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In poker, the rake is a “necessary evil,” if you will. Whether you’re a tournament player or spend your time grinding cash games, there is no way to avoid paying poker rake, unless you are only playing home games with your friends.
No matter how good of a player you are, rake influences your overall win rate, so you have to understand how it works to make more educated decisions.
Simply put, the rake is a fee you are paying for a casino or poker room for organizing the game. It can be in the form of a percentage of the pot (capped or uncapped – yikes!) taken in cash games or a certain amount tacked on to a tournament buy-in (that doesn’t get added to the prize pool).
While there are different models, casinos and poker rooms tend to employ, everyone ends up paying their share. That doesn’t mean there aren’t things you can do to lessen the blow, and that is why it is vital to make some adjustments to your play in different rake environments and even choose the games based on that.
Hopefully, with these simple tips, you’ll be able to offset the influence the rake has on your poker bankroll.
When it comes to poker rake, online players are in a somewhat favorable position because they have access to various rakeback deals and programs. Simply put, these allow you to claim a portion of your rake back at the end of a certain period (anywhere from one day to one month).
Thanks to rakeback, you can significantly offset the impact of rake on your ROI or win rate in cash games. If you’re getting 40% of your rake back every week and pay 10% on average for tournament fees, for example, you’re effectively only paying 6%. In other words, for every dollar you pay in rake, you’ll get 40 cents back.
Nowadays, rakeback programs aren’t as good as they used to be, especially due to some new rules certain online poker rooms have adopted, but they’re still quite valuable. So, if you’re playing online poker, you should always look for a site where you can get a good deal to improve your bottom line.
There are different types of poker rooms out there. Some of them are trying to build a long-term business with happy customers. Others, however, are looking to make as much money as they can in as little time as possible. If you care about your bottom line, you should steer clear from the latter at all costs.
These joints will often have an extremely high rake, especially at the lower stakes, and very high caps, taking upwards of 10% from every pot and making the maximum cap very high.
These are the types of poker games where there are almost no winners because the rake eats up so much money in a few hours of play that there is almost nothing left to win!
Not all players have the freedom of choice, of course, and sometimes you’re stuck with one casino, and they do whatever they want.
That being said, sometimes it is better to skip the game entirely and just stick to home games than play in a place that has very unfavorable rules. As a rule of thumb, you should avoid uncapped games with a huge rake, unless your competition barely knows what they are doing at the table.
The way the rake in poker works, in general, is that the percentage that gets taken from the pot and the maximum cap is the highest at the lowest stakes. While this may or may not be necessarily fair, it does make mathematical sense, since the casino’s costs are virtually the same whether they spread an NL200 or NL5,000 game.
So, with that in mind, you should always look to play as high as you can afford, assuming you can still beat the games, of course. By moving from NL200 to NL500, for example, you’ll be saving a lot in rake, so even if your win rate is somewhat lower at that level, you’ll still be saving more money at the end of the month (on average, mathematically speaking).
Remember, the most important figure you should count is $/hour, since that is much a better measurement of your actual results than a “naked” win rate.
The same goes for poker tournaments. At the lowest levels, you’ll often pay 20%+ in fees. As you move up, this number will start to drop. So, if you have the bankroll and the skills, you should always be looking to move up as soon as possible, significantly cutting down on the overall rake paid.
In this episode of The Bernard Lee Poker Show on the Cardplayer Lifestyle Podcast Family, Bernard Lee interviews two-time WPT champion, Brian Altman. Last month, Brian made history as he became the first player to win the same WPT Main Event twice, when he captured the WPT Lucky Hearts Poker Open at the Seminole Hard Rock in Hollywood, Florida. Brian also won the WPT Lucky Hearts Poker Open Main Event back in 2015.
| 0:00 | Welcome to The Bernard Lee Poker Show as this week’s guest will be two-time WPT champion, Brian Altman. |
| 1:03 | David Hengen won the RunGood Poker Series Council Bluffs Main Event for $41,287 over a field of 368 entries. Chris Christian was the Casino Champion. |
| 2:27 | Philip Shing captured the WSOP Circuit Main Event in Potawatomi, WI, outlasting a field of 524 entries and taking home $151,284. |
| 3:20 | The popular High Stakes Poker has been acquired by Poker Central. |
| 6:10 | RunGood Gear Ad |
| 6:53 | Bernard welcomes Brian Altman to the show. |
| 7:57 | Brian joins the show. |
| 8:12 | Brian discusses becoming the first player to win the same WPT Main Event twice. |
| 9:34 | Brian talks about his success at Seminole Hard Rock in Hollywood, Florida. “It’s pretty wild. Every time I go down there, I seem to have success.” |
| 11:09 | Brian analyzes the unique Florida player pool. |
| 13:50 | Brian discusses his poker background and how he got started in poker, including online. “I consider myself to be a product of the Moneymaker boom.” |
| 18:54 | Brian recalls playing online and winning PokerStars Yearly Leaderboard, which included multiple live Main Event packages. |
| 21:59 | Brian recalls how Black Friday affected him as he eventually started to play live poker. |
| 24:09 | Brian analyzes the Florida player pool. |
| 27:11 | Share My Pair Ad |
| 27:43 | Bernard continues his interview with two-time WPT champion, Brian Altman. |
| 29:06 | Brian discusses his 2015 victory at WPT Lucky Hearts Poker Open Main Event for a career-high $723,008. |
| 34:09 | Brian discusses his recent 2020 victory at WPT Lucky Hearts Poker Open Main Event for $482,636. |
| 37:23 | Brian talks about being the current leader in this season’s WPT Player of the Year and his potential WPT schedule for the remainder of the year. |
| 38:40 | Brian talks about his typical WSOP schedule, plans and the goal of winning a bracelet. |
| 46:42 | Brian discusses playing not only WSOP bracelet events during the summer, but also other events in Las Vegas by finding value throughout the summer. |
Image courtesy: World Poker Tour
As another NBA season grinds its way into the All-Star Break, fans all over the world are coming together once again to celebrate as the league’s premier stars gather for the annual showcase of basketball festivities.
All-Star Weekend has traditionally been an opportunity for players to have some fun before things get more serious in the pursuit of an NBA title. This is just as true for the fans, who must soon come to terms with another losing season or prepare to get excited for a potential playoff run. As the summer draws nearer, some poker players may even need to start thinking about how their team playing in the NBA Playoffs might conflict with the WSOP schedule.
While poker is a global game, and professional players often regularly travel the world to compete in marquee tournament series, their ties to their hometowns remain strong, as do their connections to their local sports teams. Indeed, rooting for one’s hometown sports teams is the type of connection that usually lasts forever, and NBA teams can count famous poker players among their most loyal fans all over the league.
In that spirit, here’s our list of poker’s most loyal and diehard fans of each NBA team.
SKIP TO: ATLANTA HAWKS | BOSTON CELTICS | BROOKLYN NETS | CHARLOTTE HORNETS | CHICAGO BULLS | CLEVELAND CAVALIERS | DALLAS MAVERICKS | DENVER NUGGETS | DETROIT PISTONS | GOLDEN STATE WARRIORS | HOUSTON ROCKETS | INDIANA PACERS | LOS ANGELES CLIPPERS | LOS ANGELES LAKERS | MEMPHIS GRIZZLIES | MIAMI HEAT | MILWAUKEE BUCKS | MINNESOTA TIMBERWOLVES | NEW ORLEANS PELICANS | NEW YORK KNICKS | OKLAHOMA CITY THUNDER | ORLANDO MAGIC | PHILADELPHIA 76ERS | PHOENIX SUNS | PORTLAND TRAIL BLAZERS | SACRAMENTO KINGS | SAN ANTONIO SPURS | TORONTO RAPTORS | UTAH JAZZ | WASHINGTON WIZARDS
Josh Arieh
With nine cashes and three top 10 finishes at the 2019 World Series of Poker, Josh Arieh is coming off of one his best years since he placed third in the 2004 Main Event. When he is not playing poker, Arieh spends his leisure time at his home in Atlanta playing golf and scoring courtside seats for Hawks games.
Sittin courtside to watch the hawks bust up the magic!!!
— Joshua Arieh (@golferjosh) April 28, 2011
Look out for these bad boys tonight @russwest44 pic.twitter.com/myyqonyChN
— Joshua Arieh (@golferjosh) January 23, 2015
Bernard Lee
For as long as he’s been a standout at the poker tables and on the media side of the poker industry, Bernard Lee has been a Celtics fan for even longer. The host of the popular Bernard Lee Poker Show (now part of the Cardplayer Lifestyle Podcast Family) has had season tickets to watch the Celtics play for over two decades, as rooting on the team has become a Lee family tradition.
Jared Jaffee
Hailing from Staten Island, New York probably made the transition from New Jersey to Brooklyn easy for longtime Nets fan and 2014 WSOP bracelet winner Jared Jaffee. After all, you don’t buy season tickets to watch a team unless you’re a truly passionate supporter.
My Brooklyn nets seats for this season aren’t half bad pic.twitter.com/3MtDQWgzV5
— jaredjaffee (@jaredjaffee21) October 17, 2013
Image credit: NewYorkCityPokerTour.com
Chris Hunichen
Clayton, North Carolina native and Hornets fan Chris Hunichen quietly put together a banner year in 2019, taking in over $4.3 million in live tournament earnings and making a deep run to 54th in the WSOP Main Event. When Big Huni’s in the field, other players best watch out! His Hornets, however, didn’t fare as well, just missing the playoffs.
