159 - Martin Jacobson - All In: The High Stakes of Building a Poker Career | The Mindset Advantage Poker Podcast Podcast

Poker Stories: Ali Imsirovic: Ali Imsirovic is just 26 years old, but has already established himself as a dominant force on the high roller circuit. The Bosnia-born, Washington-raised poker pro broke out in 2018 when he captured the purple jacket at the Poker Masters, and in the time since has gone on to rack up numerous final tables and wins totaling almost $11 million in cashes. Last August, Imsirovic broke the record for the largest no-limit hold'em cash game pot in online poker history, winning a hand against Tan Xuan worth $974,631. He has also been one of the more active players since live tournaments resumed, cashing in eight of the 14 high rollers held at Aria so far in 2021, and winning four. As a result, he is now one of the front-runners for the Card Player Player of the Year title. Highlights from this interview include fleeing the war in Bosnia, how a basketball injury led to poker, skipping grades and going to college at 16, using his guitar money for a tournament buy by Poker Stories

61 min listen

Poker Stories: Jesse Lonis: It took less than four years from Jesse Lonis to climb from $200 tournaments to competing in high rollers with the best players in the world. The New York native kickstarted his career with a World Poker Tour final table in 2021 at the Lucky Hearts Poker Open and then followed it up with a deep run in the WSOP main event, taking 25th place overall. In 2022, the former construction worker won a bracelet in the WSOP Online series, and nearly added a second that summer while also making two final tables at the WPT World Championship series. But the 28 year old has put together his best year in 2023. In January he finished third in the $25,000 high roller at the Hard Rock in South Florida for $260,000 and then added another $370,000 with a win at the PokerStars Caribbean Adventure. This summer, he made a last-minute decisino to play in the $50,000 pot-limit Omaha championship and broke through for his second bracelet and a massive payday of $2.3 million. He no by Poker Stories

58 min listen

Poker Stories: Nacho Barbero: Jose Ignacio "Nacho" Barbero was a top-ranked, world-traveling card player long before he ever found poker. The Argentinian discovered the game Magic: The Gathering as a teen, and he was soon leading the national team in global competitions. After six years as a Magic pro, Barbero made the switch to poker. He broke out in 2010, scoring two of his three Latin American Poker Tour victories along with a win in the EPT London high roller for nearly $900,000. In the years since, he has continued to put up consistent results, while also competing in some of the biggest cash games around. The last year has been incredibly profitable for Barbero on the felt. In the summer, he won his first gold WSOP bracelet and $587,000. Then in February, he finished fourth at the PokerStars Players Championship for a career-best $1.55 million. After a win and a runner-up showing at the Triton Vietnam series for $1.06 million, and a win in the PokerGO PLO series, Barbero now by Poker Stories

59 min listen

Poker Stories: Quarantine Special With Jason Koon, Nick Schulman, and Bryn Kenney: In this special episode of Poker Stories, we revisit three of our most popular early guests to catch up on what's happened in their lives over the last three years. Jason Koon was first featured on the podcast in December of 2016. At the time, the West Virginia native was coming off of his best year ever on the live tournament circuit, and had amassed $6.5 million in career earnings. Now, Koon has solidified himself as one of the top players on the high roller circuit, and has climbed to no. 9 on the all-time money list with $31 million. Nick Schulman's episode of the podcast came out in April of 2017. The high-stakes cash game grinder has since added a handful of high roller titles in limited tournament appearances, and even added his third World Series of Poker bracelet in the 2019 summer series. The New York pool hustler turned card shark is also regarded as one of poker's most popular commentator by Poker Stories

68 min listen

Poker Stories: Mike Watson: Mike Watson has been one of the more consistent tournament performers over his 15-year poker career, having racked up more than $12.5 million on the circuit. The St. Johns, Newfoundland native broke out in 2008, winning the WPT Bellagio Cup main event for nearly $1.7 million. In addition to numerous final tables on the high roller circuit, he also took down the 2016 EPT PokerStars Caribbean Adventure, giving him two parts of poker's elusive Triple Crown. Watson does have two wins at the World Series of Poker. The first came in a 2011 WSOP Europe side event, and the second was a year later at the WSOP Europe when he banked $1.3 million in the high roller event. Unfortunately, neither of those WSOP events awarded bracelets. In the last couple of years, 'SirWatts' has rededicated himself to online poker, bringing his career totals to $10 million. As a result, he is now Canada's top-ranked online player according to PocketFives, and reached a peak of no. 3 in by Poker Stories

