Month: December 2019

The Grid 025 ft. Ben Yu – Jack-Eight Suited

December 31, 2019 Jennifer Shahade 47:18

Three-time World Series of Poker Champion Ben Yu enters the GRID to talk about a pivotal hand in his life and career. He was up against Jonathan Little at his first WSOP final table in the 2010 Limit Hold Em Shootout. Yu, who held jack-eight suited, had tough decisions that were complicated by ICM, shallow stacks and the gravity of the stakes for Ben. Prior to the summer, Ben had found himself in a deep hole- he was broke and depressed. He explains to Jennifer how he slowly climbed out of his situation, and how his second place finish in the fateful event paved the way for a successful career, where he now has over seven million dollars in live earnings and three bracelets.

Yu also talks about what strategic adjustments were the hardest for him when stepping up into high rollers, why it annoys him when people take shots at bankroll management, and how everyone is either a “spewmonkey or a coward” if steeped in enough pressure. Ben also reveals his biggest passion and why he doesn’t tweet very often anymore @Benyupoker.  

Now that Ben has covered jack-eight suited, there are 144 combos remaining on thepokergrid.com


The Grid 024 ft. Trevor Savage – Six-Nine Suited

December 21, 2019 Jennifer Shahade 49:53

Poker professional, “Raising the Nuts” vlogger and podcast host Trevor Savage enters the GRID to talk about a 2013 cash game hand in which Trevor held Six-Nine Suited. Trevor is a New Jersey based online pro, but he’s recently been crossing the bridge to play on PokerStars PA, so Trevor and Jennifer recorded this episode live in Philly.

Trevor related a hilarious hand history ending in an epic call (in practice!), that illustrates his philosophy toward poker at the time. He and Jen discuss how his approach to poker has changed since, a mental health breakdown he had later in 2013 and the fun behind his “meet-up” games, where he plays almost every hand on the GRID. Trevor explained to Jen that proceeds from a recent meet-up game in Maryland Live benefited Strong Minds, one of the charities featured in previous GRID guest Dan Smith’s “Double Up Drive”, a matching charity initiative.

Trevor also discusses what parenting and poker have in common, and how his meditation practice helps him distinguish between emotion and intuition.

Follow Trevor on twitter, Instagram and raisingthenuts.com. You can also find his vlogs on Raising the Nuts, and his eponymous podcast on parenting, nutrition and mental health with his wife Jody Savage.

Now that Trevor has discussed six-nine suited on the GRID, there are 145 combos remaining on thepokergrid.com. 

WPT Mayland Live Season 18


The Grid 023 ft. Andrew Lichtenberger – seven-four offsuit

December 3, 2019 Jennifer Shahade 41:06

Andrew Lichtenberger better known as “Lucky Chewy” enters the poker GRID to talk about a dramatic hand with seven-four offsuit against Viktor “Isildur1” Blom. Held at the 2013 NBC Heads-Up Championship, Andrew and Viktor played a huge four-bet pot in which Andrew faced a tough flop decision.

Andrew has over 10 million in live earnings and is both a World Poker Tour and World Series of Poker champion. A proponent of yoga and meditation, he is the author of Yoga of Poker: High Stakes Journey to Freedom and a coach at LearnWPT.

Jennifer asks Andrew about how he combines his interest in hard to quantify elements like intuition and even telepathy with his passion for game theory. They also touch on whether you can have love and empathy with your opponents while also trying to exploit their mistakes.

Andrew reveals how his eidetic memory helps him at the tables and peels back the curtain on his highly visual thought process. He describes has a 169 cell GRID in his head as he narrows down ranges throughout a hand.

 You can find him on his blog and twitter feed.

Now that luckychewy has covered seven-four offsuit, there are 146 hands remaining on thepokergrid.com.