Hunichen sporting a jersey of Hornets team owner Michael Jordan
Image credit: Neil Stoddart | PokerStars Blog
Connor Drinan
Chicago native and Bulls fan Connor Drinan has an impressive live career with over $11 million in earnings, but for better or worse he’s become recognizable among casual poker fans for being on the losing end of that famous hand vs. Cary Katz at the 2014 Big One for One Drop.
a lady asked me if I was an NBA player today bc I had a bulls shirt on, so basically yea
— Connor Drinan (@ConnorDrinan) July 11, 2016
Lol if @russwest44 goes to the bulls I will antisweat my home team until he’s gone. #NeverRuss
— Connor Drinan (@ConnorDrinan) July 10, 2019
Adam Friedman
Back-to-back reigning (and defending!) $10,000 WSOP Dealer’s Choice Champion Adam Friedman is originally from Gahanna, Ohio, a suburb of Columbus. Prior to pursuing his career as a poker pro, the “LeBron James of Mixed Games” had just a short drive up Interstate 71 to see his Cavaliers.
I wish I were in Cleveland right now. Front row tix for the Cavs & Indians tonight would’ve been much cheaper than my breakfast in LA today
— Ada❌ Fried❌an (@AdamFriedman119) October 25, 2016
Haralabos Voulgaris
In 2018, Marc Cuban hired Haralabos Voulgaris, high-stakes poker player and former legendary NBA bettor, to serve as the Director of Quantitative Research and Development for the Mavericks. Much like “Haralabob” is a force to be reckoned with at the felt, the Mavs have seen their fortunes turn positive since bringing the master statistician into their fold.
ESPN reporting with @Zachlowe_NBA: In another example of the league’s changing attitudes on gambling, the Dallas Mavericks are hiring former NBA bettor Bob Voulgaris (@Haralabob) as Director of Quantitative Research and Development.
— Adrian Wojnarowski (@wojespn) October 5, 2018
Chance Kornuth
Originally from Denver, Chance Kornuth has over $7 million in live earnings and two WSOP gold bracelets to his name. An online poker legend and accomplished live poker pro, Kornuth left the University of Colorado-Boulder to pursue the game and has not looked back since. Like any passionate fan, Kornuth goes to great lengths to show support for his hometown NBA team, even while abroad.
Couple of close calls today but now the nuggets game taking over the Mexican bar! #wefoundit
— Chance Kornuth (@ChancesCards) April 29, 2013
Ryan Riess
Life for a Detroit sports fan isn’t easy, but 2013 Main Event Champion Ryan Riess speaks his mind on behalf of all Pistons fans wanting to see a better world. Though better known for wearing an NFL Lions jersey, Riess is one of many long-suffering Pistons sports fans. Perhaps better times lie ahead…
Hey @1MrBigShot, looking good doing NBA Draft coverage. The @DetroitPistons could really use a GM though! Think about it.
Sincerely,
Detroit Pistons fans everywhere
— Ryan Riess (@RyanRiess1) June 21, 2018
Phil Hellmuth
Wherever you find the Warriors, there is a good chance that superfan Phil Hellmuth is nearby keeping a close eye on the team. Whether it’s sitting courtside, jet setting with team owners Joe Lacob and Chamath Palihapitiya, or fraternizing with veteran stars like Draymond Green at the felt, Hellmuth’s white magic and #positivity are without a doubt the team’s secret weapons.
RT @SmackSports Poker legend @phil_hellmuth standing on the baseline at the @warriors – @denvernuggets game pic.twitter.com/YzyzPIJvu2
— phil_hellmuth (@phil_hellmuth) April 27, 2013
Phil Ivey
In the past, Phil Ivey has claimed both the Lakers and Rockets as his favorite NBA teams, but it’s hard to think about Ivey and the NBA without picturing him in his iconic Steve Francis jersey at the 2003 WSOP Main Event. All these years later, his elimination at the hands of Chris Moneymaker is still gripping poker TV.
Phil Ivey MasterClass: A Thorough Review
Chad Eveslage
Look to the top of Indiana’s all-time money list and you’ll see part WSOP Main Event Champ John Cynn and Poker Hall of Famer Mike Sexton, but it seems they’re not necessarily Pacer fans. Look a little further down the list to fifth place and you’ll notice that, while currently based out of Florida, poker pro Chad Eveslage represented his hometown of Ramsey, Indiana well with eight cashes at the 2019 WSOP and has cobbled together a solid career resume boasting over $1.5 million in live tournament earnings.
pacers better win this game or I will turn into a hawk and fly away
— Chad Eveslage (@badbeatman06) May 1, 2014
Bryce Yockey
The fourth place finisher in the 2019 $50,000 WSOP Poker Player’s Championship might best currently known as “the guy that this happened to”, but his terrific performance in that tournament was proof of what many of his professional poker playing peers already know: Yockey is a mixed games beast! Taking a bad beat of that nature, however, is something all longtime Clippers fans can relate to.
Being a clippers fan is a hard life 😭
— Bryce Yockey (@SuddenlyBryce) April 26, 2016
Mike Matusow
Laker fans like native Los Angeleno Mike “The Mouth” Matusow know both what it takes to reach the winner’s circle as well as what it feels like to experience a drought. They’ve got a lot to be excited about in 2020, however, with the team featuring the one-two All-Star pairing of LeBron James and Anthony Davis, poised to try and take Laker Nation to their 17th NBA championship.
As a diehard Laker fan after six years of misery this is really fun to watch this team as I don’t believe their beatable Davis and LeBron are unstoppable! #lakernation #LakeShow
— Mike Matusow (@themouthmatusow) December 14, 2019
Daniel Marcus
While not a household name in the poker world, Daniel Marcus is rising fast behind the scenes in the NBA. The former financial analyst has served a number of front office roles in the Grizzlies organization, and is currently the manager of their G-League team, the Memphis Hustle. Marcus won a WSOP Circuit ring in 2012.
Image courtesy: HendonMob.com
A little #TBT to some poker glory, 2 years ago to the day – http://t.co/Fj0F6Fysim pic.twitter.com/WwLQDcDCak
— Daniel Marcus (@ddotmarcus) December 4, 2014
Jason Mercier
The Heat have a lot of celebrity fans, but how many of them have won WSOP gold bracelets in three different variations of poker and another one in H.O.R.S.E.? Jason Mercier stands alone. As he’s gotten married and become a dad in recent years, family is now Jason’s #1 priority, poker and rooting on his favorite sports teams are still a solid #2.
Let’s go @MiamiHEAT !!!! @Matthew_Waxman @JasonMercier pic.twitter.com/0jOruznFMk
— Natasha Mercier (@natasha_mercier) November 11, 2016
Chad Holloway
Giannis Antetokounmpo has the entire state of Wisconsin taking notice of NBA basketball for the first time in a while, and the veteran poker journalist/WSOP gold bracelet winner (and occasional Cardplayer Lifestyle contributor) is catching Bucks fever. Holloway is currently PokerNews’ Head of Live Poker Reporting USA, and usually seen Brewers gear. We may start seeing more Bucks gear on Chad as they make a run at the title this year.
I will say as a Wisconsinite who never paid to much to basketball the Bucks run has gotten me more involved.
— Chad Holloway (@ChadAHolloway) April 14, 2019
Blake Bohn
Minnesota Poker Hall of Famer Blake Bohn is a legend of the Mid-States Poker Tour and devoted Minnesota sports fan. Much like the Timberwolves, Bohn is beloved in his home state both for his success at the felt as well as for doing his part to promote the game.
Ben Mintz
Ben Mintz is a pro poker player from Louisiana as well as a local radio host with a daily show on 100.7 “The Ticket.” He has a little over $600K in live tournament earnings and a WSOP Circuit ring to his credit. Much like the Pelicans, if Mintz can string together some notable wins, many more people will begin paying more attention to this competitor.
I want to do some poker play by play soon. Feels inevitable with my background in both poker & now broadcasting. They need some of my high energy in the booth for the slower poker action.
— Ben Mintz (@Benmintz531) July 9, 2019
I feel blessed as a sports fan to get to watch this Pelicans team next 3-5 years. The entertainment value is off the charts as long as Zion stays healthy no matter what.
— Ben Mintz (@Benmintz531) January 29, 2020
Ryan Depaulo
Ryan Depaulo might not be poker’s most famous Knicks fan, but he certainly qualifies as the loudest. A nominee for the 2019 Global Poker Award for People’s Choice Poker Personality, Depaulo burst onto the scene at the 2019 WSOP Colossus, where he notched a very strong third place finish while wearing an Amare Stoudamire jersey. Depaulo vlogs regularly out of New York City.
Image credit: Tomas Stacha, for PokerNews
Ben Lamb
Ben Lamb talked about his love of ping pong and the Thunder in this 2012 interview after he gained notoriety as a member of the November Nine in 2011. Since then, Lamb has only gotten better, picking up over $11 million in winnings and making another WSOP Main Event final table in 2017.
Did the thunder win?
— Ben Lamb (@BenbaLamb) June 1, 2012
Tristan Wade
Wade is a Florida native and pro poker player with over $1.7 million in lifetime live earnings, including a bracelet win at the WSOP Europe in 2011 and a Circuit ring win in 2014 in his home state. He’s also been an honest and humble fan of the Orlando Magic for well over a decade now.
The magic lost again at home. Wow. Guess it will be lakers celtics rematch. They look like the two best teams left anyways.
— Tristan Wade (@TristanCre8ive) May 19, 2010
Joe McKeehen
North Wales, Pennsylvania native Joe McKeehen made certain the world remembered him as the biggest Sixers fan in poker by wearing a black Allen Iverson jersey while winning the 2015 WSOP Main Event.
Congrats to Joe McKeehen (@dude904), the 2015 WSOP Main Event Champion!https://t.co/FniJtXXEpD pic.twitter.com/S0fY5DPXLx
— WSOP (@WSOP) November 11, 2015
Earl Barron
After a long career playing professional basketball in the NBA (including two separate stints with the Suns) and all over the world, the 7-foot center is spending his retirement in Arizona where he has been making his mark on the local poker scene. Barron has approximately $150,000 in career poker earnings and can be seen most summers looking to add some WSOP gold to go alongside his 2006 NBA Championship ring.
