The Poker Zoo Podcast

One of the common twists of fate in poker is the change in personal relationships on account of strategy and results. At one point now nearly forgotten, the entrance of Alvin Lau into the Red Chip Poker forum caused a whole chain of events to unfold. One end result was the rise of Alvin’s first poker teaching and programming, Overnight Monster, as ambitious RCP and other players flocked to his initial offerings. This established Alvin as a strong coaching prospect for low stakes online players. The forum feuding and questions of etiquette in turn led me to become more independent, as I could not deny Alvin’s superior strategies and reasoning in the forums. This interaction later became a series of interviews with Alvin which would become the most popular of the Poker Zoo’s first episodes, as we both agreed and sparred over a whole series of subjects and ideas, from Pluribus to race identity. Today Alvin returns after several years in the Texas poker scene. It’s been a minute for sure, and he’s changed quite a bit: our far-reaching conversation reflects both personal and professional changes. As a coach who has a very straightforwardly successful and straightforward program, he has become popular with those who are absolutely committed to moving up fast online and live. While coaches and players do grumble about their competition behind the scenes, Alvin belongs in a special tier of slightly less-known experts you can count on probably better than anyone in poker yet are still accessible, a unique tier that includes player/coaches like Upswing’s Gary Blackwood, Peter Clarke of Carrot Poker, and now Marc Goone of Hungry Horse. While Alvin had earned a reputation as a difficult person to deal with, relationships work both ways; I was not persuaded his apparent harshness was always unwarranted. Further, his many success stories bely the trouble he’s run into – even with students from my own community. He has also had an obviously huge impact on the vlogger with the highest number of subscribers ever – Wolfgang. We talk extensively about Alvin’s work with Wolfgang today. Being the coach of a near-celebrity poker player means the spotlight is on the student. Alvin, however, is more than ever okay with that, even writing about it on his Youtube page. Yet that’s not the real surprise today, because Alvin discusses a likely reason he has sometimes struggled in the coaching relationship, despite his passion for it: autism. Does this self-diagnosis resolve everything? Alvin, a fierce solver and simplification advocate at the time, was hard on RCP and on a semi-related book project. Under the weight of Alvin’s public fire, the project collapsed, and the forum was retracted as RCP reorganized itself to catch up with the times. Was Alvin unnecessarily cruel or was he just stating the facts, an inevitable agent of the marketplace of ideas? Through the lens of his diagnosis, it was neither. Instead, it was the manifestation of indifference or unawareness of social behaviors that is often the outcome of his condition. I’m not a fan of the medicalization of personality issues that seems to plague contemporary society and especially parents – why can’t he just have these traits without a diagnosis – but it struck me during our talk that if a diagnosis of a trait can bring understanding and peace to a person, and even change their behavior for the betterment of all, who am I to question the label or the process? Our talk goes quite a bit beyond this and Wolfgang, as we get the real deal on the state of Texas NL, the real reason not every great poker mind plays high stakes, and even some strong live poker tell stuff. I hope you enjoy Alvin’s return. A few links: Alvin mentioned Wolfgang’s ownership stake in Home – The Fort Card Room Alvin on the Poker Zoo. The post PZ93: Alvin Behind the Scenes appeared first on Out of Position.

