Neil Blumenfield is third in chips at the final table of the 2015 World Series of Poker Main Event. At 61, he is also the second-oldest player ever to final table this event (the oldest, Pierre Neuville, will be competing against him this year).

Neil talks to us about this dubious honor as well as the other challenges facing him as an amateur, albeit a serious and accomplished one, among professionals.

You can root for Neil in November when ESPN airs the final table of the WSOP Main Event. If you’re in San Francisco, check out his girlfriend’s store.

Our strategy hand comes to us from the author of A Main Event Rookie Lives the Dream.

Timestamps

:30 – hello and welcome

12:40 – strat

54:30 – interview

Strategy

Blinds 2000/4000/300. UTG2 (80K) limps. Hero has JJ in the HJ and raises to 12,000. BB calls and the limper folds.

Flop (34.5K in pot) Q-6-8r. BB checks, Hero bets 20K, BB calls.

Turn (75K in pot) Q86Jr. BB checks, Hero bets 65K, BB calls.

River (205K)  Q-6-8-J-10. BB shoves 70K.

Carlos Welch is on the show with his most aggressive cost-cutting idea yet: living in a van! Find out how he’s managing it and how his first few weeks have been, then be sure to watch him on Twitch and read his new blog for the latest updates.

Timestamps

0:30 Hello & Welcome

38:31 Strategy

Strategy

$5/$10 NLHE, $3000 effective stacks. UTG opens to $50, Hero calls 9d 7d UTG1, SB and BB call.

Flop ($200) 6h 5s 4c. Check, check, UTG bets $100, everyone calls.

Turn ($600) 8h. Three checks, Hero bets $300, SB raises to $1000, two folds, Hero shoves, SB calls.

Ron Upshaw hosts the Don and Ron Show on KIRO radio in Seattle, and is one of the people behind The Poker Academy. We talk to him about the radio game, the poker training game, and even the beekeeping game.

Timestamps

0;30 hello & welcome

17:00 strategy

34:54 ron upshaw

Strategy

Three limps, I make it 30 on the button with JxJx, BB calls, two limpers call.

120 in the pot: Qx6d4d. k/k/k/60/snap-c/f/f

240 in the pot. Kx. k/k

240 in the pot. 6x. 190 / ?

Jamie Kerstetter is a lawyer-turned-poker-pro with a long and colorful career. She talks about her decision to go pro, her first experiences playing live poker, moving to Mexico after Black Friday, the East Coast poker scene, the New Jersey online poker scene (she represents Party Poker), and sexism in poker.

You can follow Jamie on Twitter at @jamiekerstetter, and on Twitch at http://www.twitch.tv/jamiekerstetter. If you’re in New Jersey, you can play with her on Party Poker. Watch her videos on Tournament Poker Edge! You can read Barry Hutter’s comments about female players here. And most importantly, be nice to each other!

Timestamps

0:30 Hello and welcome

7:35 Strategy: A PLO hand

33:00 Interview: Jamie Kerstetter

Strategy

$5/$5 PLO home game w $10 button straddle, I have $1350 (all villains cover), I oeld AcKc8h7h on the button (&straddle). Both blinds call, good aggressive player raises to $50 UTG, 2 players call, I call, blinds fold.

Pot is $210. Flop is Jc9c4h. UTG bets $200, one of the two interim players calls, I call.

Turn is 6h. UTG bets $400. Interim player fold. I call.

River is the Kd. UTG bets $800. I fold.

Alex Weldon is a game designer and a writer for Part Time Poker. In this interview, we discuss what makes poker unique among games, how to strategize for unfamiliar poker variants, the art and business of game design, and how computers have changed the nature of gaming.

You can find Alex’s digital games and more information about his tabletop games at www.benefactum.ca. This is the article about journalistic integrity mentioned in the interview, and this is his post about Courchevel strategy (discussed in greater detail on Episode 48 of the Thinking Poker Podcast). The game designer Alex recommended is Vlaada Chvátil.

