Vol. 34/No. 21

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Vol. 34/No. 21 October 6, 2021

Tom Dwan Hands Phil Hellmuth His

First Loss On High Stakes Duel

Zhuang Ruan:

Meet The 20 -Year-Old Already Crushing The High Roller Circuit

Wiktor Malinowski Banks $3.7 Million In

Super High Roller Bowl Europe

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EDITORIAL DIRECTOR Julio Rodriguez TOURNAMENT CONTENT MANAGER Erik Fast

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Card Player (ISSN 1089-2044) is published biweekly by Card Player Media LLC, 6940 O’Bannon Drive, Las Vegas, NV 89117. Annual subscriptions are $39.95 U.S. ($59.95 U.S. for two years), $59.95 Canada, and $75.95 International. Remit payment to CUSTOMER SERIVCE, CARD PLAYER MAGAZINE, PO BOX 434, CONGERS, NY 10920-0434 or call 1-866-587- 6537. Periodicals postage paid at Las Vegas, NV, and additional mailing offices USPS #022-483. POSTMASTER: Send all address changes to CARD PLAYER MAGAZINE, PO BOX 434, CONGERS, NY 10920-0434.

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8 CARDPLAYER.COM VOLUME 34 / ISSUE 21

Features 18

The Venetian® Resort Las Vegas To Host Card Player Poker Tour This Fall

By Card Player News Team

22

Zhuang Ruan: Meet The 20-Year-Old Already Crushing The High Roller Circuit

By Steve Schult

News 10

Tom Dwan Hands Phil Hellmuth His First Loss On High Stakes Duel

By Steve Schult

12

Poker Community Divided Over World Series Of Poker Vaccine Mandate

14

News From The Gambling World

Tournaments 26

High-Stakes Live Tournament Poker Returns To Europe With A Bang

By Erik Fast

30

Player Of The Year Update By Erik Fast

32

Circuit Results By Morgan Young

Strategy 34

The Key To Poker Longevity:

Chris Moneymaker, Brock Wilson, and Kahle Burns By Craig Tapscott

36

Badugi: A Few Hands From ‘Dolly’s Game’

By Kevin Haney

38

Battling Jake Schindler At A High Roller Final Table

By Steve Zolotow

Analysis & Commentary 40

Chess Clock Time Banks By Greg Raymer

41

Taking Advantage Of Easy-To-Spot Tells By Jonathan Little

42

‘Miami’ John Cernuto On Reasons To Make A Deal

By Alan Schoonmaker

Also In This Issue 6

About Us

44

Tournament Schedules

46

Poker Leaderboards

Poker Hand Matchups 37

David Peters vs. Michael Addamo

38

David Peters vs. Zhuang Ruan

39

Zhuang Ruan vs. Ivan Leow

43

Wiktor Malinowski vs. Ivan Leow

18 22

26

Cover image © Venetian Photos courtesy of Merit PokerPhotos courtesy of Merit Poker

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10 VOLUME 34 / ISSUE 21

TOM DWAN HANDS PHIL HELLMUTH HIS FIRST LOSS ON POKERGO’S HIGH STAKES DUEL

By Steve Schult

The first time 15-time World Series of Poker bracelet winner Phil Hellmuth played against Tom Dwan was in 2008. It was a first-round matchup in the NBC National Heads-Up Poker Championship.

At the time, it was billed as a battle of the two schools of poker thought.

In one corner, there was the seasoned live pro that was reliant on live reads and had been playing winning poker for multiple decades. On the other side, you had a feared up-and-comer who was barely old enough to order a beer, but had already played millions of hands online at stakes most people can only dream of.

The generational lines have changed since then, but back then, it was a classic matchup of the old school versus the new school. The live pro matched up against the online grinder.

Ultimately it was Dwan, who was more commonly referred to by his online screen name ‘durrrr,’ who emerged victorious, but it wasn’t without a little controversy.

With a big blind of 150, Hellmuth limped in on the button and Dwan raised to 1,100. Hellmuth three-bet to 3,600 and Dwan moved all in for about 20,000. Hellmuth quickly called with pocket aces and was in great shape to send Dwan and his pocket tens to the rail in the first round of the 64-player bracket-style tournament.

The flop was safe for Hellmuth, but Dwan drilled a 10 on the turn.

Hellmuth couldn’t hit the river, which sent the pot to Dwan and triggered a classic “Poker Brat” berating.

“Son, I’ll tell you this much. I would’ve never put in more than 3,000 before the flop with two 10s,”

said Hellmuth.

