Table 1 Podcast

Owen Messere quit university twice.His parents were happier the second time.The first time, he was studying maths at a campus he hadn't realized he'd signed up for. He discovered the mistake while booking his train.Seven and a half hours from London. Surprise.An acid trip, a long conversation with a mate, and a decision: he was going home.He tried again. Philosophy at Warwick. Better friends. A degree he actually enjoyed.Then he won a ÂŁ10 poker tournament.Soon, Owen was spending around 70 hours a week playing and studying. Christmas revision became hours poring over poker simulations. His parents had never seen him work that hard at anything.Leaving university again suddenly made more sense to them than staying.This was the same kid who learned chess at three, played for England's junior team by eleven, and retired at fourteen. Now he'd found a game he couldn't leave alone.He filled notebooks with bluffs. Rented a server to run simulations. Spent months chasing answers to hands that didn't make sense.Then he studied heads-up so hard that, when he started taking on the regulars, some reported him for using real-time assistance.His explanation: he'd studied. He thought it was fun.In this episode of The Table 1 Podcast, Owen “Pr0digy” Messere joins Art Parmann and Justin Young to talk through the full ride:â™ ď¸ BTC Demon wins about $1.3 million off him at $1,000/$2,000 heads-up — while Owen scrambles to sell action.â™Ľď¸ A roughly $150K tournament win funds bigger cash-game shots. More than half his bankroll disappears before he gets help.â™Śď¸ The Doug Polk challenge: nearly $200K up on day one, almost all of it gone on day two, and a nine-high call he thought was a flush.â™Łď¸ Around $600K in profit at the Cash Game World Championships — followed by another championship run that comes down to a river decision with minutes left.We also get into: Turning chess into a drinking game without trusting your teammate. Why studying solvers made poker stranger and more interesting. Learning that high-stakes regulars aren't all unbeatable. Why Owen thinks the winning hand should always be shown. A $50K Rolex and some very concerned players in Barcelona. Going from student to partner at Guerrilla Poker, and why getting better can mean getting less action.It's a story about finding the work you want to do even when nobody's making you do it.đŸ‘‡ Drop a comment:Would you have backed Owen's decision to quit university for poker — or told him to finish the degree?Show Notes00:29 — Intro + The $1.3M BTC Demon Session07:37 — London Roots + England's Junior Chess Team20:23 — Rugby, ADHD + The Wrong University Campus27:12 — Dropping Out + Finding a Different Path30:56 — The First Poker Win35:54 — Early Wins + The Reality Check40:09 — Getting Obsessed with Solvers49:19 — Going Pro + His Parents' Support53:55 — Heads-Up, a $150K Score + Moving Up59:59 — Guerrilla Poker + Learning to Exploit1:04:24 — Reported as a Bot + Taking Over the Lobbies1:08:11 — The Doug Polk Challenge1:15:20 — The Cash Game Championships1:19:11 — A $600K Win + A Last-Minute Near Miss1:23:10 — Why Tournaments Drive Him Crazy1:26:53 — Coaching, Streaming + What's NextOwen's Links:X:https://x.com/OwenMessereTwitch:https://twitch.tv/pr0diiigyGuerrilla Poker:https://guerrilla-poker.com/T1 LinksWhat is Table 1?Find out here đŸ‘‡https://table1.vegasFollow us:X - https://x.com/table1vegasIG - https://instagram.com/table1vegas

Mike Holtz thought “Napster” was just a guy in his World of Warcraft group.It was the guy who created Napster.They’d been playing together for years. Mike had no idea.At 17, he was traveling to gaming tournaments with him—with his mom’s permission. Poker was something they played between dungeon raids.Then the gaming circuit lost its funding.What followed wasn’t exactly a straight line to the WSOP.Selling weed. Thirty days in jail. A hotel front-desk job. Then an invitation to a $300 home game with the wealthiest business owners in town.His boss warned him: these guys were sharks.Mike won about $1,100.They invited him back.He says he won every Tuesday for a year. The poker money was beating the paycheck, and his biggest worry was that they’d stop inviting him.Vegas proved a little less cooperative.There were cash-game struggles, a marriage breakdown, and a return to World of Warcraft during COVID. One of his Twitch regulars turned out to be David Williams. Somehow, gaming kept bringing him back to poker.By 2021, he was chasing WSOP.com Player of the Year.The guy who used to sleep beside his computer to grind Warcraft rankings had found another leaderboard.In this episode of The Table 1 Podcast, two-time WSOP bracelet winner and PokerNews Podcast co-host Mike Holtz joins Art Parmann and Justin Young for the stories behind the results:â™ ď¸ The family secret that led to a private investigator—and a brother living 30 minutes awayâ™Ľď¸ Thirty days in jail, where he already knew half the people insideâ™Śď¸ Talking the final table into an $11,650-per-person chop with seven big blinds‌ then busting two hands laterâ™Łď¸ The fake tournament-package story he told his boss to get to Vegasâ™ ď¸ Turning the online tournament grind into two WSOP.com Player of the Year titlesâ™Ľď¸ Why he says his online bracelet was harder to win than his live oneâ™Śď¸ A WSOP rail chant he had to shut down before heads-upâ™Łď¸ Joining PokerNews, interviewing Maurice Hawkins, and the bracelet-ceremony “apology”About that apology.Mike got onstage and said he wanted to apologize to Maurice Hawkins.“For absolutely nothing.”Then dropped the mic.We also get into the two-monitor kitchen-table setup, taking naps with 12 players left, and the coaching videos he keeps winning too much—and procrastinating too hard—to finish.Probably not the preparation routine you’ll find in a poker textbook.đŸ‘‡ Drop a comment:What’s the strangest thing that led you to poker?Mike’s LinksX: https://x.com/MikeHoltzPokerIG: https://instagram.com/MikeHoltzPokerT1 LinksPlay with us at Phenom Poker:https://play.phenompoker.com/register?r=Table1Play with us at Table 1:https://table1.vegasJustin’s Poker Coaching Series:Learn to Crush Live Poker — https://pokercoaching.com/table1Follow T1:X — https://x.com/table1vegasIG — https://instagram.com/table1vegas

