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Erik Seidel has been one of the greatest poker players in the world for over four decades. We are proud and honored to celebrate this milestone episode with such a legend of the game. Erik discusses with Carlos and Andrew his early
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Mixed game master and Main Event final tabler Alex Livingston joins Carlos and Andrew to discuss playing mixed games, coaching mixed games, teaching in Rwanda, and coining the term Old Man Coffee.
Alex and Chris Vitch teach the Mixed Minds video training
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Software engineer and avid mixed games player Ian Gavlick is bringing games like triple draw into the modern era of poker strategy with Stud Flop Draw. He shares his passion for mixed game strategy and software with Andrew and Carlos and
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Michelle Farmer and Natascha Carpenter founded Royal Queens Poker in Atlanta in 2024 after seeing the lack of diversity in other leagues, a journey they shared with Andrew, Carlos, and Gloria Jackson on Episode 459. Now they’re back to discuss the
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Craig Savage is an educator by trade, but he’s been a competitive poker player and a student of Carlos’s for many years. Hot on the heels of his bracelet victory in the $500 NLHE Freezeout, he speaks with Andrew and Carlos about
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Ian Chan is a Silicon Valley software engineer and a triple draw enthusiast who built his own badugi solver. He talks game theory, artificial intelligence, mixed games, and the underappreciated role of tactile poker experiences.
We’ve also got a little in memoriam
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Former Thinking Poker Podcast host Nate Meyvis joins the show to talk about AI, spaced repetition, and his new flashcard site ZippyFlash.com. Meanwhile Carlos drops in with occasional updates while playing the $1500 Shootout at the WSOP.
You can join Andrew
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This week, we’re bringing you an episode of Risky Business, a podcast about better decision making from our friends Nate Silver and Maria Konnikova. You can find more Risky Business at https://www.pushkin.fm/podcasts/risky-business-with-nate-silver-maria-konnikova.
You can join Andrew and Carlos on ClubWPT Gold by
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Nosebleed MTT crusher Sam Greenwood is one of the most successful poker players of all time. But how did he get started, how did he rise to the top, and why is he now giving away his secrets in a daily newsletter?
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Chris “DeathDonkey” Vitch joins Carlos and Andrew for a lively discussion of poker in all its forms, including why he prefers non-hold ’em games, what hold ’em players get wrong about mixed games, and he approaches mixed game tournaments differently than cash
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Andres Korn grew up playing poker with his friends, but it wasn’t until he saw it on TV that he decided to take it seriously. He bought straight in to the WSOP Main Event and never looked back. Now he’s one of
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Ariel Shefer wants to be a world champion. He’s tried backgammon, he’s tried bridge. Now, he lives in his car, driving for Uber to earn buy-ins for poker tournaments. He’s not broke (or at least, he wouldn’t have to be); this is
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Jim Reid, LoriAnn Persinger, and Rob Gardner join Andrew and Carlos to talk about the RecPoker community and how the needs, goals, and experiences of recreational players differ from those of professionals.
LoriAnn first appeared on Episode 394 of the Thinking Poker
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Eugene Katchalov left the world of professional poker at the top, but he’s still around as a recreational player and entrepreneur. In this delightful conversation, he discusses what makes poker fun, what poker needs, and how solvers have changed the game.
You
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1983 WSOP Main Event champion Tom McEvoy’s new autobiography, Poker Pioneer, is the perfect impetus for celebrating his storied, decades-long career. With Carlos and Andrew, Tom discusses going pro in the 70s, defeating Doyle Brunson in the Main Event, rubbing elbows with
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Michelle Farmer and Natascha Carpenter met 8 years ago in a bar poker league. They founded Royal Queens Poker in Atlanta in 2024 after seeing the lack of diversity in other leagues. They discuss with Andrew, Carlos, and Gloria Jackson the challenges
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Jesse Fullen, our guest from Episode 436, was a Content Producer for the WSOP this summer. In this special episode, he discusses the experience and some of his favorite stories he collected.
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It’s pure strategy as Andrew and Carlos answer a series of listener questions about satellite strategy, pot commitment, deepstacked play, and more!
Support the podcast, get daily strategy discussions, *and* be eligible to win a one-month subscription to GTO Wizard by subscribing
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Sundiata DeVore is a serious student of poker. In early 2023, all that studying paid off with a (nearly) seven-figure score, and he hasn’t slowed down since. In this interview, he shares his journey with Carlos and Andrew, including the secret to
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Carlota Gonzalez is a rock radio personality with a deep background in poker. She believes all serious poker players should experience dealing as well and has dealt herself at the WSOP. We talk to her about her own poker experiences, what players
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Dim the lights! Jeff Platt is on the show to talk poker and broadcasting with Carlos and Andrew. Why broadcasting? Why poker? What makes for a great poker broadcast? A great interview?
Is Jeff Platt the nicest guy in poker?
Support the
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WSOP/WPT/PokerGo presenter Kara Scott shares the person behind the famous face, from her youth living out of a camper in rural Alberta to her experiences as a Muay Thai competitor to her current life as a fiercely compassionate voice in poker media.