First main event and I’ve made it to day 2. Slow grind but I’m up for the challenge. Day off tomorrow. Gonna hit the gym up and relax.
— Earl Barron (@earldee) July 10, 2012
Truly blessed. Thanks Suns fans for the warm welcome. Glad to be back and can’t wait to get back on the court. #GOSUNS
— Earl Barron (@earldee) February 20, 2015
Kao Saechao
With over $1 million in live earnings and having made a memorable run all the way to 16th place in the 2018 WSOP Main Event, Kao Saechao is certainly one of Oregon’s top tier poker pros.
Main Event: Kao Saechao Eliminated in 16th Place ($375,000) https://t.co/MyeXUEClXm pic.twitter.com/XAwckwOCPX
— PokerNews Live (@PokerNews_Live) July 12, 2018
J.C. Tran
J.C. Tran has long been a big name in the poker world, and has always been tremendously proud of his Sacramento hometown. The two-time WSOP bracelet winner has over $13 million in lifetime live poker tournament earnings and can regularly be seen on social media and poker broadcasts sporting the gear of and discussing his favorite NBA team.
Huge Sacramento Kings fan @jctran23 is your chip leader at the WSOP final table. Give him some love. pic.twitter.com/FLTNg4Ayj3
— Sactown Royalty (@sactownroyalty) November 5, 2013
Nike got it right! The NBA uniforms are going to be sick this season. pic.twitter.com/QzcEzYAK0h
— JC TRAN💯 (@jctran23) August 15, 2017
Jeff Platt*
Alright, we’ll give this one an asterisk. While poker broadcaster Jeff Platt’s favorite NBA team is actually the Mavericks, we can’t help but associate him with the Spurs. Prior to becoming one of poker’s most popular hosts, Platt covered the Spurs as a reporter for a local TV station. He has always spoken highly of the organization and regularly enjoys telling the story of what it was like to have interviewed the team’s head coach Gregg Popovich.
One of my favorite photos I captured of @manuginobili was at the Spurs practice facility — @jeffplatt received a lengthy answer. Ginobili was always great with the media, English and Spanish. #ManuForever pic.twitter.com/0UQux2LtFA
— Jose Arredondo (@sportsguyjose) August 28, 2018
Daniel Negreanu
The 2019 NBA Finals between the Raptors and Warriors was the perfect opportunity for Daniel Negreanu to stoke the flames of his rivalry with Phil Hellmuth. The Toronto native now resides in Las Vegas, where he is a fixture at Golden Knights NHL games, but he’ll always be a fan of his teams from the Great White North.
LETS GO RAPTORS!!!#WeTheNorth pic.twitter.com/GS8qpytTdw
— Daniel Negreanu (@RealKidPoker) June 6, 2019
Jared Griener
With eight cashes at the 2019 WSOP and a near-miss third place finish at the WPT Masters of Poker in August, Jared Griener recently passed $2 million mark in live tournament earnings. This poker pro currently residing in Huntington Beach, California grew up in Provo, Utah rooting for the Jazz, and his support for the team hasn’t waned since.
i grew up in Utah and saw many Jazz games. The b2b finals teams would be champs most years imo. Not just a 2 man show
— Jared Griener (@jaredgriener) June 20, 2016
Norman Chad
While he might not claim the Wizards as his own, it would be hard to believe that Norman Chad doesn’t have a place in his heart for the long-suffering D.C. basketball team. Prior to becoming Washington, D.C.’s best known sportswriter and award winning poker broadcaster, Chad spent his college years working at Bullets (R.I.P.) games for a company that transmitted sportswriters’ stories back to their newspapers.
My Couch Slouch newspaper column this week: How woeful are the Washington Wizards? Uh, very woeful. http://t.co/0BT5VCi6
— Norman Chad (@NormanChad) December 3, 2012
Finding local poker games at a new location isn’t always easy. Whether you’ve recently moved to a new city or traveling to play poker, you want an easy way to find the best places to play.
In this article, I will briefly explain the top 3 ways to find poker games near you. Using these methods, you won’t just save a lot of time but you will also be able to find the best venues and games you want to play.
Google Maps image used for illustrative purposes only
In this day and age, technology offers a lot of help in all walks of life, and poker is no exception. You can find several mobile apps, such as Poker Atlas, which offer an easy way to find local poker games in many towns around the world.
These apps are completely free and very easy to use. You simply install them on your phone and search by the name or the zip code of the city you’re currently in or plan to visit.
You can even list all the available cash games and upcoming tournaments and browse through them. You’ll get plenty of information about starting times, buy-ins, structures, rake, any special rules like straddles, and some rooms will even let you get your name on the waiting list straight from the app. If you’re in Europe, the Pokerlist app is particularly useful.
If you want to get even more info about a particular venue, you can check out player reviews. These comments will tell you more about what other players are like, how competent and friendly the dealers and staff are, if there are free things on offer, etc.
Mobile apps are becoming the best solution for finding local games, and they’re bound to become even better with time.
So, if you often travel to play poker or want to have the info about the nearest games always available to you, you should get one of these apps. While Poker Atlas is a great option for finding cash games, if you play tournaments, you should also check Bravo Poker Live App.
If you’re not in the mood to visit a casino or poker room, then perhaps a home game may be just the thing to lift your spirits. The Meetup platform is available both via desktop or mobile device and is full of thousands of home game listings. Certainly worth checking out.
Usually, you will be able to find casinos that operate in a particular city quite quickly. Once you have the names, you can use Google to find their websites and check out the pertinent information. With that said, there are often some smaller venues aren’t that diligent about updating their sites. As such, you might have more luck checking out their social media channels, for example. While many casinos don’t have a staff member to update their websites with new info regularly, they’ll usually have someone dedicated to maintaining their Facebook page or Twitter feed.
Some rooms will even post every day about the games currently running and announce any upcoming tournaments ahead of time. You’ll usually be able to get in touch with someone from the casino through the page (either using the chat or the listed phone number) if you need any additional information or want to reserve a seat.
The bottom line is, don’t get discouraged if you notice the casino or poker room website hasn’t been updated in a while.
This isn’t all that uncommon, but a majority of them do a much better job on their Facebook and Twitter profiles, so try to find those. Also, most sites will at least give you a phone number you can call, so if you can’t find any other information available, give them a ring and ask about their poker offerings.
If you’re more interested in playing bigger tournament series, then you should check out the Hendon Mob‘s Tournament Directory. This is the ultimate resource for many major events across the globe and will provide you with a lot of information about upcoming and currently ongoing events.
For every series listed on the site, you’ll find the full overview of all tournaments, with venues, buy-ins, starting times, and the note if the event counts for the GPI Player of the Year race or not.
So, if you’re into poker tournaments and want to plan ahead of time, this is probably a resource you want to use.
So there you have it. three great ways to find all the live poker information you could ever possibly need!
I made the transition from live poker to online poker back in 2006 and I’ve never looked back. Man, do I love it. Even though it’s the same game, there’s a world of difference between going through the rigmarole of getting to the local card room or just plunking down in your office chair and firing up some software to play.
There’s a 20-minute lead-up to playing poker every time I decide to go to play in a brick and mortar card room. I have to tell my wife where I’m going, get dressed, drive there, park and walk in, find an open seat, go buy chips, and sit down before finally being dealt a hand. And if I have to get on a wait list? Yeesh!
But the lead-up for online poker? Roughly 30 seconds; 60 seconds if I want to make a coffee first. Nothing can beat the ease and convenience of playing in your own home.
If you haven’t tried online poker yet, I highly recommend it. To help motivate you, I’d like to share the top 3 reasons why I love playing online.
I love that the online realm is open 24 hours a day, 7 days a week. There’s no closing when you’re serving the world, right?
I’m a morning person, and sometimes I get a hankering to play poker at 8am after my boys go to school. At the local card room there’s at most two tables running, full of overnight, bleary-eyed players or grizzled old timers who use poker for socializing. Not my scene.
By contrast, firing up the software for any one of the online poker sites I play on reveals plenty of full tables, and not just cash games, either! Sit ‘N Go’s and Tournaments are always running as well. Plus, if you’re tired of NLHE, PLO games are also always available.
You can’t beat the convenience of playing whenever you want from the comfort of your home, for any stake or any style of poker you feel like.
Online poker offers stakes from $2 buy-in games ($.01/$.02 blinds) to $1,000 buy-ins ($5/$10 blinds) and beyond. The cheapest live games you’ll find — at least in my locale — are $200 buy-in NLHE games ($1/$2). With $200 at risk, practicing costly and aggressive plays like 3-betting and triple-barrel bluffing can get extremely costly.
I love how you can practice all the aggressive and costly plays you want when the buy-in is only $2 or $5. Do you need to work on 3-bet bluffing or other aggressive preflop skills? Go to town at the $2 or $5 tables for a fraction of the cost of a live $1/2 game.
Do you want to work on your flop and turn c-bet bluffing skills? It’s so much easier to increase your aggression and pull the trigger on these chip-committing plays when it only costs you 8 or 20 cents a shot.
Are you tired of all these live game limpers who never fold to your raise? You hold pocket Aces, raise over three limpers to $20 and they all call. This leads to yet another crap-shoot, multi-way pot and potentially cracked Aces. You can practice raising to larger sizes online to find the limper’s pain threshold, then apply what you learn to your live game.
I know the existence of poker tracking software is daunting for many live players who might be considering a transition to online poker. For me, though, I absolutely love poker tracking software, which helps you spot your opponent’s tendencies and weaknesses with the use of a heads-up display (HUD) that shows you how frequently a player makes certain actions. That can be incredibly useful at times.
The main reason I love poker tracking software, however, is that it records every hand I play so I can study them off the felt later.