“Phil, that’s why you lose money online,” Dwan responded.

Hellmuth criticized Dwan’s play for a bit longer before the young pro threw what appeared to be high-value casino chips on the table and offered to play Hellmuth for any stakes he wanted.

“Pick your stakes heads-up,” said Dwan multiple times.

“We’ll see if you’re even around in five years,” said Hellmuth.

Dwan did more than just stick around for five years. The New Jersey native turned into one of the most feared no-limit hold’em players on the planet and was constantly playing the world’s biggest games.

In the pre-Black Friday era of poker, Dwan was a regular in the infamous

“Rail Heaven” games on Full Tilt Poker which was a no-limit hold’em six-max table with $500-$1,000 blinds. Although only a handful of players could truly verify it, Dwan’s poker journey ended up with seats in the nosebleed-stakes live games in Macau and other parts of Asia.

Hellmuth, on the other hand, just continued along the path he was on for the two decades before his 2008 matchup with Dwan. He played large field poker tournaments and won them, adding another four WSOP bracelets to his name, bringing his total to the 15 it stands at currently.

But during that time, any rivalry that there may have been between the two seemed to die down, and it appeared that they might not cross paths ever again.

Then 2020 happened.

The COVID-19 pandemic put the poker tournament circuit on pause and everyone was stuck at home playing online poker for the time being.

With the return of online poker to the forefront of the poker world, came the return of heads-up grudge matches, revitalizing a format that was some- what dead for several years prior.

Between PokerGO’s release of the High Stakes Duel series, the Phil Galfond challenge, and the Doug Polk-Daniel Negreanu’s high-stakes grudge match, it sparked the return of the heads-up format and gave poker fans something to watch while live poker was basically nonexistent.

Hellmuth squared off against three-time WSOP bracelet winner and two-time World Poker Tour champion Antonio Esfandiari in the first-ever High Stakes Duel.

According to the rules of the show,

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the first match features a $50,000 buy-in and stakes double with every match. A player must win three matches in a row before he can cash out, if it’s before the fifth match, and after two consecutive victories after that benchmark.

Hellmuth won three straight matches against Esfandiari before exercising his option to quit and pocket a $350,000 profit.

Following Polk’s $1.2 million victory over Negreanu in February 2021, Hellmuth was critical of Negreanu’s play in an interview on PokerGO. The comments drew ire from Negreanu, who took to Twitter and started looking for a second match.

“Yo Phil Hellmuth, you said you watched “zero” of the match, but seem to have strong opinions on the play,”

tweeted Negreanu. “I’ll play you a heads-up match live, online, at any stakes you feel comfortable with for as many hands as you would like.”

Negreanu’s initial tweet seemed to imply a heads-up cash game challenge, but the duo settled on a heads-up sit n’

go format and would square off in the second-ever High Stakes Duel.

Once again, Hellmuth found himself completing a three-match sweep before taking his chips to the cage

once again. The Wisconsin native won six matches in a row and had secured

$700,000 in profit throughout his two appearances on the series.

The rules of the series, however, dictate that Hellmuth can’t stop playing until someone beats him and he declines a rematch. As social media debated who should sit across from Hellmuth in the third go-around of the show, two of the most com- mon answers were Phil Ivey and Tom Dwan.

Instead, Hellmuth went up against the first amateur on the show as sports broadcaster Nick Wright ponied up

$50,000 last July. Hellmuth’s seventh heads-up match went exactly like the first six, with him ending up with all the chips.

Wright declined his option to rematch Hellmuth for $100,000 and left the seat open for someone else.

This time, the poker fans got what they wanted. Tom Dwan was announced as Hellmuth’s opponent for the second round of High Stakes Duel.

It was their first matchup since the memorable hand in 2008, and the external storylines outside the match itself were drastically different this time around. Dwan was no longer an up-and-coming high-stakes pro, and

Hellmuth’s respect for the younger generation has begrudgingly come around in recent years.

However, the outcome of the match was eerily similar to the first one 13 years ago. A short-stacked Hellmuth limped in on the button with pocket aces and Dwan checked his option from the big blind with 9-3. Dwan flopped middle pair and the last of Hellmuth’s stack got into the middle, equivalent to roughly four big blinds.

Dwan turned two pair and cracked Hellmuth’s pocket aces to grab his second consecutive heads-up win, even if there was a 13-year layoff in between.