Here’s a follow-up article about Duck Flush.

Timestamps

0:30 hello & welcome

6:13 strategy: constructing ranges

20:25 interview: Alex Weldon

Before Julie Anna Cornelius became a professional poker player, she was a ballet dancer and a flight attendant working in the fleet of one of the poker world’s most notorious characters. In this interview, she shares her story and reflects on the nature of dedication, competition, talent. and hard work.

You can follow Julie Annie on Twitter @LuckyJadeJules.

Thanks to PokerWomenNews for suggesting this guest. If you enjoy our interview with Julie Anna, be sure to check out theirs.

Timestamps

:30 – hello

20:55 – strat

45:42 – interview

Strategy

Hero: 89.00 Villain: 86.00, Effective Stacks 170bb

Folds to Villain on BTN

Villain (BTN) raises to 1.50

Hero (sb) 3 bets to 5.50 with Jc10c

BB Folds

BTN calls

Flop: 2c7h8c pot: 11.50

Hero bets 5.75

Villain calls

Turn comes 9s, board is 2c7h8c9s pot: 23

Hero bets 11.50

Villain calls

River comes 9h board is 2c7h8c9s9h pot 46

about 65 behind

Hero bets 19.50

Villain shoves 65

Alex “Assassinato” Fitzgerald and “The” Carlos Welch join Nate and Andrew in a room at the Gold Coast to talk about Las Vegas, getting better at poker, creativity, poetry, pre-flop raise sizing, and more. Don’t miss this rare treat, with two hosts and two guests all in the same place at the same time! We only get a few chances a year to do shows like this, and they are always a ton of fun.

The books mentioned on the show are Poetic Meter & Poetic Form, How to Rap, and Decoded. Alex contributed a chapter to Excelling at No-Limit Hold ‘Em.

John “The Lawyer” Larochelle is a consummate live cash game pro. He plays lots of games, he plays them well, and he plays them big. So why hasn’t he set foot in Las Vegas all summer? We talk about game selection, quality of life, ego vs. profit, and PLO strategy.

John’s first appearance on the podcast was Episode 64.

Timestamps

0:30 – Hello & Welcome

46:44 – PLO Strategy

Strategy

10-10 PLO Live eight-handed game.

Stacks are about $4,000 each

UTG opens for $35, Hero raises to $75 with TsTd9d7c, SB calls, UTG calls.

So, I raise UTG’s $35 raise to $75. The small blind (competent player) calls my $75. UTG calls $75.

Flop (Pot = $235): Qd 8c 4s

Both opponents check to me. I bet $200. Both call.

Turn (Pot = $835): Qd 8c 4s 3d

Both opponents check to me. I elected to check behind.

River: Tc

Small blind bets $500.

UTG folds

Fresh off a second-place finish in WSOP Event #45 ($1500 NLHE), Dara O’Kearney, who first appeared on Episode 102, returns to the show to talk about the mixed emotions that result from a near-victory at the WSOP and why he chose the WSOP over the softest online tournaments of the year.

You may not be a Super Razzdugi player, but please don’t skip the opening strategy segment! Nate’s “meditation” is a delight. Here are rules for Razzdugi. The “Super” qualifier means that players get four down cards and discard two of them on third street.

Timestamps

:30 – hello & welcome; short meditation from Nate

9:52 – dara o’kearney

Nate and Andrew follow up on the strategy discussion of donk betting from Episode 128.1, then discuss protecting your hand and a dealer who miscalled the action.

Timestamps

:30 hello & welcome

15:43 strategy

Strategy

EP open limps. I raise from HJ with JTo to 20. Button calls, blinds and limper call. Flop 775 two diamonds. SB checks, BB donks for $25 into $100 pot. Limper folds. BB started with $450 and I have him well covered. I raise to $75. Everyone folds except BB who calls. Turn is offsuit 8, he checks. $250 in pot. I bet $100, and he calls. River is the Qd and he checks. I follow through and bet 250 on the river (putting him all in) into 450 and he folds.