Hi there /r Poker, I've been a very casual live recreational Texas Hold'em Tournament player for a little over ten years at my small local casino. I have just under $12,000 in live tournament winnings ($11,374 if it had to be an exact figure), and after tournament buy-ins totaling $6000, I have a total net profit of $5,374, for a 47% ROI (Approximately 100 tournaments played, averaging $60 a tournament buy-in)
Since the beginning of October I have started playing online micro MTT's on Pokerstars (mainly the $0.25 45 and 90 player MTT SNG's they offer. Looking to bankroll 150-250 BI's to $1 versions of these plus the 180 player SNG's by the end of next summer) and have compiled a small sample of tournament data in that time. I would like to get any kind of thought or critique/constructive criticism on how I am doing so far for my online tournament play. I have purchased Poker Copilot, the $7 introductory course on post-flop play on upswing poker, and I'm going to be purchasing a 6 month subscription to the Upswing Lab shortly after new year's. I have a 43k hand sample obtained so far. Between these stats and what my Pokerprolabs player account information has provided me, here are my following stats and I would simply like to know if it possible to tell if I am playing well, or on a really good heater right now.
Hand Total: 43,576
Tournaments played: 617
Total Winnings: $284.89
Total Tournament cost: $147.45
Total Profit: $101.39
Average profit per tournament: $0.16
ROI: 68.74%
First Place: 19
Second Place: 28
Third Place: 13
VPiP: 21%
PFR: 15%
Agg: 48%
3-Bet: 6%
4-Bet: 15%
C-bet: 56%
Check-Raise: 7%
All-In Equity: +7200BB over 43,576 hands
All-In Equity Value: +5400BB over 43,576 hands
Poker Copilot Leak Detectors over 43,576 Hands
Pre-Flop Aggression: Everything is listed as good except Big blind as "passive" at 35%. "Raise more, call less"
Positional Awareness: All listed as "Good"
Blind Stealing: Attempt Rate: 44% (Good) BB won/100 hands from blind steal attempts: 84.94 BB won/overall: 16.55
Based on these statistics, I was thinking of starting to take shots in the $1 tournaments once I get bankrolled above $100 and/or I've played 1000 total $0.25 SNG MTT's. Would I stand a chance, or is this just looking evident of a heater run? I could easily deposit more money into my account, but I am honestly fully embracing the grind of trying to turn my $15 deposit into a proper bankroll (currently sitting at $82.53 this morning) and adhering to strict bankroll management in this regard.