In September, Hellmuth said he would exercise his option to rematch Dwan in the third round, which will feature a $200,000 buy-in. With the upcoming schedule of other high- stakes tournaments and the 2021 WSOP, it’s unlikely that Hellmuth- Dwan III would take place before December.

It also all but guarantees the show will head to a fourth round for the first time ever. Since three victories in a row are needed, the only way a

$400,000 match doesn’t happen is if the loser of round three quits and nobody wants to step up and play the winner.

Phil Hellmuth’s High Stakes Duel Record

Opponent Buy-In Winner Profit

Antonio Esfandiari $50,000 Hellmuth +$50,000

Daniel Negreanu $50,000 Hellmuth +$400,000

Nick Wright $50,000 Hellmuth +$750,000

Tom Dwan $100,000 Dwan +$650,000

Tom Dwan $200,000 TBD TBD

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POKER COMMUNITY DIVIDED OVER WORLD SERIES OF POKER VACCINE MANDATE

Five weeks before the start of the 2021 World Series of Poker in Las Vegas, tournament organizers surprised many by announcing a vaccine mandate for anyone wishing to play.

Proof of vaccination, using a mobile health pass app, is required to partici- pate in any bracelet event, deep stack tournament, satellite, or cash game.

Th e policy applies to anyone involved with the event, including media, ven- dors, and spectators.

“Th is is not a decision we have taken lightly. It is made with no agenda beyond protecting player eligibility and the operations of a unique televised gaming event,” said WSOP Executive Director Ty Stewart. “Th e nature of poker is to be in close proximity with your opponents for extended periods of time and a seat at the WSOP is a com- mitment for both our company and the participants. We want players to be excited for their return to the WSOP, while off ering the greatest level of protection and limiting complications during the tournament this fall.”

Th e WSOP joins other local events in requiring proof of vaccination, such as NFL Raiders games at Allegiant Stadium, as well as the upcoming Life Is Beautiful music festival and Electric Daisy Carnival (EDC).

But despite following CDC guide- lines, the precedent set by other events, and that the Pfi zer vaccine was recently approved by the FDA, the decision seemed to divide the poker world.

While numerous players were happy with the news and applauded

the WSOP for seemingly putting safety over profi t, others felt the mandate was a violation of their personal freedom.

Poker power couple Alex Foxen and Kristen Bicknell were among the high- profi le players to speak out against the rule. Bicknell is a three-time bracelet winner, and Foxen is in the running for several Player of the Year awards, but both have decided to boycott the series.

Of course, as poker presenter Sasha Salinger pointed out, “You can’t boycott something you’re not allowed to attend.” Even those who are vaccinated will still be required to prove it, or they won’t be allowed onto the property.

2003 WSOP main event cham- pion Chris Moneymaker originally stated that he was not going to attend the series because he didn’t want to expose his family to the virus. But after the news broke, he took to Twitter to thank series offi cials for the decision, pointing out to naysayers that the WSOP is a private business that can do as they please.

It had the opposite eff ect, however, on 2009 WSOP main event cham- pion and four-time bracelet winner Joe Cada, who has decided to stay in Michigan for the series rather than take the vaccine.

While tensions ran high between those for and against the policy, others took the opportunity to fi nd action.

“Looking to bet on several vocal vaccine critics to play,” wrote bracelet winner Max Silver.

Other players used the space to tell jokes… or perhaps share their true

feelings.

“Bracelets will be the toughest ever to win this year,” said eternal optimist Allen Kessler. “You’ll be competing against the smartest, most logical playing fi eld in history.”

Since the event is now compliant with the Nevada Emergency Directive 050 signed by Gov. Steve Sisolak, players will have the option to remove their masks even while indoors.

We can only guess as to how the mandate will aff ect attendance. Th e numbers were already going to be lower than usual due to the fact that the series is taking place in the fall this year, rather than the summer. Additionally, many international players will still have trouble getting to Las Vegas with various restrictions in place on travel.

According to the CDC, approxi- mately 75% of Americans 18 years or older have received at least one dose of the vaccine, and 65% are fully vaccinated. If those numbers hold true for the poker community, the WSOP would be potentially shut- ting out upwards of 25% of their player base.

Th at being said, enforcing a vaccine mandate may make those who have already gotten the shot more comfortable with playing live poker.

According to a poll Card Player conducted on social media, 41.1% of those who responded said they were MORE likely to play now that proof of vaccination is required.

