Norman Chad has navigated an almost inconceivable career in the poker world.

For the past 15 years Chad and co-host Lon McEachern have anchored the transformation of the WSOP Main Event from an old-school tournament into a bona fide ESPN broadcast.

Poker fans from across the globe have tuned in to hear Chad’s jokes about ex-wives, praise for Phil Ivey or various exclamations like “Whamboozled!”

Chad and McEachern make the game simple enough for the most casual player to follow along but exciting enough so they won’t tune out.

Outside of the broadcast booth, Chad still loves to play poker and has a special passion for split-pot games like Omaha-8.

PokerListings caught up with Chad on a break from the $1,500 HORSE event at the WSOP to get his thoughts on the current state of poker, the end of the November Nine and some of his favorite voices in poker.

PokerListings: Let’s talk about your affinity for non-Hold’em games. What do you like about them?

Norman Chad: 1. I don’t like playing Hold’em. 2. I grew up playing everything but Hold’em.

I was always playing all the other games and they’re just more fun to me. I’m not very good at Hold’em anyways but I’ve never enjoyed it.

PL: What’s your favorite game these days?

It’s between Stud-8 and Omaha-8. When I’m in a casino in LA we play a Stud-8/Omaha-8 mix so those are my two favorites.

PL: You were recently on the $111k One Drop live stream. Is that a difficult transition from produced television broadcasts?

Yeah it’s different. When I’m doing the taped broadcast I can go to the bathroom any time I want. [laughs]

It’s a whole different animal. I enjoy it. We only do Hold’em, which is a problem for me because I don’t know Hold’em. I don’t like Hold’em and I can’t analyze Hold’em. That’s why we bring in people who play Hold’em and know what they are doing.

"Poker is in a healthy spot right now."

PL: Do you think poker is in a healthy place right now?

Considering that we haven’t had online poker in the USA for several years now it’s in a much healthier spot than it could be.

Poker takes a lot of blows to the head but people still want to play. It’s in a pretty healthy place, especially world-wide.

The card rooms are doing well enough in the USA and if online was ever legal again we’d have another poker mini-boom.

PL: Do you still think that smartphones and tablets are a problem at the poker table?

It’s a big problem. Even the game I play in LA has problems with that. It’s not just the younger people either, it’s the older ones who are on their phones as well.

I go up to people and tell them, “Look to your left and look to your right. We are people. We are humans. You can talk to us.”

One of the great things about poker is that it’s a social game. It’s close to golf that way. You can just talk to people you’re playing with and have a good time.

It takes the good time out of the game if everybody’s just going to be on their laptop, tablets, phones and headphones.

I try to get people to not do that.

PL: You’ve been involved with the ESPN broadcast of the Main Event for a long time. What’s something you’d like to see happen in the tournament?

In the old days I would have liked to have seen Phil Ivey win but right now he’s dead to me since he doesn’t even show up for the WSOP at any point.

It always would have been a thrill to me to see Ivey win but I’m also always thrilled to see someone like a Chris Moneymaker or a Qui Nguyen can win the thing.

It’s two extremes.

PL: What do you think of the decision to end the November Nine?

Norman Chad at the November Nine.

It should be good for the game. The November Nine had a purpose and was good for the game in its own way. I think most people are not happy with the 100-day layoff.

The November Nine was good for some marketing purposes and the taped telecast leading up to it but to finish it all in the summer now and still have a two-day layoff between the final table is great.

The big benefit also is that we’re now live on ESPN for the whole Main Event. You still get the same three-day final table, it’s just in July.

PL: Do you have any highlights from the November Nine era?

Poker doesn’t seem like much of a spectator sport — people imagine gritty backrooms — so to be in the Penn & Teller theater gave it a whole different feel.

Everyone had like a hundred people in the audience, dressed for the occasion. It felt more like rugby or a College football game. That was great to have.

PL: Is there anything you miss from the old days of poker?

When I started doing this I had no history in tournament poker but I miss Binion’s Horseshoe. I missed it even when we were still there. It just had the feel of old Las Vegas. It had the feel of gambling.

It also had a little urine smell sometimes but it just felt like old Las Vegas. Gritty gambling. It was downtown. I miss Binion’s.

PL: You and Lon McEachern are basically the original poker commentators. Do you listen to other broadcasts? If so, which ones do you like?

I listen to almost all of them. It’s a fairly small community. I listen to the EPT and I love James Hartigan and Joe Stapleton. Stapes does a lot and I love all of it.

I watch the World Poker Tour, not as much as the others, but I’ve always loved listening to Mike Sexton. I wish I could have his voice. There’s something about it. It just sounds like poker.

Now I watch Poker Night in America also where Stapes shows up with Chris Hanson. I like that.

Most of the other guys I really enjoy. I also love Ali Nejad and Nick Schulman who have done the Super High Roller Bowl. They both do their jobs better than Lon and I do our jobs so maybe something bad will happen to them. [Laughs]

PL: How much longer do you see yourself commentating on poker? Have you considered retirement at all?

Mike Sexton has the most "poker" voice?

I have no idea. When we were doing it for the first year I thought that would be it. Then I thought I’d be done after five years.

I mean when we started there was no poker on television. So why would we be doing more? Who’s going to watch poker on television?

I thought I would do it for five years because that’s generally how long I do things in my creative life. Now it’s been 15 years and I’m qualified to do nothing else at this point. [Laughs]

Since I’m still in my 50s I can do it for awhile before having to retire.

PL: Do you still enjoy it?

I still enjoy it. I love doing broadcasts. It’s creative. It’s entertainment. I love doing that.

If we were just doing poker analytics and strategy — I’m out of the booth. I can’t do that and I don’t enjoy watching that.

I enjoy doing it this way. It’s just a lot of fun.

PL: One last question. Remind me, what’s the deal with passing out Starburst at your table?

Who wants Starburst?

I started the Starburst a few years ago. I used to bring it for a snack. Sometimes these tournaments feel like a cemetery or a morgue.

People are too serious. I found out that when you offer Starburst early on it works like a cocktail. Everybody loosens up.

Generally, in tournaments, I offer people Starburst. I tell them sometimes not to eat them and keep them as a lucky Starburst.

I’ve had people come up to me to tell me they want another Starburst because they cashed last time they got one.

It just makes the table feel better. We should be having a good time.

I’m not a paid sponsor either. Starburst just does the job very cheaply.

The PokerListings Daily 3-Bet is a trim-cut suit, a mandarin-orange tie and the aura of a true afternoon poker news swashbuckler striding back into the tournament room.

Got a tip for a future edition of the 3-Bet? Drop us a line in the comments.

Today in the 3-Bet we find Gus Hansen rethinking his bluff range, Marcel Luske gets back in the sponsorship game and Daniel enjoys a good bust.

1) Bluffing Frequency, Rethunk

We've been keeping our eyes peeled for a Gus Hansen sighting at the Rio but for now it seems the call of the cash games at Bellagio is still too strong to entice him to chase some WSOP gold: 

Contemplating playing the 100K "One Drop" at the Rio - but for now it looks like I will stick with the comfort of Bobby's Room

By the sounds of it, though, it might not be long until we see him popping by for a $10k or two - or maybe even a $1,500 weekend warrior special.

Another 30K bluff gone wrong in Bobby's room - might have to rethink my bluffing frequency?

Either way we look forward to it. The more Gus at the WSOP, the better.

2) Marcel Luske Joins Team partypoker

Speaking of former fixtures at the WSOP .... Dutchman Marcel Luske was one of the first real international poker "stars" back in the day and the pinnacle of poker coolness to many with his nicely cut suits and signature upside-down sunglasses.

Back in the sponsorship game!

Fun fact: He was one of our very first interviews back in 2007 when we were just cub reporters at the WSOP and a bit awestruck by the whole atmosphere.

The audio of the interview wasn't good enough (our fault, not his) to make a piece out of it, but still. It was a cool experience.

Fans of the iconic Dutchman will be happy to hear that now, after an acrimonious split with PokerStars back in 2014, Luske is back in the sponsorship game.

partypoker announced this week it has signed Luske to its Team Pro roster which, given its throwback ideas like 'putting players first' and giving 40% rakeback, seems pretty fitting. And cool.

Expect to see the upside-down-shaded one at a partypoker Million event near you shortly. Welcome back, Marcel!

3) I'm Not Even Mad. That's Amazing!

You know things are going well for you at the WSOP when you flop the world in your first-round heads-up match, somehow lose all your equity by the river and call off despite knowing you're likely dead (and out your $10,000 buy-in) - and it doesn't even make you angry!

#WSOP #HeadsUP@RealKidPoker vs. @Amadi_17
Watch live on @PokerGO pic.twitter.com/aH0QwggBjE

We don't think we've ever seen a bustout hand with that much raw delight from the losing party in it.

Mateos, btw, advanced another round past that one and will meet, fittingly, Negreanu's pal Eric Wasserson in the Round of 32 today.

Catch all the action from the feature table on the PokerGO app, as usual, and follow the updates on WSOP.com. Tune in later today on Daniel's YouTube channel for his latest vlog.

It wasn't too long ago football stars Cristiano Ronaldo and Neymar Jr. carried the PokerStars torch around the world.

Tennis aces Rafael Nadal and Boris Becker also did their share of heavy lifting connecting sports and poker and bringing the game to the masses.

With millions of Instagram, Facebook and Twitter followers between them all and fanatical fans around the globe, it was hard to think of any bigger names or more "shining" stars to do so.

Then along came American comedian/actor Kevin Hart. And now, PokerStars announced today, the baton has been passed to fastest man in the world.

Fast, Not Just Funny

The massive signing of Jamaican sprinting legend Usain Bolt was announced today by both a post on the PokerStars blog and the below Twitter post from Bolt, who threw the gauntlet down to 'little man' Hart:

I'm all in @PokerStars. Watch your back @KevinHart4real pic.twitter.com/ncFf0Rnmx0

That's funny on a couple of levels but also a pretty clear hint there've been a couple of key words up on the PokerStars marketing white board for a while now:

It certainly speaks to PokerStars' continued shift towards the recreational player and, much like Bolt himself, comprises a big part of the holy trinity that poker achieves at its best:

"PokerStars is a winner," Bolt said in the release, "and I'm happy to join Kevin in helping to bring poker and PokerStars to the masses.

"It's a challenging game that's fun, social, and competitive, so I'm pleased to be able to introduce it to my fans and to people around the world."

According to the release Bolt "will represent PokerStars in marketing campaigns and live appearances geared toward introducing new audiences to poker"

"Usain Bolt is a fierce competitor,' added PokerStars Head of Corproate Communications Eric Hollreiser, "who pushes his game to the limits. But he's also one of the most-liked athletes in the world. His strong global following and winning personality will help us to introduce poker in a fun, social and fast way."

Kevin Hart already making for a good time.

Hart/Bolt Make Formidable Duo

Beyond their endearing Schwarzenegger/Devito height difference the duo of Bolt and Hart is a powerful one.

Hart's 52.6 million (!) Instagram fans have already been exposed to his joy-filled poker exploits at the PSC Bahamas, PSC Monaco and the $300k Super High Roller Bowl and he's been more than generous with the poker retweets to his 34.4m (!) Twitter followers.

While Bolt's Twitter followers are a 'paltry' 4.7m and his Instagram sits at 'just' 6.9m, it's hard to think of a more universally loved or acclaimed athlete.

Bolt is also at the tail end of his stunning athletic career (rather than right in the middle of it like Ronaldo and Neymar), which should give him ample opportunity to both work on and promote the game.

The back and forth between the two should also be memorable, as Hart already has fired back:

1st of all...ur slow as shit. 2nd of all.... poker is my world so be careful. P.S I have 3 gold medals from my church track team #Boom https://t.co/ymkDOrkoXi

A few more details on the signing here.

