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 Video Gaming. Unfortunately for the Maryland native, the league went bust and he was left looking for his next step in life. 

There were numerous jobs and even a stint in jail, but after rediscovering his love for poker in a local home game, Holtz decided to move across the country to Las Vegas to be closer to the action. Although he started in cash games, he found himself to be better suited to tournaments, specifically online at WSOP.com under the name 'BrockLesnar.' It was there that he won a WSOP Circuit ring and was crowned 2021 Player of the Year. Then in 2022, the 32-year-old added his first WSOP bracelet.

Highlights from this interview include Mega Bomber Man with mom, midnight baseball, World Series of Gaming and Napster, the mushroom diet, working as an underage bouncer, going to weekend jail, snitches get pizza, the hotel home game, building a bankroll, trying to beat Skyler, winning Player of the Year, having a spew tournament, the flop overcorrection, Hellmuth vs. Negreanu, from Bill to Brock, the sad ending for wrestlers, a barf 15-20 years in the making, abandoning Jeff Madsen to win a bracelet, Power Ranger hand kissing, avoiding spiders, Rat Fink Magoo, dodging highway traffic, and advocating for bomb pot tournaments.

Poker Stories: Mike Holtz

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.

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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 on the World Poker Tour and European Poker Tour. 

But unlike many other top players, he has also shared his knowledge, taking on students of all levels and steering them towards a better game. In fact, Fitzgerald has worked with more than a thousand players over the years, diagnosing their play, finding the leaks and plugging them so they can start winning fast. 

Fitzgerald is also an author, writing The Myth Of Poker Talent, Exploitative Play In Live Poker, and The 100 Biggest Mistakes That Poker Players Make. Players looking for help can visit PokerHeadRush.com for Fitzgerald's free poker strategy newsletter and three training videos.

Highlights from this interview include a not-so-deadliest catch, playing cards on the boat, why poker beat Arby's, being a poker doctor, writing books to get people fired up, talent vs. hard work, the moneyball of poker, humans being human, long-distance running, from death metal to rap battles, Christmas in Prague, and the 49-hour home game.

Poker Stories: Alex Fitzgerald

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 Them Give You Their Money, is one of the few authors to simultaneously hold three spots on Amazon's top 100 bestsellers list. 

The 76-year-old is a three-time World Series of Poker bracelet winner, and also took down the Poker By The Book invitational event on the World Poker Tour. When he wasn't gambling for a living, whether it was on poker, sports, or blackjack, Sklansky worked as a casino advisor. Not only did he invent the foundation for Caribbean Stud, but the 'resident wizard' famously convinced Bob Stupak to build the Stratosphere tower on the Las Vegas Strip. 

Highlights from this interview include being the black sheep in a family of geniuses, logic puzzles from dad, the Ivy League poker game, being an 'insufferable' math rebel, hi-lo split declare, putting pen to paper in 1976, poker theory back to Neumann and Nash, being a GTO deviant, getting barred as a blackjack player, taking advantage of bad casino math, scheming with Bob, changing the Las Vegas Strip skyline, getting a state senator elected but losing a fixed race for mayor, a $30 million caribbean stud loss, challenging Donald Trump to a $1 million board game, matching JK Rowling, signing autographs for Ben Affleck and Matt Damon, owning two unique pieces of WSOP history, being the ultimate third wheel, the $1 million briefcase, Sklansky bucks vs. implied odds, avoiding a punch from Floyd Mayweather, and all five times he was held at gunpoint.

Poker Stories: David Sklansky

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 used leapfrog other top content creators to become one of the most watched poker players on the planet.

The 29-year-old has seen a meteoric rise over the last year and recently became the first poker vlogger ever to reach one million subscribers on YouTube. He has racked up hundreds of millions of views overall while passing industry giants such as Brad Owen, Doug Polk, and even Daniel Negreanu, all while playing low-stakes cash games. 

Highlights from this interview include joining the seven-figure club, completely missing the poker boom, Ukrainian dancing and German lessons, christian school degenerates, streaking Nutella butts, giving the algorithm what it wants, creating new players, Pokemon vs. fossils, making teachers go viral, red-card pantsing and game-winning headers, sweating a million dollar buy-in, smoothies with McDreamy, and why Justin Beiber fired him from a commercial shoot.

Poker Stories: Wolfgang

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 videos turned into a poker vlog, talking his way into an online poker sponsorship, having his own tournament on ACR, winning his way to Vietnam, playing Triton high rollers, Spock honesty, being a strip club affiliate, visualizing a Magic: The Gathering championship, Lil Dicky So Hard, ziplining backwards in Costa Rica, and enjoying the simulation in harmony.

Poker Stories: Jeff Boski

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 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 decision 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 now has $6 million in career earnings.

Highlights from this interview include new births, being the Longfellow Deeds of his hometown, watching grandma play Full Tilt, working construction "like a dog in a cage," following in Gilly's footsteps, a long and brutal stay at Circus Circus, being an old school player, ging broke and coming back, where he keeps the bracelets, jumping into a $50k event, big sports bets, J-Lo, CCR, and bird presentations.

Poker Stories: Mike Holtz

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