Only 22.1% said they were LESS likely to play. ♠

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NEVADA CASINOS SMASH REVENUE RECORD YET AGAIN

By Steve Schult

Golden Nugget’s Grand Poker Series Moves To Fall For 2021

Nevada casinos shattered its monthly revenue record in July as the state’s operators made it five consecutive months winning at least $1 billion from gamblers.

According to numbers released by the Nevada Gaming Control Board, patrons of Silver State casinos lost $1.35 billion. It’s the largest one-month sum in the state’s gaming history and breaks the previous record of $1.23 billion set in May. It’s a massive jump from July 2020, as properties were still in the process of reopening, but also a 33%

increase from July 2019.

The state’s robust month came from resurgence of gambling on the Las Vegas Strip. Strip casinos won $793.66 million, more than half of the state’s entire revenue.

According to the Las Vegas Convention and Visitors Authority, the number of people that visited the city jumped 130% from a year ago with 3.3 million visitors. It is still down 10.4%, however, compared to July 2019. A full month’s worth of revenue from Resorts World Las Vegas, and the fact there were five weekends in July added to the Strip’s performance.

Casinos in Clark County, which includes the Las Vegas Strip, won nearly the entirety of the state’s gaming revenue.

The Southern Nevada area collected $1.16 billion from gamblers. Downtown Las Vegas won $71.2 million, which outside of the Strip was the next largest sum.

Given that there is still room to grow from the pre-pandemic era, there are some analysts that are painting a rosy picture for the gaming market. Others, however, are stick- ing to a timeline of 2023 before a full recovery after seeing tourism numbers for August and a rising COVID case count with the Delta variant.

“The trend is going in the wrong direction from a case perspective and that’s not good for group business,” Colin Mansfield, an analyst for Fitch Ratings told Forbes. “There’s still not enough evidence on the convention recovery and international recovery to sway us one way or the other yet on bringing that recovery forward.”

Other areas aside from the Strip won record amounts as well. Washoe and Elko Counties also set single-month records with $100 million and $34 million, respectively.

Elko smashed its record set in March, while Washoe’s nine- figure month was the highest since August 2002.

With the record revenue came a record tax collection.

The state government collected $97.7 million in tax revenue from the casinos. ♠

For the first time in its 13-year history, the Grand Poker Series poker tournament festival will be taking place in the fall. Hosted in thriving Downtown Las Vegas at the Golden Nugget, the Grand Poker Series has become one of the most popular des- tinations for players looking for great tournament action. The 2021 Golden Nugget Grand Poker Series features a total of 50 events, spread across 21 days, from Sept. 28 – Oct. 18.

The centerpiece of the festival will be the $500,000 guaranteed $600 buy-in no limit hold’em championship event, which is scheduled for Thursday, Oct. 7 through Sunday, Oct. 10. This event has had the

. The 2019 running of the championship event attracted a sizable field

of 1,313 entries, easily surpassing the guarantee to create a final prize pool of

$677,508. Michael Policastro earned

$90,630 as the champion.

The championship event features three starting flights this year, each beginning at 11 a.m. local time.

Players will start with 25,000 in tournament chips, with initial blinds of 100-100 and 40-minute levels which will increase to an hour in length at the final table. The tournament will utilize the big blind ante format. The event is unlimited re-entry. Players may play multiple flights. If a player makes it through more than one starting flight, they will take their largest stack forward to day 2, with their smaller stack(s) removed from play in exchange for a minimum day 2 cash.

The Grand Poker Series features more than $1.2 million in guaranteed prize money across the 50-event schedule. Buy-ins for the series range from as low as $100 all the way up to $600 for the championship event. There will be plenty of formats and games to choose from, including a mixed triple draw lowball event, various pot-limit Omaha and Omaha eight-or-better events, a triple stud event, an eight-game mix event, a H.O.R.S.E. event and a tag-team no- limit hold’em event. There will also be three seniors events, each with a

$50,000 guaranteed prize pool. ♠

NEWS FROM THE GAMBLING WORLD

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Phil Galfond Wins Fourth Straight High-Stakes

Poker Match In “Galfond Challenge” Series

By Steve Schult

Phil Galfond remains undefeated in his

“Galfond Challenge” series, having closed out his latest match against Brandon Adams.

In what was Galfond’s fourth victory, Adams ended up conceding down $270,000, according to a tweet from Galfond in August.

Along with the money he won from Adams during play, the Maryland native also picked up an additional $100,000 from their side bet.

Of the seven matches booked in the series, the two poker pros were originally scheduled to play the only live heads-up match. Th ey

had agreed to play 40 hours of $100-$200 pot-limit Omaha at a Las Vegas casino, but as the match was nearing an end with Galfond in the lead, the two disagreed over how much of his time bank should be allowed to use before making a decision.