We kill 1.2 billion animals a week to fill our bellies.

But we never see these animals outside of a baby’s bedtime story book.

The sterile process that deals with the cull is deliberately invisible because, if it were right in our face, it would create a problem the next time we sat down to eat a freshly fried fillet.

I'm beginning to think the same thing happens in poker. We have all heard tales of the near extinction of the recreational poker player at the fingertips of the professional grinders dominating the food chain.

But have you ever seen a recreational poker player? They don’t appear in my Google Alerts emails on searches for poker. I don’t see their faces on most poker media sites.

There are no names, no faces and no stories. So I started to think they were a myth. A damsel in distress created by online poker rooms as an excuse to improve EBITDA at the expense of customer value.

What the Hell Do They Look Like?

Most online poker rooms offer a two-pronged attack when it comes to a marketing blitz. They either invite you to try their new bells and whistles, or their story is designed to show you why you should choose them over the competition.

Who is the rec player?

But wouldn't it be smarter to begin the journey with the customer? And if that customer is a recreational poker player, then isn't that the place to start saying once upon a time?

Marketing and branding guru par excellence, Bernadette Jiwa, suggests that to start telling better product stories we should:

What she is preaching is 100% pure golden empathy and that creates better experiences for our customers. But the first step is finding a recreational poker player.

What the hell do they look like?

I’m Spartacus! No, I’m Spartacus!

I cried watching that movie.  But I digress. I am a recreational poker player; or more accurately, I was a recreational poker player.

I began playing poker in the pub with my friends because they are boring without something to do. It was all about the money for me. I was a married man with a young son when I began playing. I was deep in debt and couldn't see a way out.

Poker came along and shone a flashlight. It was the easiest way I could make money without putting in any serious mental or physical work.

My priority back then should have been my family. But it wasn’t. I used to scream at my wife that I was playing poker to get us out of debt, but it had become more than debt after a year or so.

It became my community - a way for me to rise through some invisible ranks of hierarchy. Winning felt good. I played online and live and loved them both.

'Winning felt good'

I was a winner in the live cash games and tournaments. I was a winner in online MTTs. But I was a big loser in the online cash games where I would spend most of my time playing 50c/$1 and $1/$2.

That Was All I Ever Wanted

I focused on cash games because I had a family. Playing tournaments is a sure-fire way to end up in the divorce courts.

I played once or twice a week in a local home game. The game was £1/£1 Dealers Choice (DC) and I wouldn't miss it for the world.

I began playing on partypoker and then Full Tilt. I had a brief stint on PKR, moved to Genting, and then ended up on PokerStars.

I liked PokerStars because the interface was beautifully simple. There were always games and the MTTs were so big I once won $10,000 playing in an $11 buy-in tournament.

The only poker room I ever had any relationship with was PKR. I would email them, and they would email me back, and that was all I ever wanted.

I never felt like a loyal customer, other than at PKR, and that was only because they kept throwing bonuses at me. The only relationship I had with other online poker rooms were the spam-like emails asking me to play some silly game and win a million bucks.

Any one of these poker rooms could have had a loyal customer if I felt seen or heard. I was always interested in the online satellites for the big live events. But it was always a pipe dream to get a seat because the fields were so large compared to the number of available seats, so I never bothered. 

I would have liked help with my game, and also some support when I kept losing. A bankroll management tool integrated into the software would have also been very useful for me as well as a way for the site to keep me more informed within the world of poker - a more immersive and entertaining experience.

Poker is boring, after all.

I Never Cared About Rake

My biggest challenges were time to play MTTs and losing at online cash games. Sunday is the big day for poker players but it's also one of two days free from the 9-5 grind if you are a family man.

No relationship in all spam.

It's very selfish to use that Sunday to spend 15 hours playing poker before trudging into work with your eyes closed.

I would have liked someone from the company to contact me about my online cash games. Perhaps they could have suggested a new direction, therefore keeping me as a customer.

But, like I said, there was no relationship. So I just left.

I did want to be a professional poker player. I tried once. I failed once. I thought it would be cool. It was also a lazy way to make a living.

I don't care what the pros say about how hard the mental game is; it cannot be harder than working for the British Railroads 72 hours a week or working on the trash trucks.

I never cared about rake. It never interested me. The way I saw it if I wanted to play on a certain site, then I had to pay their dues or go somewhere else.

I don't play today because my values and priorities in life have changed. Playing poker for long periods of time is a waste of my life and those that exist within it.

That’s my story; here are three more.

This is Santiago Garcia Mansilla

Santiago Garcia Mansilla is a 33-year old recreational poker player who lives in Buenos Aires, Argentina. Santiago is married and has his work cut out because his wife recently gave birth to their first child.

Santiago Garcia Mansilla

Santiago is a big poker fan. Of all the hobbies he has, poker is his one pride and joy.

It’s not easy to find time to play, especially now he has a baby, but he finds time midweek and when the baby is asleep.

He always makes sure that his family comes first. His bedtime ritual consists of 45 minutes of poker before the toothbrush comes out.

There is also a live game that Santiago plays in 3 out of 4 weeks/month. There's a pool of 20-25 people and they have a leaderboard and additional prizes for the best players.

Once a year the group head to the biggest casino in South America, The City Centre Rosario, to play in the Grand Finale of the Circuito Argentino de Poker. Last year it had 1,240 entrants, a record for a live poker event held in Argentina.

Santiago prefers playing live because he likes to connect with his friends. The visceral feel of the deck, chips, and money is an important aspect of the game for him. When he plays online he feels divorced from the world and therefore it feels like the rote rhythm of a job.

When he does play online he plays on 888Poker. He will play $1-$5 SnGs, micro-stakes cash games and MTTs with buy-ins ranging between $1-$12.

888Poker gets the nod because the fields are smaller, which makes the games run faster. He likes the structures, late registration rules and can find quality games at any time. Santiago also believes the competition is stiffer on a site like PokerStars.

A Desire to Get Better, Win a Package to WSOP

PokerStars did once have Santiago's business but today he prefers to play on the second largest online poker room on this big blue planet. He would like online poker rooms to offer more satellites to live events coupled with an increase in live events in more parts of the world, particularly Buenos Aires.

Rake is important, but so is experience.

Like myself, Santiago would also like the online poker rooms to help with coaching and believes the ambassadors and team pros could be used to help in this regard.

There is a desire to become a better player, increase his bankroll, learn to play more tables and one day win a package to compete in the World Series of Poker (WSOP) Main Event.

The days of becoming a poker pro are behind Santiago. The family life has put an end to his dreams. There is also the fear connected to a career that coexists with so much variance.

Santiago is very knowledgeable about the poker industry. He has read all of the nonsense between Amaya/PokerStars/grinders. He doesn’t know if his games are flooded with pros but he does take note of the better players and tries to avoid them.

He doesn’t use a Heads Up Display (HUD) and believes only pros would use them.

Communication with 888Poker is sparse. He has exchanged emails with them, and used the online chat for deposit information, but believes they could respond quicker to his requests for information.

Rake is important to him, mainly in the live events he competes in as he thinks the online rake is acceptable at his level of play. He loves his poker books and in particular the work of Jonathan Little. He would love to one day compete in a World Poker Tour (WPT) or WSOP event in his hometown.

This is Shane Povey

Shane Povey is in his 30s and lives in Bridgend, South Wales, with his fiancée and two kids. His priority in life is his family and that means a full-time job comes before poker. Shane only plays at night when the children have gone to bed. 

Shane Povey

Shane visits the casino once a month to try his hand at the live game but he much prefers to play online because he can squeeze in far more hands. That’s important to him because he's a winning player and time is of the essence.

PKR is the site where Shane spends his time. He joined them in 2012 after watching an advert on TV marketing the niche 3D software. 

“After that, there was no going back,” said Shane.

His game improved by watching the other players he was competing with very closely. Over time he slowly moved up the stakes until he was playing high-stakes MTTs and in 2013 was named the PKR Player of the Year -- something he is very proud of.

Today Shane plays MTTs exclusively with buy-ins ranging between £50-£200. He prefers these stakes because he likes playing against players who know what they are doing.

The Allure of Community

One of the biggest allures for Shane over at PKR is their community. He sometimes plays tournaments on PokerStars but 99.9% of his action is on PKR as he believes they deserve his loyalty after showing him the same.

He wouldn’t change anything about his experience -- he loves the site that much.

Shane would love to one day become a professional poker player as it provides a freedom of time and would allow him to spend more time with his family rather than spending most of his time at work. 

The presence of pros in the game doesn't deter Shane. Instead, it spurs him on. Shane believes that it is inspiring to see the PKR pros who not that long ago were in the same situation as him. PKR has shown loyalty in the past to promote within and that is something customers like Shane value.

Shane has never used a HUD and prefers to let his raw game do the talking. He has no concerns about rake, nor does he pay much attention to the rest of the poker world outside his experience at PKR.

Povey looking for new home.

Note: I interviewed Shane before the collapse of PKR but went back to him to seek an opinion of the closure. This is what he had to say.

“I was waiting for it to happen,” said Shane. “Unfortunately, after my great years in 2013 and 2014, not long after the site had a 'facelift' where all scheduled tournaments were changed and renamed, etc., the site lost a lot of players.

"The site has changed so much in last three years and those changes have not been good. It's not good news as I spent nearly every night for two years playing on PKR and I enjoyed it. But, those changes completely threw my routine off course. I was then only playing the odd tournament here and there."

So where will Shane take his business now PKR has closed?

“I will play on PokerStars or 888 and hopefully get into a routine on one of those sites.” Shane played on PKR under the pseudonym mrsuperking.

I’m Angus Malcolm

Angus Malcolm is 36 years old and lives in the beautiful countryside of Church Stretton in Shropshire. Angus lives alone and played online poker as a hobby, using his winnings to support his interest in sports betting.

Angus Malcolm

When Angus is not playing poker he works 12-hour shifts for the NHS. When he was playing poker recreationally he would try to qualify for live festivals via online satellite qualification on both PokerStars and the iPoker Network.

Angus loves playing live poker but prefers online because his nearest casino is a 90-minute drive. Angus spent his time playing Sit 'n' Go's and MTTs and would try to qualify for higher buy-in events via the satellites and steps programs.

He would feel uncomfortable playing above $50 without using satellites. He would also play cash games up to $100 buy-in, preferring Speed/Zoom style games.

While Angus spent some time playing on PokerStars he was savvy enough to understand that there are easier games on other sites and spent most of his time playing on the iPoker network.

“I liked the rakeback and rewards and there were more fishy players," said Angus.

I asked Angus how the online poker rooms could provide more value and he said, reduce rake. One of his primary challenges playing online as a recreational player was the amount of pros in the game. Couple this with the high rake and he believes it becomes a difficult challenge for a recreational player to win money consistently.

"Rake is too high and that means 99% of players over their lifetime will struggle to make a profit in poker," said Angus.

Rakeback matters.

There was a time when Angus would have liked to play poker professionally but he believes he has too many gambling leaks. He gave it a shot in 2011, for six months, but called that time 'a monumental failure.' He admitted that he was also drinking too much alcohol at the time.

Today, Angus spends his time working on his sobriety. He told me that not drinking has created more self-awareness and believes if he hired a coach he would have a good shot at making it in the game now his life is so different. But poker doesn't align with his decision to live a more meaningful life.

“My interest in poker has gone,” Angus told me. 

Angus did try using a HUD a few years back but stopped as he believed they were more beneficial to cash game players. When asked about the effectiveness of online poker room marketing, he said:

“It’s all about sales, bonuses and getting you to deposit more money. Any correspondence I always send to spam.”