73 min listen

Poker Stories: Brian Hastings: Brian Hastings is only 33 years old but he has already been playing poker at the highest stakes for half of his life and has put together one of the best resumes in the game. The Pennsylvania native discovered poker from his high school math teacher, and by the end of his senior year, he had already amassed a bankroll of more than $250,000. Hastings then enrolled at Cornell University, simultaneously earning his degree in economics while also helping to run a poker training site and continue his rise up the cash game ranks online. In December of 2009, he famously took on Viktor 'Isildur1' Blom in a record-breaking heads-up pot-limit Omaha match that saw him win $4.18 million. Black Friday forced him into the live arena for the first time, and he responded with his first bracelet win in the 2012 $10,000 Heads-Up Championship. He added two more titles in 2015, taking down the $1,500 Ten-Game Mix and the $10,000 Stud Championship. He was back in the winne by Poker Stories

56 min listen

Poker Stories: Mike Gorodinsky: Mike Gorodinsky is a three-time World Series of Poker bracelet winner, who is coming off a summer where he took down the $10,000 H.O.R.S.E. championship for $422,747. The Russian-born pro, who was raised in St. Louis, Missouri, won his first bracelet back in 2013, taking down the $2,500 Omaha and stud eight-or-better mix event. But Gorodinsky's biggest score remains the $1,270,086 he pocketed for winning the 2015 $50,000 Poker Players Championship. Although the 37-year-old has the resume of a tournament pro, with more than $4.2 million in cashes and the title of 2015 WSOP Player of the Year, he is also a feared cash game player. The mixed-games master spent years competing in some of the biggest cash games spread in the world, battling it out with the best players in Bobby's Room in Las Vegas for stakes as high as $4,000-$8,000. Highlights from this episode include the move from St. Petersburg to St. Louis, eloping in Greece, drunk 1 a.m. online sessi by Poker Stories

67 min listen

Poker Stories: Martin Jacobson: Martin Jacobson found poker as a teenager, but his initial aspirations were focused on becoming a chef. After serving a year in the Royal Swedish Navy feeding the crew of a battleship, the Stockholm-native continued his culinary career while playing poker on the side. After turning a satellite win into a third-place finish at the 2008 EPT Budapest main event for $247,668, Jacobson was off and running. Jacobson continued to tear up the European circuit, finishing second at WPT Venice for $319,518, second at EPT Vilamoura for $378,706, fourth at EPT Berlin for $327,337, and second at EPT Deauville for another $762,185. He even started finding consistent success in high roller events, final tabling the $111,111 buy-in One Drop High Roller twice. Although he was frustrated with the close calls, it all came together in 2014 when he took down the WSOP main event for the championship bracelet and the $10 million first-place prize. His $17 million in career by Poker Stories

78 min listen

Poker Stories: Toby Lewis: Toby Lewis got a very early start in poker, picking up the game as a teenager and learning ups and downs of gambling from his father. He was just 20 years old when he broke out on the live tournament circuit, winning the EPT Vilamoura main event for nearly $600,000. He continued to travel the circuit for the next several years with numerous close calls, including final tables at the PokerStars Caribbean Adventure, the WPT Merit Classic, and the L.A. Poker Classic, twice! In 2018 he found the winner's circle once again, taking down the Aussie Millions main event for $1.15 million. He returned to Australia a year later and won another combined $1.2 million after finishing second in the AUD$25,000 high roller and then winning the AUD$50,000 high roller the next day. The Southampton, England native now has nearly $8 million in career tournament earnings. Highlights from this interview include pub poker, learning what not to do from dad, self-deal rooms, becomi by Poker Stories

58 min listen

Poker Stories: Chance Kornuth: Chance Kornuth was just one semester shy of graduating from college when he decided to plunge headfirst into life as a professional poker player. He earned his first major taste of success in 2010, when he won the $5,000 PLO event at the WSOP for his first bracelet and $508K. The Denver-native continued to take shots with his bankroll, and found success both live and online. In 2014, he won the Bellagio Cup main event for another $526K. A year later, he finished third in the PokerStars Caribbean Adventure for $641K. He won the AUD$25,000 high roller at the Aussie Millions for $553K, and an event at the EPT Grand Final for $398K, and made several final tables all over the globe along the way. Most recently, he won his second WSOP bracelet, taking down an online event last summer for another $341K. In total, the 32-year-old has racked up nearly $6.4 million in live tournament earnings. Kornuth now runs Chip Leader Coaching, a premier training program fo by Poker Stories