And it doesn’t just record the hands I choose to play. I can fold a hold, put my attention elsewhere, and the software continues recording the actions of the others players so I can review it later during my study sessions. This is where poker tracking software really shines.
I’m all about working hard to be 1% better every day. Having a database of hundreds of thousands of hands allows me to dissect my play and learn from my mistakes and successes. I can review hands where I check-raised, faced a check-raise, re-raised after facing a check-raise, bluff check-raised with a flush draw, or any other situation in between.
So, are you with me? Will I see you on the virtual felt anytime soon? Come on in, we’re open 24/7.
For more great coaching, strategies and tips from Sky Matsuhashi, check out his poker training site, The Poker Forge. Here’s our review.
Now that the schedule has been announced for the majority of bracelet events that will take place during the 51st World Series of Poker in Las Vegas, female poker players are delighted to see the $10K WSOP Ladies Championship (reduced to $1K for women) on the schedule for June 17 at the Rio Convention Center. The WSOP Ladies Championship is a 4-day event that boasts a 20,000 chip starting stack, 1-hour levels, and one re-entry; a structure that was rolled out last year along with the Big Blind Ante format. The WSOP Ladies Championship is a cornerstone of the so called “Ladies Week” in Las Vegas and the crown jewel of the yearly poker calendar for poker playing women.
Of course, there are plenty of other ladies-only tournaments held throughout the calendar year as well, but up until now there’s never been one central online hub listing them all. As such, Cardplayer Lifestyle is proud to announce the launch of this dedicated Ladies Poker Tournament Schedule for 2020 that will serve to highlight poker tournaments for women around the globe. For those who can’t travel to Vegas this summer (or who don’t have the bankroll to play in the Ladies Championship), there are many other poker tours and venues across the globe hosting tournaments exclusively for women all year round.
In order to compile the list below, we have reviewed all publicly available tournament schedules looking to identify tours offering special ladies-only tournaments. Some are standalone tournaments, while others are part of a yearly series, like the Women’s Series at Playground in Montreal, Canada. Others, still, aren’t located in land-based venues, but on the high seas!
Although cashing in women’s events does not award players points towards GPI rankings, they do bring female players together. In fact, some tournament series offer poker lessons for beginners or strategy lessons for more advanced players.
Here, then, is the 2020 Ladies Poker Tournament Schedule. If you are a tournament organizer and we missed your event, you wish to add additional details, or you wish to report any errors we’ve accidentally made, please get in touch ([email protected]) so we can add it to the list below. We will endeavor to keep the list updated throughout the year, as new ladies events inevitably get announced.
Enjoy and see you at the felt!
Disclaimer: Although every effort has been made to ensure the accuracy of this list. We suggest contacting the casino or organizer to verify all information before making any travel arrangements.
SKIP TO: FEBRUARY | MARCH | APRIL | MAY | JUNE | JULY | AUGUST | SEPTEMBER | OCTOBER | NOVEMBER | DECEMBER
Both of these series host Ladies Event for under $300 (or foreign currency equivalent) with the winners also receiving coveted WSOP rings.
If all-you-can-eat buffets and days at sea are more your style, two fantastic cruise companies — Card Player Cruises and Ship It Poker Cruises — give you the chance to both play poker on the high seas as well as have a wonderful, affordable vacation. Just note that bookings must be made directly with each company, respectively if you wish to play in the poker room.
Location: Casino Gran Madrid, Madrid, Spain
Series Dates: February 1-9
Ladies Event: February 9
Buy-In: €110
Additional details: 20k starting stack, 20-min blinds. One re-entry per player, optional €5 add-on at the start – you will get an extra 5k chips, FREE soft drinks and 50% discount on massages.
This event is hosted by Daiva Byrne and Fantastic Ladies in Poker Facebook group. Satellites with some extra seats added for this event available via MPN, including via Betsson Poker.
Location: Grand Casino Brussels Viage, Brussels, Belgium
Series Dates: February 4-9
Ladies Event: February 9
Buy-In: €150
Additional details: 20K starting stack, 20-minute levels and a single re-entry. This event also boasts no rake, so all €150 goes directly to the prize pool.
Location: Bicycle Casino, Bell Gardens, California
Ladies Event date: February 9
Starting time: 10AM
Buy-In: $125 (100 +25)
Additional details: 10K chips, 20-minute levels, optional $10 for additional 5K chips. *On all events unless otherwise stated, $300 is withheld for the winner’s seat to the LIPS Grand Championship.
Location: Green Valley Ranch, Henderson, Nevada, USA
Ladies Event: February 15
Starting time: 12PM
Buy-In: $125
Additional details: 15K starting stack, 20-minute levels
Location: King’s Resort, Rozvadov, Czech Republic
Series Dates: February 9-23
Ladies Event: February 15
Buy-In: €220 (200 + 20)
Additional details: 30K starting stack, 30-minute levels, one re-entry
partypoker Ladies has their own Facebook group that has more details on upcoming partypoker LIVE events. There are also partypoker Ladies online freerolls.
Location: Hollywood Casino, Columbus, Ohio
Ladies Event: February 15
Buy-In: $150
Additional details: $3K guarantee, 20K starting stacks, 15/20 minute levels, registration through level 8
Event Date: February 18
Additional details: The Ladies Club at the Hippodrome hosted by Kerryjane Craigie meets once a month on a Tuesday and offers the ladies a chance to meet up and chat about what they love and loathe about poker, followed by a NLH tournament with prizes. Meetings in February, March, and April will qualify towards the Win You Way to Vegas loyalty race.*
To find out more and to register for the next event, join the Facebook group.
*Terms and conditions apply. Must be a member of the Hippodrome Casino. Must be able to travel to the US. Not transferable and no cash alternative.
Series Dates: February 17-23
Location: Olympic Park Casino, Tallinn, Estonia
Ladies Event: Paf Queens of Tallinn, ladies only event, February 22
Buy-In: €60 (50 + 10)
Additional details: 10K starting stack, 25-minute levels, single re-entry – complimentary Hilton’s spa access for women players from 11AM-2PM
Location: Playground Casino, Montreal, Canada
Ladies Event: February 22
Buy-In: $175 CAD (160 + 15)
Additional details: This is the second edition of the Women’s Series at the Playground Casino. Through a series of five tournaments (each with a $5K guarantee), ladies have the opportunity to earn points to qualify for the Championship Event, which will be held on December 5.
Location: Freerolls Poker Club, Katy, Texas
Series Dates: February 21-23
Additional details: A three-day series that offers $40 single table satellites into the $210 Texas Star State Championship, which begins on Saturday, February 22.
Location: Grosvenor Casino, Manchester, England
Series dates: February 22-March 1
Ladies Event: February 29
Buy-in: £100 (90+10)
Additional details: Starting stack 20K, 25-minute levels and unlimited re-entry for 2 hours
Every GUKPT stop hosts a Womens Event and players can earn points towards the Womens League and compete for three prizes outlined here. Click here for current Womens League standings.
Series Dates: February 25 – March 2
Location: Bonnington Hotel, Dublin, Ireland
Ladies Event: February 29, #QueenRules
Buy-In: €100 (80 + 10)
Additional details: 15K starting stack, 20-minute levels, 1 re-entry, registration through the start of level 7.
The Queen Rules event takes on a new twist as the Queens outrank the Kings in the deck. Learn more about #QueenRules here.
Location: Club Pierre Charron, Paris, France
Series Dates: February 20 – March 2
Ladies Event: March 1
Buy-In: €150 (135 + 15)
Additional details: 20K starting stack, 20-minute levels, registration through end of level 4
Location: Horseshoe Bossier City, Louisiana
Series Dates: February 26 – March 1
Ladies Event: March 1
Buy-In: $160
Additional details: Hosted by the Women’s Poker Association.
Location: Online
Date: March 8
Buy-In: $22
Start time: 2:20PM Eastern Time
Additional info: Online satellites available at PokerStars for as little as $2.20. Late registration available for 1.5 hours. The winner receives a Platinum Pass to the 2020 PSPC in Barcelona, scheduled to be held on August 20-24.
Location: Jamul Casino, San Diego, California
Ladies Event: March 8
Buy-In: $100 plus $10 bonus buy: Jack Your Stack Structure
Additional details: $3,000 guaranteed NLH tournament celebrating International Women’s Day.
The Tournament starts at 2pm, with late registration until 5:30pm. The winner will receive a crystal trophy and a Tiffany & Co. sterling silver bracelet as well as points toward Helix Player of the Year.
Location: King’s Casino, Rozavadov, Czech Republic
Series Dates: March 5-23
Ladies Event: March 14
Start time: 3PM
Buy-in: €220 (200 +20)
Additional details: 20K starting stack, 25-minute levels, one re-entry, registration closes after 8 levels, €10K guarantee
Location: LIVE! Casino & Hotel, Hanover, Maryland
Series dates: March 13-23 (schedule)
Ladies Event: March 14
Buy-In: $240 ($3,500 guarantee)
Series Dates: March 14-29
Location: Gila River Hotels & Casino, near Phoenix, Arizona
Ladies Event: March 15
Buy-In: $230
Additional details: 10K starting stack, $10K guarantee
Location: Harrah’s, Atlantic City, New Jersey
Series Dates: March 5-16
Ladies Event: March 15
Start time: 3PM
Buy-In: $250 (200 + 50)
Additional details: Structure here, 10K starting stack, unlimited re-entry, registration open until the beginning of level 9
Location: Hard Rock Hotel and Casino, Tulsa, Oklahoma
Series Dates: March 11-23
Ladies Event: March 18
Start time: 4PM
Buy-In: $250
Location: MGM National Harbor, Oxon Hill, Maryland
Date: March 21
Start time: 1:15PM
Buy-In: $200 ($5K guarantee)
Additional Details: MGM National Harbor has held various Ladies Events in the past. In October they hosted a $200 NLH Ladies Event with a $5K guarantee. For more information on the March event or to be added to the mailing list for upcoming Ladies events, please contact the assistant poker manager at [email protected].