Angus was very switched on when it came to his knowledge of poker. He had read every book in print and kept pace with current news. Although Angus doesn’t play poker today, he wouldn’t put other people off playing the game.

“Play poker as a hobby and get a real job to pay the bills,” said Angus. “Only 1% of poker players will ever make enough to provide a good living. The other 99% are paying for the 1%, and the companies' rake!"

A Plea for Better Poker Stories

Do you remember those three questions from earlier?

I have just spoken to three people and chipped in myself. All four of us were anchored in our imperfect reality. Now it’s time for the online poker rooms to come and get us. Show us what our desired reality could be in the presence of your greatness.

1. Provide us with bankroll assistance

2. Provide us with a reasonable rake

3. Provide us with a realistic path to live events

4. Provide us with a community

5. Understand that offering poker players sports betting and casino solutions under one wallet isn’t always good value for the players

6. Stop spamming; start talking

7. Teach us to be better players

8. Support us when we lose

9. Continue providing us with games that we can play in the midst of changing nappies and spending time with our loved ones

10. But most of all, see us, hear us. And make us feel like we exist by communicating with us at our level, taking into consideration our imperfect reality. 

As a recreational poker player, what do you want?

By the time Annette Obrestad was 19 years old she’d already won a WSOPE Main Event, finished runner-up in EPT Dublin and amassed over $2.4m in live tournament earnings.

How do you follow that up?

It’s a question that Obrestad has been debating for nearly a decade.

“Once I won that tournament in London I was asking myself, ‘What’s left to do?’” she said. “I’m never going to top this. It’s all kind of downhill from here.

“Unless I’m able to win the Main Event in Las Vegas or something I’m never going to get a win like that ever again. It’s just the reality of the situation.”

Still Grinding it Out

While Obrestad hasn’t been able to top winning the WSOPE Main Event in 2008, it’s not like she’s been stagnant either.

Since 2008 Obrestad has added another $1.4 million in live tournament earnings with big scores in Australia and on the European Poker Tour.

For the past few years Obrestad, now 28, has been living in Vegas and finding games where she can.

“I’ve been playing a little bit,” she said.

“Its mostly online these days. There are a few private games that have been set up on play money sites. I’m trying to get into PLO cash but it’s not really my thing.”

The online game is not exactly unfamiliar to Obrestad as she got her start terrorizing opponents as Annette_15 back when she lived in Norway.

The online game is not what it used to be, however.

“You can’t even compare online now to back then,” she said.

“It’s almost impossible these days to make a good living playing poker. It’s really hard.”

Obrestad famously won a 180-player online tournament “blind” back in 2007 (she purposely obstructed view of her hole cards) as a challenge.

Would she still be able to pull it off?

“Probably not,” she laughed. “It would have to be like a $1 Sit & Go or something.”

Growing Up in the Poker World

Talking with Obrestad you start to wonder how much longer she will play poker.

“I enjoy the game but it’s not the same,” she said.

“It feels like more of a job than it used to. I don’t have the same spark to get better. Now it’s more like, ‘Oh, I guess I will play poker.’ It’s still fun when you’re actually there though.”

Regardless of what Obrestad ends up doing as a career there’s a good chance her record as the youngest WSOP winner, at just 18 years old, will stand for quite some time.

It’s also understandable that she made some questionable financial decisions after winning £1m at WSOPE.

“I mean there are a couple of things I would have changed in terms of how to handle the money. I was young and was like, ‘Oh, money grows on trees. I’ll go buy 10 Chanel bags.’”

She doesn’t have many regrets, however.

“I wasted a lot of money on stupid shit that I shouldn’t have but at the same time I really enjoyed it and it was kind of part of the experience of winning,” she said.

“I don’t know if I would take it back. But if I won another big tournament I wouldn’t do the same thing.”

Obrestad Eyes WSOP Main Event

Obrestad said she’d tell any players her age who won a big tournament to carefully consider their actions.

“Spontaneity is not always the best course of action,” she laughed. “Just think about everything before you do it.”

For the time being Obrestad has a full schedule of tournaments planned for the WSOP and

“I’ll probably be playing somewhere every day whether it’s at the Rio or Venetian or somewhere else,” she said. “I don’t think I’ll be playing any of the $3k+ events.”

The chance to top her famous victory in London is still live, too.

“I’ll play the Main Event obviously,” she said.

There is arguably no one more qualified to talk about eSports and poker than Bertrand “ElkY” Grospellier.

Grospellier actually rose to fame in the extraordinarily competitive Starcraft scene in Korea during the early 2000s.

Eventually Grospellier was lured into the much more lucrative poker world and went on to become France’s #1 best player of all time while amassing $13.3m.

Since Grospellier left eSports, however, the scene has exploded and games like League of Legends and Hearthstone are threatening to become some of the most watched sports in the world.

Grospellier always maintained a love for eSports and even signed with Team Liquid to play on their Hearthstone squad in 2015.

ElkY is off to an amazing start at the 2017 World Series of Poker and finished second in the massive $111k buy-in One Drop High Roller for $2.2 million.

PokerListings grabbed ElkY for quick Q&A during a break from the non-stop WSOP.

PokerListings: How nice was it to start the summer off with that massive $2.2m score in the $111k One Drop?

Bertrand “ElkY” Grospellier: It definitely feels great. It was the biggest event of the series and you’re already up a lot. Just being chip leader on the main stage for two and a half days was great. Feels awesome.

PL: Does it give you the right mindset for the summer?

Yes for sure. Even though we always try to play out best, when you’re running good you tend to play better. It kind of snowballs.

I’ve been having some pretty good results — in Monaco, Sochi and even SCOOP — it’s kind of like training for this. You always feel good when you make a deep run.

I feel more confident now.

PL: What’s it like for you — someone who came from video games — to see the massive rise of eSports over the last few years?

I always knew it was coming. I was a pro Starcraft player in South Korea for like five years. Back then it was the only place you could be a professional gamer and I was the first European to go there.

I think this is only the beginning. It’s just going to get bigger and bigger. It’s definitely gonna replace regular sports because — for everyone who grew up playing video games — it’s much more interesting to watch eSports.

I might be one of the rare ones but I can’t enjoy watching regular sports. It’s just so slow and boring. There is so much more going on in eSports.

The new generation has grown up playing much more video games than going outside and playing basketball or football or whatever.

PL: Do you consider online poker an eSport? The lines between the two seem very blurred these days…

"To be honest, eSports are more exciting to watch."

There are a lot of similarities for sure. There are a lot of skills that you need to be successful at poker that are also good in eSports.

It’s a bit different because poker is such an old game that it’s a great game to play but — to be honest — it kind of sucks to watch. [Laughs]

I love to play the game but unless it’s like my good friend at a final table I hate watching it. It’s pretty boring when people take forever to play.

Even without tanking it can just go for hours with nothing happening, which would never happen in Starcraft of League of Legends.

Poker could be considered an eSport by definition because of the skills it takes to compete but the fact that it’s hard to watch in its current state prevents it from attracting more people.

PL: Can you talk a little bit about the unique deal PokerStars has with Team Liquid?

ElkY taking down a Hearthstone tournament.

I actually joined Team Liquid before PokerStars even had a deal with them. Then PokerStars sponsored the entire team.

There are actually a lot of Team Liquid members that played poker before they got into eSports.

There’s just so much synergy between them.

There are a lot of gamers who enjoy playing poker in their spare time and the same goes for poker players.

The eSports demographic is a huge potential for poker.

PL: How goes the Hearthstone grind?

Lately I’ve been playing a little bit less actually. I’ve been really, really busy with poker with trips to Macau, Monaco, Sochi and SCOOP on PokerStars. Now its the WSOP so I haven’t played too much Hearthstone.

Balancing poker and Hearthstone.

I will play when I get a little more free time and I can compete in tournaments. Also in Hearthstone you need to play a lot to qualify for tournaments.

I really want to be good at Hearthstone so I don’t want to just play for a few hours a week. That’s kind of pointless.

PL: People complain about RNG in Hearthstone. Is there too much luck in the game?

It’s very difficult to say. The best players are always going to complain, you know. It’s just like poker where everyone complains about bad beats.

eSports players complain because they know designers can actually make changes to the game.

If there was one company that actually designed poker they would constantly have poker pros coming up to them and asking them to reduce variance.

I think RNG is a good part of Hearthstone. Balance is always going to be difficult but I think it’s in a good place right now.

There were some times where RNG might have been a bit too high. Back in the time of Dr. Boom and [Piloted] Shredder. It was sick with Shredder because it might pop out a 4/4 minion or a 1/1. It was a bit much.

Those damn Hearthstone bad beats.

It’s really hard to find the perfect balance because you want to have RNG in the game.

You want anybody to be able to win. That’s what makes the game great, like poker.

There are bad beats in poker but if the best player won every tournament than nobody would play.

The same 20 players would win every single tournament. No one would play. The dream would be dead. Chris Moneymaker would have never won the Main Event.

It’s important there is some element of RNG. It’s very difficult to judge the absolute perfect balance.

PL: What’s harder: Professional poker or eSports?

eSports aren't easy.

They are both really hard. They are tough in different aspects. There is much more variance in poker so that can be tougher mentally but the competition in eSports is much harder.

There are far less eSports professionals because the variance is so low. I mean there is variance in Hearthstone but its much less than poker and it’s the only game that’s even in the same neighborhood.

There is almost no variance in games like Dota 2 and Starcraft. If you practice a lot at those games you are going to win. That makes it really, really competitive.

They are both really tough but maybe eSports is a little bit harder just because the sheer number of people that can actually make a living out of it is much, much smaller.

Twitch is making it a bit easier but its still very tough.

PL: Finally can you talk for a second about that bluff you ran on Phil Hellmuth with J-10 in the One Drop?

That bluff was so sick, actually. [Laughs]

"It's awesome to bluff Phil Hellmuth on TV."

I knew that Hellmuth was the only player in the last 20 that I could have bluffed that way. He was the only guy that would re-raise the flop with a queen.

I kind of knew he had a queen when he raised the flop. I didn’t think he would fold a queen on the turn because it’s just so strong.

I also haven’t been out of line against him in a long while. I’d also been playing a bit on the tight side.

I knew he likes to make big hero folds, so my plan was to check-raise the turn and then I was going to shove the river.

I would have never thought that he would fold the turn. It was just so crazy to bet the queen on the turn and than fold it.

It was crazy because Dario [Sammartino) bluffed him like 10 minutes before but because the live stream had a 30-minute delay he hadn’t seen it.

He got bluffed in back-to-back pots and he went completely nuts. It feels pretty awesome to bluff Hellmuth and watch him blow-up, especially on TV. [Laughs]

The PokerListings Daily 3-Bet is a fresh-pressed Americano, some flippy-floppys and a bobbing, spectacular view of the afternoon poker news coastline.

Have a tip for a future edition of the 3-Bet? Tell us about it in the comments.

Today in the 3-Bet we find a true hero emerging in the $10k Heads-Up, Gus commits to a High Roller and Patrik Antonius on calmer shores.

1) Everybody Loves John Smith

The $10,000 Heads-up No-Limit Holdem Championship at the World Series of Poker is one of the toughest and most talented fields anywhere.

Still kinda rooting for Charlie, tho.

The list of names that didn't even make it past the first round - Daniel Negreanu, Jason Koon, Justin Bonomo, Stephen Chidwick - can attest to that.

Not even one of the consensus best heads-up players in the world - Olivier Busquet - could make it to the final four this year.

And while three of the names that did - Adrian Mateos, Charlie Carrel and Ryan Riess - you'll likely recognize, the one you don't - John Smith - might actually be the fan favorite to win it all.