Poker pro and instructor Marc Goone has created a bit of a stir in saying he can beat the low stakes, specifically his local 5/5 game, for at least $100 an hour. Interestingly, it’s been done and is being done – the shock is not actually the number but how few do it or challenge themselves to get there. On today’s Poker Zoo I get the details on the challenge (he’s already well into it) and find out why he thinks he can take the lead in the under-appreciated, temporal excellence of the modest and modest-stakes crusher. After all, if you are good – like Marc is – you don’t hang around here, right? We also go over Marc’s coaching and staking program, Hungry Horse. He’s not the only one out there providing this exact kind of poker education. More and more of your opponents in the low to mid stakes are part of programs or study groups or professionals. That’s the inevitable effect of time, inflation, and shrinking cash game liquidity. Players move down or laterally, looking to find the existing soft games. Hungry Horse is just that, hungry, and is gathering and focusing many names you know on grabbing more dollars. Marc’s recent tweet about content creators being fish probably hit all too close to some client homes. Part of Hungry Horse’s marketing is Marc’s appeal to younger players. With his tattoos, mustache and opinionated yet mildly ironic attitude, Marc presents the slimmer, more contemporary face of live poker, a scene which is often otherwise filled with alternating slobs, fitness lifestyle freaks, untrustable social media baiters, and withdrawn or tempestuous shitregs. Hungry Horse is not aimed at the average the aging boomer or gen-x player who no longer studies and still identifies with a fat accountant’s inexplicable tournament run, but at those who still want or need a growing future in poker. Of course, much of the appeal, as with everything, is in the presentation. Surrounding some intriguing tactics in Hungry Horse’s free Youtube videos are all the classic hits of strategy adjustment: nihil novem sub sole. A few extra notes: it’s worth listening to Charlie Wilmoth’s six month fall from grace and his subsequent time at the $5 games, in a series of podcasts focused on a major, attitude-changing downswing. Moreover, Charlie coaches for Hungry Horse, if I am not mistaken. My latest series on a similar challenge contains some data and statistical stuff that might be of use. Further, a Zoo podcast with Mason Malmuth on those ideas is done and is being produced. Here’s the Aero vlogger I mention who is having big success in my player pool. His style doesn’t look as sustainable as Marc’s but on the other hand, demonstrates the money available and is an argument in Marc’s favor for succeeding in the challenge. Lastly, check out Limon’s interview with Mike Basich, another known crusher of the California five-dollar games, and how he does it. It’s interesting to listen to how little things change, despite solvers and data and all the stuff with which we scare ourselves. The post PZ91: The Marc Goone Challenge appeared first on Out of Position.

OOP Oberleutnant Greg Porter returns to the Zoo pod for an update on his successful career as poker pro. I can’t believe it’s been six years! Time has really flown since the early days of our little group and teaching community. Greg is an indispensable and senior member of said little community. He runs the OOP training games, providing high-level poker feedback, and specialized coaching. Greg edits my more challenging pieces and, more importantly, provides timely puns in the Poker Zoo chat. On today’s episode, we hear about his games, and in particular about the influence of the Stand-up Game on mid/high action. We then go through some of the highlights of 2023 in poker, the year of Doyle’s departure, Berkey’s ascension, and the long-needed return of produced poker content. Speaking of, here’s that opinion piece where I called for the return of production and writing to poker media. After a short mental game interlude, we get into some hands from his local games. A previous episode with Porter. Here’s today’s hands discussed: Hand #1 10/25 6.3Ke 8h s5 75 s6 c s2 c 88ds Ac5d4h s2 x/f s5 100 s6 c 6d s5 275/c s6 1100 Jh s5 x s6 5025ai   Hand #2 10/20/40 8Ke 8h s7 130/c s8 c/c s1 650 AJss Qs9d8s s1 600 s7 c s8 f 8h s1 x s7 x 2c s1 x s7 2500 Best wishes in 2024. The post PZ 89: Porter Returns & 2023 Poker Review appeared first on Out of Position.

The poker world loves tournaments in the 2020’s. Online, tournament culture is vital and MTT-heavy while cash game action stalls. GG has challenged Pokerstars with huge tournaments series. U.S.-facing ACR continues to thrive. As for the live scene, everyone is amazed at the action, with WSOP and WPT now vying almost non-stop for your dollars; did I see they were bringing back the NAPT? I give in. Today we talk with one of the best in tournament poker, Enrico Camosci, and hear what it takes to rise to the top of the MTT food chain. Enrico has had a huge 202o’s so far, with an online bracelet and multiple big results, leaving him with about $2.5 million in online wins. In Spring he took third for a massive score at the EPT Monte Carlo high roller; maybe that’s why he’s even started to scale back the grind and hang with the live whales. Despite his success, the only way you may know him is that Enrico was the televised victim of a curious slow roll that got a little attention in 2021. Not really sure what Sam Grafton is thinking here. In this interview I didn’t focus on results and trophies too much, but process. I wanted to hear how Enrico got to the top of the (specifically Euro) MTT world, and so I asked a lot of questions about what he does. In general, it sounds like an intense dive into specific spots but also returning to the spot later, in cyclical fashion, is his studying and coaching key. It’s certainly true that two weeks on a single board BU V BB is going to yield a lot of fruit, for instance, but you must also come back to it to truly own the knowledge. I’m thinking he’s doing it right. If I study like him, can I be a thirty-year old vacationing in Paris, tired from beating the games in Monte Carlo? Definitely. Once a novelty, there is now even a school of thought that tournaments have more complexity than cash games; with changing stacks, levels, and tougher competition, I think they may be right. Hope you enjoy my first chat with Enrico. You can find him on Insta, and also contact him at his in-development coaching site, MTTgod. The post PZ 87: Enrico Camosci’s Tournament Focus appeared first on Out of Position.

