Card Player, The Poker Authority, is an industry-leading publication and web portal specializing in poker media, strategy and tournament coverage. Poker Stories is a long-form audio series that features casual interviews with some of the game’s best players and personalities. Each episode highlights a well-known member of the poker world and dives deep into their favorite tales both on and off the felt. Card Player, The Poker Authority, is an industry-leading publication and web portal specializing in poker media, strategy and tournament coverage. Poker Stories is a long-form audio series that features casual interviews with some of the game’s best players and personalities. Each episode highlights a well-known member of the poker world and dives deep into their favorite tales both on and off the felt.

By Card Player Media

Card Player, The Poker Authority, is an industry-leading publication and web portal specializing in poker media, strategy and tournament coverage.

Poker Stories is a long-form audio series that features casual interviews with some of the game’s best players and personalities. Each episode highlights a well-known member of the poker world and dives deep into their favorite tales both on and off the felt.

• 05.09.2024### Poker Stories: Victoria Livschitz

  Victoria Livschitz jumped head first into the shark-infested waters of the high roller scene in late 2021, having spent her pandemic lockdown studying all she could about the game. While others may have been intimidated by the talent at the…

• 04.23.2024### Poker Stories: Barny Boatman

  Barny Boatman spent much of his youth traveling the world, living in numerous countries and working a variety of jobs that included factory worker, bartender, journalist, English teacher, computer programmer, board game inventer, and even movie reviewer. But it was…

• 03.15.2024### Poker Stories: Alex Fitzgerald

  Alex Fitzgerald has been a poker professional for half of his life, turning to the game when he was just 18 years old. In the nearly two decades since, Fitzgearld has racked up millions in online winnings with final tables…

• 01.16.2024### Poker Stories: David Sklansky

  David Sklansky is perhaps the most prolific poker writer ever, and an all-around authority on all things gambling. The author of titles such as The Theory of Poker, Small Stakes Hold’em, DUCY?, and the latest, Small Stakes No-Limit Hold’em: Help…

• 12.02.2023### Poker Stories: Wolfgang

  Wolfgang is a relative newcomer to the poker world, but that hasn’t stopped him from finding a huge audience with his short-form vlogs. The Chicago native and Texas resident has a background in video production and editing which he has…

• 11.08.2023### 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…

• 10.11.2023### Poker Stories: Jesse Lonis

  It took less than four years for 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…

• 09.28.2023### Poker Stories: Daniel Weinman

  Daniel Weinman topped the biggest World Series of Poker main event field in history, outlasting more than 10,000 entrants. Incredibly, he almost didn’t play in the event and had to be convinced by friends, including six-time bracelet winner Shaun Deeb,…

• 09.01.2023### Poker Stories: Shaun Deeb

  Shaun Deeb was just 16 when he fell in love with poker, hosting tournaments at his home in New York. It wasn’t long before he was focusing more on cards than school, and Deeb found himself quickly rising the ranks…

• 08.11.2023### 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…

• 03.24.2023### 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…

• 03.01.2023### 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….

• 02.13.2023### Poker Stories: Lara Eisenberg

  Dr. Lara Eisenberg is not a professional poker player, but you wouldn’t know it by looking at her results. She has already scored a WSOP Circuit ring, and a World Series of Poker bracelet, taking down the Ladies Championship in…

• 01.27.2023### Poker Stories: Mike Holtz

  Mike Holtz spent his teen years as one of the best gamers around. In fact, at one point he was considered the top-ranked World of Warcraft player and was recruited to join a traveling league called the World Series of…

• 12.22.2022### Poker Stories: Adam Pliska

  Adam Pliska has been with the World Poker Tour since the start, and along with the company recently celebrated 20 years in the game. The WPT President and CEO acted as the tour’s general counsel for several years before making…

• 10.18.2022### Poker Stories: Miikka Anttonen

  Miikka Anttonen has been gambling since he was just 10 years old. He was originally drawn to sports betting and slot machines, but after moving from his native Finland to Australia, Anttonen discovered poker. Despite a few false starts, he…

• 10.06.2022### Poker Stories: Jeff Platt

  Jeff Platt found poker during the Moneymaker boom, but it was more than a decade before he could work it into his career. The Dallas, Texas native graduated from the University of Southern California with a degree in broadcast journalism,…

• 09.15.2022### Poker Stories: Brad Ruben

  Brad Ruben is a rising star in the poker world who has exploded for four World Series of Poker bracelets in the last few years. As a result, the 36-year-old Florida native ’leads the decade’ with the most bracelets won…