Not one of the plentiful young guns that make their livings travelling the high-stakes poker circuit the 70-year-old Smith stands out for more than just his silver hair and plaid shirt.

A Vietnam vet and Los Angeles-area card player Smith has a certain knack for crushing this one particular tournament. Last year, in fact, he finished 2nd. In 2014, he finished 11th.

He's won 11 of his last 12 matches and will face Riess in the semi-finals today for a shot at the elusive bracelet. With all respect to Riess, it's pretty clear who much of the Brasilia Room will be rooting for today.

Far and away, my favorite part about $10K Heads Up @WSOP is watching John Smith just show up and own year after year https://t.co/mYagMloTSc

Watch the semi-final and finals on PokerGO and follow the live updates on WSOP.com starting at 3pm.

2) Gus Among 84 Confirmed for WSOPE One Drop

He couldn't tear himself away from the cash games at Bellagio to play the $111,111 One Drop High Roller last week but we will get a chance to see Gus Hansen play a high-stakes tournament at least once later this year.

Here's hoping the mustache returns, too.

Hansen was among a number of new names released as confirmed participants in the 2017 WSOPE One Drop High Roller, a similarly priced €111,111 HR scheduled for Nov. 3 in Rozvadov.

With 84 names confirmed and a cap of 111 players it's pretty safe to say it'll be a sellout and one of the richest events of the year.

Also in the most recent round of confirmations were Liv Boeree and Igor Kurganov, the blazing hot Bertrand 'ElkY Grospellier, 2016 Super High Roller Bowl champ Rainer Kempe and Lauren Roberts.

Check the full list of 'reserved players' so far confirmed to play right here.

3) Antonius Kicking Back on Adriatic

One of those 84 elite players confirmed to be playing that €111,111 One Drop HR at the WSOPE?

No poker, just yachting.

Sir Patrik Antonius (he's not really a Sir, per se. But he should be).

After a comeback at the recent PSC Monaco and 888Live Barcelona we had some hope Patrik would jet to Vegas for the $300k SHRB or the $111k One Drop, but no such luck.

He did say the cash games might entice him at some point this summer - and there's always the Main Event - so we'll hold out hope we'll see him yet. In the meantime, though?

Just some chilling off the coast of Montenegro, coffee in hand #PAnicelife.

Good Morning #Montenegro #Coffee pic.twitter.com/EpT6RlL4Fr

The 2017 World Series of Poker Main Event starts on July 8 with the first of three Day 1 flights that will see thousands of players stream through the doors of the Rio.

It’s the one poker event that every player universally dreams of playing.

The $10,000 buy in plus the trip to Vegas, though, are expenses not everybody can come up with.

Thankfully, there are cheaper ways to be part of the greatest poker event in the world.

You can still qualify online until the end of June on the official WSOP satellite site, 888poker, for a fraction of the money.

How Can I Qualify for the WSOP?

If you’re not in Nevada already, 888poker is the only place to go for online WSOP qualifiers. You have a few ways to qualify for the WSOP Main Event -- some skill-based; some luck-based.

These include Steps tournaments, BLAST SnGs and additional promos. Whichever you pick, you'll need an 888poker account to play.

Create one via our 888poker review page and you'll also be eligible for a massive $888 sign-up bonus.

Climb the ladder to the Rio!

1) The Steps System

This is the most popular, and let’s say the poker player’s way to get a Main Event ticket. There are 7 stages in this system and you can enter at the one you’re most comfortable with.

Buy-ins are 1c, 10c, $1, $5, $30, and $160. At each step you can qualify for the next higher level.

At Level 6 (buy-in $160), you can qualify for many 888poker live events but also for the $888 Crazy Eights event which is 888poker’s own branded WSOP event.

Level 6 also gets you to Level 7, which is the last step you have to climb to enter the qualifying step.

Level 7 is a $1,050 satellite where you can win a WSOP Main event prize package worth $12,500. With a 12% of winning and advancing in one of these, it doesn’t get better than that anywhere.

Steps 1-6 run every day on 888poker while the Step 7 direct qualifier runs twice a week, on Thursdays and Sundays, at 10.30 PM CET.

2) The BLAST Lottery

Blast your way there, too.

BLAST is 888poker’s hyper-fast Turbo Sit-and-Go. Buy-ins range from $1 to $100 but it’s the $10 level you’re looking for to qualify for the WSOP.

The ingredients for the WSOP recipe are 4 players, $10 and very little time. Every now and again 888 will take the regular prize pool away and replace it with a $12,500 WSOP Main Event prize package.

The last time the jackpot was cracked was on June 6 when player Zouzuni from Germany found himself playing for – and winning – the ultimate trip to Vegas.

It took him just 13 minutes to win the $12,500 which gives him a profit per minute of … you do the math.

3) The Ultimate Package

There is a series of national freerolls on 888poker that all lead to a Grand Final where the winner takes a full ME prize package.

That’s right; you can get your main event journey for free. Check the All games > Tournaments > Live Events tab to find out if there are still Ultimate Package freerolls available for your country.

What’s in the WSOP Main Event package?

The $12,500 WSOP 2017 Main Event Prize Package includes

The $3,000 WSOP 2017 Crazy Eights Event Prize Package includes

Tonkaaaap’s WSOP Dream Includes You!

Newly appointed 888poker ambassador Parker Talbot is one of the most successful poker streamers on Twitch. He’s also a man with a dream.

His dream is to give somebody the chance of a lifetime so he’s started his own promotion on 888poker.

There’s a series of branded tournaments on 888 with his name on them. The last two tournaments (which are not password protected) run on June 15 and June 18; the final runs June 24.

Parker Talbot is the only poker streamer this year giving away a WSOP prize package, so don’t miss it! Find more details on these and other 888 WSOP promotions here. 

How Long Can I Still Qualify for?

The last Level 7 steps satellite runs on June 25 at 10.30PM CET. The last possible BLAST jackpot event hasn’t been announced but will be around the same time.

The Parker Talbot “Tonkaaaap’s Dream” final is runs June 24.

Apart from the Main Event package you can also win a prize package for the $888 Crazy Eights WSOP event no. 60. It’s the second time this event is on the WSOP schedule and last year the winner got there in pretty spectacular fashion.

Open an account in just a couple minutes through our 888poker review page.

Is the Indian poker boom on the verge of going nuclear?

It seems a distinct possibility after Indian-born pros Nipun Java and Aditya Sushant won the first-ever gold bracelets for the country in the $1,000 tag-team event at the World Series of Poker this week.

To commemorate the momentous occasion organizers even played the Indian national anthem the day after the win. It’s the first time the anthem has been played in the Rio and the significance was not lost on Java.

“It was definitely an emotional moment,” said Java.

“I’m really, really happy, especially for all the people who travel. I live in the United States but people who travel here… Well, everyone needs some sort of inspiration to keep coming back. This game wears you down. The bracelet came at the right time. Poker is booming in India.”

Massive Potential in India

There are a number of countries where interest in poker is threatening to explode but very few are as tantalizing as India thanks to its staggering 1.3+ billion population.

Aditya "Sushi" Sushant

“It’s kind of surprising we didn’t have a bracelet already with with the size of the population,” said Java.

Poker is currently going through some growing pains in India. The game is booming but its mostly happening in underground cash games. Poker is only legal in a handful of cities.

“If a few things go our way legislation-wise — right now India is facing the same challenges that the US is when it comes to online poker, tax issues etc — it will really boom,” said Java.

The WSOP represents a unique challenge, according to Java, because players take massive hit on their winnings.

“I think there will be a lot more people coming but the problem is that they basically withhold 30% here and it’s really hard to get that money back because of gambling laws back in India, which prohibit any money coming back to India if it’s linked to gambling,” he said.

“That deters a lot of poker players from coming because 30% is a huge amount. It basically makes it -EV to play.”

Agarwal: “Bracelet Will Make a Huge Difference”

Despite the tax issue, Indians are still coming to Las Vegas for the WSOP. In fact they are coming in bigger and bigger numbers.

Aditya Sushant and Nipun Java winner photo.

Famed Indian PokerStars Pro Aditya Agarwal, who has been coming to the WSOP for over a decade, said he’s seen a sizable bump of Indian players at this year's WSOP.

“The Indian contingent has been steadily increasing in numbers,” he said.

“This year we have our biggest group ever. Thanks to the bracelet I think next year will be huge.”

Agarwal, who’s close with Java and Sushant, said it was important not to underestimate the value of Indian players finally winning a bracelet.

“It definitely will make a huge difference for poker in India,” he said. “It was very emotional from me seeing them win.

“People root hard for me so it was amazing to see someone from India win a bracelet. There are a lot of people who follow us and this will just get more and more people excited about playing the WSOP.”

Java is particularly impressed with Indian players like Agarwal and Sushant who make the journey from India to Vegas despite the potential tax ramifications.

“These guys just want to play,” he said. “They are coming for the glory and the fame. They want to prove to society that poker is a skill game.”

Obstacles Remain for Poker in India

Even with the bracelet win, there are still some big challenges ahead for poker in India.

“Poker is definitely booming in India but these roadblocks are not small ones,” Java said. “They are big ones.”

Nipun Java

“It’s not the same as it is in Brazil or some of the other Latin American countries for instance.”

Java back home to India to play poker several times but he was mostly limited to private games while he was there.

“Only a few places like Bangalore and Goa have tournament rooms,” he said. “There is online poker though. PokerStars is there.”

Online poker operates in a grey area in India as legislatures have yet to classify it as a skill game like Rummy or Chess.

Java is of the belief that online poker helps the game, no matter where you are in the world.

“I feel like not having legalized online poker in some places is hurting the poker economy,” he said.

“I don’t think it favors the brick and mortar casinos when online poker is illegal because in the long run you need an influx of new players.

“Online poker makes it easy for new players to join and play. It’s very intimidating going to a casino to play poker for the first time.”

Similarities Between Chess and Poker Abound

Of course there’s already a skill-based game that’s taken hold of India. The country is a hotbed for the game of chess, which already has considerable poker crossover appeal.

Aditya Agarwal on a heater.

“Viswanathan Anand was world #1 for the longest time and there are a lot of young chess players there who are very, very good,” said Java. “Chess is a very well respected sport in India.”

While there’s a great deal more variance in poker the two games both reward critical thinking and smart decision making.

“There is such a huge population in India and poker kind of suits the intellectual end of it as well,” Java said.

“Most people would want to do something that brings them some kind of fulfillment. Poker matches the Indian mentality and the cultural psyche.

"There are a lot of very good chess players. Chess is a very well respected sport in India."

Ironically it’s much harder to make money in chess despite the fact it’s more widely-accepted in India.

“Only the elite few can do it,” said Java. “You have a better chance in poker, especially if the system actually supports you playing.”

Big Summer Ahead for Indian Players

It’s been a fast start for Indian players at the WSOP and they’ve already gone from zero bracelets to two in the span of one tournament.

Aditya Sushant one year ago.

In addition Aditya Agarwal added another final table appearance the very next day eventually finishing ninth in a $1,500 No-Limit Hold’em event.

According to Java there’s a reason everything seems to be falling into place for Indian players.

“I’ve noticed a huge difference in their preparation,” said Java of the entire contingent of Indian players.

“I feel that as a culture we lack a little something… like the Germans are ahead of the curve in terms of mental preparation and physical preparation. We’ve got the mental preparation so I’m trying instill that sense of doing the right things away from the table.”

Java has told fellow Indian players to avoid going out all night partying and focus on playing poker.

“I have to give props to my tag-team partner Sushi [Sushant],” he said. “He lost like 40 pounds in a year. He’s so much fitter and the results are showing. He’s playing so much better and he’s so much more focused.”