55 min listen

A Record Bad Beat Jackpot Hits; Guest is 2023 WSOP Player of the Year Ian Matakis: On the latest PokerNews Podcast episode, Chad Holloway, Jesse Fullen, and Connor Richards are back together to discuss the biggest stories of the week including the record-breaking Bad Beat Jackpot that recently hit at Canada's Playground Poker Club.... by PokerNews Podcast

35 min listen

Poker Stories: Matthew Waxman: Matt Waxman learned the game in high school, but really got his career going in 2009 when he final tabled a $5,000 no-limit hold'em event at the World Series of Poker. The Parkland, Florida native won a WSOP Circuit ring the next year in Atlantic City, and followed that up with his biggest score to date, taking down the World Poker Tour Grand Prix de Paris for just over $720,000. Waxman nearly won the Festa al Lago Classic the next year, and in 2013, he won his first WSOP bracelet, banking $305,000 for topping a $1,000 no-limit hold'em event. Waxman had a deep run in the 2014 WSOP main event, and just last year, he picked up his second WPT title, pocketing $463,000 at the WPT Tournament of Champions. In total, the 34-year-old has more than $4.1 million in live tournament earnings to go along with millions more won online. Highlights from this interview include being a resident of the world, flipping noodles for profit, being on the middle school baske by Poker Stories

90 min listen

Poker Stories: Michael Mizrachi: Michael "The Grinder" Mizrachi is one of the most accomplished poker tournament players in history, with four World Series of Poker bracelets, and two World Poker Tour titles. The 37-year-old got his career started by winning the L.A. Poker Classic in 2005, and followed that up by taking down the Borgata Winter Poker Open in 2006, the same year he won the Card Player Player of the Year award. Although Mizrachi has experienced his fair share of hardship following downswings, a tough real estate market, and some failed investments, he has always seemingly bounced back, as he did in 2010, when he took fifth in the WSOP main event for $2.3 million. Mizrachi has particularly excelled in the $50,000 buy-in Poker Players Championship, which he has won an incredible three times. The South Florida native first held the Chip Reese Memorial trophy in 2010, and did so again in 2012, and again this summer. (He even finished fourth in 2016!) With more than $16.7 mil by Poker Stories

51 min listen

Poker Stories: Jesse Martin: Jesse Martin is a highly-respected poker pro and sports gambler from Massachusetts. Although he started out as a cash game player and has always competed in high-stakes mixed games, Martin has also done quite well on the tournament circuit, racking up more than $3.2 million. He has also won millions online playing under the name 'MazeOrBowie', and had a fourth-place finish in the SCOOP main event for $401,600. Martin has several final-table finishes at the World Series of Poker, including a third-place showing in the $50,000 Poker Players Championship for $594,570, along with two bracelet wins. His first came in the 2013 $10,000 No-Limit Deuce-To-Seven event, where he won $253,524. His second title came in 2017, when he pocketed $130,948 for taking down the $2,500 Mixed Triple Draw event. In the last few years following the birth of his son, Martin has started playing less poker and devoting more of his working time to daily fantasy sports. In December, h by Poker Stories

88 min listen

Poker Stories: Joe Cada: Joe Cada became a household name in the poker world in 2009 when he won the World Series of Poker main event for more than $8.5 million. By doing so, he surpassed Peter Eastgate as the youngest champion ever, at the age of 21, and scored a $1 million contract with PokerStars. Already a feared cash game grinder, Cada continued to put in time in high-stakes online games after his main event win, preffering to stay close to home in his native Michigan rather than travel the tournament circuit. But despite his preference for cash games, Cada has proven that he's no one-hit wonder when it comes to tournaments. After notching three more WSOP final-table finishes, Cada won the 2014 $10,000 six-max no-limit hold'em event for $670,041 and his second bracelet. Now 29, Cada has racked up more than $10.5 million in live tournament earnings. Highlights from this interview include being exposed to gambling at an early age, buying a house at age 19, gifting his roommates $ by Poker Stories

56 min listen

Poker Stories: Lee Markholt: Lee Markholt has been a professional poker player for the last three decades, competing in some of the biggest cash games around while racking up $4.4 million in live tournament earnings along the way. The Washington native had aspirations to continue the family business of bull riding, but a long string of injuries ultimately derailed his career. Fortunately for Markholt, he found his father's poker books and was a quick study. Markholt cut his teeth in Washington limit games before switching his focus to pot-limit hold'em in the years before the poker boom. In 2005 he won the PPT main event at Bellagio, taking home $220,000 which bankrolled him for high-stakes cash games. He ultimately found himself playing in games as big as $200-$400 no-limit, while continuing travel the tournament circuit. In 2008, he won a WPT title at the World Poker Challenge in Reno for $493,815, and for many years held the record for most cashes on the World Poker Tour. In 2013, by Poker Stories