• 08.26.2022### Poker Stories: TDA Rule Changes With Matt Savage

  The Tournament Director’s Association (TDA) was formed in 2001 by Matt Savage, Linda Johnson, Jan Fisher, and Dave Lamb with the goal of standardizing poker tournament rules. Before the TDA, each venue would have their own ‘house rules,’ creating problems…

• 08.12.2022### Poker Stories: Dan Zack

  Dan Zack was perhaps the youngest player to get bit by the poker bug when Chris Moneymaker won the 2003 World Series of Poker main event. The Princeton, New Jersey native was just 10 years old at the time, but…

• 08.01.2022### Poker Stories: Eugene Katchalov

  Eugene Katchalov is a World Series of Poker winner and World Poker Tour champion with more than $9.2 million in career live tournament earnings. The Ukrainian-born and New York-raised pro won the 2007 Doyle Brunson Five Diamond World Poker Classic…

• 07.15.2022### Poker Stories: Jennifer Shahade

  Jennifer Shahade grew up in Philadelphia. Her father Mike was a master chess player and her mother Sally a professor at Drexel University, but at night the two would count cards at the blackjack tables in Atlantic City. Jennifer and…

• 07.04.2022### Poker Stories: Benjamin ‘Bencb’ Rolle

  Ben Rolle, known to most of the poker world as Bencb, is one of the greatest online tournament players in the game today. The 33-year-old German was a standout junior soccer player, but turned to online poker after college and…

• 06.23.2022### Poker Stories: Brek Schutten

  Brek Schutten is a family man with five children that spends his days working as a nurse in the intensive care unit. But that hasn’t stopped the Michigan native from dominating the live tournament circuit for more than a year…

• 05.10.2022### Poker Stories: Brad Owen

  Brad Owen discovered poker while in high school, learning the game by studying poker software his dad brought home from work. He continued to play throughout college and even as he earned his masters degree in accounting, but a nine-to-five…

• 04.20.2022### Poker Stories: Kane Kalas

  Kane Kalas grew up near Philadelphia where his father and baseball hall of famer Harry Kalas worked as the play by play commentator for the Phillies for nearly 40 years. He could have joined the family business like his brother…

• 04.06.2022### Poker Stories: Phil Galfond

  Phil Galfond has made his mark on pretty much every part of the poker world. Not only is the Maryland native considered one of the best to ever play the game, but he’s also been recognized as a prolific poker…

• 03.10.2022### Poker Stories: ‘Miami’ John Cernuto

  “Miami” John Cernuto is a true ironman of the live poker tournament circuit. The longtime grinder holds the record and a sizable lead for the most cashes ever with 540 and counting. To put that into perspective, 16-time bracelet winner…

• 02.24.2022### Poker Stories: Scotty Nguyen

  Scotty Nguyen has the ultimate poker success story. After escaping almost certain death in the Vietnam War and surviving almost a month stranded at sea, the teenager eventually found himself in the United States looking for a piece of the…

• 02.01.2022### Poker Stories: Chris Brewer

  Chris Brewer discovered poker while competing at the 2012 Olympic Trials, getting hooked after playing in a $5 home game. The San Diego native’s first love was running, which led him to the 32-time national champion University of Oregon Ducks…

• 01.25.2022### Poker Stories: Dan ‘Jungleman’ Cates

  Dan Cates discovered poker in high school, and wasted no time immersing himself in the game online. By the time he dropped out of college, the man known as ‘jungleman12’ had already risen to the highest stakes and won millions…

• 12.28.2021### 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…

• 12.18.2021### 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…

• 12.02.2021### Poker Stories: Josh Arieh

  Josh Arieh is best known for his deep run in the 2004 World Series of Poker main event, where he was featured on ESPN’s broadcast en route to a third-place finish worth $2.5 million. But Arieh was not a product…

• 11.22.2021### Poker Stories: Garrett Adelstein

  Garrett Adelstein is a high-stakes professional poker player best known for being a regular on live-streamed cash games. The Tucson, Arizona native and University of Arizona graduate has made a name for himself with superb play on shows such as…

• 10.30.2021### 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…

• 10.20.2021### 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…

• 09.30.2021### Poker Stories: Mark Herm

  Mark Herm is a longtime professional poker player from Philadelphia who found the game in high school and has spent the last 15 years piling up results. Known as ‘Dipthrong,’ he has racked up more than $5 million online and…

• 09.16.2021### Poker Stories: Fedor Holz

  Fedor Holz is just 28 years old but has already put together one of the most impressive tournament résumés in poker history. The German phenom seemingly came out of nowhere in 2015 to tear up the high roller circuit, but…