Java said that if Indian players are able to bring their A+ game than everything else will follow.

“I think it could be the summer of India at the WSOP.”

Veteran John Smith and Spanish poker prodigy Adrian Mateos faced off in the final match of the elite $10,000 buy-in Heads-Up Championship Friday night with a 48-year age gap between them.

In the end youth was served, but only barely.

After swapping the chip lead back and forth numerous times, Mateos finally landed the knockout blow by turning a flush in the final hand.

Mateos picked up his third World Series of Poker bracelet and $336,656 for the win. At just 22 years old, Mateos is the youngest player to win three WSOP bracelets.

“It feels really good for sure,” said Mateos. “I think it’s pretty hard to win three bracelets and I’m happy that I managed to do it.”

Second Runner-Up Finish for Smith

Over the course of the tournament the 70-year-old Smith became the media darling.

Incredibly it was Smith’s second back-to-back runner-up finish in the tournament. He finished second in last year’s edition for a $198k payday.

John Smith

Smith’s feat is made even all the more impressive by the fact the $10k Heads-Up tournament is considered a “pro’s event” with some of the best players in the world competing, many of whom are young stars from the online world.

“It’s really impressive,” said Mateos of Smith’s runner-up finish.

“He played really different than I expected him too. He changed his game every hand. He was really hard to read.”

Smith also finished 11th in this same event back in 2014, which means he’s nearing half a million in earnings just from this particular WSOP tournament.

At the final table Smith event developed a fervent rail who were boisterous in their support for the La Habra Heights resident.

Smith, who received the Purple Heart for his service in Vietnam, has been playing poker for more than 50 years, which means he’s been playing the game for more than twice as long as Mateos has been alive.

Mateos Enters Elite Territory

It’s staggering how much Adrian Mateos has been able to accomplish in his relative short time playing poker.

Adrian Mateos' third bracelet.

Mateos only started cashing in 2012 and won the prestigious World Series of Poker Europe Main Event for €1,000,000 in 2013. He was just 19 years old at the time.

Since then Mateos has won an EPT Main Event, an EPT High Roller and another WSOP bracelet to bring his total earnings to $9.1 million.

Mateos is currently second to Carlos Mortensen on the Spanish all-time poker earners list but he’s done it in a fraction of time.

It seems that it will only be a matter of time before Mateos takes sole possession of the all-time Spanish winner’s leaderboard.

Poker hands can take very strange runouts and rivers can cause turmoil.

This week we’ll look at a wild hand involving 888poker ambassador and three-time WSOP bracelet winner Dominik Nitsche.

At the end of the day there are two big hands in the mix but the hand is decided by a bluff.

Watch Nitsche's facial expression to guess which hand wins.

Flop to River

This is the first round of the PartyPoker Premier League in 2012. In this round the players try to qualify for the finale where the winner takes $125,000.

Two players have already busted and we’re left with the final four. Dominik Nitsche is the chipleader with 628,000. Melanie Weisner is second with 622,000.

Emir Misljimi has 314,000 and Michael Thoms has 236,000. Nitsche has just managed to bluff Misljimi and take the chiplead.

The blinds are 5000/10,000 and Nitsche now raises to 20,000 with    

Misljimi calls from the small blind while the other players fold. There's 50,000 in the middle and the stacks are 294,000.

The flop is      

Misljimi checks and Nitsche follows with a bet of 22,000. Now Misljimi check-raises to 50,000 and Nitsche calls. There's now 150,000 chips in the middle and effective stacks are 244,000.

The turn is the   Misljimi wants to take the lead but accidentally string-bets, so his bet is set to be 30,000 chips only, which Nitsche calls again. There's now 210,000 chips in the pot with effective stacks at 214,000.

The river is the   Misljimi checks, Nitsche bets 88,000 and Misljimi quickly moves all-in. Nitsche thinks about it for a while and then lets it go.

To his utter bewilderment Misljimi shows     for a set. Go to 34:30 in the video below to watch the hand play out.

Analysis

If you’ve ever wondered what commentators mean when they say “he turned his hand into a bluff,” this is a textbook example.

Starts it off with a loose raise.

The hand starts with a rather loose raise by Nitsche, who as chipleader tries to exert pressure even with a hand like 4-5s.

But then even a hand like this can turn into a monster.

Misljimi in the small bind does the right thing with his low pair for Nitsche, who's now in good shape to win this hand on almost any possible board playing in position.

The flop has something for everyone. Misljimi hits his set and Nitsche finds an open-ended and well-hidden straight draw.

Misljimi checks to the raiser, as you’d expect, and Nitsche follows up with a c-bet semi-bluff, as you’d also expect.

Nitsche represents mostly over-pairs here, if anything, but Misljimi could just fold his hand to a flop-bet if he’s missed. But the amateur has no intention to do so with his set. Instead, he goes for a small check-raise.

For Nitsche this can mean he’s looking at a set, a flush draw, or a badly played over-pair. But he obviously calls.

String Bet on the Turn

With these first skirmishes behind us and 150,000 chips in the pot, the turn 7♠ looks very safe for Misljimi. The amateur should bet around 80,000 here to give drawing hands bad odds and have a half-pot bet behind he can push with on the river.

Instead, he accidentally string-bets and the floor rules that he can only bet 30,000. This is a bet that Nitsche can always profitably call.

String raise doesn't help.

As long as his opponent doesn’t have exactly 9♦ 8♦, he has 6-8 real outs to the nuts and gets incredible 6-1 pot odds.

From Nitsche’s point of view, Misljimi’s range hasn’t changed. He might still look at either a bluff, a set, a badly played over-pair or a flush draw.

Rebel Without a Cause?

Up to here, nothing extraordinary has happened. Misljimi has to perceive Nitsche’s hand as being somewhere between decent and a draw because Nitsche raised pre-flop, called the check-raise on the flop and the bet on the turn.

Should Misljimi bet or check? What would make sense here is to go bet-fold, meaning he should bet to get money from over-pairs and other worse hands but fold to a raise.

Checking would only be slightly worse as Nitsche could well be bluffing or even check with a better set. But Misljimi decides to go for a third option, which we’ll look at in a second after we discuss if Nitsche should bet or not.

Misljimi has pretty much capped his range by checking so Nitsche can now ask himself now how many more chips he can take from a set or an over-pair.

Pot lost, jaw dropped.

Just checking would be the safe move as he obviously has a lot of showdown value with his straight. But it’s very tempting to win more chips from a weaker hand.

So, for Nitsche, betting is a perfectly fine move. But what happens next isn’t fine at all. Misljimi just moves all-in, thus turning his hand into a bluff and representing a diamond flush.

Is This a Good Move?

Now, is this a good move? It’s actually not as bad as you might think. Look at Nitsche’s range and how Misljimi’s hand plays against it.

If Nitsche has:

Bluffs – Nitsche will fold; Misljimi can’t win additional chips

Higher sets – Nitsche will probably fold; Misljimi wins extra chips as he can make the better hand fold frequently

Straights – Nitsche will fold sometimes; Misljimi wins extra chips as he can make the better hand fold sometimes

Flushes – Nitsche will almost never fold and Misljimi busts almost every time

So, at the end of the day, Misljimi’s bluff-check-raise isn’t that bad unless he’s up against a flush. It feels almost like he’s making a pretty good move here by accident.

Conclusion

Dominik Nitsche is shocked to find out he’s just folded the best hand because his opponent has turned his hand into a bluff.

Emir Misljimi oscillates between genius and madness and we can’t be 100% sure he knew what exactly he was doing.

There’s never been a poker player quite like Andy Black.

The Irishman has been cashing at the WSOP since the 90s but after busting the 1998 Main Event he promptly discarded all his possessions, traveled to England and lived in a semi-monastic Buddhist environment for the next five years.

Black came back from his self-imposed exile from poker to record the most profilic score of his career. He finished fifth in the 2005 Main Event for $1.75 million and rocketed to poker fame earning the nickname “The Monk.”

Since then Black has been in-and-out of the poker world but recently started playing a fair amount again.

Black is one of the dwindling minority that still remembers playing at Binion’s before the WSOP hit the big time, which gives him a unique perspective on the current game.

PokerListings caught up with Black on a break from the $1,500 Millionaire Maker at the 2017 WSOP.

PokerListings: How much poker are you playing these days?

Andy Black: Quite a bit but it’s in Ireland mostly. I have a one year old back home.

PL: Are you still enjoying the game?

Yeah I am. I actually went through a period where I didn’t enjoy it that much for a few years. In the last couple years I’ve started to like it again.

PL: Do you think it’s natural for players to get a bit burnt out on the game?

I don’t know if I would say natural but I’d say it is very common. You’re doing just one thing, in a way. If you don’t bring significant creativity to it then — like anything — it’s liable to become a bit of a grind. I think that’s what happened to me.

PL: Do you think the game is in a good place currently?

Yeah in some ways. I think the number of bright, young kids playing at a very high level is amazing. The mathematical nuance they brought to the game is something else.

The quality of the game these days is just astonishing. I mean I feel like a bit of a fool out there sometimes.

"Don't be a dickhead."

In terms of how people treat each other at the table: It’s gotten better recently.

I mean there still is a certain ignorance that is still prevalent. It’s simply because people who come from an online background don’t actually have to engage with people. Quite a lot will suffer as far as their social skills go.

I think that’s gotten better in the last few years though. There’s been a leveling out. A lot of those online guys have turned into live players.

The incidences of people calling someone a fish directly to their face at the table has been reduced I think.

PL: Any other wins for poker in the last few years in your opinion?

The recent introduction of the time rules was well overdue. In a sense it’s just not about time, it’s about people having the right to be a dickhead.

The old time rules encouraged people to be more of a dickhead. It sort of legitimized it.

Generally I think the game is in a pretty good place. I just wish people weren’t so smart, you know?

PL: Is it going to be a problem going forward that the skill level is so high?

It makes things difficult but I suppose not having online poker legal in the USA has made the WSOP softer.

I think the standard of play in European poker tournaments is much higher. Higher than here.

PL: You’ve always been really into meditation. Is that still a big part of your life?

Andy Black back in 2007

I don’t really need to meditate anymore. [Laughs]

No. I’ve continued doing it. I’m actually going to be teaching over here in Montana of all places for a few days just before the Main Event.

It’s more like guiding. I’m not really into all this “teacher” kind of stuff but I can’t think of a better word.

I think I’ve hit the point in fairly recent times where instead of needing something, I’ve got something to offer.

That’s interesting to me.

PL: Is it fulfilling to get to that point?

I guess yeah. I suppose the true nature of any real spiritual path is letting go of your bullshit or confusion and I don’t think that’s exclusive to Buddhism.

So paradoxically one feels less like you’ve actually attained anything. If that makes any sense.

Anyone out there who is looking for something… There’s preliminary stuff you can do where you try and develop and learn and explore but at a certain point beyond that, it’s not about that anymore.

PL: You’ve been coming to Vegas for a long time. Is there anything you miss about the old days before Moneymaker and the boom?

The late David "Devilfish" Ulliott.

Being younger? [Laughs]

PL: Anything else?

In some ways maybe that sums it up. I remember when I first went to Binion’s and you had Devilfish selling jewelry at one of the tables. You just don’t get that now.

The local coke dealer would also be one of the dealers at the table. I had a giant nose, funnily enough.

There was lots and lots of that kind of stuff, yeah? But maybe that’s just about age. To people who are in their early 20s everything is all here.

One of the funniest things I remember is that there was this bar at Binion’s where all the girlfriends would wait and hope that one of their blokes would win something so that they could get a few quid to have a few drinks or something to eat.

Things were pretty tight around then. I mean in Ireland if one guy entered the poker room and you didn’t actually know him the entire room would turn around and look at him.