Picture late 2019. Britain was finally Brexiting, Trump was somehow still presidenting, and general protests for a more liberal, freer society were happening all over the world- remember Hong Kong? Remember life before mask and vaccine discourse? That’s when I last talked with Gerard S., aspiring pro and studied player who had worked with a number of noted pros and organizations, including Fausto Valdez and Solve For Why. Gerard had a poker blog, a girlfriend, a residence in sunny Florida, and was finishing up a year cleaning up at live ring games and MTTs. Then it happened: Covid went from zero public awareness to a full-blown hysterical crisis that would shape the next decade. Covid would also trigger a sequence of events that changed everything for Gerard and his poker life. Soon he’d be signed up with Poker Detox and battling not only to beat the games, but to understand them at a new level, all while making rent. Today, we find out where he’s at and what he’s learned. As any poker player will tell you, a significant element of skill is involved in winning at the tables long-term. However, it’s also important to acknowledge the role luck plays in poker too. We have zero control or say over the poker hands the dealer gives us. Nor do we have any control over the community cards dealt on the flop, turn and river. These variable outcomes can cause short-term volatility in your poker results, known as variance. Game selection has a major bearing on the cause of variance in poker. If your preference is to enter vast, multi-table tournaments with fields of hundreds or thousands of players, it’s fair to say your poker bankroll will encounter immense variance. That’s because these big-field tournaments carry so much volatility. If you’re playing for hours or even days, it’s possible to experience run-good and then run into the brick wall of a downswing and be knocked out before you’ve even made the money. -from “What is Variance in Poker?” by poker.org The Poker Zoo often visits with Coaching for Profits players, check out episodes such as Episode 43: Luka turns to CFP and Nick Howard Episode 40: Coaching for Profits with KYT Episode 36: Odb_Blackbaron/DLF on CFP PZ 71: More Coaching, More Profits, with Luka V – Out of Position (persuadeo.nl) and others, including from a coaching perspective.   Food in this episode: Hot Pepper Jelly 2 C Green Bell Peppers cut into pieces for the food processor 1/2 C Jalapenos, chopped – Seeds & webbing removed For a red version, substitute red bell peppers and just 1/4 C thai chilies Combine these in a food processor and mince accordingly Ingredients: Pepper mash from the food processor 5 3/4 C Sugar 1 C White Vinegar 1 Bottle Certo (or 2 pkgs) This is just Sure Jell or any fruit pectin Combine Pepper mash, sugar and vinegar in a sauce pan and boil for 5 min, then turn heat off and leave for 20 minutes. Add fruit pectin and boil hard for 2 minutes. Ladle into small canning jars (we use pint size) and can using typical water bath canning procedure. For a quick appetizer for parties, you can simply serve over a block of Philadelphia cream cheese. If you have access to a smoker you can take it to the next level by sprinkling some BBQ rub on the cream cheese and smoking it at low heat (190F) and then serve in the same way as above. Pepper Jelly also works well for Holiday parties (thus the red and green colors) on a charcuterie tray with other cheeses and ‘Nancy’s famous cheese ball recipe.’ 8 oz Cream cheese 1 C Colby cheese (grated) 3 oz Chipped dried beef (or country ham chipped) 1 t Garlic powder 1 t Onion powder 1 t Accent Outer covering: ½ C Walnuts, chopped 2 T Chives, chopped Mix all the cheese and seasonings together and form into one large ball or 2 smaller balls. Chill until ready to serve Thanks for listening. Be sure to rate the Poker Zoo on Apple podcasts or elsewhere. The post PZ 85: Gerard Moves On appeared first on Out of Position.