• 08.17.2021### Poker Stories: Joe Stapleton

  Joe Stapleton got his start in the poker world at Card Player, working the WSOP while on hiatus from his job at Mad TV. The Albany, New York native then moved on to other projects, including writing and podcasting, and…

• 07.25.2021### Poker Stories: Lex Veldhuis

  Lex Veldhuis was a gamer from an early age, and found poker shortly after the boom thanks to his friends in the StarCraft community. He quickly shot up the ranks, and it wasn’t long before he was traveling the world,…

• 07.08.2021### Poker Stories: Andrew and Kristy Moreno

  Kristy Arnett Moreno and Andrew Moreno met in college and simultaneously fell in love with each other and the game of poker. Together they made the move from Fort Wayne, Indiana to Las Vegas with the dream of making it…

• 06.17.2021### 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…

• 05.31.2021### Poker Stories: Bernard Lee

  Bernard Lee first learned the game from his father, and then later started playing more seriously while at Harvard University, but the Julliard-trained pianist spent years working as a marketing manager before he decided to make poker his focus and…

• 05.04.2021### Poker Stories: Patrik Antonius

  Patrik Antonius started playing online poker in 1999, and was almost immediately competing at the highest-stakes available. The Finnish pro then broke out on the tournament circuit in 2005, winning an EPT main event and finishing second in the WPT…

• 04.05.2021### 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,…

• 03.23.2021### 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…

• 03.09.2021### Poker Stories: Benny Glaser

  Benny Glaser didn’t earn his first cash at the World Series of Poker until 2015, but the Southampton, England pro has been able to accomplish a lot in his limited time on the felt. The 31-year-old part-time musician has won…

• 02.24.2021### Poker Stories: Lon McEachern

  Lon McEachern is a longtime sports commentator that is best known for being the “voice of poker,” having worked as part of the broadcast team for ESPN’s annual coverage of the World Series of Poker. Prior to that, he covered…

• 02.08.2021### 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…

Victoria Livschitz jumped head first into the shark-infested waters of the high roller scene in late 2021, having spent her pandemic lockdown studying all she could about the game. While others may have been intimidated by the talent at the…

Barny Boatman spent much of his youth traveling the world, living in numerous countries and working a variety of jobs that included factory worker, bartender, journalist, English teacher, computer programmer, board game inventer, and even movie reviewer. But it was…

Alex Fitzgerald has been a poker professional for half of his life, turning to the game when he was just 18 years old. In the nearly two decades since, Fitzgearld has racked up millions in online winnings with final tables…

David Sklansky is perhaps the most prolific poker writer ever, and an all-around authority on all things gambling. The author of titles such as The Theory of Poker, Small Stakes Hold’em, DUCY?, and the latest, Small Stakes No-Limit Hold’em: Help…

Wolfgang is a relative newcomer to the poker world, but that hasn’t stopped him from finding a huge audience with his short-form vlogs. The Chicago native and Texas resident has a background in video production and editing which he has…

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…

It took less than four years for 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…

Daniel Weinman topped the biggest World Series of Poker main event field in history, outlasting more than 10,000 entrants. Incredibly, he almost didn’t play in the event and had to be convinced by friends, including six-time bracelet winner Shaun Deeb,…

Shaun Deeb was just 16 when he fell in love with poker, hosting tournaments at his home in New York. It wasn’t long before he was focusing more on cards than school, and Deeb found himself quickly rising the ranks…

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…

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…

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….

Dr. Lara Eisenberg is not a professional poker player, but you wouldn’t know it by looking at her results. She has already scored a WSOP Circuit ring, and a World Series of Poker bracelet, taking down the Ladies Championship in…

Mike Holtz spent his teen years as one of the best gamers around. In fact, at one point he was considered the top-ranked World of Warcraft player and was recruited to join a traveling league called the World Series of…

Adam Pliska has been with the World Poker Tour since the start, and along with the company recently celebrated 20 years in the game. The WPT President and CEO acted as the tour’s general counsel for several years before making…

Miikka Anttonen has been gambling since he was just 10 years old. He was originally drawn to sports betting and slot machines, but after moving from his native Finland to Australia, Anttonen discovered poker. Despite a few false starts, he…

Jeff Platt found poker during the Moneymaker boom, but it was more than a decade before he could work it into his career. The Dallas, Texas native graduated from the University of Southern California with a degree in broadcast journalism,…

Brad Ruben is a rising star in the poker world who has exploded for four World Series of Poker bracelets in the last few years. As a result, the 36-year-old Florida native ’leads the decade’ with the most bracelets won…