If that guy ended up winning we were all fucked.

PL: How much of the WSOP will you play?

I’ve actually booked a couple of flights because I have a one year old at home. I was actually only going to come over for like 20 days and make two trips but my wife and kid are doing well so I’m hoping to stay for the whole thing.

If I get a call, I’ll go back, though.

It’s really good to be here. I feel like I’ve got a chance at something, you know.

Neymar’s contract with online giant PokerStars may be finished but his passion for poker remains.

The Brazilian football superstar stopped by the 2017 World Series of Poker on Saturday with an enormous entourage to play some cards.

The renowned striker skipped the actual WSOP and went directly to the VIP King’s Casino cash game section where he was joined by Brazilian poker pros Andre Akkari and Felipe “Mojave” Ramos.

Organizers set up a special two-table Sit & Go so that Neymar could mix it up with his buddies.

Unfortunately for Neymar he was actually knocked out of the tournament early and left everyone else to battle for Brazilian supremacy.

No $10k Main Event Seat This Time

It’s not the first time that Neymar has made an appearance at the WSOP.

Felipe Ramos and Neymar.

Exactly one year ago Neymar played another special two-table Sit & Go at the WSOP and actually won the tournament to take down a $10,000 Main Event seat.

Neymar never actually played in the Main Event but there’s always this year.

That wasn’t Neymar’s first appearance either, however, as he showed in 2015 just to take in the atmosphere.

Neymar has a long-standing love of poker and regularly posts photos from his home games.

It’s what led PokerStars to sign him and fellow footballer Cristiano Ronaldo in 2015.

Earlier this year PokerStars ended its sponsorship agreements with Neymar and Ronaldo and ended up going in a different direction by signing comedian Kevin Hart and Olympic sprinter Usain Bolt.

WSOP a Magnet for World-Class Athletes

Neymar is just the latest in a long line of athletes to show some love for the WSOP. Earlier this year swimmer Michael Phelps played in the $10k Tag-Team event with Antonio Esfandiari, Jeff Gross and Brian Rast.

Neymar in Barcelona.

The NBA’s Paul Pierce has played the WSOP numerous times as has NHL goaltender Roberto Luongo.

In fact Neymar isn’t the only footballer to make an appearance at the WSOP this year. Earlier this week German striker Max Kruse played the $1,500 2-7 Lowball event.

It’s unclear if Neymar will be making any more appearances at the WSOP. Neymar still has some time before the La Liga starts again.

Neymar has been on somewhat of a California swing, taking in a couple Golden State Warriors games then making an appearance on Jimmy Kimmel Live.

Neymar performed a trick shot on Kimmel where he kicked a soccer ball over Hollywood Boulevard and into a waiting soccer net.

After Kimmel, Neymar hopped on a private jet to Las Vegas to meet up with his poker friends.

Here’s a collection of photos of Neymar and friends in the private cash game area at the WSOP:

Gordon Vayo won $4.6 million last November on the biggest poker stage in the world.

It was not the result he was looking for.

Vayo finished runner-up to amateur poker player Qui Nguyen, who took down an astronomical $8 million, in the 2016 WSOP Main Event.

The November Nine has churned out numerous one-hit wonders over the years but Vayo is not one of them.

He’s since recorded several massive scores to boost his lifetime live tournament earnings to $6.2 million and that’s not including the enormous online tournament he won for $692k last month.

PokerListings caught up with Vayo on a break from the $1.5k Millionaire Maker to get his thoughts on the end of the November Nine, the cost of living in San Francisco and whether he harbors any regret over the Main Event final table.

PokerListings: What have you been up to since finishing runner-up in the Main Event?

Gordon Vayo

Gordon Vayo: I’ve been placing a decent amount of poker. I haven’t been traveling a ton.

I moved from San Francisco to LA to play a little bit more live. I did go out of the country to play SCOOP and stuff.

PL: How are you liking LA?

I like it a lot so far. I didn’t really know what to think going in.

I moved because SF just become unnecessary. I love the city but it’s just super, super expensive and there’s not that much poker there so something had to give.

PL: How do you look back at the Main Event final table? It’s an amazing accomplishment finishing second but obviously not quite what you were looking to do.

It’s definitely surreal looking back at. It was a one-in-a-lifetime experience. Obviously for like six months after the final table I didn’t go a day without thinking about how it all played out.

It was such a huge stage that it was definitely devastating at the time but you start to come to terms with the fact it was basically one final table and one heads-up match basically.

You can’t get too hard on yourself. There were a few hands I [regretted]. People were very critical of my overall strategy and I actually think my strategy was pretty sound. I just failed to execute on a couple specific hands that really made the difference.

Coming to terms with those hands was the most difficult part for me. I kind of disappointed myself I felt like. At the end of the day I still feel that way a little bit.

PL: Do you think pressure played a part?

The pressure was absolutely fucking insane. I had my whole family and friends there. It might have affected me a little bit.

I knew if I made a huge mistake I’d never be able to live with myself and that might have hindered me heads-up a little bit.

Gordon Vayo heads-up in the Main Event.

At the same time I would have been more devastated if I looked back and there was one glaring mistake where I was like, “God, what the fuck did I just do in that spot?”

There were two or three hands where I definitely should have called. It’s just one of those things.

I can get super critical of myself but the tangible effect the money has on your life definitely helps you get over it.

Your life doesn’t change immediately but once a couple things happen you’re like, “Holy shit, I would never have been able to this without finishing second in the Main Event.”

Then you start to appreciate things a little more. I was so lucky to get there. I can’t get upset about the situation. I was only disappointed in myself. I was never feeling sorry for myself. In a way that’s the hardest part because the voice in your had is never going away.

PL: You’ve had some success in other tournaments outside the Main Event. Did that give you a sense of validation?

No one-hit wonder.

Yeah I had one that was actually in the Main Event layoff so that was really nice but the online one was the most satisfied I’ve ever been after winning a tournament, even though it was less money.

In my head I’d let myself down to a certain extent on this massive stage. So that was really vindicating for myself.

I think I’ve gotten top two in last five tournaments I’ve played where their was $1m for first-place.

PL: William Kassouf dominated the coverage on ESPN. Did you have any thoughts about that watching it on ESPN?

Not specifically. The coverage is what it is. At the final table a producer came out and said something about how they edit things.

He literally apologized to certain people who thought the coverage might have been skewed a little bit. He said that was just the way they had to it, they only had a certain amount of time and they’re trying to appeal to a mass audience.

I get that.

It’s a lot different seeing an hour or two of it here and there opposed to being there for 24 hours straight.

PL: They got rid of the November Nine. What do you think of that decision?

William Kassouf dominated the 2016 Main Event narrative.

I mean it was a one-time experience for me. It’s not like I was there year-after-year and got used to the three month break.

I think this is more organic. The only reason they ever went to that model was because they were trying to keep up with the TV coverage.

I think this is the way it’s supposed to be I think.

The other way created a different dynamic. There was so much hype and you had so much time to think about things.

That’s good and bad. It gives you time to prepare. Ultimately I don’t think you should really get that time.

It was the only tournament in the world that was like that. It was just a weird oddity. It wasn’t really necessary. It’s probably good that it’s gone, in my opinion. It wasn’t really an organic thing.

PL: Would it have been to your advantage if it just played out?

Cliff "JohnnyBax" Josephy

I don’t know. I was so exhausted. Maybe slightly but second is an amazing outcome. That worked out great. Maybe though.

I think Cliff [Josephy] and I were the experienced players at the final table.

It’s tough to say.

The variables of playing the Main Event final table are just so different. You build up hours of intuition in certain environment and then you go to the final table and it’s not even remotely close.

It’s an entirely different experience. It will be interesting to see how it plays out this year.

Most of what I can remember has been the November Nine.

PL: Was it special to play the last one ever?

Sure. It was cool.

I don’t take any pride in it or anything but it’s cool that people will maybe look back at that final table just because it was the last one.

For the first time ever, the World Series of Poker will host an event in Argentina.

Further expanding the cooperation between the WSOP and 888poker, the Casino Iguazu has been picked as the next new host casino for the WSOP Circuit.

The Iguazu Falls are located on the border between Argentina and Brazil and the most spectacular part of it is known as the “Devil’s Throat."

It’s going to be the most spectacular setting for a WSOP Circuit event and six championship rings will be awarded.

$1k Main Event + Side Events

The schedule is now in the making but what’s already known for sure is that there will be six Championship rings to win.

The famed Crazy Eights side event will make an appearance and the highlight of the week will once more be the $1,000 Main Event.

While the lineup itself will be enticing, the area in which the series will take place is truly breath-taking.

“Iguazu Casino provides a spectacular location for the first ever WSOP Circuit Event in Argentina," said Fernando Bianchi, Marketing Director at the Casino Iguazu.

"Located just minutes away from the Iguazu falls, one of the Seven Wonders of the World, the famous casino will be organizing the event along with 888poker.” 

“With a tropical environment where visitors are welcomed with warm temperatures throughout the year, Casino Iguazu has been one of the most well-known entertainment centres in South America for more than twenty years.”

“Widely acknowledged as one of the leaders of amusement and sophistication at an international level, the luxury facilities are already in motion to welcome players who will battle for this chapter of the most important Poker Series of the planet.”

The 5-Star Grand Resort and Spa is just 15 min away from Iguazu Falls and can be reached through two airports on the Argentinian and the Brazilian sides.

888poker Further Conquers South America

In the second year of cooperating with the WSOP this might be the greatest live adventure yet.

“The first ever WSOP circuit in Argentina is the latest development for the Series,” WSOP Executive Director Ty Stewart added. “The WSOP Circuit continues to expand throughout the world and we are thrilled to reach South America with this exciting event in Argentina.

"We are optimistic the event will be well supported and we can continue to host bigger and better events each year."

Having ventured out to Brazil last year, Argentina is another addition to the global roster of countries that host 888Live events.

“888poker is delighted to have renewed our WSOPC sponsorship for the second year running," said Senior Vice President & Head of B2C at 888 Holdings, Itai Pazner, "as part of our ongoing mission to expand 888poker’s presence in the South American market.

“This renewed partnership is testament to our increasingly dominant position in the industry and our commitment to making live poker accessible and affordable to as many players possible, the world over.

“We are very excited and proud to be bringing the most popular poker series in the world to the renowned Casino Iguazu, one of the most acclaimed casinos in South America.

"This is an amazing opportunity to be part of the world’s biggest and most prestigious live tournament, from as little as 1¢. I wish all our players the best of luck!”

As always, you have the chance to qualify for this live event for as little as 1 cent if you make your way through the 888 steps system. More information about the schedule and events will follow shortly.

Create your own 888poker account through PokerListings and you’ll be eligible for an $888 bonus and satellites only open to PokerListings players.

The PokerListings Daily 3-Bet is a devastating river, a slow walk home but nothing but hope left for the dog days of afternoon poker news summer.

Want something specific mentioned in a future 3-Bet? Tell us in the comments below.

Today in the 3-Bet we find a recurring trend at this year's WSOP, solace in losing in poker and one veteran pro's way to stop the bleeding.

1) Rich Get Richer at WSOP

We're 20 or so events in to the 2017 World Series of Poker and, much like every year, a couple of notables trends have started to develop.

Lot of this going on.

One you can bank on almost every year? Amurica is dominating both the bracelet and money leaders list with 15 (of 18) champs hailing from the US and A.

The $27m in combined prize money is also more than every other country put together - the next closest being the $2.5m won collectively by players from France ($2.2m of which came from ElkY).

Another intriguing outcome so far? 10 of the 18 winners have won a WSOP gold bracelet before - a fairly astounding percentage.