Location: Hollywood Casino, Columbus, Ohio
Ladies Event: March 21
Buy-In: $150
Additional details: $3K guarantee, 20K starting stack, 15/20 minute levels, registration through level 8
Location: Foxwoods, Mashantucket, Connecticut
Series Dates: March 6-23
Ladies Event: March 22
Start time: 11AM
Buy-In: $1,000 (Ladies discounted to $250)
Additional details: 30K starting stack, 20/30-minute levels, unlimited re-entry
Event Date: March 24
Additional details: The Ladies Club at the Hippodrome hosted by Kerryjane Craigie meets once a month on a Tuesday and offers the ladies a chance to meet up and chat about what they love and loathe about poker, followed by a NLH tournament with prizes. Meetings in February, March, and April will qualify towards the Win You Way to Vegas loyalty race.*
To find out more and to register for the next event, join the Facebook group.
*Terms and conditions apply. Must be a member of the Hippodrome Casino. Must be able to travel to the US. Not transferable and no cash alternative.
Location: bestbet, Jacksonville, Florida
Series Dates: March 20-30
Ladies Event: March 25
Buy-In: $240
Additional details: 15K starting stack, 30-minute levels
This Ladies Only Event will be featured on the bestbet live stream feature and also final table.
WPTDeepStacks is heating up next month! Plan your visits to @LivePokerRoom and @bestbet_jax! @VinceVanP_WPT breaks down the two events. https://t.co/Q16dyYKkI7 (March 20-23)https://t.co/OUUOvlwcDh (March 27-30) pic.twitter.com/NGHy2PisOh
— WPTDS (@WPTDeepStacks) February 6, 2020
Location: Bally’s, Las Vegas, Nevada
Series Dates: March 19-30
Ladies Event: March 25
Buy-In: $250 (200 + 50)
Additional details: 2-day event, 10K starting stack
Location: InterContinental Hotel, Bucharest, Romania
Series Dates: March 23-29
Ladies Event: March 26
Buy-In: €60 (50+10)
Additional details: Winner also receives a guaranteed 888poker LIVE Barcelona 2020 package
Location: Grosvenor Casino Maybury, Edinburgh, Scotland
Series dates: March 21-29
Ladies Event: March 29
Buy-in: £100 (90+10)
Additional details: Starting stack 20K, 25-minute levels and unlimited re-entry for 2 hours
Every GUKPT stop hosts a Womens Event and players can earn points towards the Womens League and compete for three prizes outlined here. Click here for current Womens League standings.
Location: Green Valley Ranch, Las Vegas, Nevada
Series Dates: March 26-29
Additional details: Several events scheduled from Thursday to Sunday including a 2-day, $210 Nevada State Championship event with 20K starting stack and 30-minute levels, $130 NLHE Warm-Up Welcome Event, and $130 Pajama Jam NLH tourney, where players are encouraged to wear their pajamas.
Location: City West Hotel, Dublin, Ireland
Series dates: March 27-April 6
Ladies Event: March 31
Buy-In: €400
Additional details: The 2019 Ladies Championship had 131 entries, making it one of the largest Ladies Events in Europe. Please note that the Norwegian Championships is ONLY open to those players with Norwegian passports. More information can be found on the website or via the closed Facebook group.
Location: Royal Caribbean Oasis of the Seas
Series Dates: March 29 – April 5
Ladies Event: March 31
Start time: 2PM
Buy-In: $200 (175 +25)
Additional Details: 15K starting stack, 10K bonus for $20 dealer appreciation, 30-minute levels, registration through level 8
In addition to the Ladies only tournament, there are poker tournaments and cash games on board. Vanessa Kade will be attending (with Unicorn Celeste) and Mark Gregorich will be doing at least one if not two mixed game hand labs. Remember, cabins must be booked directly with Ship It Cruises to be eligible to play in the poker room.
Location: Bankstown Sports, Sydney, Australia
Series Dates: April 1-5
Ladies Event: April 4
Buy-In: $100 AUD (85 +15)
Additional details: The Australian Poker Tour hosts a Ladies Event sponsored by Women’s Poker Association at each stop, usually on Saturday. The APT stops at Sydney, Brisbane, and the Gold Coast. Sydney hosts a $100 Buy-In Event while Brisbane and the Gold Coast offers a $60 Buy-In. In January, The APT Brisbane Ladies Main had 82 entries and Alison Conway was the winner.
Location: Playground Casino, Montreal, Canada
Ladies Event: April 4
Buy-In: $175 CAD (160 + 15)
Additional details: This is the second edition of the Women’s Series at the Playground Casino. Through a series of five tournaments (each with a $5K guarantee), ladies have the opportunity to earn points to qualify for the Championship Event, which will be held on December 5.
Location: City West Hotel, Dublin, Ireland
Series Dates: April 6-20
Ladies Event: April 9
Buy-In: €250 (225 + 25)
Additional details: 15K starting stack, 30-minute levels, late registration until 9PM
Still availability to Book your room for the Irish Poker Open 2020 this April 6th to 13th at Citywest Hotel ☘️ Player Promo Code: IOP2020 ☘️
Enter the code on Website when booking:https://t.co/icfIz40tqL
Poker B&B rates
– Single: €111
– Twin/Double: €121
– Triple: €151 pic.twitter.com/cCHEPL3dWW— Irish Open (@Irish_PokerOpen) January 31, 2020
Location: Green Valley Ranch, Henderson, Nevada, USA
Ladies Event: April 18
Starting time: 12PM
Buy-In: $125
Additional details: 15K starting stack, 20-minute levels
Event Date: April 21
Additional details: The Ladies Club at the Hippodrome hosted by Kerryjane Craigie meets once a month on a Tuesday and offers the ladies a chance to meet up and chat about what they love and loathe about poker, followed by a NLH tournament with prizes. Meetings in February, March, and April will qualify towards the Win You Way to Vegas loyalty race.*
To find out more and to register for the next event, join the Facebook group.
*Terms and conditions apply. Must be a member of the Hippodrome Casino. Must be able to travel to the US. Not transferable and no cash alternative.
Location: Holiday Inn, Sao Paolo, Brazil
Series Dates: April 21-28
Ladies Event: April 24
Start time: 5PM
Buy-In: R$500
Additional details: Unlimited re-entry, with late registration until Level 8; 20k starting stack, 25-min levels, 17% of buy in taken as registration fee with an additional 3% taken for floor staff, dealers, and associated costs. Top five finishers will receive a free seat to the PPWC Main Event.
Location: Bicycle Casino, Bell Gardens, California
Ladies Event date: April 26
Starting time: 10AM
Buy-In: $125 (100 +25)
Additional details: 10K chips, 20-minute levels, optional $10 for additional 5K chips. *On all events unless otherwise stated, $300 is withheld for the winner’s seat to the LIPS Grand Championship.
Location: Royal Caribbean’s Liberty of the Seas
Series Dates: April 26 — May 3
Ladies Event: Date TBA
Buy-In: $150
Additional details: There will also be a $340 Main Event open to all passengers. According to Linda Johnson, passengers will have opportunities to hold a sloth, feed iguanas, learn to salsa dance, etc. Prices for this cruise are the lowest of the year, starting at less than $100 per day. There will also be private excursions, free beginner’s lessons, and private parties.
Location: Seminole Hard Rock Hotel & Casino Hollywood
Ladies Event: May 2
Start time: 2PM
Buy-in: $250
Additional details: Re-entry, with $10,000 GTD and a $1,1000 Event #44 seat added for the winner.
Location: Atlantis Casino, Reno, Nevada
Series Dates: April 30 — May 10
Ladies Event: May 7
Buy-In: $200
Start time: 11AM
Additional Details: The Ladies Event is co-branded alongside the LIPS Poker Tour.
Location: Casino Barcelona, Barcelona, Spain
Series Dates: May 14-25
Ladies Event: TBA
Additional details: Every 888poker LIVE stop will host a Ladies Event. 888poker hosts series in Romania, Spain, Russia, Estonia, and England.
Location: The Poker Room, London, England
Series dates: May 14-24
Ladies Event: May 24
Buy-in: £100 (90+10)
Additional details: Starting stack 20K, 25-minute levels and unlimited re-entry for 2 hours
Every GUKPT stop hosts a Womens Event and players can earn points towards the Womens League and compete for three prizes outlined here. Click here for current Womens League standings.
Location: Playground Casino, Montreal, Canada
Ladies Event: June 6
Buy-In: $175 CAD (160 + 15)
Additional details: This is the second edition of the Women’s Series at the Playground Casino. Through a series of five tournaments (each with a $5K guarantee), ladies have the opportunity to earn points to qualify for the Championship Event, which will be held on December 5.
Location: Venetian Hotel and Casino, Las Vegas, Nevada, USA
Series dates: May 4-July 26
Ladies Event: LIPS Ladies Event June 14
Starting time: 11:10AM
Buy-in: $565 (500 + 65)
Additional details: 50K guaranteed. Players receive a 20K starting stack and play 40-minute levels. This is a 2-day event.