Team has been involved in a substantial number of the digital media, sports, entertainment, leisure and gaming industries’ most significant merger and acquisition transactions, holding key positions at, and transacting with Scientific Games Corp, Inspired Gaming Group, FOX Bets, Ocean Casino Resort, Resorts International Holdings, PokerStars, DraftKings, Mohegan Sun, Caesars Entertainment Corporation, Harrah’s Entertainment, Tropicana Entertainment, Inc., TSG/Sky Betting & Gaming, Facebook, Inc, Wynn Resorts, Dubai World/MGM Resorts
Here's all the Bios. These guys are stellar! TEKK closed at $10.30 today. Still cheap!
If you don't like to read... you don't like to make money!!!!
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Matthew Davey — Chief Executive Officer and Director
Mr. Davey has over 25 years of experience within the digital media, sports, entertainment, leisure and gaming ecosystems, as well as experience in the public sector. He is an experienced public company executive officer and board member. He has served in executive management positions across the gaming technology arena. Over the course of Mr. Davey’s career, he oversaw more than ten mergers and acquisitions and over $1.2 billion in debt and equity capital raised to support the companies he has led.
Most recently, Mr. Davey was Chief Executive Officer of SG Digital, the Digital Division of Scientific Games Corp. (“Scientific Games”) (Nasdaq: SGMS). SG Digital was established following the purchase by Scientific Games of NYX Gaming Group Limited (“NYX”) (formerly TSXV: NYX), where Mr. Davey served as Chief Executive Officer and Director. The NYX acquisition provided Scientific Games with a vehicle to significantly accelerate the scale and breadth of its existing digital gaming business, including the strategic expansion into sports betting. In his capacity as Chief Executive Officer of NYX, Mr. Davey developed and implemented a corporate strategy that generated strong revenue growth. Mr. Davey shaped company strategy to focus on digital gaming supplier platforms and content that provided various gaming operators with the underlying gaming and sports betting systems for their online gaming business. In 2014, Mr. Davey oversaw the initial public offering of NYX, and his experience in the digital media, sports, entertainment, leisure and gaming industries helped NYX recognize momentum as a public company. After the public offering, from 2014 to 2018, Mr. Davey oversaw seven acquisitions which helped establish NYX as one of the fastest growing global B2B real-money digital gaming and sports betting platforms. These acquisitions included:
• OpenBet: In 2016, NYX completed the $385 million acquisition of OpenBet. This was one of the more complex and transformative acquisitions that Mr. Davey oversaw at NYX. Through securing co-investments from William Hill (LSE: WMH), Sky Betting & Gaming and The Stars Group (formerly Nasdaq: TSG, TSX: TSGI), Mr. Davey was able to get the acquisition from Vitruvian Partners completed successfully, winning the deal against much larger and well capitalized competitors. By combining two established and proven B2B betting and gaming suppliers, NYX was well positioned to provide customers with exciting player-driven solutions across all major product verticals and distribution channels. This allowed NYX to become the leading B2B omni-channel sportsbook platform in the market and the supplier to over 300 gaming operators globally with an extensive library of desktop and mobile game titles, including more than 700 on NYX platforms and more than 2,000 on the OpenBet platform.
• Cryptologic/Chartwell: In 2015, NYX completed the $119 million acquisition of Cryptologic and Chartwell. The acquisition provided NYX with more than 400 titles of additional leading gaming content, a broader customer base, and direct exposure to PokerStars and Intercasino, part of the Gamesys Group (LSE: GYS) — two of the world’s largest online casino offerings.
• OnGame: In 2014, NYX completed the distressed acquisition of OnGame, a premier poker content, platform and service provider. This acquisition provided NYX with one of the best poker products in the industry, access to several regulated jurisdictions, and a valuable talent pool that was instrumental in the growth of NYX. The addition of OnGame further established a path for NYX to continue its growth in both European and U.S. markets.
These acquisitions, together with meaningful organic growth, increased NYX’s revenue from $24 million in 2014 to $184 million annualized in 2017. During that time, Mr. Davey helped build NYX to have over 200 customers in the global gaming industry and a team of 1,000 employees. Mr. Davey’s success at NYX ultimately led to its sale to Scientific Games for $631 million in 2018.
Mr. Davey joined Next Gen Gaming, the predecessor to NYX, in 2000 as the Vice President of Technology, was appointed as Executive Director in 2003 and named Chief Executive Officer in 2005. Prior to that, he was the Senior Consultant for Access Systems, a company that specializes in the provision of back-end software for licensed online casinos. Prior to joining Access, Mr. Davey worked for the Northern Territory Government specializing in matters pertaining to the internet and e-commerce along with roles in the Department of Racing and Gaming. Mr. Davey received a Bachelor of Electrical & Electronic Engineering from Northern Territory University, Australia (also known as Charles Darwin University).
Robin Chhabra — President
Mr. Chhabra has been at the forefront of corporate acquisition activity within the digital gaming landscape for over a decade. His prior experience includes leading corporate strategy, M&A, and business development at two of the global leaders in the digital gaming industry, The Stars Group (“TSG”) and William Hill, and a leading supplier, Inspired Gaming Group (Nasdaq: INSE). Mr. Chhabra served on the Group Executive Committees of each of these companies. From 2017 to May 2020, Mr. Chhabra served as Chief Corporate Development Officer at TSG and, from 2019 to August 2020, he also served as the Chief Executive Officer of Fox Bet, a leading U.S. online gaming business which is the product of a landmark partnership between TSG and FOX Sports, a transaction which he led. During that period, Mr. Chhabra led several transactions which transformed TSG into the largest publicly listed online gambling operator in the world by both revenue and market capitalization and one of the most diversified from a product and geographic perspective with revenues of over $2.5 billion. Mr. Chhabra’s M&A experience is extensive and covers multiple global geographies across the digital gaming value chain and includes the following:
• TSG/Flutter Entertainment Merger: In 2019, Mr. Chhabra led the TSG M&A team that was responsible for TSG’s $12.2 billion merger with Flutter Entertainment (LSE: FLTR). The merger between TSG and Flutter Entertainment is the largest transaction in the digital gaming industry to date. The combination created the largest publicly listed online gaming company with approximately 13 million active customers and leading product offerings, which include sports betting, online casino, fantasy sports and poker. The combined entity includes some of the world’s most iconic digital gaming brands such as Fanduel, Fox Bet, Sky Bet, PaddyPower, Betfair, PokerStars and SportsBet. TSG/Flutter Entertainment is one of the most geographically diverse digital gaming and media companies with leading positions in the United States, United Kingdom, Australia, Ireland, Italy, Spain, Germany and Georgia.
• TSG/Sky Betting and Gaming (“SBG”): In 2018, Mr. Chhabra led the acquisition of SBG from CVC Capital Partners and Sky plc, Europe’s largest media company, in a transaction valued at $4.7 billion. At the time of the acquisition SBG was the largest mobile gambling operator in the United Kingdom and one of the fastest growing of the major operators having doubled its online market share in three years. The acquisition of SBG provided TSG with (a) greater revenue diversification, significantly enhanced expertise and exposure to sports betting just ahead of the judicial overturn of The Professional and Amateur Sports Protection Act of 1992 (PASPA) by the U.S. Supreme Court, (b) a leading position within the United Kingdom, the world’s largest regulated online gaming market, (c) improved products and technology as a result of the addition of SBG’s innovative casino and sports book offerings and a portfolio of popular mobile apps, and (d) expertise in deeply integrating sports betting with leading sports media companies, positioning TSG to create more engaging content, deliver faster growth and decrease customer acquisition costs.
• William Hill (LSE: WMH): At William Hill, from 2010 to 2017, Mr. Chhabra served as Group Director of Strategy and Corporate Development where he led several transactions which contributed to William Hill’s transformation from a land-based gambling operator in the United Kingdom to a leading online-led international business. Mr. Chhabra led William Hill’s entry into the U.S. sports betting and online lottery markets with the acquisition of four businesses, including the simultaneous acquisitions of three U.S. sportsbooks, Cal Neva, American Wagering and Brandywine Bookmaking, in 2011 for an aggregate purchase price of $55 million. These businesses ultimately led William Hill to achieve a leading position in the U.S. sports betting market with a market share of 24% in 2019. Additionally, Mr. Chhabra played a key role in structuring William Hill’s successful joint venture with PlayTech Plc (LSE: PTEC) in 2008. The combined entity created one of the largest online gambling businesses in Europe at the time of its formation and led to William Hill’s buyout of Playtech’s interest for $637 million in 2013. Prior to the transaction, William Hill had struggled in its attempt to establish a strong online gaming platform and a meaningful presence outside the United Kingdom.
Mr. Chhabra has also successfully completed four transactions worth over $1.2 billion in Australia, the world’s second largest regulated online gambling market, and various partnerships in Asia. Additionally, he completed several technology and media related transactions, including William Hill’s investment in NYX, where he worked with Mr. Davey on NYX’s transformational acquisition of OpenBet.
Prior to working in the gaming sector, Mr. Chhabra was an equities analyst and a management consultant. Mr. Chhabra received a Bachelor of Science in Economics from the London School of Economics and Political Science.
Eric Matejevich — Chief Financial Officer
Mr. Matejevich is a seasoned gaming executive with extensive experience in both the online gaming and traditional casino industries. From February to August 2019, he served as Trustee and Interim-Chief Executive Officer of Ocean Casino Resort (“Ocean”) (formerly Revel Casino, which had a construction cost of $2.4 billion) in Atlantic City, where he successfully led the management team through an ownership change and operational turnaround effort. Over the course of seven months, Mr. Matejevich managed to reduce the property’s weekly cash burn of $1.5 million to an annualized cash flow run rate in excess of $20 million.
Prior to Ocean, from 2016 to 2018, Mr. Matejevich served as the Chief Financial Officer of NYX. At NYX, he focused his efforts on integrating the company’s many acquisitions and multiple debt refinancings to simplify its capital structure and provided liquidity for growth initiatives. Additionally, Mr. Matejevich was instrumental to the executive team that sold NYX to Scientific Games for $631 million.
Prior to NYX, from 2004 to 2014, Mr. Matejevich was the Chief Financial Officer of Resorts International Holdings and later, from 2011, also the Chief Operating Officer of the Atlantic Club Casino, a property under the Resorts International Holdings umbrella — a Colony Capital (NYSE: CLNY) entity. As Chief Financial Officer, he provided managerial oversight for all finance functions for a six-property casino company with annual gaming revenue exceeding $1.3 billion, 10,000 gaming positions, 7,000 hotel rooms and over 11,000 staff members during his tenure. Mr. Matejevich led the transition effort to integrate a four-casino, $1.3 billion acquisition from Harrah’s Entertainment and Caesars Entertainment (Nasdaq: CZR). As Chief Operating Officer of Atlantic Club, he lobbied for and was successful in obtaining the first internet gaming legislation passed in the United States. The Atlantic Club was the sole New Jersey casino proponent of the legislation.
Prior to serving in various gaming positions, Mr. Matejevich was a Vice President of High Yield Research for Merrill Lynch, where he managed the corporate bond research effort for the gaming and leisure sectors and marketed high yield and other debt transactions totaling $4.8 billion. Mr. Matejevich received a Bachelor of Science in Economics from The Wharton School and a Bachelor of Arts in International Relations from The College of Arts and Sciences at the University of Pennsylvania.
Our Board of Directors
Morris Bailey — Chairman
Over the past 10 years, Mr. Bailey has been a leader in turning around Atlantic City, as well as being among the first gaming executives to embrace online gaming and sports betting in the United States. In his efforts, Mr. Bailey partnered with two of the largest digital gaming companies in the world, PokerStars, part of the Stars Group, and DraftKings (Nasdaq: DKNG). In 2010, Mr. Bailey bought Resorts Atlantic City (“Resorts”) and initiated a comprehensive renovation which allowed for the property to be rebranded and repositioned. In 2012, Mr. Bailey signed an agreement with Mohegan Sun to manage the day-to-day operations of the casino. In addition to Mohegan Sun’s operational expertise and ability to reduce costs via economies of scale, Resorts gained access to their robust customer database. Soon thereafter, Mr. Bailey and his team focused on bringing online gaming to the property. In 2015, Resorts established a platform to engage in online gaming by partnering with PokerStars, now part of the $24 billion Flutter Entertainment, PLC (LSE: FLTR), to operate an online poker room in Atlantic City. In 2018, Resorts announced deals with DraftKings and SBTech to open a sportsbook on-property and online. For 2020 year-to-date, Resorts has performed in the top quartile in internet gross gaming revenue in New Jersey. Mr. Bailey’s efforts in New Jersey helped set the framework for expansion of online sports and gaming throughout the United States.
In addition to his gaming interests, Mr. Bailey has over 50 years of experience in all facets of real estate development, asset M&A, capital markets and operations and is the founder, Chief Executive Officer and Principal of JEMB Realty, a leading real estate development, investment and management organization. Mr. Bailey has notable investment experience within the energy, finance and telecommunications sectors through investments in the Astoria Energy Plant, Basis Investment Group and Xentris Wireless.
Tony Rodio — Director Nominee
