Month: April 2020

The Grid 035 ft. Kara Scott – Seven-Six Offsuit

April 26, 2020 Jennifer Shahade 37:35

ESPN Anchor Kara Scott steps into the GRID to talk about a dramatic three-bet hand from the 2009 Irish Open, where she held seven-six offsuit. Kara ended up winning over $400,000 at the event a life-changing amount of money which relieved her of her debts and took her in a new direction. Kara, now an ambassador for 888, also talks about how struggles with memory caused her to rethink her approach to the game, and make a brave decision at a crucial career crossroads.

Kara also talks about how she developed her iconic voice, which is a hallmark of the World Series of Poker. She reveals the inspiration for her new podcast, “The Heart of Poker”, which uses a set of questions developed by psychologists to show us a more intimate side of great poker players.

Replay the 2009 hand discussed on this podcast here.

 You can follow Kara on twitter, Instagram and find her podcast here.

Now that Kara has discussed seven-six offsuit, there are 134 combos left on thepokergrid.com. 


The Grid 034 ft. Matt Hunt – Ten-Six Offsuit

April 15, 2020 Jennifer Shahade 00:56:25

Professional Poker Player and coach Matt Hunt found himself heads-up for a World Series of Poker bracelet in 2017, in one of the earliest “big blind” ante events in the WSOP. He enters the Poker GRID with a dramatic hand with ten-six offsuit, featuring critical decisions on all streets.

Matt limps the button with Tc6s with just over 20 big blinds. The big blind, Spanish professional Mario Prats Garcia, checked his option. The flop was 7d 5s 4c, giving Matt an opened ended straight draw. The turn brings the 9d for a possible backdoor diamond flush draw—and is checked through to an eight of diamonds river, where the action becomes particularly explosive.

Matt and Jen uncover both the strategic and psychological implications of Matt’s decisions in the hand and dive into strategic takeaways for anyone trying to improve.

Matt also explains how language and math intersect, or fail to intersect, and how this plays into the “Poker out Loud” format, a televised cash game in which players listen to noise-cancelling music, while describing decisions on all streets. Jen and Matt both bemoan the punishing nature of poker language, pondering why there are so few words to describe strategic brilliance. Matt also opens up about his struggles with depression, and his wake-up call that he needed professional help.

You can find Matt at https://twitter.com/MGHpoker, and his Solve For Why videos here.  He is also a coach for Poker Detox and Tournament Poker Edge.

Now that Matt Hunt has covered ten-six offsuit, 135 combos remain on thepokergrid.com


The Grid 033 ft. Bill Chen – Queen-Jack Offsuit

April 4, 2020 Jennifer Shahade 0:54:54

Two-time WSOP Champion Bill Chen enters the GRID to talk about a hand he played against the legendary Phil Ivey back at the 2010 World Series of Poker. They were heads-up in a 3K horse event, and the game was Limit Hold Em.

The hand started when Bill raised his button, and Phil Ivey defended. Ivey then led on a flop of Ace Ten Deuce with two hearts.

The hand only got more interesting on the offsuit nine turn. Phil bet again, and Bill Chen raised. Phil called and they saw a seven of hearts on the river.

Now Ivey checked, Bill bet, and Ivey got in a vicious check raise. Bill folded.

Years later, when Jen Shahade asked Bill to be on the GRID, Bill had forgotten any details of the decade old hand. Luckily Bill’s friend and fellow WSOP champion Matt Hawrilenko stepped in and revealed Bill’s holding: Queen Jack Offsuit. Hawrilenko also reveals Phil Ivey’s holding in the episode. If you want to guess along before listening, check out former GRID guest Matt Matros’s blog speculating on both holdings.

After the hand, Bill and Jen move on to how such an intelligent person can lose his car keys so often, or forget such a memorable hand with Phil Ivey. They also discuss when Bill Chen realized he was good at math, what people get wrong about exponential growth, and what he misses most about his poker days.

Beyond his successful poker career, Bill Chen authored the game theory bible, “The Math of Poker” with Jerrod Ankenman. He’s also a US Chess rated expert, and was proud to represent Susquehanna International Group (SIG) at the recent US Amateur Team East, where one of the two SIG teams won the competitive event.

Bill is currently the head of Sports Analytics at SIG and he ends the podcast episode by inviting listeners to reach out to him if they’re interested in hearing more about employment opportunities. You can also follow Bill on twitter.

Thanks to all our listeners, guests and subscribers, the GRID received the Global Poker award for “Podcast of the Year.” Jen wrote up some thoughts on what she’s learned from hosting both the GRID and Ladies Knight over the past year and a half.  

Now that Bill has covered queen-jack offsuit, there are 136 hands left on thepokergrid.com.