Location: Planet Hollywood Resort & Casino, Las Vegas, Nevada, USA
Series dates: May 27-July 8
Ladies Event: June 15
Buy-in: $350 (300 + 50)
Additional details: This is a 2-day event with the restart on June 16. The Ladies Event boasts a $50K guarantee with a $10K guarantee for 1st place. Players receive a 20K starting stack and play 30-minute levels
Location: Rio All-Suite Hotel & Casino, Las Vegas, Nevada
Series Dates: May 26 — July 15
Ladies Championship Event: June 17-20
Buy-In: $10,000 ($1,000 for ladies)
Additional details: 20K starting stack, 1-hour levels, one re-entry
Seoul, South Korea’s Jiyoung Kim tops a 968-entry field to win the 2019 @WSOP Ladies Event. Kim earns $167,308 and the bracelet in her first-ever WSOP cash. https://t.co/ShSFUm91y7 pic.twitter.com/jm5zKhzSfh
— WSOP (@WSOP) June 24, 2019
Location: Golden Nugget, Las Vegas, NV
Series Dates:
Ladies Event: June 18
Starting time: 11AM
Buy-In: $150
Additional details: 15K starting stack, 30-minute levels, $10K guaranteed
Location: Southport Sharks, Gold Coast, Australia
Series Dates: June 17-21
Ladies Event: TBA
Buy-In: $60 AUD
Additional details: The Australian Poker Tour hosts a Ladies Event sponsored by Women’s Poker Association at each stop, usually on Saturday. The APT stops at Sydney, Brisbane, and the Gold Coast. Sydney hosts a $100 Buy-In Event while Brisbane and the Gold Coast offers a $60 Buy-In
Location: Grosvenor Casino, Luton, England
Series dates: July 5-13
Ladies Event: July 13
Buy-in: £100 (90+10)
Additional details: Starting stack 20K, 25-minute levels and unlimited re-entry for 2 hours
Every GUKPT stop hosts a Womens Event and players can earn points towards the Womens League and compete for three prizes outlined here. Click here for current Womens League standings.
Location: Casino Velden, Velden am Wörthersee, Austria
Series Dates: July 14-25
Ladies Event: Ladies EM, TBA
Additional details: The Poker Europameisterschaft (Poker EM, which translates to European Championships), is held every summer in Velden am Wörthersee in Austria, and this will be its 31st annual series. The Ladies EM has been held since 2017; Jessica Teusl has won the event for three consecutive years. More details to be announced soon.
https://www.instagram.com/p/BlnxDAZH8TK/?utm_source=ig_web_copy_link
Location: Bicycle Casino, Bell Gardens, California
Ladies Event date: July 26
Starting time: 10AM
Buy-In: $125 (100 +25)
Additional details: 10K chips, 20-minute levels, optional $10 for additional 5K chips. *On all events unless otherwise stated, $300 is withheld for the winner’s seat to the LIPS Grand Championship.
Location: Grosvenor Casino, Coventry, England
Series Dates: July 29-August 9
Ladies Event: July 31
Buy-In: £60 ( 50 + 10)
Additional details: Women’s Event with £5,000 guarantee, 12K starting stack and unlimited re-entries. Players will have 2 hours and 15 minutes of registration period with five, 24-minute levels then reducing to 20-minute levels. The 2019 Women’s event drew 194 entries. Satellites are running on Grosvenor’s website.
Location: Casino Sochi, Sochi, Russia
Series Dates: August 6-14
Ladies Event: TBA
Additional details: Every 888poker LIVE stop will host a Ladies Event. 888poker hosts series in Romania, Spain, Russia, Estonia, and England.
Location: Playground Casino, Montreal, Canada
Ladies Event: August 8
Buy-In: $175 CAD (160 + 15)
Additional details: This is the second edition of the Women’s Series at the Playground Casino. Through a series of five tournaments (each with a $5K guarantee), ladies have the opportunity to earn points to qualify for the Championship Event, which will be held on December 5.
Location: Green Valley Ranch, Henderson, Nevada, USA
Ladies Event: August 15
Starting time: 12PM
Buy-In: $125
Additional details: 15K starting stack, 20-minute levels
Location: Bankstown Sports, Sydney, Australia
Series Dates: August 20-23
Ladies Event: TBA
Buy-In: $100 AUD
Additional details: The Australian Poker Tour hosts a Ladies Event sponsored by Women’s Poker Association at each stop, usually on Saturday. The APT stops at Sydney, Brisbane, and the Gold Coast. Sydney hosts a $100 Buy-In Event while Brisbane and the Gold Coast offers a $60 Buy-In
Location: Tallinn, Estonia
Series Dates: September 1-7
Ladies Event: TBA
Additional details: Every 888poker LIVE stop will host a Ladies Event. 888poker hosts series in Romania, Spain, Russia, Estonia, and England.
Location: Grosvenor Casino, Leeds, England
Series dates: September 6-13
Ladies Event: September 13
Buy-in: £100 (90+10)
Additional details: Starting stack 20K, 25-minute levels and unlimited re-entry for 2 hours
Every GUKPT stop hosts a Womens Event and players can earn points towards the Womens League and compete for three prizes outlined here. Click here for current Womens League standings.
Location: Eaton Hills, Brisbane, Australia
Series Dates: September 23-27
Ladies Event: TBA
Buy-In: $60 AUD
Additional details: The Australian Poker Tour hosts a Ladies Event sponsored by Women’s Poker Association at each stop, usually on Saturday. The APT stops at Sydney, Brisbane, and the Gold Coast. Sydney hosts a $100 Buy-In Event while Brisbane and the Gold Coast offers a $60 Buy-In.
Location: Playground Casino, Montreal, Canada
Ladies Event: October 3
Buy-In: $175 CAD (160 + 15)
Additional details: This is the second edition of the Women’s Series at the Playground Casino. Through a series of five tournaments (each with a $5K guarantee), ladies have the opportunity to earn points to qualify for the Championship Event, which will be held on December 5.
Location: Grosvenor Casino, Luton, England
Series dates: October 3-11
Ladies Event: October 11
Buy-in: £100 (90+10)
Additional details: Starting stack 20K, 25-minute levels and unlimited re-entry for 2 hours
Every GUKPT stop hosts a Womens Event and players can earn points towards the Womens League and compete for three prizes outlined here. Click here for current Womens League standings.
Location: Bicycle Casino, Bell Gardens, California
Ladies Event date: October 18
Starting time: 10AM
Buy-In: $125 (100 +25)
Additional details: 10K chips, 20-minute levels, optional $10 for additional 5K chips. *On all events unless otherwise stated, $300 is withheld for the winner’s seat to the LIPS Grand Championship.
Location: Portomaso Casino, St. Julian’s, Malta
Ladies Event: Ladies First, October 31
Buy-In: €100 (90 + 10)
Additional details: 20K starting stack, 20-minute levels, one re-entry
According to Ivonne Montealegre, “Malta Poker Festival’s Ladies First is one of the only events that is committed to making live satellites even a few months before the event, so we make it very accessible for the ladies to participate.”
Location: Green Valley Ranch, Henderson, Nevada, USA
Ladies Event: November 7
Starting time: 12PM
Buy-In: $125
Additional details: 15K starting stack, 20-minute levels
Location: Grosvenor Casino, Blackpool, England
Series dates: October 31-November 8
Ladies Event: November 8
Buy-in: £100 (90+10)
Additional details: Starting stack 20K, 25-minute levels and unlimited re-entry for 2 hours
Every GUKPT stop hosts a Womens Event and players can earn points towards the Womens League and compete for three prizes outlined here. Click here for current Womens League standings.
Location: Aspers Casino, London, England
Series Dates: November 16-29
Ladies Event: TBA
Additional details: Every 888poker LIVE stop will host a Ladies Event. 888poker hosts series in Romania, Spain, Russia, Estonia, and England.
Location: Playground Casino, Montreal, Canada
Ladies Championship Event: December 5
Additional details: The Championship Event is only open to qualifiers.
Ed. note: For further poker learning, be sure to check out the Modern Poker Theory Video Packs (2-part series). Our review can be found here.
Head on over to your bookshelf and put all of your old outdated poker books about GTO into a box. You don’t need them anymore! The information in those pages is now obsolete and incomplete. There’s a new kid in town and its name is Modern Poker Theory. I can’t imagine that a more comprehensive book on the subject of GTO will ever be written. This is it, the buck stops here; Modern Poker Theory is the final stop on the route. The book’s mastermind Michael Acevedo has arrived and he is taking us along for the ride, so strap on your seat belts and get ready to learn a LOT about poker!
I have always had a fascination with brilliant people, but even more so with brilliant people who can explain what it is they know to us mere mortals. What use is it being a genius if you can’t communicate what you know? Michael Acevedo is the whole package. He has a background as a mathematician, is a professional online player, coach, and leading poker theorist. If you want to improve your game and increase your win rate, pay attention to what Michael has to say. He was also a financial analyst, so he knows a thing or two about increasing dividends.
I wrote #ModernPokerTheory with the intention to make Game Theory accessible to everyone, I’m very happy to see it has help you get actual results. Best of luck 🍀😎 https://t.co/LsDxaFbaRJ
— Michael Acevedo (@GTOPoker) August 19, 2019
One of the greatest aspects of this book is how user friendly it is to apply during off-table study. I have read many poker strategy books and most of them are not as easy to use as Modern Poker Theory. What I mean by that specifically is that in this book the chapters are arranged in such a way that you can easily reference specific information about a given spot you are studying. If you are on an online poker forum doing hand analysis, for example, you can very quickly look up what range and at what frequency the villain should be calling the hero’s 3-bet with in position. You can then just as quickly find the specific section in the book detailing what ranges and frequencies the hero should C-bet or check raise with. There is no other book like it in this regard. You can practically use it in real time (although, you might not want to try that at your live home game this week with your buddies!).
Got some new reading material in the mail today! I’m super excited to get into @GTOPoker new book; I have a feeling it’s going to be life-changing! @DBPoker1 really hit it out of the park with this one! pic.twitter.com/43aBiDWKo3
— Tricia Cardner, PhD, EdD (@DrTriciaCardner) August 21, 2019
There are a lot of people who see the letters GTO and their lights immediately turn off. They completely unplug when they see those three scary letters because they have heard a lot of misinformation about what game theory optimal really truly is. Do not be one of those people! While some people are overwhelmed, others just believe incorrectly that GTO “does not apply to their game.” You also don’t want to be one of those people either! Acevedo thoroughly and masterfully illustrates how and why GTO is the foundation you want to build your poker strategy upon.