Mr. Rodio has nearly four decades of experience in the gaming industry. Most recently, Mr. Rodio served as the Chief Executive Officer and director of Caesars Entertainment Corporation (“Caesars”) (Nasdaq: CZR), one of the world’s most diversified casino-entertainment providers and the most geographically diverse U.S. casino-entertainment company, from April 2019 until its acquisition by Eldorado Resorts, Inc. in July 2020. Mr. Rodio led Caesars through its $17.3 billion merger with Eldorado Resorts, one of the largest transactions in the gaming industry to date. Additionally, Mr. Rodio was instrumental to Caesars’ expansion into the digital gaming industry and oversaw the implementation of new digital segments such as its Scientific Games powered retail sportsbook solution that now operates in various states throughout the U.S. From October 2018 to May 2019, Mr. Rodio served as Chief Executive Officer of Affinity Gaming. Prior to Affinity Gaming, he served as President, Chief Executive Officer and a director of Tropicana Entertainment, Inc. (“Tropicana”) for over seven years, where he was responsible for the operation of eight casino properties in seven different jurisdictions. During his time at Tropicana, Mr. Rodio oversaw a period of unprecedented growth at the company, improving overall financial results with net revenue that increased more than 50% driven by both operational improvements and expansion across regional markets. Mr. Rodio led major capital projects, including the complete renovation of Tropicana Atlantic City and Tropicana’s move to land-based operations in Evansville, Indiana. Each of these initiatives, among others, generated substantial value for Tropicana. Ultimately, Mr. Rodio’s efforts at Tropicana led to its sale to Eldorado Resorts in 2018 for $1.85 billion. Prior to Tropicana, Mr. Rodio held a succession of executive positions in Atlantic City for casino brands, including Trump Marina Hotel Casino, Harrah’s Entertainment (predecessor to Caesars), the Atlantic City Hilton Casino Resort and Penn National Gaming. He has also served as a director of several professional and charitable organizations, including Atlantic City Alliance, United Way of Atlantic County, the Casino Associations of New Jersey and Indiana, AtlantiCare Charitable Foundation and the Lloyd D. Levenson Institute of Gaming Hospitality & Tourism. Mr. Rodio brings extensive knowledge of and experience in the gaming industry, operational expertise, and a demonstrated ability to effectively design and implement company strategy. Mr. Rodio received a Bachelor of Science from Rider University and a Master of Business Administration from Monmouth University.
Marlon Goldstein — Director Nominee
Mr. Goldstein is a licensed attorney with nearly 20 years of experience in the gaming space. He joined The Stars Group (Nasdaq: TSG)(TSX: TSGI) in January 2014 as its Executive Vice-President, Chief Legal Officer and Secretary until his retirement from the company in July 2020 following the merger of TSG with Flutter Entertainment, PLC (LSE: FLTR). Mr. Goldstein also previously served as the Executive Vice-President, Corporate Development and General Counsel of TSG. Mr. Goldstein was also the senior TSG executive based in the United States and was one of the primary architects of TSG’s strategic vision for its U.S.-facing business. During his tenure, TSG grew from an approximately $500 million market-cap company to an approximately $7 billion market-cap company through a combination of organic growth and strategic mergers and acquisitions. Mr. Goldstein participated in numerous M&A transactions and capital markets offerings at TSG, including several transformational transactions in the digital gaming industry. Notable transactions in which Mr. Goldstein was involved include:
• TSG/Flutter Merger: In 2019, TSG merged with Flutter for a $12.2 billion transaction value, the largest transaction in the digital gaming industry to date.
• TSG/Fox Bet Partnership: In 2019, TSG entered into a partnership with FOX Sports to create FOX Bet in the U.S., a leading U.S. online gaming business. Wall Street Research estimates an approximate $1.1 billion valuation for Fox Bet post-partnership with The Stars Group.
• TSG/Sky Betting & Gaming: In 2018, TSG acquired Sky Betting & Gaming, the largest mobile gambling operator in the United Kingdom at the time, for $4.7 billion.
• TSG/CrownBet and William Hill: In 2018, TSG simultaneously acquired CrownBet and William Hill, two Australian operators, for a total of $621 million in a multi-part transaction.
• TSG/PokerStars and Full Tilt Poker: In 2014, TSG acquired The Rational Group, which operated PokerStars and Full Tilt and was the world’s largest poker business, for $4.9 billion.
Through his ability to legally structure large and complex transactions, Mr. Goldstein was integral to TSG’s vision of becoming a full-service online gaming company. Additionally, he assisted in structuring TSG’s capital markets activity, which generated liquidity for acquisitions and strengthened its balance sheet.
Prior to joining TSG, Mr. Goldstein was a principal shareholder in the corporate and securities practice at the international law firm of Greenberg Traurig P.A., where he practiced for almost 13 years. Mr. Goldstein’s practice focused on corporate and securities matters, including mergers and acquisitions, securities offerings, and financing transactions. Additionally, Mr. Goldstein was the founder and co-chair of the firm’s Gaming Practice, a multi-disciplinary team of attorneys representing owners, operators and developers of gaming facilities, manufacturers and suppliers of gaming devices, investment banks and lenders in financing transactions, and Indian tribes in the development and financing of gaming facilities.
Mr. Goldstein brings experience and insight that we believe will be valuable to a potential initial business combination target business. Mr. Goldstein received a Bachelor of Business Administration with a concentration in accounting from Emory University and a Juris Doctorate with highest honors from the University of Florida, College of Law.
Sean Ryan — Director Nominee
Mr. Ryan is a digital media and technology operator with extensive global experience in online payments, e-commerce, marketplaces, mobile ad networks, digital games, enterprise collaboration platforms, blockchain, real money gaming and online music. Since 2014, Mr. Ryan has been serving as Vice President of Business Platform Partnerships at Facebook, Inc. (“Facebook”) (Nasdaq: FB), where he leads a more than 500 person global organization that manages the Payments, Commerce, Novi/Blockhain, Workplace and Audience Network businesses. Prior to his current role, Mr. Ryan was hired in 2011 as the Director of Games Partnerships to lead and grow the global Games business at Facebook. While the Director of Games Partnerships, Mr. Ryan focused on re-shaping Facebook’s games and monetization strategies to derive more value for Facebook, its users and its partners, including the addition of a Real Money Gaming offering in regulated markets. Mr. Ryan’s team helped accelerate a major trend in engagement through cross-platform games and therefore the opportunity to increase users through establishing games on multiple platforms. Prior to joining Facebook, Mr. Ryan created the new social and mobile games division at News Corp, an American multinational mass media corporation controlled by Rupert Murdoch. While at News Corp, Mr. Ryan led the acquisition of Making Fun, a San Francisco social-game start-up, that created News Corp’s games publishing division.
Before joining News Corp., Mr. Ryan founded multiple digital businesses such as Twofish, Meez, Open Wager and SingShot Media. Mr. Ryan co-founded Twofish in 2009, a virtual goods and services platform that provided developers with data analytics and insights for individual application’s digital economies. Twofish was later sold to online payments provider Live Gamer, where Mr. Ryan served on the board of directors. From 2005 to 2008, Mr. Ryan founded and led Meez.com, a social entertainment service combining avatars, web games and virtual worlds. The white label social casino gaming company Open Wager was spun out of Meez and was later sold to VGW Holdings, Mr. Ryan also co-founded SingShot Media, an online karaoke community, which was sold to Electronic Arts (Nasdaq: EA) and merged into its Sims division.
We believe Mr. Ryan’s experience will be valuable to a potential initial business combination target and would provide an expanded perspective on the digital gaming landscape. Mr. Ryan received a Bachelor of Arts from Columbia University and a Master of Business Administration from the University of California, Los Angeles.
Tom Roche — Director Nominee
Mr. Roche has more than 40 years of experience in the gaming industry as a regulator, advisor and independent auditor. Mr. Roche joined Ernst & Young (“EY”) as a partner in 2003 and opened its Las Vegas office. He was subsequently appointed as the Office Managing Partner and Global Gaming Industry Market Leader. In 2016, Mr. Roche relocated to the EY Hong Kong office to supervise the expansion of the EY Global Gaming Industry practice in the Asia Pacific region. Mr. Roche has been integral to numerous transactions that have shaped the current gaming landscape, including:
• Wynn Resorts (Nasdaq: WYNN) initial public offering: Mr. Roche was the lead partner on Wynn Resort’s initial public offering, which raised $450 million in 2002.
• Harrah’s Entertainment/Apollo Management Group & Texas Pacific Group: Mr. Roche headed the regulatory advisory services on the buyout of Harrah’s Entertainment, the world’s largest casino company at the time, for $17.1 billion.
• Dubai World/MGM Resorts: Mr. Roche headed the regulatory and due diligence advisory services to Dubai World in its approximately $5.1 billion investment in MGM. Dubai World bought 28.4 million MGM shares, or 9.5 percent of the casino operator, for $2.4 billion. It then invested $2.7 billion to acquire a 50% stake in MGM’s CityCenter Project, a $7.4 billion 76-acre Las Vegas development of hotels, condos and retail outlets.
• MGM Growth Properties (NYSE: MGP) initial public offering: Mr. Roche provided tax and structural transaction services to MGM Resorts in the creation of MGM Growth Properties, a publicly traded REIT engaged in the acquisition, ownership and leasing of large-scale destination entertainment and leisure resorts. MGM Growth Properties raised $1.05 billion in its 2016 initial public offering.
Mr. Roche also directed EY advisory services to boards and management teams for profit improvement and technology related initiatives. In addition, Mr. Roche provided advisory support to the American Gaming Association on several research projects, including those specifically related to sports betting, the revocation of The Professional and Amateur Sports Protection Act of 1992 (PASPA) and anti-money laundering best practices in the gaming industry. Equally, he has assisted government agencies in numerous international locations with enhancing their regulatory approach to governing the industry especially in the online gambling sector.
Prior to joining Ernst & Young, Mr. Roche served as Deloitte’s National Gaming Industry Leader and as the co-head of Andersen’s Gaming Industry Practice in Las Vegas. In 1989, Mr. Roche was appointed by then Governor of the State of Nevada, Robert Miller, to serve as one of three members of the Nevada State Gaming Control Board for a four-year term, where he was directly responsible for the Audit and New Games Lab Divisions. As a board member, he spent a substantial amount of time assisting global jurisdiction regulators enact gaming legislation in the design of their regulatory structure. During his career, Roche has been involved in numerous public and private offerings of equity and debt securities. His background includes providing casino regulatory consulting services to casino licensees and to federal and state agencies including the National Indian Gaming Commission and the Nevada State Gaming Control Board, and industry associations such as the Nevada Resort Association and the American Gaming Association.
We believe Mr. Roche’s highly regarded reputation as a gaming auditor and advisor in the gaming industry will be valuable for us and a potential business combination target. Mr. Roche is a member of the American Institute of Certified Public Accountants and is licensed by the Nevada State Board of Accountancy and Mississippi State Board of Public Accountancy. He received his Bachelor of Science degree in Accounting from the University of Southern California.

Hi there /r Poker, I've been a very casual live recreational Texas Hold'em Tournament player for a little over ten years at my small local casino. I have just under $12,000 in live tournament winnings ($11,374 if it had to be an exact figure), and after tournament buy-ins totaling $6000, I have a total net profit of $5,374, for a 47% ROI (Approximately 100 tournaments played, averaging $60 a tournament buy-in)
Since the beginning of October I have started playing online micro MTT's on Pokerstars (mainly the $0.25 45 and 90 player MTT SNG's they offer. Looking to bankroll 150-250 BI's to $1 versions of these plus the 180 player SNG's by the end of next summer) and have compiled a small sample of tournament data in that time. I would like to get any kind of thought or critique/constructive criticism on how I am doing so far for my online tournament play. I have purchased Poker Copilot, the $7 introductory course on post-flop play on upswing poker, and I'm curious to know how my poker book "Mastering Small Stakes No Limit Hold'em Cash Games and Tournaments" by Johnathan Little holds up strategy wise these days. Great information in that book from what I've seen so far, but yeah. I have a 33k hand sample obtained so far. Between these stats and what my Pokerprolabs player account information has provided me, here are my following stats and I would simply like to know if it possible to tell if I am playing well, or on a really good heater right now.
Hand Total: 33,585
Tournaments played: 470
Total Winnings: $186.26
Total Tournament cost: $115.70
Total Profit: $70.56
Average profit per tournament: $0.13
ROI: 61%
First Place: 15
Second Place: 20
Third Place: 11
VPiP: 21%
PFR: 14%
Agg: 47%
3-Bet: 6%
4-Bet: 16%
C-bet: 56%
Check-Raise: 6%
All-In Equity: +4700BB over 33,585 hands
All-In Equity Value: +3400BB over 33,585 hands
Poker Copilot Leak Detectors over 33,585 Hands
Pre-Flop Aggression: Everything is listed as good except Big blind as "passive" at 35%. "Raise more, call less"
Positional Awareness: All listed as "Good"
Blind Stealing: Attempt Rate: 44% (Good) BB won/100 hands from blind steal attempts: 82.12 BB won/overall: 14.05
Pocket Pairs: Everything listed has a positive BB won/100 hands with the exception of pocket 6's at -23.13 BB/100 (Notably, my AA and KK both have +1200BB /100, is this normal?)
Suited Connectors: AK and KQ suited have +172 and +170 BB/100 respectively, everything else is basically canceling each other out. Would like to improve my JTs -75.33 BB/100.
Are these statistics Good? Are they viable, or the result of a massive heater that could be due to run out soon? Any opinions or information would be appreciated.