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Shelby Wells is a long-time poker fan who got the chance of a lifetime when she won a Twitter contest for a seat in the 2022 Main Event. She made Day 6, ultimately winning $73K and a lot of clout at the
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Dayanna Ciabaton finished second in the recent Women’s Event at the Seminole Hard Rock. The first place winner was a man. Dayanna, Caitlyn Cobb, and Gloria Jackson join Andrew and Carlos to discuss the need for women’s events and the problem of
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From PC gaming to pool to competitive skydiving to poker, Lara Eisenberg has always crushed the competition. And she does it all while still working as a radiologist! Carlos and Andrew pry from her a few of the secrets to her success,
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Jamie Kerstetter joins Carlos and Andrew to talk WPT, WSOP, commentating, and the politics of high stakes cash game streams. Plus Andrew offers an overview of turn strategy.
Support the podcast, get daily strategy discussions, *and* be eligible to win a
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Original hosts Andrew Brokos and Nate Meyvis and frequent guest turned current host Carlos Welch look back on ten years of the Thinking Poker Podcast. How has poker changed? How has the podcast changed? How has the podcast changed poker? Plus, we
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Angela Jordison and Jacki Burkhart have one of the sweetest friendships in poker. Fresh off deep runs in the WSOP Main Event, they join Carlos and Andrew to talk about how friendship helps you navigate the pressures of high stakes poker tournaments.
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Carlos catches Andrew and the audience up on all he’s been up to: living in Vegas, not playing the WSOP, researching how to erect a headstone on your own, and more. In the strategy segment, they discuss conservative play and big folds
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Matt Matros is a professional poker player and writer whose works include both fiction and poker books. With Carlos and Andrew, he discusses concepts from his new book, The Poker Brain, in the context of a hand he and Andrew played
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Writer, poker player, and former sex crimes prosecutor Dan Schorr joins Carlos and Andrew to discuss preparing for his first WSOP Main Event, game theory in the criminal justice system, and his new novel The Final Table.
Support the podcast and
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Carlos Welch is the latest player to win a WSOP bracelet, thanks to a late-night victory in the “Crazy Eights” event on WSOP.com. Just hours after the victory, he shares his excitement and reflects on the path that led him here.
Carlos
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Carlos celebrates the ten-year anniversary of his first WSOP, reflecting on his career and fondly recalling his former fishiness.
Links
Use discount code “Carlos” to get 25% off Exploiting Small Stakes Tournaments, in which Carlos teaches Andrew his best tricks for
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Professional poker player and best-selling author Maria Konnikova returns to the show to discuss focus, multitasking, the progress of her career, and her new book The Biggest Bluff. Maria’s first appearance on Episode 247 is one of our all-time favorite shows!
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Andrew and Nate break down hands that were submitted from the audience. One is a cash game hand from an underground joint in New York, and the other comes from a tournament.
Nate and Andrew also discuss a hand they played against
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Travel back to 2014 with the Thinking Poker archives. Nate’s left Las Vegas, but Andrew and Leo Wolpert sit down during Day 6 of the Main Event to talk about their own deep runs in the WSOP as well as some key
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Jacki Burkhart, mother, dental hygienist, and “serious recreational” poker player, joins Andrew to discuss her life, her career, and her attempts to keep a low profile while high rolling. In the strategy segment, the two review a hand Jacki played in a
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This interview first aired in 2014 on the Poker News podcast stream. It was never available on the Thinking Poker stream, which is why we’re re-releasing it now.
Leo Wolpert joins Nate and Andrew from Las Vegas to discuss safety precautions for
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Andrew and Nate discuss Andrew’s 125th place finish in the WSOP Main Event.
Timestamps
0:30 – hello and welcome5:36 – bustout hand
71:32 – pocket fours
Strategy
Hand 1
30K/60K HJ (9M) opens to 120K, Hero (5.5M) calls from BB.
Flop
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Matt Matros is a professional poker player and writer whose works include both fiction and poker books. He and Andrew discuss poker, writing, and writing about poker. In the strategy segment, Andrew discusses floating a flop check-raise deep in a WSOP event.
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Danny Sprung, whom you may recall from Episode 194, joins us from the World Bridge Federation Championships. We compare this event to the World Series of Poker and discuss some key hands from Danny’s very deep run in the Monster Stack … Read full post
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Andy Bloch is a long-time professional poker player and computer programmer who was one of the pioneers at the intersection of these fields. He was also a member of the MIT Blackjack team that was the subject of Bringing Down the House… Read full post
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Ashley Adams is the host of the House of Cards podcast/radio show (Andrew was a guest in 2010!) and the author of Winning No-Limit Hold ‘Em and Winning Seven Card Stud. We talk to him about his (now complete) … Read full post
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Nate, in a special solo episode, dissects Phil Ivey’s bustout hand from the 2018 WSOP Main Event.… Read full post
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Comedian and professional poker player Clayton Fletcher earned himself a fourth podcast appearance with his 28th place finish in the 2018 WSOP Main Event! I think they gave him some cash for that as well. He and Andrew meet in his hotel … Read full post
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Barny Boatman was a professional poker player in London before the poker boom. As a member of the Hendon Mob, he played in “spielers” and in tournaments across Europe. Andrew talks to him about England’s pre-boom poker scene, living in Madrid, and … Read full post
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Nate and Andrew discuss key hands from Andrew’s 13th place finish in the $2500 no-limit hold ’em WSOP event.