What is Table 1 Vegas? Learn more here:https://table1.vegasNoah Schwartz had a $125K Wall Street job offer waiting.Then one Sunday changed the math.He wired $1,000 through Western Union, sat down in a PokerStars $1K, and about 12 hours later had $580,000.So yeah.Morgan Stanley got told to kick rocks.But Noah’s story starts way before the score.Miami Beach.Baseball.A lefty arm that was supposed to be his future.His dad getting sick.An elbow injury.An air mattress on a childhood friend’s floor.A security guard job where another guard would clock him in while Noah hid in the back room and played online poker.Then poker opened every door.And also kicked him through a few walls.In this episode of The Table 1 Podcast, Noah Schwartz joins Art Parmann and Justin Young to talk through the full ride: â™ ď¸ Growing up in Miami and thinking baseball was the plan â™Ľď¸ Losing his dad young and having to grow up fast â™Śď¸ Tearing up his elbow and finding poker at the exact wrong/right time â™Łď¸ Playing Madden and Monopoly for real money â™ ď¸ Paying a security guard to clock him in while he played online â™Ľď¸ Wiring $1K to PokerStars with only a few grand to his name â™Śď¸ Turning that into $580K in one night â™Łď¸ Saying no to Wall Street after the biggest score of his life â™ ď¸ Winning $394K at Borgata and taking it home in cash â™Ľď¸ Getting stopped by TSA with a bag full of money â™Śď¸ Flying Spirit with $400K stuffed in the overhead bin â™Łď¸ Buying a Range Rover in cash â™ ď¸ Playing the $1M Big One for One Drop â™Ľď¸ The aces hand that still hurts â™Śď¸ The second One Drop run that sent him straight to the dice table â™Łď¸ High-stakes craps, Antonio stories, prop bets, and poker-life chaos â™ ď¸ Why money alone never fixed what he thought it would â™Ľď¸ Fatherhood, investing, philanthropy, and what matters nowWe also get into: the early online poker boom PartyPoker and PokerStars nostalgia why poker players need early run-good bankroll management before anyone knew what bankroll management was WPT life when the fields were single-entry and massive One Drop pressure the difference between poker bad beats and real-life bad beats Real American Freestyle and why Noah would rather build memories with his kids than chase every tournament on the calendar.This one is a poker story.But it’s also a life story.A baseball dream ended.A poker career appeared.A Wall Street path vanished.And somehow, a kid sleeping on a friend’s floor ended up playing million-dollar buy-ins.đŸ‘‡ Drop a comment:What would you do if you turned $2K into $580K in one night?Show Notes00:00 — Intro + Noah Schwartz01:38 — Miami, Baseball & Growing Up Competitive06:30 — Madden, Monopoly & Early Gambling08:08 — Baseball Ends + Poker Begins09:17 — Security Guard Shift Hustle10:27 — Credit Cards, PartyPoker & The Early Grind11:32 — The $580K PokerStars Score17:13 — Firing $1K With Almost Nothing Left19:12 — Final Table Chaos + Heads-Up Comeback22:08 — $394K At Borgata + Cash Through TSA24:00 — First Vegas Shot + Getting Fired27:37 — Turning Poker Into A Career32:10 — Cash Games, PLO & The Tour34:48 — Raising Money For The $1M One Drop37:19 — Aces In The Biggest Spot42:19 — The Second One Drop Dream43:20 — Nines, Queens & The $6M Swing46:48 — Bustout → Dice Table48:48 — Kids, Balance & Life After Full-Time Poker52:46 — Investing, RAF & What Comes Next55:42 — Mindset, Philanthropy & Real Bad Beats58:45 — Prop Bets, PCA & Antonio Stories1:00:51 — The Aria Craps Roll1:15:00 — Future Plans + Family1:18:08 — Noah’s Links + OutroNoah’s LinksX:https://x.com/noahjschwartzIG:https://www.instagram.com/noahschwartzT1 LinksPhenom Poker:https://play.phenompoker.com/register?r=Table1Play with us in Vegas:https://table1.vegasJustin's Poker Coaching series:Learn to Crush Live Poker - https://pokercoaching.com/table1Follow us:X - https://x.com/table1vegasIG - https://instagram.com/table1vegas