Hi there /r Poker, I've been a very casual live recreational Texas Hold'em Tournament player for a little over ten years at my small local casino. I have just under $12,000 in live tournament winnings ($11,374 if it had to be an exact figure), and after tournament buy-ins totaling $6000, I have a total net profit of $5,374, for a 47% ROI (Approximately 100 tournaments played, averaging $60 a tournament buy-in)
Since the beginning of October I have started playing online micro MTT's on Pokerstars (mainly the $0.25 45 player MTT and the $0.10 360 player Turbo MTT) and have compiled a small sample of tournament data in that time, and was wondering if I could get any kind of thought or critique/constructive criticism on how I am doing so far for my online tournament play. I purchased Poker Copilot and have a 22k hand sample obtained so far. Between these stats and what my Pokerprolabs player account information has provided me, here are my following stats and I would simply like to know if it possible to tell if I am playing well, or on a really good heater right now.
Hand Total: 22,975
Tournaments played: 325
Total Winnings: $127.16
Total Tournament cost: $79.60
Total Profit: $46.66
Average profit per tournament: $0.14
ROI: 58%
First Place: 10
Second Place: 16
Third Place: 10
VPiP: 20%
PFR: 14%
Agg: 45%
C-Bet: 58%
3-Bet: 5%
4-Bet: 17%
Check Raise: 5%
Went to Showdown: 42%
Won at Showdown: 59%
Won Without Showdown: 18%
All-In Equity: +2900BB over 22,975 hands
All-In Equity Value: +1900BB over 22,975 hands
Poker Copilot Leak Detectors over 22,975 Hands
Pre-Flop Aggression: Everything is listed as good except Big blind as "passive" at 37%. "Raise more, call less"
Positional Awareness: All listed as "Good"
Blind Stealing: Attempt Rate: 44% (Good) BB won/100 hands from blind steal attempts: 72.68 BB won/overall: 12.71
Pocket Pairs: Everything listed has a positive BB won/100 hands
Suited Connectors: AK and KQ suited have +284 and +220 respectively, everything else is basically canceling each other out. Would like to improve my JTs -91.33 BB/100 soon.
Are these statistics Good? Are they viable, or the result of a massive heater that could be due to run out soon? Any opinions or information would be appreciated.

Hi there /r Poker, I've been a very casual live recreational Texas Hold'em Tournament player for a little over ten years at my small local casino. I have just under $12,000 in live tournament winnings ($11,374 if it had to be an exact figure), and after tournament buy-ins totaling $6000, I have a total net profit of $5,374, for a 47% ROI (Approximately 100 tournaments played, averaging $60 a tournament buy-in)
Since the beginning of October I have started playing online micro MTT's on Pokerstars (mainly the $0.25 45 player MTT and the $0.10 360 player Turbo MTT) and have compiled a small sample of tournament data in that time, and was wondering if I could get any kind of thought or critique/constructive criticism on how I am doing so far for my online tournament play. I purchased Poker Copilot and have a 21k hand sample obtained so far. Between these stats and what my Pokerprolabs player account information has provided me, here are my following stats and I would simply like to know if it possible to tell if I am playing well, or on a really good heater right now.
Hand Total: 21,209
Tournaments played: 300
Total Winnings: $120.44
Total Tournament cost: $74.95
Total Profit: $45.74
Average profit per tournament: $0.15
ROI: 61%
First Place: 10
Second Place: 19
Third Place: 8
VPiP: 20%
PFR: 14%
Agg: 45%
All-In Equity: +2500BB over 21,209 hands
All-In Equity Value: +1700BB over 21,209 hands
Poker Copilot Leak Detectors over 21,209 Hands
Pre-Flop Aggression: Everything is listed as good except Big blind as "passive" at 38%. "Raise more, call less"
Positional Awareness: All listed as "Good"
Blind Stealing: Attempt Rate: 44% (Good) BB won/100 hands from blind steal attempts: 65.10 BB won/overall: 11.87
Pocket Pairs: Everything listed has a positive BB won/100 hands with the exception of pocket 6's at -23.13 BB/100 (Notably, my AA and KK both have +1100BB /100, is this normal?)
Suited Connectors: AK and KQ suited have +324 and +214 respectively, everything else is basically canceling each other out. Would like to improve my JTs -75.33 BB/100 desperately.
Are these statistics Good? Are they viable, or the result of a massive heater that could be due to run out soon? Any opinions or information would be appreciated.

Hi there /r Poker, I've been a very casual live recreational Texas Hold'em Tournament player for a little over ten years at my small local casino. I have just under $12,000 in live tournament winnings ($11,374 if it had to be an exact figure), and after tournament buy-ins totaling $6000, I have a total net profit of $5,374, for a 47% ROI (Approximately 100 tournaments played, averaging $60 a tournament buy-in)
Since the beginning of October I have started playing online micro MTT's on Pokerstars (mainly the $0.25 45 and 90 player MTT SNG's they offer. Looking to bankroll 150-250 BI's to $1 versions of these plus the 180 player SNG's by the end of next summer) and have compiled a small sample of tournament data in that time. I would like to get any kind of thought or critique/constructive criticism on how I am doing so far for my online tournament play. I have purchased Poker Copilot, the $7 introductory course on post-flop play on upswing poker, and I'm curious to know how my poker book "Mastering Small Stakes No Limit Hold'em Cash Games and Tournaments" by Johnathan Little holds up strategy wise these days. Great information in that book from what I've seen so far, but yeah. I have a 33k hand sample obtained so far. Between these stats and what my Pokerprolabs player account information has provided me, here are my following stats and I would simply like to know if it possible to tell if I am playing well, or on a really good heater right now.
Hand Total: 33,585
Tournaments played: 470
Total Winnings: $186.26
Total Tournament cost: $115.70
Total Profit: $70.56
Average profit per tournament: $0.13
ROI: 61%
First Place: 15
Second Place: 20
Third Place: 11
VPiP: 21%
PFR: 14%
Agg: 47%
3-Bet: 6%
4-Bet: 16%
C-bet: 56%
Check-Raise: 6%
All-In Equity: +4700BB over 33,585 hands
All-In Equity Value: +3400BB over 33,585 hands
Poker Copilot Leak Detectors over 33,585 Hands
Pre-Flop Aggression: Everything is listed as good except Big blind as "passive" at 35%. "Raise more, call less"
Positional Awareness: All listed as "Good"
Blind Stealing: Attempt Rate: 44% (Good) BB won/100 hands from blind steal attempts: 82.12 BB won/overall: 14.05
Pocket Pairs: Everything listed has a positive BB won/100 hands with the exception of pocket 6's at -23.13 BB/100 (Notably, my AA and KK both have +1200BB /100, is this normal?)
Suited Connectors: AK and KQ suited have +172 and +170 BB/100 respectively, everything else is basically canceling each other out. Would like to improve my JTs -75.33 BB/100.
Are these statistics Good? Are they viable, or the result of a massive heater that could be due to run out soon? Any opinions or information would be appreciated.

Joker Millions – €7.8 Million

It was on November 9 when a lucky player hit a record-breaking SEK 80 million on Yggdrasil Gaming’s progressive jackpot slot game Joker Millions. This is the equivalent of winning €7.8 million.
The lucky Swedish player was playing the game on his mobile phone from the LeoVegas website. His initial stake was 5 SEK, the equivalent of 50 cents. That was when he hit the huge jackpot. Progressive jackpot games have a pot that gets larger over time and at that time it was at €7.8 million. This is the largest win ever on the Joker Millions game.

Mega Fortune Dreams – £4 Million

The next big winner on a jackpot slot game was a British player who was playing Mega Fortune Dreams by NetEnt.
He ended up winning £4,082,246.09. The 49-year-old Brit was playing the game on Bingo.com. He had just wagered 80 pence and came out with millions in prize money.

Mega Fortune – $4 Million

A German man was paying on PokerStars Casino which is a casino ohne anmelden site in October when he suddenly hit the jackpot and surprised himself. The player had decided to relax and have some fun online and initially put down $2.50 on the Mega Fortune game.
However, the reels just kept spinning and he kept winning. In the end, he walked away with $4 million.
This is the biggest PokerStars casino win ever recorded.

Millionaire’s Island – $3 Million

Back in May 2018, another PokerStars player also won big. They were playing Millionaire’s Island, which was developed in-house by PokerStars.
The game had a minimum of $1 million as its guaranteed jackpot. However, the player won $3 million and was thrilled with his winnings.

Hall of Gods – €2.75 Million

A Finnish player rounds out our top five list. The player was playing Hall of Gods on Paf in July. He had just wagered €2 and spun the reels on his mobile phone and ended up winning €2.75 million.
Besides the payout from the game, NetEnt also gave out an additional €350,000 through the NetEnt Mega Million campaign

Hello crypto gamblers of Reddit.
Don't lie, we’re all gamblers, whether we’re gambling on short term sentiment, or long term technicals.
End of the day, even if you buy a project’s tokens because you believe in it, if you buy it on an exchange like most of us do you aren’t supporting the devs, you are buying it because you're gambling it will be worth more in the future.
You want money. Most people do and that's a pretty reasonable thing. So I think we can all understand and agree that gambling is a pretty massive entity, one that has been venturing into the online world for a bit of time now. This new world of online gambling is a market that is ripe for innovation in trustlessness, security, and fairness. So I’m going to pitch you the token that has one of the best teams, plan and path to adoption by the market it is targeting.
Here’s where Funfair comes in.
Funfair provides a platform that companies and individuals and DAO’s can all license, that utilizes the Fun Token underneath to carry out all gambling transactions. This allows for provably fair and fast games that require no trust in whatever online casino you’re using. You can see their fantastic suite of games that any casino that licenses from them will be able to use.
Casinos will adopt because

• They want customers to trust them
• They get to license this for near free
• They don’t have to pay server costs since it’s hosted on the blockchain
• Easy creation, customization, and expansion due to using Funfair’s underlying software
• Audits and legality aren’t a problem since they’re using Funfair’s licensed tech so way less headache
• It uses peer to peer tech that can operate legally in places where centralised servers cannot

Customers will want because

• They will see the branding, assuring them they will not be cheated
• The money is always in their control
• They can cash out instantly instead of two weeks
• They can see the workings on the ethereum blockchain to know its fair, no house edge greater than supposed to be
• The casino can’t withhold winnings

You should buy Funfair because
The token will go up due to

• Investors holding to speculate on it
• High speed of turnover and constant use increases demand
• Gamblers holding it between gambling at different casinos
• Casinos buying more as they expand
• Casinos locking down large amounts of Fun, in the millions and billions of tokens, in order to secure their positions against the players at their casino’s for payouts. Decreased supply in circulation, constant demand = higher price

You will eventually be able to (potentially)

• Stake your tokens to casinos to use in return for a cut
• Join small groups/ DAO’s to create a own casino by pooling together Fun.

Supporting reasons for Funfair to succeed
The Team

• CEO - Jez San (Starfox and PKR.com), knows his shit in both gaming and gambling, knows his target market and has said that they have a lot of interest from people in the industry.
• CTO - Jeremy Longley - Instrumental in their engineering success, and pioneering Fate channels, Funfair’s proprietary tech that solve Ethereum’s scaling issues
• COO - David Greyling - formerly an International Managing Director role at William Hill, a massive gambling company. Greyling was responsible for the International Expansion of William Hill Online. In that role he was responsible for £130M net revenue across Regulated and Unregulated International markets
• Stefan Kovach - as a business strategy and marketing consultant, he previously headed up the marketing at both PokerStars and bwin.party.
• Almost 30, soon to be around 50 brilliant people on their team, creating a smooth polished product.

The Company

• A company which is way ahead of any of the competition, and which honestly doesn’t have any since pretty much all other gambling tokens are aimed at being casinos, not platforms, which limits their scope and profitability incredibly, unlike Funfair.
• A great team that is heavily connected in the poker and gaming industries.
• Won Malta iGaming ICO of the year in 2017 over multiple others
• Constantly delivering on time.
• Developers will be able to make money as individuals or employees by being able to build on top of the platform, customize the games and software for different casinos, and create new games.
• Launching platform in early February at the ICE convention with over 8,500 casino operators in attendance, where they will lead a track based on blockchain and present/network with industry folks.
• Onboarding and helping roll out first casinos that license from them in Q2

The Market

• Online gambling is a fifty billion dollar industry now, around 60 in 2020.
• If you can't see how undervalued this is, look at Satoshi Dice and all the other crypto gambling sites that have sprung up that have the equivalent of billion's of $ flowing through them. Just cornering the majority of the existing crypto casinos, allowing crypto millionaires to create their own casino, or anyone really, will create incredible demand for the token, driving down supply dramatically as people lock up tokens, and driving up the price.

In closing
A lot of cryptocurrencies try to invent a market for the problem they are solving. That’s why a lot of startups have failed, and why a lot of cryptocurrencies will falter in the future.
Funfair will succeed because it is the answer to a problem with a massive market to conquer.
I'm calling $5 in April once they start onboarding casinos.
Good luck and hope to see you guys aboard the Fun train before we leave the station.