Timestamps
0:30 hello
10:56 strat
Strategy Hand 1
On the bubble, CO (16K) opens to 5k. Hero calls T9dd in the BB.
Flop … Read full post
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Nate got barely 72 hours in Las Vegas this summer, but he was kind enough to spend a few of them recording with Andrew and Carlos in his Gold Coast hotel room. The three talk about their summer plans, the dealer’s choice … Read full post
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Christian Holden is a professional musician and poker player who lives in an anarchist collective in Worcester, Massachusetts. In this in-person interview, he and Andrew discuss his music, his poker, his politics, and the staking deal he almost had with Martin Shkreli. … Read full post
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Sameer Singh grew up playing chess and teen patti, and he quickly became one of the sharpest rounders at the National Law School of India. This wide-ranging conversation covers everything from cuisine and literature to the Irish Open to overlimping the button … Read full post
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Dick Carson is an old-school gambler, pool hustler, bookie, and poker player. He’s also a hulluva storyteller and a helluva nice guy. Nate, Andrew, and John the Lawyer sit down with him to talk about the best poker players you never heard … Read full post
Counting down my favorite Thinking Poker Podcast episodes of 2017. Details/retrospective here. In third place is Episode 220: Tommy’s Room.
Tommy Angelo and Carlos Welch are among my all-time favorite guests, so getting them together on one show would have already had the makings of greatness. But what made … Read full post
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Nipun Java made history when, along with Aditya Sushant, he won India’s first ever WSOP bracelet, in the $1500 NLHE Tag Team event. He capped off his summer with a second bracelet in the $1000 Online event. Nipun and Andrew talk about … Read full post
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KL Cleeton was born with Spinal Muscular Atrophy, but that hasn’t kept him from playing poker both live and online. In 2017, he won a contest sponsored by Daniel Negreanu and lived his dream of playing in the WSOP Main Event, ultimately … Read full post
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Esther Taylor, better known as E-Tay, is a mixed game player who also knows how to kick ass in no-limit hold ’em tournaments. Andrew talks to her about learning new games, being a poker-playing mom, and more. Plus Carlos Welch and … Read full post
My latest poker strategy article, Head Hunting, is now appearing in 2+2 Magazine. It’s an attempt to, not solve, but build some intuition around how to value bounties in knock-out tournaments.
… Read full postThe trickiest problem of all is that you can only collect bounties if you have more chips than
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Benny Glaser is a mixed games specialist from the United Kingdom. With three WSOP bracelets to his name, he is finally getting some recognition as a world-class mixed games expert. We talk to him about why he chose to focus on games … Read full post
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Tommy Angelo invites Andrew and Carlos into his suite at the Rio while Nate joins by Skype to discuss Tommy’s history at the WSOP (dating back to 1987!) and some rare card-playing strategy with a man known primarily for his “mental game” … Read full post
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Carlos Welch and Andrew are rooming together in Las Vegas, and Nate joins by Skype to discuss the WSOP and Carlos’ $600 phone bill.
Timestamps
0:30 – hello and welcome
34:43 – strategy… Read full post
Edit: Sold out.
I’m selling action in the WSOP Main Event, in increments of 1% or 5%. Mark-up is 2.0 for increments of 1% ($200 each), or 1.8 for increments of 5% ($900 each). These prices are based on what my action sold at in last year’s auction. My goal … Read full post
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Andrew and Dara O’Kearney are roommates for the WSOP this summer. They talk with Nate about the start of their series, their plans for the summer, and Andrew’s hopes for Day 2 of the Colossus and the Tag Team event with Carlos … Read full post
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Matt Glassman and Nate Meyvis discuss spectating the World Series of Poker, executive privilege, the political consequences of impeachment, and how to exploit recreational players. Andrew makes a brief cameo to discuss his WSOP so far and how to have fun while … Read full post
This is my twelfth World Series of Poker, and the first for which I will be in Las Vegas for the duration of the Series (actually, I was a day late due to illness, but I’m going to count it!).
For the first time in a while, my girlfriend is … Read full post
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Clayton Fletcher fills in for Nate Meyvis this week, and he and Andrew discuss plans and preparation for the World Series of Poker.
Clayton previously discussed his deep run in the WSOP Main Event on this show. Follow Clayton on Twitter@claytoncomic… Read full post
Edit: Sold out! Thanks everyone!
Cliff’s Notes: Selling action in a full slate of Las Vegas summer tournaments. Increments as small as 1% are available, with discounts for larger pieces. I run my packages a bit differently than most, so if you’re interested, please read carefully:
This Google spreadsheet lists … Read full post
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Patrick Leonard (pads1161 on PokerStars, plenopads on Twitter) is one of the most respected MTT players in the world and one of the head coaches at bitB staking. It’s too bad we lost some of the audio from our interview with … Read full post