Plainly put, he explains that GTO is the strategy you implement when playing against someone else who is playing GTO. In other words, it is the most optimal strategy to play when playing against someone who knows what you are doing. If you find that someone is not playing GTO poker, you can then play exploitatively. The thing is, if you don’t know GTO strategy you are the player being exploited. Period!
I know math can be terrifying. I know graphs and charts can be daunting. I know this because I myself am not one of the gifted few who are number crunching savants. Fortunately, as I mentioned above, Michael has a talent for simplifying complex concepts such that anyone can understand them. Seriously, he almost had me thinking I could do calculus. Almost!
The thing is, he not only breaks down the equations and formulas that poker math is comprised of, but he also explains the principles behind them. So even if you’re struggling to grasp the math, he still unpacks GTO strategy in a way anyone can comprehend by using countless easy-to-understand examples. He illustrates step by step, in laymen’s terms, what it all means so that you can apply GTO strategy to your game regardless of whether or not you understand the actual math behind it. In other words, he makes it such that you don’t need to be an auto mechanic in order to drive the vehicle.
Reflecting on my own learning process and growth as a poker player, the amazing thing is that once I read through Acevedo’s examples and his step-by-step illustrations, I was then able to go back and reread some of the equations that had been way over my head and make sense out of them! I literally learned some algebra from his teaching method. It was amazing!
@GTOPoker Explains in great detail the beauty behind using Game-theory in poker, and gets your attention when making references to Alphazero in chess or Chinook in Checkers. It is a groundbreaking theoretical work, made reader friendly and entertaining. pic.twitter.com/FA7d7OAgG5
— Peter Heine Nielsen (@PHChess) September 9, 2019
Modern Poker Theory is great for both MTT and cash game players. The book may lean more toward assisting with tournament play, but the principles can be applied to cash games as well. The book truly is comprehensive. It even covers exploitative play, as Michael points out how to take advantage of your opponents in different scenarios where the villain may not be using a balanced GTO strategy.
He covers everything from basic concepts of core poker fundamentals to the more advanced elements of game theory. He also discusses poker software thoroughly. Even if you are already familiar with specific software that he discusses, you are certain to pick something up that you didn’t know before. Acevedo has clearly mastered GTO solvers and commercial artificial intelligence software. So, especially if you are plugging away at PioSOLVER or MonkerSolver and are getting questionable outputs, this book would be worth purchasing for that aspect alone.
To summarize, I feel like I am now literally able to box up half my poker books and toss ‘em into storage. They are no longer needed. Modern Poker Theory is five books in one. I can also recycle nearly all of my poker strategy notebooks that I have handwritten over the years. They are no longer needed. Modern Poker Theory is so well organized that I can use it almost in real time. I can sell all of my old college algebra text books, too. They are no longer needed. All of the poker math I will ever need to know Michael Acevedo has just taught me!
So, if you want to replace your old stack of dog eared, coffee stained, scribbled in poker books with a brand new one written by a genius, then Modern Poker Theory is the one and only poker book for you!
#1 Best seller en @amazon #Poker #ModernPokerTheory pic.twitter.com/gIOKPhd3Ln
— Michael Acevedo (@GTOPoker) October 4, 2019
In this episode of The Bernard Lee Poker Show on the Cardplayer Lifestyle Podcast Family, Bernard Lee interviews renowned film critic and avid poker player, Richard Roeper. During the interview, Bernard and Richard discusses the 2020 Academy Awards as they have their 5th annual Academy Awards preview show. For all the six major categories, Richard predicts his picks to help any listeners who may enter any possible Academy Award pools.
| 0:00 | Welcome to The Bernard Lee Poker Show as this week’s guest will be renown film critic and avid poker player Richard Roeper for the show’s 5th Annual Academy Awards preview show. |
| 0:13 | WSOP Circuit in Potawatomi, WI and RunGood Poker Series kicks off in Council Bluffs, Iowa. |
| 2:50 | RunGood Gear Ad |
| 3:33 | Bernard welcomes Richard Roeper to the show, where they discuss the top six categories: Best Supporting Actress and Actor, Best Actress and Actor, Best Director and Picture |
| 4:24 | Richard joins the show. |
| 6:47 | Richard describes some other categories that will have some overwhelming favorites. |
| 8:29 | Bernard and Richard analyze the Best Supporting Actress category, including snub Jennifer Lopez. “Yes. That was definitely the biggest snub of this season.” Richard picks Laura Dern (Marriage Story). |
| 15:54 | Richard analyzes the Best Supporting Actor category. Richard picks Brad Pitt (Once Upon A Time…in Hollywood). |
| 24:02 | Share My Pair Ad |
| 24:34 | RunGood Gear Ad |
| 25:17 | Bernard continues his interview with renown film critic, Richard Roeper, discussing the 2020 Academy Awards. |
| 25:35 | Bernard and Richard analyze the Best Actress category, including snub Awkwafina (The Farewell). “If I had a vote in the Academy Awards, I actually would have voted for her (Awkwafina). Richard picks Renee Zellweger (Judy). |
| 31:34 | Bernard and Richard analyze the Best Actor category, including snubs Robert DeNiro (The Irishman) and Adam Sandler (Uncut Gems). “I think Adam Sandler 100% deserved it for Uncut Gems.” Richard picks Joaquin Phoenix (Joker). |
| 36:36 | Bernard and Richard analyze the Best Director category, including snubs Greta Gerwig (Little Women) and Lulu Wang (The Farewell). “I absolutely think Lulu Wang deserved it for The Farewell” as did Greta Gerwig. Also, they discuss possibly increasing the category to seven nominations. Richard picks Sam Mendes (Joker). |
| 43:24 | Bernard and Richard analyze the Best Picture category. “1917 is the favorite, but not by much.” Parasite and Once Upon A Time…In Hollywood are slightly behind. Richard picks 1917. |
| 47:48 | Richard discusses the lack of host again this year. “It works better with a host… Bring Tina Fey and Amy Poehler on as hosts for the next Oscars and it will be fine.” |
Recreational players are what makes poker tick. Without them, the game could hardly survive for as long as it has as it would turn into a battle of hardened professionals, in which no one (except for the house) would stand to win over the long term.
Although recreational players generally play worse than poker pros, it doesn’t mean they’ll just sit down and give away their chips.
In fact, playing against recs can be quite tricky at times because they often don’t play by the book, coming up with plays a more seasoned player will have a hard time wrapping their head around.
It’s with all that in mind that I present to you these three tips on how to exploit recreational players. Hopefully they’ll give you a road map of sorts to help you adjust your strategy and win more money in the long run.
Image credit: itpro.co.uk
The biggest flaw of most recreational players is that they only have one gear. Whether they’re overly aggressive, too passive, or way too tight, these players tend to stick to a certain pattern and rarely get out of their boundaries.
Your number one task when playing against recs is to recognize and assign these patterns.
Since they’ll almost always be stuck in the same gear, it won’t take long to figure out what their general tendencies are, either by playing some hands with them or by simply observing them play against others at the table. If you are playing online, this task is even easier because you can use tracking software and analyze their stats for various situations.
Within a few orbits, you should have all the information you need to make a solid approximate categorization.
Once you have a recreational player pegged as a certain type, be it a calling station, a loose maniac, or whatever other category they may belong to, you need to make a conscious effort to adjust your strategy and game-plan when involved in pots with that particular player. Due to the fact they deviate from the poker norms, your standard strategy isn’t necessarily the best one.
Against most recreational players, you’ll want to play an exploitative style adjusted to their tendencies. If they call too much, you should cut down on your bluffs and drop the hammer with your value bets to charge them for their curiosity.
If they are loose and crazy, stay out of their way until you have a big hand and take them to value town when you finally pick one up. Most likely, they will not notice that you were sitting quietly for the last 30 minutes and will pay you off because they are at the tables to have fun and gamble and mostly only care about their hand.
Also, the less obvious adjustment is when you are up against an extremely tight player (a nit). These guys tend to be too passive post-flop, so even though they do play only reasonable holdings pre-flop, they are willing to fold if they do not hit a reasonable hand on the flop. Against these guys, you should be looking to c-bet wide and even float their flop bets with the intention to bluff later. They are not so likely to barrel multiple streets as a bluff, so you will have plenty of opportunities to pick up these pots later in hand.
Although balancing one’s ranges is a big part of poker, it only applies when you’re playing against other observant players who’ll make adjustments to your style. You will not be able to get away with random adjustments against top players like Alex Millar or someone of similar caliber, but you surely can get away with such play against weaker opponents.
Against someone who plays the same way against everyone, there is no need to be tricky. An experienced player may laugh at your 2x pot bet on the river, but a curious rec may try to “keep you honest” with their second pair.
Playing against recreational players can be a fun and very profitable experience. However, often they will come up with weird lines and invariably get you in some strange spots ending in bad beats and ugly suckouts.
With a lot of action and players willing to take all sorts of hands to a showdown, things can get crazy at times. So when someone sucks out on you in a big pot, don’t get mad; just keep playing your game.
The key thing here is to keep your cool. Recreational players are there primarily to have a good time, so never berate or show any disrespect to other players. Don’t even try to teach them or give advice. Concentrate on making good decisions, and eventually the money will come your way.
Of course, getting bad beat is not much fun, but remember that recreational players would not even play this game if they did not have a chance to get lucky and take some pots from better players once in a while. So instead of getting angry, appreciate that you have a chance to be in a good game and keep your cool.
Correct play and solid strategy will always prevail in the long run, so there is no need to change your play or do anything out of the ordinary just because you happen to be on a bad run. Instead, concentrate on adjusting to different playing styles, as we covered in the second step, and you will be good!