Click HERE to submit your questions in the #ama_questions channel. All non-questions will be deleted in order to keep the channel clean for the AMA, along with anything abusive, so please keep it polite but feel free to ask anything you want, as long as it's Stars Rewards related.
I'll update this post with the full AMA once it has concluded.
For anyone who misses the AMA, still feel free to submit your questions as the Stars Rewards team will hang out in Discord and keep answering questions throughout the next week.
Edit: Clarification
Full AMA:
July 7, 2017 Pete Simm | Ice3lade - Yesterday at 5:02 PM Hello @everyone and welcome to today's AMA! We've received a lot of questions and feedback regarding the new Stars Rewards program and we wanted to take the time to address as many of them as possible. So, on that note, it is my pleasure to introduce @Dylan | Ravageur . Dylan is the Head of Customer Loyalty at PokerStars and has overseen the transition and launch of the new Stars Rewards program. He has been with PokerStars for over 6 years and is here to answer your questions today :smiley:
Dylan | Ravageur - Yesterday at 5:04 PM Hi Pete, thanks for having me on here. Looking forward to diving in to the questions and will do my best to provide some answers.
Pete Simm | Ice3lade - Yesterday at 5:06 PM Welcome welcome :smiley: I know you've been crazy busy putting this whole thing together, so let's jump straight in with some of the harder ones so that we can address them while our brains are still fresh... "PokerStars hate winning players and is doing everything to destroy online poker and turn it into casino? Do you really think your customers don’t understand what you’re doing? Shame on you"
Dylan | Ravageur - Yesterday at 5:11 PM Oof, jumping right into the deep end I see. Well here we go...
We designed Stars Rewards to offer better rewards to net-depositing players than winning players as these players ultimately drive the poker economy. We want to encourage players to win at the table using their skill rather than playing primarily to maximise returns. One of the main differences between this program and the VIP Club system is that it ensures that volume is not a decisive factor like it was in the past to receive meaningful rewards.
It's not that we don't love winning poker players - we do. However, there's a difference between appreciating and celebrating winning poker players versus giving them additional rakeback on their winnings. A lot has changed over the course of eleven years since the VIP Club was first designed, and the online poker landscape is a different place now that needs a new program that better serves our diverse customer base. Since we implemented the changes in 2016 to reduce rewards for the highest-volume players, more hands are seeing the flop which indicates a more appealing table-dynamic and deposits are lasting longer for new and casual players. We no longer believe that the previous approach which allocated the majority of the rewards to winning high-volume players is the right direction for us.
I appreciate that this is not what many of you want to hear, and the significance of these changes is not lost on us. Our goal is to grow poker as a whole and a new and better designed rewards program is an important step towards achieving this.
Pete Simm | Ice3lade - Yesterday at 5:13 PM So, in simple terms, the goal is to keep net-depositing players playing the game, adding more money to the economy?
Dylan | Ravageur - Yesterday at 5:14 PM Put very simply, yes. The goal is to engage and retain new and casual depositing players, who are ultimately the backbone of the poker economy.
Pete Simm | Ice3lade - Yesterday at 5:16 PM Ok, thanks for the clarity there :smiley: We'll move swiftly on to another tough one... "Will PokerStars pocket the rakeback decrease or will it just be more distributed to losing players?"
Dylan | Ravageur - Yesterday at 5:20 PM I am already sensing a trend....
The overall percentage will decrease for poker. Casino and sportsbook will of course see an increase as they're giving more rewards where they previously hadn't. Loyalty remains our most significant spend as a company and we will continue to invest in the development and engagement of our players. We invest in poker far more than anybody else and we play to continue to invest in our innovations and our marketing. We announced this week that we are picking up the tab for 60,000 PKR customers left in the cold without their bankrolls, we've hired Usain Bolt and Kevin Hart to reach out beyond the current poker base to bring new people to the game, and with the launch of PokerStars PowerUp, a new poker product, we are again trying to bring in new players to the game and reactivate players.
This kind of stability & resilience comes at a price, but we believe these changes are working. The company and the ecosystem is healthier, and we believe recreational players are having more fun.
Pete Simm | Ice3lade - Yesterday at 5:23 PM Well then, that leads perfectly on to "I see people justifying the changes by saying it goes to recs yet I haven’t seen stats that they say the same amount of rakeback is being paid out?" asked by @Gosha(edited)
Dylan | Ravageur - Yesterday at 5:28 PM Because the program is personalised to each player, I don't think I'll be able to satisfy that question. I can share that most of our recreational players will receive a similar level of rewards as before, and in many cases players will receive more rewards.
I've heard a lot of players in the questions thread claiming that the program only offers 5% in rewards, but recreational players will receive much more than that and this is across the full spectrum of our player base. As an example, there are former Supernova VIPs who are now receiving more with Stars Rewards than they did in our previous program.
Pete Simm | Ice3lade - Yesterday at 5:30 PM Ah, that somewhat addresses my next question already "Can we get a tangible figure for RB now that the new rewards are in place? Party does 40%"
Dylan | Ravageur - Yesterday at 5:34 PM Yes I think it does. The short answer is that Stars Rewards is not a traditional rakeback program. Rewards are personalised and can vary based on recent activity.
We cannot guarantee a specific level of rewards for any given player givena few factors:
-The rewards inside Chests are randomised -Progress bar requirements are personalised and may change based on recent activity. For example, a long-term winning player will need to earn more reward points to unlock a given Chest than a net-depositing player -Players receive additional reward points in Chests which are also randomised -Players who play more frequently will benefit from boosts, which net you double reward points when boosted.
Pete Simm | Ice3lade - Yesterday at 5:38 PM Given the untraditional nature of the Rewards program, people are finding it hard to find ways to compare it to the old one, maybe you can help with this? "Hey, greetings! My question as i have not yet understood ( and dont think it has been specified at all), is what is the ev of rakeback that the company is giving back? I understand that rewards are randomized and for 1 chest people can get different rewards depending on their vip status. But what i dont understand is how ev rakeback should a goldstar or a silverstar for instance expect to get on 1 month? with the previous system , to say , we knew a goldstar could get minimum 100 usd per month and platinum star 300. what is the difference ev wise in the new system? Thanks"
Dylan | Ravageur - Yesterday at 5:39 PM That's a good question. First - Stars Rewards is a significant departure from the previous VIP Club program and it's very difficult to compare the two as it's apples and oranges. In general terms if you are a long-term winning player you will be receiving less rewards than previously. Other players will be receiving a similar level of rewards, or more, with Stars Rewards.
Pete Simm | Ice3lade - Yesterday at 5:46 PM Since we're changing things quite drastically for the winning players, maybe you can help explain where we received our positive feedback? "I would really like to know where the positive feedback has been found regarding Stars Rewards. Since I havent heard a single positive word from people I rate highly that have gotten their rakeback slashed from 27-35% to 4-5%" This question was asked both by @BarreMolenaar "LordBarre II" and @TilTinDuCeR
Dylan | Ravageur - Yesterday at 5:49 PM I had a feeling this one was coming :). A lot of what is posted about the program on forums and in the press originates mostly from winning players, who understandably are upset that they are receiving fewer rewards than previously. The program is designed to appeal more to recreational players. The level of engagement we have seen with the program so far in Denmark and Italy has exceeded our expectations. We have been reaching out since those launches to speak to recreational players about their experiences with Stars Rewards and the majority prefer the new program than the previous one.
Pete Simm | Ice3lade - Yesterday at 5:51 PM Speaking of the launches in Italy and Denmark, we received this question about how the launches there seemed "sketchy at best"... "Why did you switch from a transparent system to a non-transparent, “individual” one? I personally believe that the poker industry especially needs to be as transparent as possible. The way this has been rolled out in Italy and Denmark so far seems sketchy at best."
Dylan | Ravageur - Yesterday at 5:54 PM I agree that the poker industry needs to be as transparent as possible. However, while Stars Rewards is "individual" as he says, the probabilities and prize values for each Chest are published on our website and you can see how many points you need to unlock a Chest by clicking on your progress bar or visiting the 'My Stars' portal. In addition to the 'normal' Chest values on our webpage, there will be additional top prizes on a regular basis such as the $1,000 Chests we are currently awarding for launch.
Pete Simm | Ice3lade - Yesterday at 5:56 PM A recent question from @Croakspkr which ties in well with transparency... "why cant i review how many chests i've opened yet and what i got from them?"
Dylan | Ravageur - Yesterday at 5:58 PM You can contact Support at any time to receive a full audit of your Chests and everything that was in them. However, I agree that it would be beneficial if you could review them in-client, so I will add this to the list of future developments we'd like to add. Thanks for the feedback/suggestion @Croakspkr
Pete Simm | Ice3lade - Yesterday at 6:01 PM And this one has come in from @Artello referencing a previous question... ""As an example, there are former Supernova VIPs who are now receiving more with Stars Rewards than they did in our previous program." It doesn't sound logical at all with rewards we have, unless some regs hit 1k from chests (which is luck, not a statistic)."
Dylan | Ravageur - Yesterday at 6:03 PM Just to clarify, long-term winning Supernova VIPs will be receiving much less. However, there are net-depositing former Supernovas who are receiving a similar level of rewards, and in some cases more. That isn't assuming they get lucky or win a $1K Chest.
Pete Simm | Ice3lade - Yesterday at 6:05 PM In terms of the rewards in general, there has been a lot of feedback regarding how different the size and frequency of the rewards are compared to what people are used to. That feedback has been accurately summed up by @IFlipBurgers in this question: "Do you believe that rewarding people with extremely small rewards (compared to the buyin of the games they play) at a high frequency gives them satisfaction and make them feel like a valued customer? So far, I've only heard feedback of people feeling insulted by these rewards and would go as far as to argue that they have a negative net effect on their playing experience, even compared to not receiving anything at all."
Dylan | Ravageur - Yesterday at 6:09 PM Unlike the previous program, Stars Rewards aims to reward players multiple times within a single session. Most of our players can only play a few times a month and we feel that offering them multiple opportunities to win something significant does, in fact, make them feel valued. Of course, there's no "one-size fits all" and some players would rather receive fewer Chests but that held a higher value, so there is a balance to be maintained. Like any other new product, we will be reviewing feedback from all our players and looking at the numbers to determine if we've found the right balance between frequency and value.
Pete Simm | Ice3lade - Yesterday at 6:11 PM That leads perfectly into "Are rewards completely finalised or are they very much experimental and subject to change?"
Dylan | Ravageur - Yesterday at 6:13 PM The rewards could change over time, yes, especially in regards to our top prizes. Currently we're awarding $1K Chests as the top prize, but, for example, when WCOOP comes around later this year Stars Rewards can award WCOOP tickets in Chests. In the future, these top prizes will change and can range from cash prizes, tickets, and exclusive physical items. FailFish1
Pete Simm | Ice3lade - Yesterday at 6:15 PM Okay! :smiley: Thank you very much for digging into some of the nitty gritty about EV and reward amounts with me, now I'm going to address some of the questions we've received about how everything functions We received this question "hey, im fairly sure i was on like 80% towards 2k vpp and didnt receive anything for it. isnt it supposed to convert? is this a problem more people ran into or just me" from @don artie , perhaps you could clarify?
Dylan | Ravageur - Yesterday at 6:17 PM Good question, and that shouldn't be the case. Players received the full prorated StarsCoin value for their in-progress VIP Step when Stars Rewards launched. You can verify having received this credit by going to your StarsCoin audit in Tools -> History & Stats of the desktop client. You can also just shoot our Support an email and they can check on your behalf and makes sure that you received everything you should have.
Pete Simm | Ice3lade - Yesterday at 6:20 PM Thank you for clearing that up :smiley: Now, in terms of the exact functionality, @Scoobydubious asked: "When you open your chests, what are the coins for that go to the right side of the chest? I think theymight be purple if I recall correctly."(edited)
Dylan | Ravageur - Yesterday at 6:22 PM Purple?!! They are green, and those are reward points :smiley: You get reward points everytime you open a Chest, so that your progress towards your next one gets kick-started. In poker you earn 100 reward points for every $1 in rake/tournament fees paid with the exception of high-stakes cash games.
Pete Simm | Ice3lade - Yesterday at 6:23 PM On that note, from @Caribou "What is the least amount of points necessary to clear a red chest? How many points, on average, will net depositors need to clear a red chest?"
Dylan | Ravageur- Yesterday at 6:28 PM That's a good one. Reward point requriements can vary over time, but for example, some higher-volume recreational players need to earn 8,000 reward points to unlock our biggest Platinum Chest. They will also receive on average 800 points every time they open it. Some of these also receive a boost of 4,000 points every 8 hours from their last one. Effectively, they need to earn 3,200 reward points to earn their first Platinum Chest each day (which is worth about $23.50 on average).
Pete Simm | Ice3lade - Yesterday at 6:33 PM So in terms of this being more weighted for net-depositing recreational players @SetMiningWithKings asked "So that I can make a decision whether this is a better thing for players, or for Pokerstars - Has your average revenue per player gone up or down when you account for the new programme being in place?"
Dylan | Ravageur - Yesterday at 6:35 PM We certainly hope to increase engagement in our playerbase which ultimately should increase revenues, but it's much too early to say what the impact of Stars Rewards is given we only just launched in most areas this week!
Pete Simm | Ice3lade - Yesterday at 6:38 PM In that case, asked by @TilTinDuCeR "Question: Do you think you as a company understand the gaming industry enough to try to emulate it and accurately project the success of such endeavour?"
Dylan | Ravageur - Yesterday at 6:42 PM There has been a massive amount of effort and research across the company in preparing for Stars Rewards based on years of data and experience in the industry. We're confident that this is a step in the right direction, and early indications in Denmark and Italy support this as well. So I guess in short, yes. But we are of course also listening to our players on all our channels (here, other forums, social media, customer support, 1-1 discussions, etc.)
Pete Simm | Ice3lade - Yesterday at 6:46 PM Speaking of feedback from the players, we're seeing a lot of people asking for a more specific breakdown of what they need to do to earn their chests. "is there anywhere we can check the least and the most points requiered for a certain chest?" from @monroymx
Dylan | Ravageur - Yesterday at 6:48 PM Each individual can always click on the progress bar to see how many reward points they need to unlock a Chest. However, because these targets can vary over time based on recent activity, they aren't being published.
Pete Simm | Ice3lade - Yesterday at 6:50 PM Ok, good to know that it's easy for people to see what they need to do then :smiley: Let's burn through another couple of quick ones and then wrap this thing up so I don't leep you all night. "Will players be able to weed out the rewards that they will never use?"
Dylan | Ravageur - Yesterday at 6:53 PM If I remember correctly that question was referencing not wanting to recievemore than one freeroll ticket in a day. This is a great suggestion and something that we are actively looking to add to Stars Rewards functionality. Ideally once you receive, for example, a freeroll ticket for a weekly freeroll, you shouldn't receive the same ticket until the following week (and that prize would be replaced by something that isn't redundant). It's on our list of future developments that we'd like to add, and I hope we can add it in the coming months.
Pete Simm | Ice3lade - Yesterday at 6:55 PM So, to quickly summarise a question that is being asked a lot, are there any plans to decrease rake? Spin and Go's and PLO seem to be mentioned a lot here "With such reduction in rewards to SN Winning players, is there a chance that (for example) Spin and go rake might be decreased a bit to compensate, because as of it is today, average 60$ limit player regular was earning around 44% of his overall profits from rakebacks, because there are a lot of regulars in the pool, only a handful of crushers get better results (in chipEV) than that to stay comfortable withouth rakeback" Dylan | Ravageur - Yesterday at 6:57 PM That's a popular question. We are constantly evaluating pricing and the economy of each game. However, at this time there are no plans to decrease rake.
Pete Simm | Ice3lade - Yesterday at 6:57 PM That being the case... "Wouldn’t they be making more money if they brought back the old vip system which incentivized volume players coming back = more rake being paid?"
Dylan | Ravageur - Yesterday at 7:02 PM This is a good question as there are quite a lot of misconceptions out there on this topic. There is a very high overlap between "volume players" and "winning players". This is pretty intuitive given poker is a skill game and you improve the more you play. The poker economy is fuelled by deposits, which for the most part originate from low to medium-volume players. This is one of the main reason that the level of rewards players receive through Stars Rewards is not solely based on volume, so that we can allocate rewards to the players who contribute the most to the poker economy (and of course, our company).
Pete Simm | Ice3lade - Yesterday at 7:05 PM Thank you for explaining that :smiley: Ok, I hope that this session has helped to clear things up for a few people, @Dylan | Ravageur thank you very much for taking the time out of your day to do this with us. I know that we haven't managed to address everything which we've been asked, but Dylan will be around throughout the coming week to hop in here and answer more FAQ as they arise. If there are an absolute tonne of questions, we will schedule a second AMA for some time next week :smiley:
Dylan | Ravageur - Yesterday at 7:08 PM Sure - thanks for having me Pete and I appreciate all the questions and feedback from the players. I know that not everyone will love the answers, but I'll continue to chime in here next weeek to try and answer questions as they come up. Sure - I'd be down to do this again. Cheers.
Pete Simm | Ice3lade - Yesterday at 7:09 PM Awesome, thank you again for joining us!