Included among the repeat bracelet winners are Upeshka Da Silva, Doug Polk, David Bach, David Pham, Abe Mosseri, Frank Kassela (a former WSOP POY no less), David Singer and Adrian Mateos.

First-time bracelet winners also include Liv Boeree, Igor Kurganov, Nipun Java, Aditya Sushant and former Nov. 9er John Racener, which is certainly giving a pro-heavy lilt to the bracelet list this year.

If you're looking to make a bet on that continuing, odds are definitely high we'll see another familiar name sporting some new gold when Event #22, the $10k 2-7 Lowball Championship, finishes. Check out this Top 10 with 30 players left:

1. Jon Turner 367,300
2. Mike Leah 361,500
3. John Monnette 265,400
4. Robert Mizrachi 255,000
5. Shaun Deeb 230,700
6. Xavier Kyablue 228,800
7. Phil Galfond 223,100
8. Mike Watson 218,600
9. Nick Schulman 186,000
10. Darren Elias 179,400

That's a good 12 bracelets right there. Lingering below them are Mike Gorodinsky, Jesse Martin, Paul Volpe, Erik Seidel, Chris Ferguson and Jeff Lisandro, which should make for one hell of a final table.

As always, follow along with the live updates on WSOP.com and watch the live streaming on the PokerGO app.

2) A - B > 0

With literally 20,000+ combined tournament entries so far and, as you see above, just 18 winners there's another trend you'll find at this and every WSOP.

Losing got you bummed? Take H(e)art!

Losing. Lots and lots of losing. It's the nature of tournament poker, of course, and a nice cash can be just as rewarding as a final table to those in it just for the fun of the game.

If you're a poker pro used to coming out on the better end of variance, though, the losing can take its toll. And dramatically effect your enjoyment/experience for the rest of the summer.

If all of the losing has got you teetering on tilt, esteemed poker author Tommy Angelo has the article for you to read today up on CNBC.com dealing with the age old question of 'Would I rather play great and lose or play bad and win?'

The answer, of course, is win play great, and you've likely heard it all before, but it's good to remind yourself every now and again whatever level of poker you play. Have a go again right here.

3) The Long Goodbye

That's one approach to losing repeatedly in tournament poker. UK poker icon Barny Boatman has another good one:

I'm taking a break from tournament poker in order to spend more time with my money.

After Swedish poker queen Sofia Lövgren final tabled 888poker's flagship tournament for the second time this past weekend, she's ready to take on Sin City.

The “Whale” is the biggest buy-in Sunday Major on 888poker with a buy-in of $1,050 and a guaranteed prize pool of $150,000.

Last weekend 121 players bought in to build a prize pool of $168,000 and a first-place prize of $38k.

888pker ambassador Sofia Lövgren came as close as you can to claiming that first prize but after almost nine hours of play succumbed to Swiss winner fishermen90.

It was a very tough tournament with highly skilled players at the tables – Dominik '888Dominik' Nitsche, Parker '888Tonkaaaa' Talbot, Jonathan 'Monster_dong' Karamalikis, anteen, Gr33nApples, Nicolas 'PKaiser' Fierro, Graftekkel, Trollkonst8 and other 888 regulars were all there.

It was a motivating experience for the enigmatic Swede, who now feels ready to take on the 2017 World Series of Poker. 888poker caught up with her yesterday.

Big result heading into Vegas.

888: Why did you decide to sign up for this tournament? What’s special?

Sofia Lövgren: The Whale is one of my favorite Sunday tournaments online. It recently got a new structure 2 weeks ago and I decided to check it out, and I like it!

It's highly competitive with the best online tournament players combined with qualifiers. Makes for really fun poker with lots of 3-betting, 4-betting and mind games!

888: What is your deepest run for this tourney?

SL: 2nd place is my deepest run in The Whale, and I have placed 4th before too. I have yet to win it! Hopefully next week, ha!

888: What was the biggest or most important hand for you from the tournament? Please describe it for us and tell us why it was such a game changer!

SL: One really important hand where I got lucky was with A9 vs JJ, where I got trip nines on the river and on the bubble for a big double up!

Then another important hand was early in the tournament where I got a full house with pocket 4s on a T3s4sQ3 board where I made a big over bet on the river to get called by KT to boost my stack.

888: Who was the player you felt like you needed to worry from the most in the late stages? 

SL: There were 2 big stacks at the final table (fishermen90 and pullztrigger) and they had most of the chips while 4 others were very short stacked.

I had a stack in between and tried to avoid the big stacks at the beginning of the final table since I didn't want any flipping or cooler situation vs a big stack.

I was cognizant of ICM with the short stacks still in. Fishermen90 played very well and was the big chip leader most of the final table, keeping pressure on all players. He was 4-1 chip lead into heads up and I didn't manage to catch up to him.

Due for deep run in Main?

888: What's next in your plans? Next tourney, cash-game?

SL: I'm playing lots of live cash games lately in Macau and plan to do so for the next 10 days before flying to Vegas for WSOP. Most of the Sundays I play online tourneys as preparation for WSOP.

I plan to play around 10 WSOP NLHE Events, starting from the 24th of June with the WSOP Monster Stack and then finishing with the WSOP Main Event!

-----

If you want to play in the main event, too, take your shot at qualifying on 888poker. There are several ways to qualify but time is running out!

If you'd like to play this Thursday's exclusive PokerListings $22 qualifier for a $3,000 WSOP trip to play the $888,888 Crazy Eights, create your own 888poker account here!

The PokerListings Daily 3-Bet is a banner on the wall, a familiar-looking face on your right and the sudden realization you're living your afternoon poker news dream.

Got a tip for a notable piece of poker news fit for a 3-Bet? Tell us about it below.

Today in the 3-Bet we find one-half of the Galfond family cashing at the WSOP, Doyle changes his mind and a real-life flashback to a final-table legend.

1) Galfond Goes Deep!

After yesterday's big hype of the potential talent on the $10k 2-7 Lowball Championship final table, we saw that more or less delivered as they hit the final nine yesterday.

The other Galfond.

Bracelet winners John Monnette, Mike Gorodinsky and Paul Volpe all made it into the final 9 along with major talents Mike Leah and Darren Elias.

Surprisingly not in that final nine, though, is one Phil Galfond, who slipped out of the Top 10 and busted in 21st yesterday - out of the money altogether.

It wasn't a complete wash for the Galfond family, however, as Galfond's wife Farah did her share to increase the family's ROI yesterday.

She impressively made it through to Day 3 of the $1,500 Millionaire Maker with just 136 players left:

Eventually a Galfond had to make a deep run. https://t.co/yeBgklQxrd

With 190k in chips she's on the shorter end of the chip spectrum but with perhaps the world's best poker coach in her corner who knows just how far she can take them. She's also locked up $8,054 already. 

Another exciting day fires up at the Rio in a couple of hours so tune in for all the live updates on WSOP.com and live streaming on PokerGO.

2) Not Looking Good for Doyle Appearance

Well, that glimmer of hope we had last month that the Godfather, Doyle Brunson, would take a few shots at $10k WSOP events won't come to fruition:

If I was to bet someone your dad @TexDolly was going to play at least 1 event this year what kind of odds should I be getting??

100,000,000,000 to 1 https://t.co/Y6DtHiWjWy

Here's hoping all is well health-wise in the Brunson family and, if a miracle river can be found, Doyle will still consider blessing the Main Event with his indomitable poker spirit.

3) He's Allen Cunningham!

That old Norman Chad ESPN bit never got old for us and neither does seeing the legends of the game - the ones who inspired most of us to pick up cards in the first place - still plying their trade among all of us plebs during the World Series.

Anyone know who the guy to my right is @wsop. He looks familiar for some reason. pic.twitter.com/lGbSvNWFLM

There's no game quite like poker where an average player can enter a single tournament and be seated next to one of the game's icon, so take it in when you get the chance.

Elena Stover is a poker-playing polymath living out of a suitcase.

It's not easy to track her down. 

Sometimes, you'll find her doing a Toeless Lutz down the ice rink. Other times you will find her hidden in a white lab coat. At night you may find her in a club spinning … well, I don't know what DJs spin these days.

This week you will find her at the World Series of Poker (WSOP) in Las Vegas doing what every other professional poker player does at this time of the year - trying to turn a profit and reduce that bucket list.

But who is Elena Stover? Let's find out.

Lee Davy: Who is Elena Stover?

Elena Stover: "She is a continual work in progress and has gone through many iterations on the path to developing the current version.

"At various points she has been a figure skater, a CVS cashier, a Yiddish scholar, a telemarketer, a radio DJ, a cognitive neuroscientist, a college professor and most recently, of course, a poker player."

Sometime figure skater, sometime Neuroscientist (Photo: UKIPT)

LD: Why do you play poker?

ES: "I play poker because occasionally I am good at it and because if I need to devote a substantial portion of my life to acquiring currency, poker is a fun way to do so."

LD: Why is now the right time to do play poker?

ES: "It's probably not! Each year it gets more difficult to make a living online, especially with the hostile stance that Pokerstars has adopted toward professional players.

"Because I am primarily an online player my priority in the last few years was travelling abroad to play on Pokerstars and the major international sites. At different points I have lived in Mexico, Malta and Germany. However, recently I have found myself shifting my focus toward live tournaments. 

“Although playing in casinos has never been my preference, live poker is booming in the US, and there are constantly new tours and events popping up all over. With Pokerstars having purposefully decimated both their online and live event offerings, it is starting to make less sense to travel abroad when there are so many huge live events here in the States.

"That being said, the ability to travel anywhere at any time is one of the best perks of being a professional poker player, and recently I spent a few weeks in Europe and dropped in at the Irish Open and some other events in Germany and Belgium."

LD: Can you spend some time describing cognitive neuroscience and how you can take your knowledge and implement it in poker?

ES: "In simple terms, Cognitive Neuroscience is the study of how the brain works and how neural processes give rise to thoughts and behaviors.

"In my Ph.d. research I was using functional neuroimaging (fMRI), which lets us view how different areas of the human brain respond to stimuli and coordinate actions in real time. My main project focused on identifying the areas of the brain involved in making risky decisions and determining which of these neural regions are associated with each component of a decision.

Queen Amygdala (Photo: WPT)

"Some of these variables would include the magnitude of a monetary reward, the variation in the probability of an outcome, and the response to a reward or a loss. One of our basic findings was that the decision-making process and the response to the outcome are associated with activity in distinct areas of the brain.

"We also found that the amygdala, a neural region typically associated with emotion, was preferentially activated during the outcome phase, and showed differential responses to gains versus losses. 

"Relating this to poker, we know that optimal decisions are generally made based on mathematical probabilities, and that this decision process is independent of the outcome of any individual hand. We also know that the outcome will produce an emotional response, and focusing on this emotional response (i.e. "going on tilt") can be counterproductive to future decision-making.

"And we see this same relationship reflected in how the brain itself operates, where there is differential neural activation during a decision versus the outcome, with the outcome eliciting an emotional response. This is just one example from my own research that can be applied to poker, but there have been many similar studies in the last decade identifying the neural activity underlying phenomena such as loss aversion, framing effects, and certainty biases.

“Understanding these concepts of bounded rationality and identifying cognitive biases can be extremely useful in the course of learning poker and maintaining a solid mental game. Understanding the neurobiology behind it is arguably less relevant to most players, but the brain is a fascinating thing, and I do routinely get questions from poker players on the topic. I guess it also helps that I have a neuron tattoo."  

"The only way I have ever made money in poker is by winning money playing poker.” (Photo: Carlos Monti, PokerStars)

LD: Do you view yourself as a person, a brand, a business, a combination of all three - explain?

ES: "Well, I am a person in the sense that I exist (I hope! Though I accept there is a nonzero chance that this is all a simulation).