80 min listen

Poker Stories: Stephen Song: Stephen Song has been tearing up the tournament circuit for the last few years. The New York-born, Connecticut-raised Song was a childhood chess prodigy who found poker while in college, ultimately making a deal with his parents to turn pro. After winning a tournament for nearly $33,000, he was able to pay his them back his tuition in full before hitting the road on his own. In the years since, Song has racked up more than $5.1 million in live cashes, which includes a World Series of Poker bracelet and three WSOP Circuit rings. In 2022, the 27-year-old cashed in a whopping 44 tournaments and won the World Poker Tour Prime Championship for $712,000 en route to being named the GPI Player of the Year. Highlights from this interview include living in London, nationally-ranked in chess, why school wasn't his thing, squash scholarships, penny-stakes poker with dad, puzzle pirates, winning back his college tuition, the 'glory days of poker' back in 2016, clear by Poker Stories

74 min listen

Poker Stories: Dan Smith: Dan Smith has one of the greatest tournament poker resumes of all time, with $37 million in cashes during his time on the felt. Although he is only 31 years old, Smith has been playing cards for half of his life, having discovered the game as a child chess prodigy. The New Jersey native was already winning big online as a teenager, and by his junior year of high school he had a bankroll that would make many professionals jealous. Although he had a bit of a slow start to his live tournament career, Smith began to rack up huge scores as he climbed his way to the top of the high roller circuit. He now has 22 tournament titles, along with nine cashes of seven-figures. Smith even cashed in two $1 million buy-in events, finishing third in both the 2018 Big One For One Drop and the 2019 Triton Super High Roller London. He also has a World Poker Tour title, winning the Five Diamond World Poker Classic in 2013. He currently sits in fifth place on poker's all-time mon by Poker Stories

70 min listen

MI Player Kidnapped & Zip-Tied & Dan Sepiol Talks Winning WPT World Championship: On the latest episode of the PokerNews Podcast, Chad Holloway, Connor Richards, and Matt Hansen bring you the last show of 2023! The chat about the MSPT & WSOP champion that was found zip-tied and allegedly held captive for 35 days in... by PokerNews Podcast

36 min listen

Poker Stories: Ryan Leng: Ryan Leng's first love was hockey, competing at the highest junior levels before catching the poker bug at his Illinois high school. He continued to play and deal cards while in college at Arizona State, eventually turning pro. He was a SuperNova Elite player online, splitting his time between Costa Rica, Mexico, and Canada before switching his focus to live play. He broke out in 2017 with a runner-up finish in a WSOP $1,500 no-limit hold'em event for $237,776, along with a deep run in the $10,000 main event for another $176,399. The next year, Leng won his first bracelet in the $1,500 Bounty event, banking $272,504. He picked up his second bracelet in the 2021 online series in July. Then this fall, Leng nabbed his third bracelet in the $1,500 Eight-Game Mix, taking home $137,969. A week later he would finish runner-up in the $1,500 Monster Stack for another $377,220, and he later pocketed a career-best $589,628 for taking second in the $50,000 Poker Player by Poker Stories

89 min listen

Poker Stories: Nick Petrangelo: Nick Petrangelo is a poker pro from Massachusetts who broke out onto the high-stakes tournament scene back in 2015 with numerous final tables, including a second-place finish in the $100,000 buy-in Five Diamond World Poker Classic high roller for more than $1 million. Since then, the 31-year-old former hockey and golf standout has been a consistent force on the high roller circiuit, amassing $9.4 million in live tournament cashes. In 2017 alone, he finished second in PokerStars Caribbean Adventure $25,000 high roller for $740,032, won the Aussie Millions $100,000 high roller for $665,734, and also took down the $25,000 PokerStars WCOOP high roller for another $624,676. Highlights from this interview include living in extremes, why high roller fish are better players than regular fish, being 'less chill' in a hockey game, why tournaments > cash games, not being dollar motivated, a six-figure slow roll, a short stint as a bank teller, wanting the farm i by Poker Stories