Net yield per player fell 2% to $113 but rose 15% to $134m on a constant currency basis. Amaya credited the net gains to its new casino vertical, although it also partly blamed the 4% fall in poker revenue on internal cannibalization from the new casino option.
Amaya said it had around 440k active casino users in Q4, despite relying primarily on crossover from its existing poker player base. Only around 2% of Q4’s casino actives were casino-only customers, so Amaya plans to ramp up digital casino marketing, although a television campaign won’t likely debut until the second half of the year.
Source: http://calvinayre.com/2016/03/15/business/amaya-q4-loss-casino-sports-gains-poker-decline/
What does it mean:

• PokerStars doesn't bring new players to its site thanks to the casino product: players who are playing casinos games are poker players. It's very different situation compared to site like 888 poker who sign up a lot of new players with a first interest in sports betting / casino games
  
• The money lost by players in casino games impacted the poker revenue
  

Many of us enjoy playing poker with the friends, colleagues or just random people as it is quite a fun way to spend time. However, there are actually people that make their living out of poker.
There are quite many sources that describe the earnings of the poker players and their net worth, but so far it seems that the top 5 richest poker players (whose income is mostly driven by the winnings) are:

5 – Joe Hachem ($11.8 million)

4 – Sam Trickett ($16.6 million)

3 – Erik Seidel ($17.2 million)

2 – Antonio Esfandiari ($22.9 million)

1 – Phil Ivey ($100 million)

Even though the biggest tournaments are happening offline, the largest volumes are dealt in various online poker rooms. It may be quite challenging to become a poker millionaire without winning one of the main poker events, yet there are many people that can afford luxurious life simply by playing a few dozens of hands each day. However, today we will not be looking at the poker players, but we are going to focus on the poker industry from the insider’s perspective and see how quickly it can be changed in the future.
A quick overview
Throughout the history, online poker industry has been dominated by the PokerStars brand, and the only company that was competing with it was FullTilt poker. However, in mid 2011 FullTilt went bankrupt and was acquired by PokerStars. Since then, its leadership has been disputed.
Today, there are many online casino brands launching their own poker rooms, yet when combined they are taking a much smaller market share than PokerStars. However, there are quite some drastic changes coming up and it does seem that even PokerStars may not be ready.
Europe represents the largest market for online poker and recently there were some regulations passed regarding online gambling. While those laws actually make internet gambling legal, they come with such harsh requirements that many companies have decided to simply skip these markets and focus on their operations in the other countries.
Apart from that, the technology behind the online poker rooms has been lacking some development when it is compared against the other companies in the iGaming sector or other sectors of Information Technology.
Today we are going to explain you how Cash Poker Pro can tackle all of these issues and become a successful competitor of PokerStars in the very near future. But before we begin, let us quickly tell you what Cash Poker Pro is all about.
Cash Poker Pro in a nutshell
Cash Poker Pro (or CPP for short) is an online poker room that is available through various instant messengers (such as Whatsapp, Telegram, WeChat etc) and also as a web app. It lets people play poker online using a decentralised technology. Yes, we are talking blockchain here.
Considering the CPP’s technology, it can operate in any possible location as long as at least one of the supporter messenger apps is available there. Besides that, CPP deliver a great level of transparency and trust, as there is absolutely no way the company can manipulate the results of the game. Finally, CPP can provide great gaming experience at the fraction of the costs when compared to any other alternative on the market. Now let’s take a look at how exactly it will revolutionise the world of online poker.
Available anywhere
Cash Poker Pro is designed to be available at any possible device, at any possible location, and at any possible jurisdiction. These are the main reasons that landed Cash Poker Pro a title of the best October’s ICO at ForexNewsNow rating.
There are a few challenges faced by the iOS and Android developers. First of all, it is pretty damn hard to design the apps that deliver identical experience. In most of the cases, one of the OS will receive an inferior version. Secondly, the hardware itself is quite an issue. This is why it is so common to see unsupported apps in the Play Market or App Store when using a dated device. Finally, it is still up to Google and Apple to allow the listing of your application, and in most of the cases, you will not be allowed to bring in a gambling app into the Store.
Cash Poker Pro eliminates this barrier by letting the players participate in the game via the messaging apps. Such apps are available in every country, no matter whether online poker is allowed or prohibited there. Besides that, all of the smart-type of the devices support the messaging apps as those are the core component.
Considering that CPP is decentralised, it can operate in all of the dark, grey and regulated areas likewise.
Keen to invest?
Not only CPP is great for the players, it is also amazing for the possible investors. Unlike all of the old fashioned companies, CPP gives you an opportunity to become a partial owner of the poker room by purchasing the tokens during Cash Poker Pro ICO. It is based on Ethereum and it has already been backed by 400,000 USD of investments during the pre-ICO stage. Its goal is to raise 30,000,000 USD by selling 60,000,000 tokens under the symbol CASH.