"I am a brand only in the sense that I have a somewhat recognizable nickname, “thegroupie," which has been my online alter-ego since long before I ever took up poker.

"I am a business in the sense that poker is my livelihood, and professional gamblers are essentially self-employed business owners. However, I suspect the question refers to whether I consider my 'brand' to be some sort of defining quality or important aspect of my poker career, and the answer to that is an emphatic 'no.'

"A lot of people have the misconception that girls who play poker somehow get a bunch of free stuff, but I have received no benefits, perks, handbags, money, hotel rooms, yachts, comps, implants, or sponsorships of any kind as a result of my 'brand.'

"The only way I have ever made money in poker is by winning money playing poker.” 

LD: What are your greatest strengths as a streamer and in life?

ES: I began streaming on Twitch in 2015 after meeting a few friendly streamers at the WSOP who encouraged me to give it a shot. I was already fairly active in the community as a viewer, and I found that doing my own stream was a bit intense and nerve-wracking, but exhilarating at the same time.

"I was big on interacting with the chat, and since I’m a rather opinionated gal, we often got into some outrageous on-air conversations. One unanticipated perk of Twitch that I really enjoyed was that it allowed me to be a 'DJ' and introduce my viewers to the music I like, and I had fun making playlists highlighting different musical genres for each stream.

Another poker refugee from Black Friday (Photo: Poker Refugees)

"There were many positive elements to streaming, like breaking down the thought process behind my decisions, and meeting other players from all over the world. However, as much as I did genuinely enjoy it, as an introvert I found the interactive aspect of Twitch to be somewhat exhausting.

"I was also playing online full-time, and it just wasn't possible to play my normal volume of online poker while streaming because of how much my attention was divided. When I decided to move to Berlin that fall, I thought I would continue my stream, but I ended up playing so many live events in Europe that my schedule didn't really allow it.

"And then last year I began traveling to play live tournaments on a nearly full-time basis, so, unfortunately, my budding Twitch career fell by the wayside. I may return to it in the future, but right now I'm having too much fun playing live events!"

LD: What are your goals for 2017? 

ES: "Right now I'm very much looking forward to getting into the WSOP swing! I've been going out to Vegas every summer since I started playing, but usually, I can't handle living in a 110-degree microwave for more than a week or two.

Safe haven in microwave.

"However, this year I've planned a longer trip, and I'm excited that every year there are more and more tournaments at different casinos at a variety of buy-in levels.

"I've never had any particular bracelet goals, but I'd love to win the Ladies Event because when I was starting out that was the first WSOP event I ever played, and I'm a big proponent of getting more women involved in the game." 

LD: What do you value?

ES: "In terms of my own life, I value autonomy, individuality, and exploration. I love having full control over my time and unlimited choices, despite sometimes feeling overwhelmed by too many options.

"One of my main priorities now is to take full advantage of my travel-heavy lifestyle, and to be more proactive in seeking out new experiences and new places when I am on poker trips. While Black Friday severely impeded my poker career at the time, in retrospect, I can see that it motivated me to travel abroad and spend time in so many amazing places that I may never have thought to go otherwise."

LD: What promises are you going to make and keep?

ES: "I don't make many promises, and I don't think it would be terribly productive to do so. As a professional poker player, it's necessary to be constantly flexible and adaptable in order to succeed in the uncertain and ever-changing conditions of the poker world.

"This career has allowed me to live a spontaneous and somewhat nomadic lifestyle, and often I don't even know what country I'll be in next month! I hope to continue to make the most of my travel opportunities for as long as poker remains a viable career option."  

LD: What makes you different?

ES: “I think the main thing that makes me different (other than being female, which is a big one) is that I began poker at a very different place in life than most other professional players.

"While many poker players began playing in high school or college, I had just finished a Ph.d. and was poised to embark on a career in scientific research.

When I decided to take up poker instead, I felt a bit isolated because I didn’t know any other poker players, and I didn’t know how to begin finding other beginners to form friendships with.

"So I resolved I was going to figure out poker on my own, and I suppose that’s how I've always been. This level of reclusiveness might not be the optimal approach to progressing in the game, but I’ve always relished the independence that poker has afforded me, and so far things have been working out!”

In the early 2000s there were a large number of high-profile Magic: The Gathering players that transitioned into poker to take a shot at the soft fields and exploding prize pools.

Eric Froehlich was one of the those players and immediately found success becoming the youngest player, at the time, to win a gold bracelet at the 2005 World Series of Poker.

Froehlich added another bracelet at the 2006 WSOP and appeared to be on his way as one of the premier forces in the game.

Over the next 10 years Froehlich added a few more final tables and a ton of cashes but he never stopped playing Magic: The Gathering.

In recent years Froehlich has gotten more involved with Magic and was actually the game's #1 ranked player for a period and got inducted to the MTG Hall of Fame in 2015.

PokerListings caught up with Froehlich on a break from the $2,620 buy-in WSOP Marathon to get his thoughts on life as a poker/Magic professional.

PokerListings: How much poker are you playing these days?

Eric Froehlich: I’m not playing a lot of poker these days. I got my start in card games with Magic: The Gathering and then got into poker like a lot of my MTG friends.

Eric Froehlich

I kind of graduated to poker but MTG, in a lot of ways, is more fun. Although, right now in my life I feel like there’s a lot I can appreciate in poker. I’m enjoying it a lot.

I actually had a realization at certain point when I was playing a lot of the bigger tournaments around the world that some of the players were just better than me.

I really felt heavily advantaged from 2005-2010 but around Black Friday, tournaments started getting a lot tougher.

I still watch a ton of poker. I study a lot. I love the game. I absorb a ton of content but I don’t get to play nearly as much as I’d like. The players have gotten a lot better.

I feel like there are a ton of events at the WSOP that I have a lot of equity — I’m playing a lot of the lower buy-in tournaments and of course the Main Event — but even just a few years ago I used to play all the $10k PLOs but those guys are just better than me.

I’m not a winning player in the late stages of those tournaments to the point that it just doesn’t make sense for me to play.

So I’ll play the lower buy-in events where there aren’t quite as many players who can outplay me.

I still think I’m good. I’m just not the best. And that’s OK. [Laughs]

PL: It almost seems like there’s been of a resurgence with Magic over the last few years. Is it accurate to say that?

Eric Froehlich winning his first bracelet in 2005.

I don’t think that’s the right term because I really don’t think Magic has taken too many dips. It’s always been steadily increasing — although at this point it’s definitely the most popular it has ever been.

Right now the player base is in the eight figures. There are tens of millions of people who play Magic. It really is a popular game world-wide.

I think different aspects of the game are more popular now. They are going into different areas of content. [Hasbro] just announced they are doing a MTG MMORPG.

They are also doing a lot of different digital content. They are trying to get into a similar arena as some of the other eSports.

It is a little bit more mainstream than it used to be. Magic has never been doing better financially. It’s been selling extremely well.

PL: Do you think a larger number of converted pros like yourself are going back to Magic?

It depends.

A lot of players like myself started at a young age. Magic is a game that you can play as a teenager. Poker is not really a thing at that age.

Eric Froehlich at a final table.

Magic also started in the ‘90s so a lot of the players that are my age played Magic when they were really young and are taking another look at it. And the game really is fun.

I think Magic is the best game ever made and a lot of people agree.

It’s something that you can get back into. We used to have a 100+ people who would come for the WSOP that were Magic players. We’d organize massive Magic gatherings for years.

A lot of poker players still enjoyed the game.

While a lot of players don’t get into the game as brand-new players, there are tons of people [who return to it]. It’s just a similar skill set.

There’s bluffing, reading your opponent and just figuring out the best line to take. There’s just so much parallel.

Magic really was a great training ground for poker.

They put me under lights and I played for tens of thousands of dollars when I was a kid so that when I made a final table at the WSOP there was no pressure for me, which is shocking when I think back on it now.

There is a lot of crossover.

PL: A lot of people play Magic simply for fun with no money involved. How would you explain that to poker players?

Erich Froehlich in the heads-up championship.

Magic is a strategy game where you never see the same thing twice. You’re never going to get the same set of opening cards because there is so much variance.

In fact you’re rarely going to encounter similar situations depending on what you play because there are new cards being released all the time.

Poker has the same 52-card deck. Obviously everyone doesn’t get dealt the same hands and there are different run-outs.

The permutations are very, very large in poker but in Magic there’s a new set coming out every three months so you’re literally seeing new stuff all the time. Like, all of a sudden there’s a new king of diamonds.

Trying to craft a strategy in Magic really is a mental game where you’re trying to outplay your opponent in a lot of ways.

I mean there is some variance in Magic, though, and sometimes you get “coolered” in the game too.

PL: Which game is in a healthier place: Magic or poker?

That’s a good question.

Ultimately I'd say Magic, mostly because poker’s got to figure out a way to get legalized. Not being able to play online, not being able to have that freedom of living wherever you want and playing the game you love has hurt the poker tremendously.

"Online poker needs to be legalized."

That is a reason why I haven’t played as much. There just aren’t as many players or games online right now [in the USA].

There are a lot of good things in poker and a lot of things going in the right direction. I think people like Doug Polk are tremendous for poker.

I mean I watch all his content. I know all my friends watch his content. People who don’t really know much about poker watch his content.

If you can create entertaining stuff to bring new people into poker or just care more about it, that’s great. That goes the same for Daniel Negreanu and everyone making Vlogs. All this content is fantastic.

All the new digital stuff is good. PokerGO seems like it’s going to be a big positive. Poker keeps moving in the right direction.

Until everyone can play from the freedom of their own home, wherever they want to live… Well, that’s a huge roadblock.

I think both games are moving in the right direction but Magic is a little ahead right now.

PL: I know Magic has the Pro Tour but do you ever wish it had something like the WSOP? A massive festival with tournaments running non-stop?

Yes. Funnily enough there is one tomorrow. There are three Magic Grand Prix events happening in Las Vegas, June 14-18.

Froehlich is a member of Magic's illustrious Team ChannelFireball.

There are going to be 10,000 people there. It’s going to be crazy. There will be tournaments happening not-stop essentially.

I’m actually going to be taking time off from the WSOP for the rest of the week to go there.

But yeah. It’s not quite the same. The WSOP is a six-week thing.

The real issue is that there is money to be made in poker and people can really chase a dream. That’s holding Magic back a lot. It’s hard to encourage your child to get into it because you can’t really make a living playing Magic.

I was the top-ranked player in the world a couple years ago and the amount of money that you pull in is effectively very, very small.

PL: Why is it so low though? Couldn’t they emulate WSOP-type prize pool structures?

I can’t answer that. [Laughs]

I think they should be dramatically higher. Magic is making a lot of money. That is the only way to take your player pool and increase it exponentially, in my opinion.

"You can't make a living playing Magic."

Now I’m not on the business side. I’m not working for the corporation. I don’t know what roadblocks they have.

It’s a big company. Magic is owned by a toy company [Hasbro] so this is not exactly their scene. But if you look at other games like Hearthstone or League of Legends and the amount of money they are putting up for these tournaments… it’s huge numbers. Magic doesn’t have that.

Magic is the best game and because it’s able to continually grow and make so much money I don’t think they’ve felt the pressure to do that.

Whether it will happen at some point I don’t know. It’s just tough.

PL: You produce content for ChannelFireball. Do you enjoy the creative element of making content instead of playing?

I love it. I’ve written articles for tons of Magic sites since I was a kid. I’ve written articles for poker sites.

I enjoy being able to express myself and ChannelFireball is the best company in Magic and the biggest platform. They’re running all the tournament coming up and in 2018.

They have all the best players and everyone knows them. It’s great to have that partnership with such a great company.