Mickey Wang may be married to a professional poker player, but her personal poker education got a jumpstart when she became general manager of the Barrel Social Club in southern Kentucky. Carlos and Andrew talk to her about how what goes into running a small poker room.

Mickey’s spouse Matt Vaughan was on Episode 307.

Support the podcast, get daily strategy discussions, *and* be eligible to win a one-month subscription to GTO Wizard by subscribing to Thinking Poker Daily. 

MICKEY WANG

Mickey Wang is the general manager of The Barrel Social Club. 

Jesse Fullen loves poker, and he loves sharing it with new people. That’s made him a great community and social media manager. He’s a great storyteller as well, and he shares some favorities with us about poker legends like Doyle Brunson and Mike Matusow.

JESSE FULLEN

Jesse Fullen is the project manager at Poker Royalty. He has aldo been the Community Manager at PokerNews and Social Media Manager at RunItUp.

Carlota Gonzalez is a rock radio personality with a deep background in poker. She believes all serious poker players should experience dealing as well and has dealt herself at the WSOP. We talk to her about her own poker experiences, what players can learn from dealing, and whether Nickelback is overrated (the answer may surprise you!).

Timestamps

0:30 – Hello
2:30 – Strategy
21:22 – Carlota Gonzalez

CARLOTA GONZALEZ

Carlota Gonzalez is an On Air Personality for Xtreme Radio X107.5 in Las Vegas. She has also worked as a poker dealer, including at the WSOP.

Lupe Soto has been a passionate poker player and promoter of women’s events for 25+ years. She shares her deep experience with Carlos and Andrew and also discusses her charitable with Poker Gives. 

Poker Gives distributes goods from 7-10pm on Mondays at 200 E. Foremaster.

Do Solvers Have Targets?

Support the podcast, get daily strategy discussions, *and* be eligible to win a one-month subscription to GTO Wizard by subscribing to Thinking Poker Daily. 

Timestamps

0:30 – Hello
6:22 – Strategy
16:36 – Lupe Soto

LUPE SOTO

Lupe Soto is a gaming consultant and promoter responsible for the Ladies International Poker Series, the Women in Poker Hall of Fame, the Senior Poker Tour, and more. She is the President of Poker Gives.

Boxing lawyer Lamont Jones wrote The Gist of Bid Whist because he believes card games connect people and that the rich story of Bid Whist deserves to be widely known. He shares the game’s fascinating history with Carlos and Andrew, beginning with the 19th century Pullman Porters. He also explains the strategy and makes his case for why poker lovers might enjoy Bid Whist.

The Gist of Bid Whist

Also available from Amazon.

Support the podcast, get daily strategy discussions, *and* be eligible to win a one-month subscription to GTO Wizard by subscribing to Thinking Poker Daily. 

Timestamps

0:30 – Hello
3:30 – Strategy
13:22 – Lamont Jones

LAMONT JONES

A boxing business attorney and executive, Lamont Jones maintains that the deals most meaningful to him are not those he’s negotiated or litigated on behalf of boxing managers, promoters, or champions. Instead, the contracts that most make his heart sing are those he enters and defends against at the card table, playing Bid Whist. 

Dim the lights! Jeff Platt is on the show to talk poker and broadcasting with Carlos and Andrew. Why broadcasting? Why poker? What makes for a great poker broadcast? A great interview?

Is Jeff Platt the nicest guy in poker?

Support the podcast, get daily strategy discussions, *and* be eligible to win a one-month subscription to GTO Wizard by subscribing to Thinking Poker Daily. 

JEFF PLATT

Jeff Platt is a poker broadcaster, commentator, and reporter best known for his work with PokerGO and his “stand up” interviews during the WSOP.

Caitlyn Arnwine and LoriAnn Persinger return to the show to help us brainstorm solutions to the problems of representation and unequal opportunity in the poker world. In the introduction, Andrew and Carlos console themselves over their runner-up finish at the GPI Awards and Gloria Jackson joins to discuss the event. 

Caitlyn Arnwine first appeared on Episode 397 as Caitlyn Cobb. She also appeared on our earlier episode on women’s events. We spoke with her husband, Justin Arnwine, on Episodes 398 and 399.

LoriAnn Persinger first appeared on Episode 394.

Gloria Jackson first appeared on Episode 401. She and Carlos discuss their relationship on Episode 411.

Support the podcast, get daily strategy discussions, *and* be eligible to win a one-month subscription to GTO Wizard by subscribing to Thinking Poker Daily. 

Timestamps

0:30 – Intro and GPI Awards Debrief with Gloria Jackson
26:30 – Caityln and LoriAnn

CAITLYN ARNWINE

Caitlyn Arnwine describes herself as a force that makes change. Caitlyn is the former Coordinator of Public Education for @NationalHomeles and Social Media Director of @TJC_DC.

LORIANN PERSINGER

LoriAnn Persinger is a poker lover, Navy veteran, and serial game show champion with a history in poker media.

From (semi) professional paintball to house part home games to high stakes LA cash, Fausto Valdez’s path to poker has been unique. He’s formed some strong opinions along the way: about pre-flop raise sizes, the politics of private games, how nits stack their chips, and more.

Support the podcast, get daily strategy discussions, *and* be eligible to win a one-month subscription to GTO Wizard by subscribing to Thinking Poker Daily. 

FAUSTO VALDEZ

Fausto Valdez is a professional poker player and coach with Blueprint Poker Coaching, Solve for Why, and Jaka Coaching.

Isaac “Ike” Haxton returns to the podcast after eleven years, joining Carlos and Andrew for a conversation about studying, staying on top, the limitations of solvers, why he still masks in public spaces, and more. Isaac first appeared on Episode 18.

Support the podcast, get daily strategy discussions, *and* be eligible to win a one-month subscription to GTO Wizard by subscribing to Thinking Poker Daily. 

ISAAC HAXTON

Isaac Haxton is one of the most successful no-limit hold ’em tournament players of all time, with nearly $50 million in Hendon Mob cashes. He won PokerGO Tour Player of the Year in 2023.

Jorbs AKA Stephen Flavall is a storyteller and strategy games streamer. His current focus is Slay the Spire, but once upon a time he was a professional poker player. He shares that journey with Carlos and Andrew, plus insights into cultivating community, the darker side of streaming, and more.

Stephen is the author of Before We Go Live: Navigating the Abusive World of Online Entertainment. You can find him on on Twitch, YouTube, and Discord.

Support the podcast, get daily strategy discussions, *and* be eligible to win a one-month subscription to GTO Wizard by subscribing to Thinking Poker Daily. 

Stephen Flavall

Stephen “jorbs” Flavall is a former professional poker player and a leading strategy game streamer on Twitch.tv, where he has a growing 100,000 follower community. He holds multiple world records in difficult strategy games and currently concentrates on Slay the Spire.

Pamela Balzano’s older brother got her into poker, but while he was a professional player, her first interest was in content creation. After launching successful Spanish language YouTube, Twitch, Instagram, and TikTok channels, she is now a serious player as well, as well as an announcer and host for events across Latin America.

Pamela recommends Cosmos by Carl Sagan.

The author Andrew recommended is James Gleick.

Support the podcast, get daily strategy discussions, *and* be eligible to win a one-month subscription to GTO Wizard by subscribing to Thinking Poker Daily. 

PAMELA Balzano

Pamela Balzano is an Argentian poker player, content creator, announcer, and host. She is a member of GGTeam.