For more than a month, the United States was the cornerstone of live poker, but action has subsided and professionals are leaving Las Vegas. Europe will become the new gambling hub later in August, as the European Poker Tour will resume in August with the Barcelona tournament. Meanwhile, many poker players have traveled to Asia, for the PokerStars 2014 Beijing Millions and Chen Qin can brag about winning the opening event. PokerStars is playing a significant role in this part of the world when it comes to promoting poker and has established a permanent position in Macau. This year, the prizes for the PokerStars.net 2014 Beijing Millions exceeded expectations, with the winner taking home ¥675,000. A quick glance at the standings will reveal the fact that the runner-up won a bit more and the difference between the winner and the one finishing in the third place was just as wide. The reason for why this happened is that the remaining four players decided not to play until the final hand was dealt, but instead chopped the pot right away. This is common practice at both live and online poker tournaments, as the finalists frequently prefer not to allow luck decide the outcome of the game. There is a protocol and players are usually getting a share that is indissolubly linked to the chips in front of them, but then again they have unlimited freedom to proposing alternate deals. In this particular case, an agreement was reached fairly quickly and the top four players claimed the paycheck right away, leaving them to fight for glory alone. Chen Qin persevered and after the deal was made, he shifted into a more aggressive gear, knowing that there is nothing to lose. Yang Zhang proved to be the most difficult competitor, but even though he won more money at the end of the tournament, he was deprived of the honor of winning the event. The Beijing Star Poker Club was the gracious host for the PokerStars tournament, which was the largest outside United States. More than 200 players participated, but only these nine made the final table, not surprisingly all of them being from China. Check out their placement below and the corresponding prizes: 1 Chen Qin China ¥675,0002 Yang Zhang China ¥700,0003 Tong Shen China ¥650,0004 Feng Bai China ¥587,5005 Jing Liu China ¥312,5006 Chen Hao China ¥250,0007 Qiang Liu China ¥205,0008 Hui Xu China ¥162,6509 Yuanye Chen China ¥125,000
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Five months from now, the 2015 PokerStars Caribbean Adventure will begin and for the vast majority of poker professionals, this represents the highlight of January. Plenty of good things await them and as always, the online poker operator is ready to welcome players with a handful of pleasant surprises. This time, they are willing to make a change and implement a feature that will appeal mostly to amateurs, instead of boosting the payouts for those who make the final table. PokerStars has announced the double bubble tournament, which means that for the first time in the history of this series, half of the players will at least recuperate their investment. The prospect of winning back all the $1100 is encouraging and should provide prospective players with the incentive to tag along. This means that the odds of running into a string of unlucky hands after spending a couple of days at the tables and lose all the investment is mitigated. The goal is still to make the final table and even fight for the first prize, but it is always good to have a safety net in place. The "Double Bubble" tournaments are innovative to say the least and there are plenty who will be tempted to participate, knowing that the risk of losing it all is reduced. Once half the players are eliminated, all the remaining ones are going to be paid $1100 in cash, which means that they will be virtually free rolling. This intermediary stage is not going to impact the outcome of the tournament, because action will resume with the remaining players. The giveaway is supposed to be an experiment that should appeal to all those who hesitate to play in a tournament of such a magnitude. It goes without saying that this will only apply to the main event, without being a real option for high roller events, where the goal is to bestow a huge prize upon a very small group of players. Those who make the final table are frequently discussing the terms of a deal, which suggests that the top priority is to make sure that they offset the original investment. PokerStars keeps an open mind to new and innovative concepts and uses the online tournaments as sandboxes for implementing them. The 2015 PokerStars Caribbean Adventure is the first tournament to make use of this new system, but it would come as no surprise if other events will follow.
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Macau is better known for its glamour and numerous opportunities presented to highrollers and people with more money than common sense. Quite often it happens that nosebleed limits are frequented by players who don't necessarily know a great deal about poker, but have a lot of money and are seeking the adrenaline rush. While these cash game tables remain prohibitive to most players, live tournaments, such as the one recently hosted by PokerStars attracts huge crowds. As a part of the Asian Pacific Poker Tour, the main event represents the highlight of the series in Macau and not surprisingly a Chinese player emerged victorious. This year it was Jiajun Liu who claimed the trophy and caused the elimination of 494 players in the process, to take a prize of HK$2,776,000. As major poker tournaments go, the equivalent of $360,000 is not a record, but still a significant increase from the amount collected by the winner in 2013. Those who made the final table were reluctant to take many chances, because each position they improved up the ladder, translated into a bigger payout. Jiajun Liu didn't bother himself with such petty calculations and aimed the big prize, with this bold strategy paying off. One by one his opponents bowed out graciously and he was left to play the heads-up against Cyril Andre, who had to settle for 2nd place.These are the final table standings with Jiajun Liu proudly at the top of the list: 1. Jiajun Liu – $HK2,776,0002. Cyril Andre – $HK1,693,0003. Billy Argyros – HK$940,0004. Thomas McGarrity – HK$737,0005. Yen Han Chen – $HK575,0006. Carlos Kuo Chang – $HK464,0007. Jean-Marie Peyron – $HK355,0008. Yat Wai Cheng – $HK273,0009. Sailesh Verma – $HK198,140 The 2014 PokerStars.net APPT Macau High Roller attracted fewer players due to the fact that the buy-in was a bit prohibitive, but for the winner the investment was well worth it. This time it was a lady that claimed the first prize and despite the similarity in names, JJ Liu is not related to the other winner. The other thing these two had in common was their desire to fight for the ultimate prize and their uncontestable skills displayed throughout the competition. JJ Liu, Quan Zhou and Chen Wang where the last three players standing and they decided to split the pot according to their chip stacks. Liu got the biggest slice but the runner up and 3rd place both got more than HK $1 million. Check out the final placement of the 6 finalists: 1. JJ Liu – $HK1,420,0002. Quan Zhou – $HK1,275,0003. Chen Wang – $HK1,078,0004. Rui Cao – $HK610,0005. Magnus Karlsson – $HK444,0006. Huidong Gu – $HK388,0007. Zongyoa Zhang – $HK333,950
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The Asia-Pacific Poker Tour is underway and a couple of tournaments have already concluded, with the first winners being nominated. The ones who emerged victorious in these competitions took home the coveted bracelets and also a lot of money. Their victory acts as an incentive for fellow poker players and it is unlikely that they will let distance have a deterring effect on their plans in 2015. In order to attract more players to the APPT, the organizers have announced that some of the key dates for the upcoming season are now made public. By revealing the complete schedule for Season nine, the guys behind these fast rising tournament expect to have more poker professionals at the tables. As always, when big names announce their intentions of participating in flagship tournaments the number of rookies who attend is also rising. What we know is that the Season 9 of the Asia-Pacific Poker Tour will start on January 14, 2015, with the highly anticipated Aussie Millions Poker Championship from Crown Casino in Melbourne, Australia. This is just the first stop and eight more will follow, with the grand final being held at the PokerStars LIVE Macau, where the Asia Championship of Poker will bring together the best players. The Aussie Millions is the tournament that will kickstart 2015 and there are a total of 21 events for players to choose from. The highlight of the series is of course the Aussie Millions Main Event and once again the organizers decided to team up with PokerStars.net APPT. This will guarantee better exposure and it is expected that the vast majority of Team Pro members will participate. It goes without saying that the prize pool will also increase to new highs and the winner is expected to take home in excess of AU$1.6 million. To get a better idea about what is awaiting poker players in 2015, check out the key dates for season nine below: Jan. 14-Feb. 2 Aussie Millions Poker ChampionshipFeb. 5-15 ANZPT PerthFeb. 27-March 15 Macau Poker Cup 22March 11-23 ANZPT SydneyApril 7-12 APPT SeoulMay 13-24 APPT MacauJuly 31-Aug. 9 APPT ManilaAug. 28-Sept. 13 Macau Poker Cup 23Oct. 8-20 ANZPT MelbourneOct. 30-Nov. 15 Asia Championship of Poker
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We are still six months away from the 2015 Aussie Millions Poker Championship, but prospective players were anxiously waiting for the official scheduled to be released. The good news is that the officials have made this announcement on August 1st and by now we have the confirmation for all the dates. The winner will take home $1.6 million and there many of the popular Challenge events will return next year for the biggest poker event to be held in Australia. Not surprisingly, Crown Melbourne casino will once again be the gracious host for the event, which is great news for those who appreciate the facilities offered by this casino. The partnership with PokerStars will also continue, which means that those who have an account with the aforementioned poker room should keep their eyes open for qualifiers and satellites. PokerStars.net Asia-Pacific Poker Tour drew huge crowds in 2013 and is expected to be just as popular this year, ahead of the 2015 PCA. Check out the complete 2015 Aussie Millions Schedule below: Wednesday, Jan. 14 6:15 p.m. #1: $1,150 No-Limit Hold'em Day 1aThursday, Jan. 15 6:15 p.m. #1: $1,150 No-Limit Hold'em Day 1bFriday, Jan. 16 12:30 p.m. #1: $1,150 No-Limit Hold'em Day 1cSaturday, Jan. 17 12:30 p.m. #1: $1,150 No-Limit Hold'em Day 1dSunday, Jan. 18 12:30 p.m. #1: $1,150 No-Limit Hold'em Day 22:15 p.m. #2: $1,150 No-Limit Hold'em Shot-Clock ShootoutMonday, Jan. 19 12:30 p.m. #3: $2,500 8-Game MixedTuesday, Jan. 20 12:30 p.m. #4: $1,150 No-Limit Hold'emWednesday, Jan. 21 12:30 p.m. #5: $1,150 Pot-Limit Omaha6:15 p.m. #6: $1,150 No-Limit Hold'em Accumulator Day 1aThursday, Jan. 22 12:30 p.m. #7: $2,500 H.O.R.S.E.2:15 p.m. #6: $1,150 No-Limit Hold'em Accumulator Day 1bFriday, Jan. 23 12:30 p.m. #6: $1,150 No-Limit Hold'em Accumulator Day 1c2:15 p.m. #8: $25,000 Challenge Day 1Saturday, Jan. 24 12:30 p.m. #6: $1,150 No-Limit Hold'em Accumulator Day 22:15 p.m. #9: $1,150 No-Limit Hold'em Terminator2:30 p.m. #8: $25,000 Challenge Day 2Sunday, Jan. 25 12:30 p.m. #10: $10,600 Main Event Day 1a2:15 p.m. #11: $100,000 Challenge Day 12:30 p.m. #12: $1,650 No-Limit Hold'em BountyMonday, Jan. 26 12:30 p.m. #10: $10,600 Main Event Day 1b2:15 p.m. #11: $100,000 Challenge Day 22:30 p.m. #13: $1,150 Aussie Millions Tournament of ChampionsTuesday, Jan. 27 12:30 p.m. #10: $10,600 Main Event Day 1c4:15 p.m. #14: $1,150 No-Limit Hold'em/Pot-Limit OmahaWednesday, Jan. 28 12:30 p.m. #10: $10,600 Main Event Day 26:15 p.m. #15: $1,150 No-Limit Hold'em Mixed-MaxThursday, Jan. 29 12:30 p.m. #10: $10,600 Main Event Day 32:15 p.m. #16: $2,500 Pot-Limit OmahaFriday, Jan. 30 12:30 p.m. #10: $10,600 Main Event Day 42:15 p.m. #17: $2,500 No-Limit Hold'em Shot-Clock Six-MaxSaturday, Jan. 31 12:30 p.m. #18: $1,500 No-Limit Hold'em "Deep Freeze" Day 12:15 p.m. #11: $100,000 Challenge Day 36:15 p.m. #19: $5,000 No-Limit Hold'em Six-MaxSunday, Feb. 1 12:15 p.m. #10: $10,600 Main Event Day 512:30 p.m. #18: $1,500 No-Limit Hold'em "Deep Freeze" Day 22:15 p.m. #20: $1,150 Australian Poker Hall of Fame No-Limit Hold'em2:30 p.m. #21: The LK Boutique $250,000 Challenge Day 1Monday, Feb. 2 12:30 p.m. #18: $1,500 No-Limit Hold'em "Deep Freeze" Day 32:30…
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All eyes are locked on the World Series of Poker final table, which begins today in Las Vegas, as the last nine players will sit down and play for the ultimate trophy. There are a total of $10 million to play for not to mention the coveted bracelets, so the stakes are as high as they get among those who participate. Many of those who play over the Internet will take a break to watch the event live and there are many ways to watch live coverage. This doesn't mean that online action will come to a screeching hold in November, with PokerStars and other major poker rooms running their own tournaments. On Sunday, some big payouts were handed to those who made a deep run in these events and players will have new opportunities at the end of this week. Meanwhile, some of the poker professionals representing the company have traveled to Asia for the APPT Season 8 Asia Championship. The tournament lasted more than 10 days and dozens of players won six digit amounts, with the highlight of the circuit being the ACOP Main Event. There were hundreds of players who sat down at the tables and as a result the prize pool exceeded the guaranteed value and the winner was expected to win HK$6,300,000. The only thing that could have prevented that from happening was a deal made by those who reached the final table. Gabriel Le Jossec and Ami Barer were the two Canadians who made a deep run, with two players from Russia and one from the United States competing against Asian counterparts. Barer was credited with the first chance you to his decent stack and loads of experience but he was eliminated in the fourth place. Three handed game began shortly after and the remaining players decided to compete until the final hand was dealt, which proved to be a brilliant decision for the Canadian. In the heads up he outshined Sunny Jung from South Korea and claimed the first place, while the runner-up had to settle for a bit over HK$4.2 million. Check out the final standings of the PokerStars.net APPT Season 8 Asia Championship of Poker Main Event below: 1 Gabriel Le Jossec Canada $6,300,0002 Sunny Jung Korea $4,250,0003 Zuo "ST" Wang China $2,565,0004 Ami Barer Canada $2,025,0005 Vladimir Troyanovskiy Russia $1,620,0006 Konstantin Pogodin Russia $1,350,0007 Joseph Cheong USA $1,080,0008 Raiden Kan Hong Kong $813,1009 Tore Lukashaugen Norway $675,000
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Verified? (This bot cannot verify AMAs just yet)
Date: 2014-01-24
Link to submission (Has self-text)

Questions	Answers
What has been the luckiest moment in your career? Thanks!	With 90 players left in EPT San Remo in 2008, I got JJ in against Roland De Wolfe's QQ... on a T 7 3 flop. I hit a jack on the river and went on to win the tournament for 1.4 million $
1) How long were you playing poker before you decided: "I'm going to do this for a living"? What would you consider the turning point (in terms of poker ability, a significant cash, etc) that pushed you toward doing this professionally?	I was playing for about 2 and a half years while going to school and working part time jobs, before I realized I was going to make a living solely from poker. The turning point was when I decided to go for supernova elite on Pokerstars in 2007.
What portion of the cash that you play with is actually yours?	It's almost always all mine. I sell action to the 100k+ tournaments thought.
Why do you mostly play tournaments instead of cash? Isn't the variance terrible?	I play both, you just don't hear about the cash games all the time. The variance is insane for both.
What is the worst bad beat of your career?	KK into Antonio's AA with 19 left in the One Drop where first place was 18 million dollars. I was third in chips he was second. #showers.
Jason how do i win flips?	Focus really hard, I mean really really really hard lol.
Are there any well-known poker pros out there who have obvious tells they aren't aware of?	Yes, and I'm not going to name names obv :)
Do you think that online poker will come back to the States entirely?	Eventually yes... I hope.
Is there a moment in your career that stands out as the biggest poker mistake you've ever made?	I can't think of a huge mistake that I regret, I try to focus on the positive aspects of my career!
Hey Jason, do you think it would be possible for a live grinder to grind in today's games with 2k starting at 1/2$ to like 75k in a year eventually moving up when the bankroll allows it?	If they are a good player than yes, but I can't imagine why a good player would only have 2k
When Vanessa Selbst did an AMA, she went into some detail on a hand she played on High Stakes where she stacked off to an amateur's set with her queens, her point being that the hand was one that she looked back on and cringed about, knowing that it was broadcast on tv. So, is there any tv hand (ept, big game, high stakes) that you feel that you truly misplayed and can't bear to look back on?	Actually there's a hand against Justin Bonomo that I played on the big game in which I had AxJd and check shoved the river as a bluff. Makes me cringe a little- although, I'm not sure it was such a bad play :)
What would you say the single most important piece of advice you could give poker players just starting to really learn the game?	You can only get better but playing, and through experience. there's only so much studying you can do, you have to play.
What's the best comp you've ever received from a casino?	Lotta buffet tickets :)
	Honestly, I can't recall the best
Do you treat poker like a job all the time now or do you still have the occasional beer and pretzel game with your buddies?	I had to stop doing that a long time ago. I spend so much of my time playing poker at the highest level that when I'm not doing so, I want to do something other than poker.
So what do you do for fun now with your buddies if not poker?	Boating, eating, sports, beach
How many hours did you dedicate to poker when you started?	My life
IS LIV SHAVED? HAVE YOU EVER HAD MORE THAN 4% OF YOURSELF IN A SHR?	Do u want me to say yes? because I've obviously had more than 4% of myself
Can you share some pics/vids of your boat? What are your thoughts on Phil Helmuth?	Follow me on Instagram for boat pics : realJasonMercier.
Hi -I am very curious about what a typical week looks like for a poker pro (in terms of hours)? For example 60 hours spent playing poker, 40 hours spent analyzing, xx spent sleeping, xx recreation.	Depends on the player. I spend weeks playing 0 hours and other weeks playing 100.
So, do you play golf ? And if yes, what's your handicap ? And if it's low, are you better then Ivey ? Cheers from iceland.	Only played a few times, I'm awful.
When was the definitive moment when you decided you wanted to go Pro and what impact did it have on your life (besides the obvious)and the impact of the life of others around you?	A few months into 2007 I was well on pace to achieving Supernova Elite status on Pokerstars, which meant I would make a nice chunk of money throughout the year.
	At that point, it didn't impact much, I was playing online basically working a desk job. Once I started travelling a lot for poker though, my life changed dramatically.
What do the Dolphins need to do in order to become a contender in the AFC East again?	They started the offseason off pretty right with a few firings!
What is the biggest cash pot you have won?	660k
What is the most bat-shit insane play you've ever seen made at a poker table?	Wish I could remember one specific one... I've seen so many lol.
What are the perks of being a pokerstars pro?	I get my face as my avatar :)
I tend to blush at the drop of a hat..as a pro poker player how do you generally read someone whose face turns red?	Lol ummm if there face is turning red a lot, I probably will be able to tell what kind of hand they have. :P.
How much of a financial hit did you take with your bracelet bets this past WSOP?	6 figures. don't want to say
Sweet... big fan, always love watching ept live when u final table. a few questions.	Sorry only 2 questions per person! :)
Seems like you were crazy info OFC before, but seems like to don't play as much, or at least not tweet about it?	Took a nice break but ready to get back in the mix.
After our brief pineapple session at PCA, Vlad said your ofc bumhunting wouldn't stand in Moscow. Was he referring to himself or me?	Lol I'm not sure bud... I think he meant hit and running.
	Language barrier.
Who is the player you least enjoy playing against purely from a personality/body odouall-round douchebag point of view?	I don't exactly call out my enemies on public forums
Is your last name pronounced Mer-Sear or Mercy-A? Every commentator says it differently.	Mer See Ur
Is that true that poker players get a lot of ladies?	Depends on the player...
	If they are a fat slob, then they probably aren't getting a lot of ladies.
	I do okay
Just one question Jason. When will it end? Edit- Im guessing the people down voting dont follow Jason on twitter.	Never.
Hello Jason, welcome to reddit! Do you have any thoughts on string cheese as a snack food?	Thanks! Not a fan of string cheese, stopped eating it when I was 11.
If you could give one tip to people aspiring to emulate your poker success, what would it be?	Win lots...
What tilts you the most?	Traffic
Whats your net worth give or take $1m? also what kind of boat do you own?	I don't tell people my net worth. Its a formula something. 35 footer
Who are the four people you spend the most time with?	Do u want me to name my friends?
	Do u know Dirty Dave?
	Dan Obrien when I'm on the road.
	Why 4?
You can't just drop that you bought a sweet boat and not tell us what you named it. It's corny though, isn't it? :)	It's going to be either "deuces" or "deuce to seven"
	Has to do something with the price :)
Has there been any professional poker player that you just have not been able to read? Who has been the most difficult?	There are a lot of pros that are difficult or unable to read.
Do you feel your perception ability extends past poker?	My perception ability definitely flows over into all aspects of life.
Who would you rather play between Ike Haxton and Viktor Blom?	I'd rather play Ike.
Why Ike?	Viktor is scary :)
Were you actually contemplating taking your boat to the PCA?	Yes was considering it,
I'm not sure of the logistics of it. Was it just a joke?	Ending up not because of the potential problems and bad weather
How did you select your horses? Will you ever recruit more? What cut do you get from their winnings?	I'm strayed away from backing in the last few years. Most players in the past that I backed we did a standard 50/50 with makeup deal.
It’s often a misconception that gambling is a sin but according to the bible it’s never said that gambling is a sin rather the lust of money is where we sin. I was curious since the time you posted your blog about your beliefs as a Christian how has that affected the relationships around you and has it changed your approach in live games? also, on my next visit to Miami can I drive your new boat? @heydanpowers.	Gonna pass on the boat driving, no offense.
	My beliefs as a Christian haven't really affected my relationships or my approach to live games except in that I'm trying to not put in such long sessions anymore playing cash. That is more of a health thing though.
Are you planning on playing any Irish events this year? Irish open, IPO?	No, never been to Ireland either ;/
How much money would you personally have to have in order to play $100,000 buy-in tournaments without swapping/selling action?	Many more millions :)
Just how much harder has the game gotten from when you first started out to current day?	There are a lot more elite players nowadays.
Do you watch hockey? If so whose your favorite team?	Nope
Is the no-drinking bet going to actually happen? What's your motivation for proposing it? Glglgl tho.	It might, but it hasn't happened yet. I was not feeling well after a night of drinking... so I fired off on twitter looking for action.
Hey Jason, Gonna be making my way down for my first WSOP in vegas this year. Any tips? Is late registration the way to go?	I recommend showing up early, regging the night before to avoid lines, get comfortable and prepare for a long day. Patience.
What I'm trying to get at is, as a (amateur) poker player myself, I often find it hard to separate the skill from the variance, and when I win money I wonder if I got lucky and when I lose money I wonder if I just suck. Do you ever doubt your abilities and how do you overcome this doubt?	Doubting your abilities is something that almost every poker player struggles with. It's hard not to during the downswings. Overcoming this is difficult, but a lot of times you just have to play through it.
Who's your inspiration?	My dad
If you could only choose one horse for a ten man sng for your life, who would you pick? Besides yourself.	For my life???
How do you see yourself in 10 years? still at the top, still playing?	I can't imagine a year from now, much less 10 years. I hope to still be at the top.
How hard was it to get there where you are standing now?	I can't put into words how hard it was, it took many many hours and a lot of hard work.
I know that you're a big sports fan. How often do you bet on sports? Also, do you do most of it online, with friends, or at a Vegas sports book?	I don't really bet sports much anymore, had to stop after really slamming it for a while. Was doing it mostly with friends.
Will the Knicks make the playoffs?	Nope.
Hi Jason, In your opinion, is Ole Schemion or Vanessa Selbst a more formidable opponent?	They are both very tough and very good
Any plans to relocate long-term and focus on online games again instead of live? If so, how much would another online MTT reg like me have to pay you to cancel those plans?!	Let the bidding begin!!
	I have no plans as of now to do so, you're safe! :)
Online poker is legal in my state now, and I have a $200 bankroll to start with. What would be the best way to grind it out into a decent amount?	What are you good at playing?
Tell us how you REALLY feel about the Stars High Stakes Regs Problems twitter account.	Lol who?