The Tournament Director’s Association (TDA) was formed in 2001 by Matt Savage, Linda Johnson, Jan Fisher, and Dave Lamb with the goal of standardizing poker tournament rules. Before the TDA, each venue would have their own ‘house rules,’ creating problems…

Dan Zack was perhaps the youngest player to get bit by the poker bug when Chris Moneymaker won the 2003 World Series of Poker main event. The Princeton, New Jersey native was just 10 years old at the time, but…

Eugene Katchalov is a World Series of Poker winner and World Poker Tour champion with more than $9.2 million in career live tournament earnings. The Ukrainian-born and New York-raised pro won the 2007 Doyle Brunson Five Diamond World Poker Classic…

Jennifer Shahade grew up in Philadelphia. Her father Mike was a master chess player and her mother Sally a professor at Drexel University, but at night the two would count cards at the blackjack tables in Atlantic City. Jennifer and…

Ben Rolle, known to most of the poker world as Bencb, is one of the greatest online tournament players in the game today. The 33-year-old German was a standout junior soccer player, but turned to online poker after college and…

Brek Schutten is a family man with five children that spends his days working as a nurse in the intensive care unit. But that hasn’t stopped the Michigan native from dominating the live tournament circuit for more than a year…

Brad Owen discovered poker while in high school, learning the game by studying poker software his dad brought home from work. He continued to play throughout college and even as he earned his masters degree in accounting, but a nine-to-five…

Kane Kalas grew up near Philadelphia where his father and baseball hall of famer Harry Kalas worked as the play by play commentator for the Phillies for nearly 40 years. He could have joined the family business like his brother…

Phil Galfond has made his mark on pretty much every part of the poker world. Not only is the Maryland native considered one of the best to ever play the game, but he’s also been recognized as a prolific poker…

“Miami” John Cernuto is a true ironman of the live poker tournament circuit. The longtime grinder holds the record and a sizable lead for the most cashes ever with 540 and counting. To put that into perspective, 16-time bracelet winner…

Scotty Nguyen has the ultimate poker success story. After escaping almost certain death in the Vietnam War and surviving almost a month stranded at sea, the teenager eventually found himself in the United States looking for a piece of the…

Chris Brewer discovered poker while competing at the 2012 Olympic Trials, getting hooked after playing in a $5 home game. The San Diego native’s first love was running, which led him to the 32-time national champion University of Oregon Ducks…

Dan Cates discovered poker in high school, and wasted no time immersing himself in the game online. By the time he dropped out of college, the man known as ‘jungleman12’ had already risen to the highest stakes and won millions…

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…

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…

Josh Arieh is best known for his deep run in the 2004 World Series of Poker main event, where he was featured on ESPN’s broadcast en route to a third-place finish worth $2.5 million. But Arieh was not a product…

Garrett Adelstein is a high-stakes professional poker player best known for being a regular on live-streamed cash games. The Tucson, Arizona native and University of Arizona graduate has made a name for himself with superb play on shows such as…

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…

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…

Mark Herm is a longtime professional poker player from Philadelphia who found the game in high school and has spent the last 15 years piling up results. Known as ‘Dipthrong,’ he has racked up more than $5 million online and…

Fedor Holz is just 28 years old but has already put together one of the most impressive tournament résumés in poker history. The German phenom seemingly came out of nowhere in 2015 to tear up the high roller circuit, but…

Joe Stapleton got his start in the poker world at Card Player, working the WSOP while on hiatus from his job at Mad TV. The Albany, New York native then moved on to other projects, including writing and podcasting, and…

Lex Veldhuis was a gamer from an early age, and found poker shortly after the boom thanks to his friends in the StarCraft community. He quickly shot up the ranks, and it wasn’t long before he was traveling the world,…

Kristy Arnett Moreno and Andrew Moreno met in college and simultaneously fell in love with each other and the game of poker. Together they made the move from Fort Wayne, Indiana to Las Vegas with the dream of making it…

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…

Bernard Lee first learned the game from his father, and then later started playing more seriously while at Harvard University, but the Julliard-trained pianist spent years working as a marketing manager before he decided to make poker his focus and…

Patrik Antonius started playing online poker in 1999, and was almost immediately competing at the highest-stakes available. The Finnish pro then broke out on the tournament circuit in 2005, winning an EPT main event and finishing second in the WPT…

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,…

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…

Benny Glaser didn’t earn his first cash at the World Series of Poker until 2015, but the Southampton, England pro has been able to accomplish a lot in his limited time on the felt. The 31-year-old part-time musician has won…

Lon McEachern is a longtime sports commentator that is best known for being the “voice of poker,” having worked as part of the broadcast team for ESPN’s annual coverage of the World Series of Poker. Prior to that, he covered…

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…