Robbie Strazynski

Along with my Top Pair Home Game Poker Podcast co-host Bruce Briggs, I recently interviewed Ray Kondler, a longtime tax advisor and accountant for poker players. You don’t have to be a professional poker player to appreciate the importance of correctly filing tax returns on poker wins. Also, if you are a professional poker player, you need to know what expenses can be deducted from your tax return. Whatever your poker status, this is an interview that’s important to check out. Listen to the entirety of Episode 259 of the podcast, which includes the interview with Poker CPA Ray Kondler starting at the 13:10-minute mark. You can also read the summarized transcript. Enjoy!

In poker, losers have a budget while winners have a bankroll. Proper bankroll management is a key skill in poker, but above all you must ensure you don’t go busto in the first place. If you do, you’ll be doomed to having to cope with a poker budget. From personal experience, I can tell you that playing your A-game in that situation (with a budget instead of a bankroll) is far more difficult.

I enjoy listening to poker podcasts, so it always excites me when a new one debuts. One of the most recent to hit the airwaves is the PokerNews Canada podcast and within five minutes of tuning in to their first episode, I became a fan. In this post, I give a full review of what you can expect from the PokerNews Canada crew each month. In short, I highly recommend that you give the show a listen!

Season 4 of Poker Night in America begins tonight, as Chris Hanson and Joe Stapleton call the action taking place at a table full of some of poker’s biggest names. For starters, you’ve got TV poker mainstays like Phil Hellmuth, Antonio Esfandiari, and Phil Laak yuking it up at the felt. As if that weren’t entertaining enough, the table is rounded out by the world’s top Twitch Poker streamers, including Jason Somerville, Jaime Staples, Dan O’ Brien, and more. While the stakes are plenty high, the entertainment factor is what you should be tuning in for. Find out what time the action begins as well as more exciting details in this Cardplayer Lifestyle exclusive.

Along with my Top Pair Home Game Poker Podcast co-host Bruce Briggs, I recently interviewed professional poker player and WSOP bracelet winner Ronnie Barah. Whether you’re familiar with his many ESPN appearnaces during their WSOP Main Event broadcasts over the years or from his recent appearance on Shark Cage with Sarah Chafak, you’ll be fascinated by his back story! Listen to the entirety of Episode 258 of the podcast, which includes the interview with Ronnie starting at the 14:23-minute mark. You can also read the summarized transcript.

Along with my Top Pair Home Game Poker Podcast co-host Bruce Briggs, I recently interviewed Dr. Al Schoonmaker, the preeminent poker psychologist. Listen to the entirety of Episode 251 of the podcast, which includes the interview with Dr. Al starting at the 12:15-minute mark. You can also read the summarized transcript.

2006 WSOP Main Event Champion Jamie Gold was kind enough to speak with us about his involvement with charity poker work. The self-titled “poker philanthropist” dedicates much effort and energy to using the power of poker to raise money for charity, and that’s incredibly commendable. Here, then, is a closer look at the work that Jamie does to help harness poker’s fundraising power to support worthy charitable causes.

Big news for Poker Night in America: They’ve lured another ace – Joe Stapleton – to do commentary on the show. Stapleton joins Chris Hanson and will be sure to provide boatloads of laughs and entertainment to poker fans looking for enjoyable TV poker broadcasts. Joe officially joins the PNIA team as of Season 4 and we can’t wait to watch it. Read on for more details.

Jessica Dawley is turning heads in poker – and it’s not just because of her looks. She’s earned numerous interviews, TV appearances, and poker sponsorships after having shown consistently strong results at the tables. As with any fresh face in poker, fans are usually eager to know more about the person they keep on seeing being talked about. Jessica was kind enough to take the time to answer our questions in this exclusive interview.

It took close to a month to get it right, but I finally was able to finish putting together this post, which details the experiences I had while attending my first live poker event, the 2016 PCA. While there was much to reminisce about, more important than anything was properly conveying my gratitude to the many, many people who helped make my trip so special. Thank you to everyone who so warmly embraced me as a member of the poker community. Whether I met you at the PCA or not, I hope you’ll take the time to read through what it was like for me.

One of the things I love being able to do with this poker blog is turn the mic around on those who produce poker content. Though he’s not “officially” a member of the poker media, “Chicago” Joey Ingram has built a tremendous following over the years amongst hard core poker fans who love listening to and watching his interviews and conversations with the world’s top online poker pros and other behind-the-scenes people in the poker community.

His face and voice are familiar to practically everyone, but it’s ultra rare for Joey to “give up the host’s seat” and allow someone else to ask the questions. So, big shout out and thank-you to Joey for graciously allowing me to “conversate” with him. I hope everyone out there enjoys what he has to say.

Today marks the last day of my life as an outsider in the poker media world. After years of working hard to carve out a niche and an audience for my work, tomorrow, for the first time, I finally get to step into the poker world for real. Tomorrow, as I land in the Bahamas to cover the PokerStars Caribbean Adventure, my perspective on poker changes forever. Here’s to special opportunities and making the most of them.