72 min listen

Guest Billy Baxter Talks Hall of Fame, Doyle Brunson & Battling the IRS: On the latest PokerNews Podcast, Chad Holloway, Connor Richards, and Matt Hansen come to you from different parts of the world. Chad is back home in Wisconsin, while Connor and Matt are over at the EPT Barcelona. They discuss Daniel Weinman's signing... by PokerNews Podcast

48 min listen

The $50k Crypto Poker Tournament Fighting COVID19 w/ Chris Spadafora: Chris Spadafora is the creator of the Crypto COVID19 Charity Poker Tournament, previous winner, and investor at Angelrock. In this episode we talk about the poker tournament that YOU can play in, raising 25k last time, how we were the last 2 remaining... by Stacks

31 min listen

Poker Stories: Ronnie Bardah: Ronnie Bardah is fresh off of a career-best score of $566,135 after he chopped the $3,500 buy-in World Poker Tour Lucky Hearts Poker Open in late January. The 38-year-old poker pro from Brockton, Massachusetts now has nearly $2 million in career live tournament earnings. The limit hold'em standout won his World Series of Poker bracelet in the 2012 $2,500 six-handed limit hold'em event, earning $182,088. The next year, he finished third in the $5,000 limit hold'em event. Bardah also currently holds the record for the most consecutive WSOP main event cashes, with five. His deepest run was in 2010, when he finished 24th for $317,161. In 2019, Bardah competed on the 39th season of the CBS show Survivor: Island of the Idols. He was the fourth poker player to be cast on the American game show, joining Jean-Robert Bellande, Garrett Adelstein, and Anna Khait. Additionally, Ilari Sahamies competed on the Finnish version of the show, while Jackie Glazier was on by Poker Stories

84 min listen

Poker Stories: Jeff Boski: Jeff Sluzinski, a content creator and pro better known to his viewers as Jeff Boski, was one of the pioneer poker vloggers on YouTube. In the last six years, the ACR Poker ambassador has built a sizable audience, posting more than 600 videos and racking up millions of views. Originally from Michigan, Boski has been a professional poker player for the better part of the last two decades, having discovered the game during the early 2000's boom. He gambled on his future, moving to Las Vegas with just $10,000 in his bankroll, and he hasn't looked back since. Boski is currently having one of his best years ever, picking up wins both live and online, while also holding his own against some of the best high roller players in the game today. Highlights from this interview include dealing with oil patterns and too much torque, striking out in calculus, talking people out of their money, upsetting the boss' daughter, turning around a $1,000 per day loss, how dog vide by Poker Stories

80 min listen

Poker Hall of Famer Jack Binion Shares Decades Worth of WSOP Memories: On the latest episode of the PokerNews Podcast, Chad Holloway, Jesse Fullen, and Connor Richards welcome a very special guest in Poker Hall of Famer Jack Binion. Jesse sat down with the living legend and got him to open up about his favorite memories... by PokerNews Podcast

85 min listen

WPT $40M GTD, EPT Winner & Guest Andre Akkari on Brazilian Poker: On the latest PokerNews Podcast, Chad Holloway, Connor Richards, and Matt Hansen wrap up the EPT Barcelona, which includes a winner's interview with France's Simon Wiciak, who took down the €5,300 Main Event for €1,134,375. The crew also discuss... by PokerNews Podcast

42 min listen

#184 Jesse Martin: The Consummate Poker Professional: Today’s guest on Chasing Poker Greatness has over $3.2 million in live MTT cashes, feasted in the streets of high stakes mixed cash games for well over a decade, and took down the 2019 DraftKings World Championship for another $2 million in December... by Chasing Poker Greatness

107 min listen

#62 Shannon Shorr: $8 Million+ in Cashes & 19th Ranked GPI Player in the World: Today’s guest is longtime live tournament CRUSHER Shannon Shorr. Shannon has over $8,000,000 in live tournament cashes in his 15 year career with some highlights including: $960k and $247k victories at the Bellagio Cup in Vegas. A bronze medal in... by Chasing Poker Greatness

92 min listen

East Coast Road Trip w/ Guest Olivier Busquet; Hear from EPT Champ Mike Watson: On the latest PokerNews Podcast episode, Chad Holloway and Jesse Fullen introduce plans for the 2023 World Series of Poker (WSOP), including the new Chad & Jesse Poker Show! They also discuss visiting the Poker Night in America Studio 52, the upcoming... by PokerNews Podcast

84 min listen

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159 - Martin Jacobson - All In: The High Stakes of Building a Poker Career

159 - Martin Jacobson - All In: The High Stakes of Building a Poker Career

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