the hands.
PL: Your favorite poker movie?
DN: Rounders. It’s a great movie because it is a good story. It’s not so much about the hands. There were interesting characters, and it was well acted. I think Rounders is great.
Ylitalo, a Swedish pro who had a final table and a 141st-place Main Event finish at the WSOP this summer, kept Yan is his sights by bagging up 2.1m.
Day 4 chip leader Martin Kozlov couldn't run his stack up much past yesterday's but still managed to hold onto third with 1.6m heading into the playdown to the final table.
Geilich, Rossiter, Villa-Lobos Make Things Interesting
Got a tip for a future 3-Bet? Drop a link in the comments and we'll take a look.
Today in the 3-Bet we find Tom "durrrr" Dwan finally agreeing to some specific challenge terms with Dan Cates, Daniel Negreanu takes an unexpected sideswipe at Shaun Deeb and the PokerListings coverage train leaves the station for two glorious weeks in Paris.
1) durrrr Challenge Penalties Set at $40k and Rising
Turns out a pretty precise set of conditions has been agreed to that should see the challenge fiiiiinnnnaaally finish, by our calculations, before next summer.
We think. Some stiff penalties have been put in place that will at least see Cates start recouping some of the money he seems due to make. Cliffs of the agreement:
8k hands to be played in every two-month period (eg. Sept-Oct)
Must be available to play 14 days of every two-month period
If in any two-month period arbitrators decide a player isn't fulfilling agreement $40k penalty is applied
An extra $10k is added to the $40k for each subsequent offense
Extenuating circumstances can apply at arbitrators' discretion
News to us until Daniel Negreanu suggested at EPT London he's had a couple experiences that make him think so. He's also not much of a fan of Deeb's slowroll:
"Shaun was in a situation where there was a lot of money on the table, real money, and someone was about to lose a bunch of it.
"So I think it wasn’t really classy. I know it wasn’t Shaun’s intention to do that, but it was not a funny joke ...
" ... and he sometimes tends to angle-shoot. He once shot an angle at me, too. He was angle-shooting me and at the same time accused me of it. Let’s leave it at that."
Check the full interview here. Negreanu chipped in a bonus needle via Twitter shortly after:
First hand QQ called river bet he says "Good call you win" I show then he shows flush. Must be @shaundeeb'a buddy. Re-entry time!
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