Check Out The AMA with Fedor Holz
Join Fedor Holz, Friday 23 June at 4pm EST on Reddit for a “Ask Me Anything”
It seems no questions are off limits, so hop on over to Reddit to get your questions in.
Join Fedor Holz, Friday 23 June at 4pm EST on Reddit for a “Ask Me Anything”
It seems no questions are off limits, so hop on over to Reddit to get your questions in.
Thanks to Card Player for bringing us this interview with Jason Les — the high stakes poker player – who battled it out with the AI bot, Liberatus in early 2017.
Along with Les, Dong Kim, Daniel McAulay, and Jimmy Chou took part in the Brains vs. AI challenge which saw them battle the AI program, Libratus, for hours each day as they tried and ultimately failed to find an edge to exploit the program.
The match played out over a 20 day period, live streamed on Twitch but already Libratus proved too hard to beat.
Card Player TV caught up with Les to chat about the pressure of playing the bot and what he thinks it means for poker for there to be such a strong heads-up AI no-limit hold’em bot.
After what can only be described as a drought, one of the great poker players of our time, ElkY, is back to the form his fans know and love him for, if not quite back to his signature winning ways.
As runner-up in the $111,111 buy-in WSOP High Roller for One Drop tournament, he collected an impressive $2,278,657 in prize money, and announced clearly and confidently that he was back and a force to be reckoned with once again.
Born in France, ElkY, whose real name is Bertrand Grospellier, began his career as a professional online gamer, moving to the heart of the action in South Korea where he rose to be one of the stars of the World Cyber Games. He soon found that the strategy and skills he used in gaming were easily transferable to the much more lucrative world of professional poker, and it was not long before he started winning tournaments both live and online. He was runner-up in one of his first-ever events in Copenhagen, netting $399,953, and became hooked.
Since then he has won over $11m at events worldwide, including WPT and EPT titles. ElkY is also the proud owner of a WSOP bracelet and an active member of the PokerStars professional team.
Despite his rapid early success, the popular player (known for his spiky blonde hair) hasn’t registered a six-figure win for over five years. His last success was an EPT game in Berlin in 2012. Since then, he hasn’t so much as made the final table at a major event.
So, it was with great excitement that ElkY’s legion of fans greeted the final day of the $13m World Series of Poker High Roller for One Drop tournament in Las Vegas. He was, after all, joining the final table with a chip lead of almost double his nearest rival and holding no less than a quarter of all the available chips. At the start of the day, the eventual winner, Doug Polk, was behind in the field and slipped further in the opening hands before fighting back to finally challenge ElkY.
Logan Ingalls Creative Commons Attribution 2.0 Generic
Unbeknownst to the fans, ElkY’s famous shock of blond hair was also at stake, thanks to a side bet with famous faux-hawk wearer Polk. Whoever lost would have to adopt the signature hairstyle of the other player!
Sadly, having beaten out the rest of the nine-player final table, along with 120 other contestants, ElkY lost big in a two-pair battle with Polk. Holding jacks and tens, he could only watch as Polk collected a queen on the river to make jacks and queens, and a just few hands later it was all over.
Polk won the tournament and walked away with a cool $3,686,865 (and his hair still brown and styled), while ElkY collected $1.4m less, plus a packet of hair colouring. But, perhaps the real winner from the tournament was the One Drop charity initiative, which works to provide access to safe drinking water across the world. They received $500,000 from the event, which will be put to good use in improving lives for thousands of vulnerable people worldwide.
Tanya Creative Commons Attribution-Share Alike 4.0 International
Poker is rarely about who comes in second, but ElkY’s Las Vegas run represents a welcome return to form, and a wake-up call to his fellow players that after a long wait, ElkY is finally back to his best.
I possibly enjoyed this video way too much — watch below as Doug Polk breaks down the WSOP Player of the Year race, how it has changed and how he is going after the title — no matter what it takes.
As part of his new venture, Primed Mind, Fedor Holz enters the world of Mindset Coaching — bringing the concept to us in the form of an app, so that we, the average Joe, can use the same tools and techniques as Holz in order to become as successful as one of the best poker players of all time.