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Date: 2012-04-18
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Questions	Answers
You're about to die. There is an amateur poker player sitting right next to you. You decide that your final words will encompass the most important thing you have learned throughout your years of pro poker. WHAT ARE YOUR FINAL WORDS??? Tldr: gimme some good poker tips.	1st off, your screenname is priceless...This one's an easy one for me though. Never let your ego get in the way of continuing to try and learn as much as you can about the game. Too many players hit a point where they start to win and then refuse to admit they can always learn more. I call this the game over point lol.
Can you loan me a few hundred bucks? my tv just shit the bed.	You take Full Tilt transfers?
Does that eventually translate to real cash lol,	Haha we can only pray.
I wish this wasn't a joke. A friend of mine won an FTOPS event a few days before they were raided and hadn't withdrawn in months.	Sigh, yea I know...I just try and use humor not to punch holes in walls.
Can I ask how much did you lose when FT went tits up?	I didn't get killed very badly, I was taking some time off poker so had a good chunk of my online roll off the sites. I was saying in an earlier post I was with a buddy who had about 200k online at the time when we found out the shit hit the fan. Never thought I'd see someone get that emotional, but clearly understandable. :/
Are you the Jason Lee that recently got signed to Lock Poker?	I would be that same Jason Lee.
I assume that you would recommend this site to US players as opposed to bovada and the like? As this a merge skin, how confident should US players be about depositing mobnies on this site. I cant stand Bovada btw.	Yea, I actually never even got on Bovada because I just heard the most tilting stories about it. I'm personally very confident with my money on Lock, and not just saying that because I'm one of their pros. The upper management there actually cares about their players and is constantly looking to improve the customer experience. This is something I respect a lot about them.
I only have money on Bovada....well I do have a few hundo still on Full Tilt...those fucks.	If you're interested in moving over, shoot me a PM before you get on, I get some special perks I can offer people that create accounts.
Pretty much....I actually laughed at the customer service rep that I talked to, said, "you fuckin kidding me" and hung up.	Yea, I had a buddy that just posted a blog about that jacking a bunch of cash from him as well. I'd be scared playing on a site that it's sister site (Blow-dog)'s domain just got appropriated by the DOJ.
Are you still living in the states playing online or have you moved eslewhere?	Been literally bouncing all over the place as of late, but all in the states. I'm currently doing this Reddit from Vegas. Seems like a decent place to be? lol Most of my friends went to Canada, Costa Rica and a few to Panama and Thailand.
How hard is it to do your taxes?	The first year I did them it was hell because I didn't stay on top of keeping records and had to retro go back and do everything. Since then I learned my lesson and stayed on top of keeping records. Its still annoying though every year when everyone is talking about getting their returns and I'm writing a check to Uncle Sam.
But you get to write off your losses, right? I'd imagine that good records are very important. Does the IRS keep a special watch on pro gamblers for audit purposes? Seems like one of those professions that would be red flagged by them.	Yea, and they actually changed the legislation this year that if you have a net losing year, you can actually roll those loses into future years...a.k.a lose 10k this year, make 100k next...only pay taxes on 90k.
Most money you've ever lost in one pot?	Don't play a tooooon of cash games, so prolly only a few thousand in that department. The biggest tournament I've played and busted was a 20k buyin in France. I had lots of beers after that one.
only a few thousand in that department. That'd pay my rent and feed me for half a year. Fair as fuck :)	Hah, yea...I try not to get greedy like some players. I'm happy when I lose $1 and mad when I lose .01. lol.
How much vanished into the Full Tilt black hole? Any funds lost on the evil twins aka UB/AP?	I actually didn't get killed as much as a lot of my friends because it was during my 8 month hiatus from the game last year so I didn't have a ton on there. I had some friends though that had a couple hundred k on there and was with them when they found out it all went bye bye. Let's just say I saw a lot of people get a lot more emotional than I ever expected to see them get.
I'll go for the classic question... how much of poker is strategy, and how much is luck? And what can a player do when their luck sucks?	Oldie but a goodie (I heard an old person say that once lol)...I'd say if I had to put numbers on it, about 65% skill, 30% luck and 5% how much the poker gods love you. These numbers I think against worse players move to 70-75% skill because you're able to read them better and push them around more effectively. I will never deny though that there definitely is a luck factor involved, its just not the predominant factor in determining who wins and who loses.
How do you distinguish between luck and the poker gods? I'm an atheist, but if praying to the poker gods can give me a 5% edge, I'll take it.	If you can maximize what you win with the best hands and minimize what you lose with the worst, that I consider skill. Actually getting the best and worst hands, thats the luck part. Also getting it in as a big favorite = skill, losing as a big favorite=luck.
I'm no pro, but I've always said that in poker skill is what helps you get lucky, would that be adequate?	Ehhh, when you need to get lucky is usually only when you get your money in bad, so technically it would be something only happening when you're playing less than optimally. However, it would be adequate to say that a skilled player will take better advantage of hitting a miracle card or getting lucky.
Is it true that the key to winning is just winning a little bit, then leaving the table?	Def disagree with this. A lot of people after they see me win a pot are like ooooo take that cash and run. The thing is, if you're in a good game, you should stay in that game as long as you're playing well and the game stays a good game. I also think I play a lot better when I'm winning, so I will def keep playing.
	I'm mainly a tournament guy so they usually don't let me leave after I win a pot :P.
How about online poker? What do you think?	If I'm having a bad day, I'll unregister from the rest of my tournaments so I can proceed to ram my head into the wall. But I feel like its the same as live, if you're playing well and in a good game; stay in it. If people are willing to give cash away, stay and take it :)
What do you think is the major difference between online and real life poker?	I reallllly like online because I'm about as ADD as they come. I usually play 10-20 tables at once, mainly to keep my mind busy and keep me from doing anything stupid and playing too many hands. This is the biggest difference I see.
	As per strategy wise, live players love to call more (and bigger) 3 bets preflop ~ they just refuse to not defend here, the blinds usually defend a lot more live as well, raise sizes usually need to be bigger live to accomplish the same annnndd.....those are the main differences that pop into my mind.
	You can of course also see your opponent to allow for making more reads and they make me wear pants live :(
We need to get you some Adderall. You would be unstoppable!	Lol, used it before...I think I was the definition of "dialed in".
What do you mean by defend.	Basically when you raise someone's blind and they choose to not fold and fight you in the pot with a mediocre to bad holding they might normally fold, this is called defending. Usually its to send you a message to stop 3 betting them or stop stealing their blinds.
Hell of a story man, I get the same feel when I go mini-golfing with my BROS and on the 18th hole the ball just floats, time stops, my mind goes numb, and it just sinks right in for a hole in one. Then I'm like FREE ROUND BITCHES. I enjoy playing 10-2 off-suit in low buyin games just to fuck with people, you should try that for me someday. I hope you're comfortable because I've been waiting for a pro poker player for a long time now, I ain't goin anywhere. If you could play poker with any 5 people (living or dead, fictional or real), who would they be?	Great question... outside of just saying EVERYONE of the business men playing in the huge Macau game...if it were purely a social game Superman, The Devil, Ivey, Dwan and Howard Lederer...the first 4 to challenge myself since its a fun game, and Howard to punch in the face.
Yeah fuck him, I used to have a Full Tilt account and that could have been my money. Need my money for taco bell 5 buck boxes and also other things. Do you gamble much on non-skill games? Or any games involving a house advantage?	The best was right after all this shit last year, his wife tried to release her own jewelry line at the WSOP. I reaaaalllllly wanted to go up and just request my jewelry since it was clearly paid for with a bunch of our cash.
Do you think that in 2011/2012 the online games have got a lot tougher to beat? How far can you go with ABC poker online? What level can you beat with this technique? Is playing multitable with reasonably good regs profitable at high levels?	1- I think the low to mid stakes online have actually gotten considerably easier. A lot of the serious low to mid stakes grinders ended up moving on to other things leaving a bit of a vacuum at these stakes. I think the higher stakes have gotten a bit more difficult with a lot of the fish exiting the market. They are slowly returning though from my observations. 2- I honestly think pretty straight forward ABC can beat almost any level of poker. My deepest live run at the EPT Villamoura stop, I literally played straight forward ABC for all 6 days. No crazy bluffs, no wild floats etc etc, just played my cards optimally and made solid reads. Everyone else got out of line and paid when I had it. There are a few adjustments you can occasionally make - getting more aggressive on the bubble, stealing some blinds when the antes kick in, but for the most part the ABC can beat all levels. 4- Profitability defffffinetly goes way down when you start playing with all regs. I still think there are a lot of regs that are profitable that have leaks that can be exploited. I'm pretty positive I have leaks that can be exploited as well. So to answer the question, yes they can be profitable but definitely tougher to beat.
Has your game been impacted by becoming well known? I have heard every donk on the table wants to felt the big name pro so if it's true, how do you adapt to that?	Its interesting, because I never really experienced this until very very recently. As per being known at live tournaments, I get noticed and recognized a lot less than some people might expect. They usually just look at me and go, "oh look some crazy internet kid," just because I'm young, pale and have zero sense of style :)
	The crazy part is since I signed with Lock and they made my screenname highlighted in red on there, I feel like a baby goat in a sea of wolves. I have NEVER had people try and make plays and bluff me as much as I'm experiencing on there. It's increased so much that I've had to make strategic adjustments to how I play.
	I basically always tell people I want to play opposite of everyone else. If everyone is going to try and bluff me and run over me every pot, I choose to just sit back, pick up a hand and let them bluff off the world to me. It's nice to almost always get action on hands, it is a bit more boring though. Winning poker isn't always "fun poker" lol.
$3 million in winnings? Feeling charitable? :D.	Haha, as of late I've been gladly donating back to the community, not by choice though lol.
Story?	Not a super eventful one; just on a bit of a downswing. Nothing huge, I just always get annoyed when I don't win.
Oh I thought your neighbouring community I didn't get it as the ''Poker Community'' ! I thought you had gone nuts with that money and somewhat landed in trouble that required you to pay back to the community.	Hah, I am a bit of a wild one at times, but thankfully no on that...so far.
Does phil Hellmuth really bitch about every hand or is that some gimmick?	I actually did a TV show with Phil a few years ago, here's a link to an article about it.
	Best Damn Poker Show
	Basically, I asked Phil this question directly. His response was basically, he does get upset when people do moronic things but a lot of the over the top reactions are aimed at branding himself as the Poker Brat. Everyone loves to hate someone, and also loves to see what they're going to do next. This is pretty much what he's shooting for which I understand and thinks is prolly business smart, just a lot to deal with if you're the one getting berated.
3 or 4 bet Hellmuth and he will get pissed.	You'd be surprised how often if you give someone shit for 3 or 4 betting how often they'll never do it as a bluff again.
Is Bellande's twitter not the most comical poker twitter feed going or what? I mean who is that guys backer? haha.	Lol, I don't follow him but definitely going to check it out. I actually hammered one night in Canada at the NAPT jokingly tried to trade my gf at the time for a rack of chips from him. I was joking of course but apparently she didn't find the humor. Maybe this is the reason I'm single now lol.
Dude, check it out. Its hilarious.	He's def getting a new follower.
Why do you play under a recognizable screenname online? Doesn't it make you more of a target/predictable?	I think when I started playing, I had dreams of being a notable player, someone people recognized. Not so much to be a fame whore, but more for validation that I truly made it in the industry. It's def a lot easier to brand yourself this way if there is congruency in who you are everywhere.
	From a direct dollar making stand point though, different screennames is probably +ev.
Makes sense.	I'll prolly stick with the same screennames/image for the rest of time. I've started expanding my poker career into teaching, writing and some other aspects to make money outside of just playing. I also don't really mind if I lose a little bit of EV to help advance the other poker related endeavors.
Considering your skill, at what point do you imagine letting go of the pro image to make money anonymously? Do you not already have multiple accounts for this?	There are also some perks to knowing people think they know how you normally play. It allows you to take some unconventional lines some times because you know people think they know how you always play things. (If that made sense lol)
Also, pokerstars or fulltilt (or other)?	No multiple accounts for this guy, JaspudUF till I die :)
I like your integrity. Thanks for answering my questions!	Of course, hope the info helps some :)
Ever splash the pot?	Every chance I get :)
What would you advise to anyone looking to use Poker as a source of income in the future? How often do you play? Biggest Win? McDonalds or KFC?	I would say make sure that you truly are being honest with yourself about being a winner or a loser at the game. So many people tell me they beat the game and when we sit down and actually look at numbers, they're lieing to themselves. If you do find you are winning consistently, make sure its enough to sustain your desired life and more importantly you have a cushion in case of an inevitable bad run. I prolly play 3-4 days a week, I used to obsessively play 6-7 days a week but I think that was not good for the health.
	KFC if I'm running good, McDonalds after a bad session. No questions asked there haha.
What are your other hobbies?	I'm a gym rat, I kickbox and do jui-jitsu (although I havent in a few months since I've been traveling a lot :/ Reddit and internet humor have become amazing hobbies as of late lol and my number 1 hobby is actually people watching. I love the nonverbal communication/psychology side of poker and life, and just chilling trying to study what people are thinking amuses the hell out of me.
	I actually have to tell girls on dates that when I'm constantly staring over there shoulders at other people its not because I dont enjoy their company but just obsessed with people watching. lol.
Such a romantic! I need to hit the gym. When I'm much older I think instead of jigsaw building and wetting myself I will take up Poker. At the moment money isn't available to piss away. For non money games I have been good online, however I think I would be awful under pressure.	My buddies grandma just came into town and she might be the biggest gamblecard player I've ever met in my life. If I tried to make her do a jigsaw puzzle, she'd ask me how much I want to play for per piece. Def a mind stimulating game.
What are you planning to play at the WSOP this year? How many events? I cant wait to watch the "Drop in the Bucket" tourney. Im surprised Ivey hasnt confirmed yet....I realize he has a lot of shit goin on with FT and his divorce and shit.	That Drop in the Bucket tourney will be insane if it runs. I hear a few rumors that even though they have a bunch of confirmed players, no ones put the cash down yet. I can't confirm this but its what I'm hearing. As per me, I'm going to try and play as many of the hold em events as possible. I took last summer off and am completely drooling waiting to play this year.
	I always try and get backing for the series, which I haven't yet started looking into this year but that usually helps dictate how much I'm going to play. I paid for the series myself one year and frankly the potential swings on that are huge and very few players are anywhere close to properly bankrolled for these tourneys.
	The series is the most fun time of the year but its also for about 95% of the players, the most frustrating time of the year. You get so excited about the potential of the cash and a bracelet and then if you don't prevail, its tough to pick yourself up and come back the next day for more of a pounding lol.
Do you remember a few years ago, theres was this dude from NY a few years ago that had a blog on Pokerroad that would go ape shit on his blog after he busted from a WSOP prelim? I cant remember his name but it was hilarious. Joe Sebok supplied with a cam to record that shit.	Lol, I don't but if you find a link to it, please post...I love watching people tilt haha.
Theres only a few dudes that are rolled for that Drop in a Bucket...Guy Laliberte, a few Asian businessmen, and that dude that owns a few casinos in vegas.	Yea sooooooo few people are rolled for that. I've heard that they're going to run regional satellites but haven't seen any links or anything. I'm going to choose not to play that one, unless someone gives me a milly to play it. I won't say no :)
This dude Eugene Todd theres a few on there...if you can find the pokerroad blogs...they are epic.	Lol, I just watched about 45 seconds of the intro to his new show. I think I'm somehow on tilt already.
Do you play for fun or just for the money? Also, what's the most you've ever won in a day?	I actually do play for fun quite a bit with friends; I almost always lose when I play for fun too lol...When I'm playing to make money, I still love the game and the adrenaline rush accompanied. I stopped loving it for a while last year and got burnt out and immediately took like 8 months off. Best move ever...My largest score was $240k for a 3rd place in an EPT. I guess technically that's 6 days but still my biggest win.
So you won that $240k..what % did you have to pay in taxes? What was your net from that $240k?	I was backed in the event; so half of it went to the backers right away. I was in whatever the higher tax bracket was that year, so the taxes on that were rough. The toughest part some card players deal with is taxes aren't always immediately withheld on winnings, so you have to put money aside for when it's time to pay taxes. I have some friends that have won tournaments, spent all the money and come tax time had to figure something out to be able to cover the bill to Uncle Sam.
I would imagine winning the $8.8M 1st prize in the Main Event, they net around $5?M after paying 30-40% in taxes?	I'm lucky that my parents stayed involved in my life the past few years to inform me of these things before I also went and did something stupid like that. I try my hardest to share this info with my friends, it occasionally sinks in.
What's the most amazing poker hand you've ever been in?	Someone asked this earlier and I couldnt think of an answer, but I think I've thought of one that amused me quite a bit. When I did Good Morning America, we spent a good amount of time teaching George Stephanopoulos the basics of tournament poker. He was definitely a beginner but seemed to be picking up things pretty quickly.
	The tournament we ended up playing was a super turbo so things were moving pretty quickly. The gist of the hand was George actually limp trapped me with Queens and owned me on national television. Now, with stack sizes and all it wasn't an amazing trap or anything but I just found it hilarious that he came up with a decent move himself and was able to bust me. I was half proud and half blah lol.
What kind of stakes do you play online?	Prior to Black Friday, I would try and play the biggest tourneys they had online and was able to get enough volume with those. Since Black Friday, there are still some good higher buy-in tournaments but not quite enough to fulfill my ADD requirements so I find myself playing everything from the highest buyins down to even playing $20 tournaments.
	Cash is cash, even making a lot of money I still get happy when I win $1. Its a perspective I hope to ALWAYS hold on to.
Do you think that poker as a game has peaked? If not, when do you think this will happen? Do you think you could re-create your success starting today from zero? Do you think that online is much harder to win at than live? How many hours a day do you play?	I dont think its peaked, I think when things go all out in the states with legislation we're gonna see an explosion. I think I could, all it is is a willingness to learn, hard work and dedication. All you really need outside of that is emotional control and I think there might be some form of x factor to it. I think 1 game vs 1 game, online can be tougher, but the ability to multi table allows you to severely cut down on your variance and I think make more in the long run. When I play, usually 8-10 hrs...I've played as much as 37 before though lol I guess technically that wouldn't be in one day. After that sesh, you could have convinced me it was though.
What have you done with your winnings?	Done a poor job of saving my winnings but a great job of spending it :) Basically, lived "the life", partied, caused trouble etc etc. Trying to change that this year. Practice and read everything you can get your hands on.
Thanks. :) Out of your winnings, after tax and stakes how much are you at? I think there's always the dream of millions for players but taxes must hurt..:(	Taxes are never the fun part haha, I'm not sure exactly where this falls...I'll see if I can pull up records later today and give you a stronger idea of the impact there.
How long did it take for you to become a pro? How did your family/close ones take to you playing excessively?	Well... - Started playing when my friends invited me to a home game in college. I was officially the worst lol - After that, I played pretty much every day and read anything and everything I could get my hands on. I think it was maybe like a year later that I started making some dollars and maybe 6 months past that I decided to look at making it a full time gig. - Great question here...I came from a super straight laced, military family. If you can imagine how the phrase of "I want to gamble for a living" went over, it was rough at first. Luckily my parents were somewhat open to the thought of it and basically said, we'll support it as long as you can prove its a viable career and you can sustain a living at it.
How long did it take for you to become a winning player? Where did you mainly play online? Did/do you use good bankroll management?	About a year into learning and playing I started actually making positive cash flow. Thankfully before that I stayed playing pretty low so I didn't really lose much. - I used to play predominately on Stars, Tilt and UB. Way back in the day it was Paradise. Now a days, exclusively at Lock. - Its funny, about 99% of my career I have except for my first decent score. I had $120 bucks online and put $60 bucks into a $30 rebuy (oops lol). Ended up cashing for about 3k I think it was and post that returned to being a good boy for the most part in the BR management department.
Best fold you have ever made? Best call? Is it "better" to make a wrong call, or the wrong laydown? Fave hand that you have seen on TV? Best and worst TV pro? Fave and least fave TV pro?	The problem with "the best fold you ever made" is you never really know unless your opponent shows you...there are times I was pretty sure I made a rockstar lay down but can't really be sure... They always say its better to make an incorrect fold than a bad call, it costs you less. I think personally a mistake is a mistake and all should be treated the same in your mind (from a learning stand point).
	Best TV pro is prolly Ivey...and worst is everyone that's cocky... especially players that go deep in 1 event and immediately start talking about how they're the greatest thing since sliced bread. I'll refrain from mentioning names to avoid the awkward situations lol My fav pros to watch are either my friends or players that are better than me so I can not only be entertained but also learn at the same time.
What's your reading recommendation to get into online poker? I want to prepare now that online gambling is legal.	Do you mean in regards to strategy or the logistics of getting back on?
Well, you've got to know when to hold 'em, know when to fold 'em, know when to walk away, know when to run. You never count your money when you're sittin' at the table, there'll be time enough for countin' When the dealin's done.	I still randomly sing this at the table :)
Strategies. I know for online there are software programs that measure certain metrics, like how likely the person will fold for certain card combination. I'm a newb.. I want to understand how to analyze the card probabilities & apply user playing history to gain an edge. What's the best book to learn this?	Honestly, the best way to win online is just to have strong fundamentals. It sounds like an answer thats "too easy to be true" but in reality, majority of the players you encounter online are really bad and will make mistakes for you. I play more ABC poker than most people would probably expect. I rarely run crazy bluffs or anything like that, unless I'm bored, feel like being a moron or have had a few adult beverages :)
No real question here, just wanted to say thanks for doing the AMA. I've been waiting to hear from a pro poker player for awhile now. Best of luck! Edit: Actually I lied! How do you/any pro players you know, feel about shows like Daniel's "million dollar challenge"? Do you think it hurts the image of poker at all, or helps? Thanks :)	Of course, I'm really enjoying it :) Glad to see people are reading and also enjoying.
How did you get started in terms of bankroll nursing? At what point did you feel you could make a living off it?	I literally started with $1 tournaments for quite a while and was able to grind it up to like $120 (back in the day on Paradise). I decide one day that taking half of my bank roll and playing a $30 rebuy would be a great idea (I do not recommend this lol). I ended up getting like 6th or 7th for a few thousand. I was in college at the time and a few k, makes you rich haha. About a week later, I final tabled the same tournament for a few thousand more and then started grinding the low low buy-in multis. Blessed with a little run good, here we are today.
	It was basically about 6-8 months after those scores that I really started to think there was a possibility I could do it for a living. It was about 1 year after those tournaments that I really seriously began doing it full time.
Thanks! I'll keep grinding then :)). Are you going the the EPT grand final btw?	Probably not hitting many of the EPT's this year. That flight from the States is always brutal. I'm enjoying traveling a little less this year. At least thats what I always say and then I end up traveling a ton lol.
Besides you, Daniel Negreanu is one of my favorite poker players. How is he to play against? Is there a person that you seem to either always have trouble with or have bad luck playing against?	Well thank you :P Negreanu is definitely a tough player to play against. I think there a lot of other players that have equal the reading skills, but just choose not to vocalize it. It's the worst feeling in the world when someone pegs your hand exactly and lets you know.
	There are definitely people that have basically owned my soul in the past. The funny part is its never a well known pro or anything like that. Its usually some guy or girl that seems to be absolutely clueless at the table. This has happened A LOT lol Nothing gets close to tilting more than when this happens. I usually just ask them if they just want me to give them the passwords to my bank accounts.

Last updated: 2012-04-22 13:36 UTC
This post was generated by a robot! Send all complaints to epsy.