Few are able to get themselves banned from social media sites like Abe Limon, guru of west coast live poker and advantage gambling. Our last pod with Abe was a little rough on the ears, so we make up for it this time with good conversation ranging from his online arguments, why the WSOP is not meaningful for poker, his take on abortion, and even to a little split-pot strategy sideshow. It’s incredibly funny to hear that Abe, while wandering the social mediascape in the midst of a lifetime ban from Jack Dorsey’s Twitter, found himself in Gab Social’s animism of Christianity, social conservatism, and white nationalism, one which operates under a flag of free speech. I’d really love to read those threads he speaks of and find the abuse he doled out, but it’s a hard slog and I’ll need a few more hints. Torba does seem to have absolutely scrubbed the @limonpoker handle, but what of his other ones? Censoriousness always sucks yet left and the right each appeal to its short-term utility far too often, and usually while professing the virtues of open discourse. The regrettable secret is that it’s hard to maintain and often plain bad for business. Further, as the curious “Carl Beijer” Twitter and Substack account has made clear there is a nice game-theory argument as to why the sides of a debate have a prisoner’s dilemma-like incentive to further censorship if one side is “cheating,” not to free us from it. The world may break everyone, as Hemingway wrote, but maybe their principles are what crack first. Briefly freed under Elon’s simultaneously more liberal but messier and controversial regime, he is presently serving another short ban. Why must he do this? Why can’t we all just get along? Because lies deserve “no quarter,” Abe explains, an old-fashioned and noble answer. Yet how do we know what’s a lie? What does he get to be so sure? One way is to set terms, and to bet on it, and that’s where, agree with him or not, Limon shines. It’s a good approach and one about which we in the poker world may claim some credit. When we close, it’s to talk about the same hand I discussed with Matt Ossi. I don’t describe it very well this time, as we talk mostly in useful generalities, but Limon bets in position and gets raised and reraised on these flops to a committing SPR: what to do. I also don’t do a complete job in describing the strategy, however. To be clearer, the flop bet is a potential mistake, but calling off now expecting better than two-to one likely breaks even or is close- we’re behind overall but have a price. Bankroll matters and bomb pots put huge pressures on financially limited players. Limon isn’t one of them – should he have gambled with his whales or is making tough decisions with a good attitude still a part of a host’s gameplan? What additionally matters in this case is that when we do take our half we’re not the ones being quartered given our exclusive nut draw on top rather than commonly shared straights on bottom. Nuts Exclusivity is big in split pot games and is part of what makes this hand both marginal and compelling. Either way, my original point and one reason I contacted Abe is that I’d much rather not make this flop bet and instead use position against my opponents on the turn rather than have to gamble – in a way, this whole situation is about the difference between expected value and equity. Despite what they tell you, PLO, NLHE, and their bomb pot variants are deeply linked in themes and mainly differ only in micro-level implementation. If you struggle in one but not the other, it’s possible you don’t understand either one as well as you think you do. I will be offering Bomb Pot Deliverance, my strategy seminar on the subject, later this year. The class will clear up the basics of the game, delve into misunderstandings about multi-way action in all big bet flop games, and help make anyone competitive in them. Good luck in the series, and thanks to Abe for coming on the Zoo again. The post PZ 83: Limon’s Back, For Now appeared first on Out of Position.

