Former poker pro and Perpetual Podcast host Ben Johnson enters the GRID to throw us back to the European Poker Tour in Baden, Austria, in 2006 where he was heads-up for the EPT title. He held pocket sevens and as the pot bloated, Ben found himself in a pressure cooker as an overcard flopped and his opponent showed massive strength. 15 years later, Ben reveals that he was unhappy with how he played the hand, but happy with how he played the tournament, as he unravels some of the reasons for both his mistakes, as well as his rapid ascent in the poker world.

Ben talks about his brief foray into day-trading after Black Friday. Though he did not find success in the field, learning about efficient markets helped prepare him for a Eureka Moment: Chess needed a weekly podcast featuring top players and personalities from all over the World. While poker has dozens of great podcasts, Ben found a legitimate gap in the market, which has since also populated by the US Chess suite of podcasts, including Jennifer’s monthly chess pod, Ladies Knight. Ben gives aspiring content creators advice, and explains how becoming a dad helped him reach out through his introversion.

James Hartigan and Lee Jones called the final table, at a high production and energy level of contemporary poker events. Jennifer and Ben contrast that with the way chess events were covered 15 years ago and compare other overlaps and differences between chess and poker.

Ben is also a National chess Master and many time member of National Championship chess team, Masterman, where he was Jennifer’s team-mate. He’s also a practicing chess coach and proud dad. Find out more about Ben on his podcast page, Apple and twitter account.

Jen and Ben have already shared three guests on their respective pods, James Altucher (Perpetual link), Peter Svidler (Perpetual link) and Greg Shahade (Perpetual link).

Now that Ben Johnson has covered pocket sevens on thepokergrid.com, there are 142 combos left on the GRID. Follow the journey on our website and join our newsletter here.

Some good news: We are semi-finalists for the Global Poker Award for Best Podcast, so if you enjoy the show, please vote at this link https://www.globalpokerindex.com/awards/podcast-of-the-year/ (optimized for a PC).