The vlog may only be just over 2 minutes long but the production quality is great and teases what content there is to come.
(Watch till the end for some great outtakes.)
To learn more about Holz’s Primed Mind movement check out this video.
If any of you have ever watched any of Joey Ingram’s Poker Life Podcasts you’ll know about his love of the great game of Pot Limit Omaha and the voice he uses when he talks about it.
For those of you who don’t know what I am talking about, just watch the parody video below from Devon Sampson. He sums it up perfectly.
Mark Your Calendar: PokerStars Reveals SCOOP 2024 Dates
PokerStars’ flagship Spring Championship of Online Poker (SCOOP) is returning for its 16th edition in May.
Win a Free WPT Championship Seat with ClubWPT & Pokerfuse
The exclusive freeroll taking place on April 1 will send the winner to play in the WPT Choctaw Championship event in style!
New WSOP Promotion Giving Away $3,000 Package
The Shoot your Shot promotion is running in US markets until March 18.
WSOP Main Event Seats up for Grabs in GGPoker’s Super Circuit Series
The big online series features $100,000,000 in cash prizes and dozens of WSOP Main Event packages for GGPoker players.
GGPoker Brings WSOP to Toronto for the First Time Ever
GGPoker Ontario has partnered up with Great Canadian Resort Toronto to bring the first-ever WSOP Circuit event to Daniel Negreanu’s home city.
Your Routes to Qualify Online for WSOP 2024 Main Event
Online Qualifiers are now underway from as little as $1!
WSOP 2024 Online Schedule — To Be Released by March 15?
Players will have to wait a bit longer to find out how to play for WSOP bracelets online.
Daniel Negreanu Reveals His WSOP 2024 Plans
Daniel Negreanu has announced his personal schedule for the 2024 WSOP, aiming to play in 45 bracelet events this summer.
The FULL WSOP 2024 Schedule Has *Finally* Been Released
The wait is over and players can finally start planning for the 2024 World Series of Poker!
$10M on Offer in GGPoker Masters Overlay Edition
GGPoker will be throwing one of the most valuable online tournaments in 2024, with a big overlay almost guaranteed!
Third Times a Charm! WSOP Schedule To Be Released Tomorrow
WSOP 2024 Schedule coming Friday, for real this time.
Player Has $700k Confiscated by PartyPoker
PartyPoker confiscated the record amount, claiming that ‘Exodus944’ broke terms and conditions by providing a fake document.
PokerStars Team Pro Completes $100 to $10,000 Bankroll Challenge
It took nearly 100 days for the PokerStars Team Pro Sebastian Huber to reach his goal and turn the initial $100 bankroll into $10,000.
WSOP US Throwing Main Event Satellites Every Sunday in February
Join $215 satellites on WSOP US on Sundays and have an early shot at securing your seat in the 2024 Main Event!
Game of Gold Show: Behind the Scenes Premiers Tomorrow
The cast of the Game of Gold show comes together again to talk about their personal experiences and relive some of the best moments that marked Season 1.
Bounty Builder Series Coming to PokerStars US This February
PokerStars US players in Pennsylvania, Michigan, and New Jersey will get to enjoy ten days of non-stop bounty action.
WSOP Keeps Players Waiting… Full Schedule Coming “Next Week”
Players are chomping at the bit to make plans for the summer, as WSOP schedule still not released.
Jonathan Little Claims the 2024 PokerGO Cup
With his triumph in Event #8, Jonathan Little secured the PokerGO Cup and moved to the third spot on the season-long PGT leaderboard.
Phil Galfond Brings Inside Scoop of the Isildur1 Story
Check out the story of Viktor 'Isildur1’ Blom told by Phil Galfond, a man who got to know the young Swedish phenom away from the virtual felt.
WSOP Full Schedule Coming Feb 14?
From WSOP aficionado Kevmath, hint that the full WSOP 2024 schedule will be dropping by February 14, at the latest.