Merry Christmas and Happy New Year! For our final episode of 2022, Dean and I talk shop and how it’s going for him. We discuss poker swings, education, and the unpleasant, hard reason why some players succeed while others keep running in place. The conversation branches off into the plan, or lack of, for the Poker Zoo. Oops, letting the outsiders know what we’re thinking. Then, Dean interrogates me over what’s behind my return to poker writing. Has the new stuff changed in tone from the old? Here’s a bit from Here and Back Again: So, instead of focusing on relationships, I have been determined to ride it and my mission here out, to lie in my bed like the cinema nouveau Samurai, rising only to carry out my task before returning to the literal darkness of my dwelling. I’d also hoped to leave sometime soon, to not commit, and that half-measure has influenced me, but a feeling has been coming over me that my life elsewhere is over. I dream constantly of my past, of my home, my friends and enemies, not as if beckoning a happy return but as if they have been sublimated into the challenges of the present. I almost fear sleep, knowing it comes at the cost of nightmares and memories I’d rather forget. It sometimes seems that I am always awake, always sore, and always tired. We went over some of the Sahara game experience on this episode, you can compare it to this talk with Dean from 2021. We close with a couple fun hands from Dean’s cash games. 2/5 8 handed $900 eff 3 (1000) b20/c 4 c/f 6 (900) r115 KKhd (260) 985ccs 3 (885) x/c 6 (785) b85 (430) Jd 3 x 6 x (430) 4s 3 (800) b175 6 (700) c ——————————————– 1/2 8 handed $300 eff 3 limps to me 1 (300) 1/r31 7 (450) c/c 8 (400) r15/c AQdc (99) Q78hhd 1 (270) b25 7 (420) c 8 (370) c (174) Qs 1 (245) b80 7 (395) c 8 (345) c (414) 5s 1 (165) x/shove 7 (315) x/f 8 (265) b125/c The post PZ 81: Family Business appeared first on Out of Position.

The poker vlogging movement is only ten years old but has probably done more for keeping poker in the public eye than any pro celebrity of the era: the vloggers matter. It all mostly started with Tim “The Trooper” and few other experimenters and click revenue hopefuls (including the unfortunate Mark Ari). Then, the number rapidly expanded into the more popular second wave featuring the now ascendant Andrew Neeme and Brad Owen, who have been correctly rewarded with amazing gigs and business opportunities. Andrew’s production quality, including the drone footage novelty, changed everything with its electricity, tour of real Vegas games, and a personal story full of cosmopolitan interests. Almost immediately dozens of vlogs sprung up in imitation. However, the grass-roots nature of the product is gentrifying fast: I’m not even sure the most popular vloggers even do their own editing now. Big names like Daniel (who has an additional claim to being one of the first vloggers) and Doug participate in the vlogging scene, too. In other words, vlogging is a real and potentially profitable business, to the amazement of the old school curmudgeons, and helps connect poker to the short-form video, social media generations. The third wave, currently headed by Mariano, Ethan, (the revamped) Jaman, Greg, Lex et al – everyone knows them by their first names, that’s how influential they are in poker – comprises the largest number of vloggers yet and with more disparate styles. While I have tried some coverage, I can’t and won’t track them all, as I do for podcasts, but one of the best new ones has gotten my attention: Slow Poker. Jon – he’s still keeping his last name private for the moment – has a novelty take on the poker vlog, where he speeds up the action and narration, turning poker into a bit of a Youtube variety show. He hits all the jokes and puns he can and escapes long before you could ever get bored. This kind of production takes some editing chops beyond b-roll in the parking lot and a hand history template. Jon continues to work at it and each vlog is an improvement on the last: we likely haven’t seen his best work yet. On today’s Zoo episode, we discuss the origins of Jon’s vlog, the legendary 2+2 Vlog thread, as well as his enjoyable first trip to Las Vegas for the Series and some serious schmoozing and selfies. Jon also made it out to the Sahara game, which is vlog friendly. Hopefully he got some footage! (If you are a vlogger, consider booking a session.) We get in some old-fashioned strat as well. Here’s his two hands we went over: Wynn $2/5 Assume we both have $1,000 in stack. Hero in HJ with AsAc, raises to $15 CO calls, the rest fold Flop: 9h5c7h I bet $15, CO raises to $50, I call Turn: 2s I check, CO bets $80, I call River 6c I check, CO bombs for $400, I fold Sahara $2/3 CO ($900) raises to $10, BU calls Hero in SB with JhJd ($1,200) raises to $40 CO and BU call Flop: Jc9h3s I bet 50, CO raises to 150 I raise to 310, CO folds The post PZ 79: Fast Times with Slow Poker appeared first on Out of Position.