Month: May 2019

The Grid 004 ft. Maria Konnikova – Seven Deuce Offsuit

May 29, 2019 Jennifer Shahade 33:41

Award winning author, psychology PhD, New Yorker writer and PokerStars Pro Maria Konnikova talks about the most notorious poker hand, seven-deuce offsuit. The author of the Confidence Game, Mastermind and the highly anticipated upcoming book, The Biggest Bluff  talks about a hand from a 2018 World Series of Poker side event that gave her a new perspective on bluffing.  

Maria dove into poker in 2017, starting out with small buy-in events under the tutelage of eight-time WSOP bracelet winner Erik Siedel. Since then, she has earned almost 300K in live cashes, highlighted by a Championship victory at the PCA National in 2018, less than a year after she started playing.

In their conversation, Maria talks about how bluffing with a zero equity hand can be empowering, while Jennifer offers a theory on why players focused on the GRID can veer toward under bluffing without good randomizing techniques. Maria advises how to study most effectively before a major series and muses on poker styles of some of the greatest writers of all time.

Maria_Konnikova

Follow Maria on twitter, https://mariakonnikova.com/ and her instagram @grlnamedmaria where she posts live updates from her adventures on the poker tour. You can also find frequent updates on her progress at the PokerStars Blog.

The Grid 003 ft. Jamie Kerstetter – Aces

May 20, 2019 Jennifer Shahade 31:39

Poker pro, commentator and everyone’s favorite twitter follow, Jamie Kerstetter talks to Jennifer Shahade about the most coveted poker hand, aces.  Jamie tells a dramatic story from a decade ago, where she bamboozled an opponent with aces in a large pot. The aftermath ended in a true “walk of shame” for the villain in the hand. Jamie & Jen discuss how getting aces is such an adrenaline rush, it often draws people to poker- but it’s not always easy: how much you make with this hand can be a gamechanger in your win rate.

Jamie also talks about the worst nickname for aces, what makes a poker tweet funny and her first go at stand-up comedy at Run it Up Reno, which you can watch here.

Now that Jamie has discussed aces, 166 hands remain on our poker grid.

 

The Grid 002 ft. Kevin Rabichow – Ten Five Offsuit

May 13, 2019 Jennifer Shahade 33:55

Kevin “Barewire” Rabichow, high-stakes online player, coach and heads-up specialist, talks to Jennifer Shahade about Ten-Five offsuit; a riveting heads-up hand from 2013. Kevin talks about “King of the Hill” dynamics, and how the hand may be played differently today. He also talks about a few common pitfalls that snare some tournament players when playing some of the worst hands. Jen and Kevin wrap it up ruminating on best coaching practices from poker to chess to Ultimate Frisbee. 

Rabichow is a popular coach at RunItOnce, where he made a series on the history of Heads-Up poker. He can also be found @KRabichow on twitter. 

Now that Ten-Five offsuit has been discussed on “The Grid” 167 interviews remain. 

The Grid 001 ft. Lex Veldhuis – King Four Offsuit

May 5, 2019 Jennifer Shahade 00:34:05

In the premiere episode of The Grid, Jennifer Shahade interviews Lex Veldhuis, poker professional, twitch.tv streamer and PokerStars Ambassador. Lex kicks off The Grid with a hand from 2007, where he held king-four offsuit. Lex and Jen talk about why the hand stands out in his memory as a turning point in his mental game. They also touch on how streaming can keep poker players honest with themselves, as well as tackling fears of embarrassment. Jen and Lex also discuss how game theory is making the game more fascinating and aggressive. They wrap up the interview with a story from the 2007 Barcelona EPT, where the live poker scene was very different, and how Lex plans to inject some of that back into the tournament culture with his “Lex Live” series.

Now that King-four offsuit has been discussed on “The Poker Grid”, 168 interviews remain.