Is India the epicenter of poker’s next boom? Poker is becoming more and more popular in India for a number of reasons.
The game is growing rapidly among the country’s population of 1.3 billion thanks to various Indian states ruling that poker is a game of skill.
Muskan Sethi became the first sponsored professional poker player from India when she signed with PokerStars in 2018. With poker continually gaining popularity across the nation, it’s a good bet that Sethi won’t be the last to achieve that goal.
India could very well be the site of the next poker boom; let’s take a look at some of the reasons why:
Live casino operations are illegal according to federal regulations in India, but certain Indian states have classified poker as a game of skill. Within those states the online poker market is booming, with operators like PokerBaazi, Adda52, PokerStars India, Spartan Poker and 9stacks offering poker in those areas.
Other Indian states are in the process of deciding on the legality of online poker, and as the 2020s get underway, a growing number of new players have access to the game in the world’s second-most populous country.
With the growing online market, poker operators are able to offer big tournament series, with events such as Spartan Poker’s currently-running India Online Poker Championship (Jan. 24-Feb. 9). Additional upcoming events include the Adda52 Online Poker Series (Feb. 7-16) and the PokerBazzi National Poker Series (April 29-May 5).
Online events like the National Poker Series are attracting new players in India
Other online poker festivals that took place over the past year include PokerStars’ Indian Summer Championship of Online Poker (INSCOOP) and Winter Series, each of which ran in 2019.
The glory days of online poker in the U.S. were a major part of what fueled the original poker boom, and India could be seeing a similar cycle unfold as more of its population gains access to the online game.
At least two exceptions to the live gambling restrictions also exist, with the states of Goa and Sikkam both home to live casinos that offer poker.
Goa is home to seven casinos, four of which offer live poker, while Sikkam’s two casinos both offer poker.
The largest live tournament series in the country is the India Poker Championship, which runs multiple times per year from the Big Daddy Casino in Goa. The centerpiece of the India Poker Championship is the Main Event, which runs just once per year.
The 2020 Main Event just finished up, with Rubin Labroo taking down the tournament, winning the right to be called poker’s National Champion in India and pocketing the equivalent of $64,077.
Rubin Labroo, 2020 India Poker Series Main Event Champion (photo courtesy India Poker Championship)
As the biggest live poker tournament in the country, the 2020 Main Event drew 693 entries. The India Poker Championship has been running since 2010, and as such is already an established event series within the nation’s poker economy.
Muskan Sethi is not only the first sponsored poker pro from India; she’s dedicated her career to introducing and teaching the game to new players, and especially female players, in her native country.
“I’m going to start coaching a few women as well. It’s just something I feel like I should now start,” Sethi said in an interview with Cardplayer Lifestyle at EPT Barcelona in August.
“Just because they haven’t even started playing poker, so I’m going to have to start teaching them. If I don’t do it, I know they’ll never do it. I feel like it’s my responsibility to start pushing women in India. Not pushing, but just encouraging them. Making them realize that they can actually make a living, make a life, they can explore this. Why not?”
Always a pleasure to play poker in India ☀️
completely in love with GOA 🏖@PokerStarsIN pic.twitter.com/bJZfEyNB9U— Muskan Sethi (@muskaansethi) January 22, 2020
Other world-class players from India include Vivek Rajkumar (with more than $8 million in career earnings) and Nipun Java (more than $2.7 million in earnings).
With the success of those players in mind, the tradition of the India Poker Championship in place (and growing), and the growth of the online market, India could be home to the next poker boom within the next few years.
While technology may have come a long way, learning by using pen and paper never goes out of style. It may not be everyone’s cup of tea but, personally, I find this approach very effective as I tend to better be able to commit things to memory when doing things this way.
For a poker player, learning and understanding math behind the game is essential. Pretty much without exception, you can’t be good at poker if you don’t understand poker math, plain and simple.
There are many ways to go about learning these numbers but if the aforementioned approach appeals to you, then you’re going to love the Poker Workbook by James “SplitSuit” Sweeney. It is an extensive source of knowledge on poker math and percentages that requires your active involvement. It may feel like you’re back in school at times, but if you do it right you’re bound to learn a lot from these materials.
So, what exactly is the Poker Workbook? It is a poker textbook containing more than 1,500 tasks involving poker math – from the simplest calculations to highly elaborate concepts. Every single aspect of the workbook is briefly explained and then followed by a number of calculations you’ll need to do on your own.
Concepts covered in the Poker Workbook include:
Once you get the basic grasp of the concept that’s being discussed, you’ll need to apply that knowledge to real examples and come up with exact answers. You’ll need to calculate percentages, number of combos, pot odds, and more, and then fill in the answers. So, it’s not the kind of book that you can just read. It only works if you actually take time to do the exercises!
The main goal of the Poker Workbook is to teach you how to quickly make all sorts of calculations while playing. Although our brains aren’t computers and most of us can’t do complex calculations in seconds, almost everyone can develop a skillset to make very good approximations. More often than not, this is all you will need at the poker tables.
To tackle tasks in the workbook, you’ll need poker software such as Flopzilla and/or Equilab. These programs will let you build custom ranges and turn percentages into visual representations (and vice-versa) of hand ranges.
As you do this, you should become much better at visualizing what a certain percentage of hands looks like. You should also learn how to quickly figure out if a particular call is +EV or not based on how it relates to the pot and the strength of your own hand.
It all may seem abstract until you actually sit down and start doing it. That’s exactly why I like SplitSuit’s approach with this product. It forces you to sit down, think about, and physically write down your results. That way, you can’t fool yourself into thinking you were “close enough”. If the number is there and it’s off by a lot (or even a little), you’ll know you made a mistake in your calculations somewhere.
When you want to check your results, there is the separate Answer Key file, which allows you to quickly find answers for particular questions without having to go back and forth through the original book. This is really helpful as it saves time and lets you focus more on the learning process.
The Poker Workbook was designed to be studied methodically. SplitSuit recommends doing a few pages every day and really focusing on getting the right answers, so this is probably the best way to go about it. If you’re already an experienced player, some of the earlier tasks will be easy to complete off the top of your head. If you’re new to poker math, though, it will take some time.
The good thing about the workbook is that you can organize your studying time so it doesn’t affect your other poker learning activities, such as watching videos or analyzing your hands. You can just do a few exercises whenever you feel like it. As you do more, you’re bound to become better at it.
Finally, there’s the price point: just $39. That’s affordable for pretty much any poker player. Moreover, when you consider it as an “investment” rather than a “money spend”, it’s tough to argue that you aren’t getting great bang for your buck.
So, to summarize, it may feel like “doing things the old fashioned way, with pen and paper” is a step back when compared to all the modern and interactive poker training systems out there but I don’t think this is necessarily a bad thing. The more traditional approach to learning poker can still work very well and the fact you’re more involved with the materials will help you memorize much more information even if you don’t realize it at first.
If you want to learn poker math from scratch or if there are certain concepts that you don’t quite understand or struggle with, give Poker Workbook a go. Odds are you’re going to love it once you get into it and begin a daily poker study routine.
In this episode of The Bernard Lee Poker Show on the Cardplayer Lifestyle Podcast Family, Bernard Lee interviews President and founder of RunGoodGear.com, Tana Karn. During the interview, Tana discusses the 2020 RunGood Poker Series: All-Star Season with an exclusive Pro-Am Event at the Poker Go Studio at the Aria Casino in Las Vegas.
| 0:00 | Welcome to The Bernard Lee Poker Show as this week’s guest is President of RunGoodGear and RunGood Pokler Series (RGPS), Tana Karn. |
| 0:05 | The Bernard Lee Poker Show begins a new era as the show joins the newly created Cardplayer Lifestyle Poker Podcast Family. |
| 1:09 | Robbie Strazynski joins the show to discuss the newly created Cardplayer Lifestyle Poker Podcast Family including The Bernard Lee Poker Show and Top Pair Home Game Poker Podcast. |
| 5:20 | Brian Altman captured the WPT Lucky Hearts Poker Open beating an 843-player field, earning $482,636. He became the first player in WPT history to win the same main event twice (he also won the event back in 2015). |
| 6:13 | Lytle Allen outlasted a field of 491 players a start studded final table to win the WSOP Horseshoe Tunica Main Event for $144,313. |
| 7:57 | Next week’s guest will be renown film critic and avid poker player Richard Roeper as we have our 5th Annual Academy Awards preview show. |
| 9:06 | RunGood Gear Ad |
| 9:49 | Bernard welcomes Tana Karn to the show. |
| 11:06 | Tana joins the show |
| 11:54 | Tana describes how he started his clothing line (RunGoodGear) and the poker series (RunGood Poker Series), which was named the 2019 Global Poker Awards Mid-Major Circuit/Tour of the Year. |
| 20:17 | Tana recalls the initial tournament series with RGPS (called Showbound) back in 2019 and PokerGo with the grand prize of playing on Poker After Dark |
| 24:42 | Share My Pair Ad |
| 25:14 | Bernard continues his interview with Tana Karn, President of RunGoodGear and the RunGood Poker Series |
| 26:10 | Tana discusses the 2020 RunGood Poker Series, collaborating with Poker Central/PokerGo including an exclusive Pro-Am at the PokerGO studio |
| 31:48 | Tana announces that the RGPS is expanding out West to San Diego (Jamul Casino) and Sacramento area (Thunder Valley Casino) and new stop in Oklahoma City (Grand Casino) |
| 35:55 | Tana discusses Global Poker Award nomination for tour and ambassadors including Bernard’s ESPN column discussing Phil Hellmuth’s 30th anniversary of his WSOP Main Event |
| 41:42 | Tana discusses the future of RGPS including possible expansion to the East Coast of the U.S. |
| 44:16 | RGPS kicks off 2020 season at Horseshoe Council Bluffs on February 4, 2020. |