Other high-stakes poker pros served as arbitrators and decided that the two should just play a set number of hands before concluding the match. With 236 hands remaining in the now-altered live match, and Adams down $16,500, they both agreed to fi nish up by playing 10,000 hands online. Th at lasted for several weeks with Adams losing an additional $253,500 during the process.

Th is is the second consecutive challenge where Galfond forced his opponent into submission before completing the total number of hands originally agreed upon. In January, Chance Kornuth threw in the towel before the end of his 35,000 scheduled hands of $100-$200 pot-limit Omaha. He was down

$726,500 after 25,400 hands.

Before his impressive back-to-back victories over Kornuth and Adams, Galfond bested ‘VeniVidi1993’ in an epic comeback in the fi rst match of the

“Galfond Challenges” and defeated Ioannis ‘ActionFreak’ Kontonastsios in the second.

After being down nearly $1 million to ‘VeniVidi1993,’ Galfond battled back and squeaked out a victory of €1,472, along with the €100,000 side bet.

He defeated Kontonatsios by a €114,765 margin.

With the $370,000 victory against Adams, Galfond is now up more than

$1.7 million through four matches, including side bets.

Th e Maryland native still has matches scheduled against Dan Cates, Luke Schwartz, as well as Bill Perkins. Perkins started the match, but put it on hold, leaving just Cates and Schwartz on deck. Cates made an appearance on Adams’ podcast in mid-August and made comments that alluded to him being next.

“I decided to take on Phil Galfond because he just seems like such a nice guy. He never does anything wrong or gets angry. But I see through his f***ing bulls**t. I see Mr. Galfond for what he really is,” Cates said with a laugh.

Cates, who is known as “jungleman” from his days playing nosebleed stakes on Full Tilt Poker, is scheduled to play 7,500 hands of €100-€200 pot- limit Omaha. All of Galfond’s matches have been in that variant.

His match against Schwartz is the only time Galfond is set to play a non- Omaha match. Th ey will play €1,000-€2,000 8-game mix. No date has been announced for the start of the next match. ♠

PAIR OF TRIBAL CASINOS

CONSIDERING BUILDING MARIJUANA DISPENSARIES

By Steve Schult

A pair of tribal casinos on the east coast are exploring the idea of putting a marijuana dispensary on their property.

According to a MarketWatch report, Harrah’s Cherokee in North Carolina and Foxwoods Resort Casino in Connecticut are looking into adding marijuana sales to their revenue streams.

Both casinos are looking into the possibility of adding facilities of at least 25,000 square feet with a drive- thru option and Amsterdam-style lounges, which despite widespread legalization throughout the country, have not yet been implemented in the U.S. Th ere is no word if guests would be allowed to consume the plant on casino property.

Nevada, one of the country’s largest gambling markets, was one of the fi rst states to legalize marijuana for recreational use after it passed on a ballot initiative in November 2016.

Since the substance is still banned on the federal level, Silver State regu- lators opted to ban consuming the substance inside the state’s gambling facilities.

Tribes don’t have to adhere to many of the same rules and regulations that commercial properties do, however, which could lead to a diff erent decision at these two locations. Th e Cherokee Tribe may convert a now- closed Bingo Hall into their dispensary, while the Mashantucket Pequots are eying a facility near restaurants just off site from its casino.

Connecticut legalized recreational marijuana use earlier this year and expects to launch its non-medical market next year. North Carolina has legislation in the pipeline that would allow for medicinal use, but the Eastern Band of Cherokee Indians has already approved it on tribal land. ♠

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16 CARDPLAYER.COM VOLUME 34 / ISSUE 21

16

ATLANTIC CITY CASINO SUES PHILADELPHIA PROPERTY OVER COPYRIGHTED MARKETING SLOGAN

By Steve Schult

A popular Atlantic City casino is suing a recently opened property in Philadelphia over what it is claiming is unfair use of its slogan.

According to a report from the Cherry Hill Courier-Post, Ocean Casino Resort fi led a lawsuit against Live! Casino & Hotel Philadelphia after Live! Casino launched a marketing campaign centered around the phrase “Let’s Go for the Win.”

Th e lawsuit states that Ocean Casino invested $140,000 into a marketing strategy that was implemented in late June that used the slogan “Go for the Win.” Th e company then used an additional $1.5 million plastering it all over the South Jersey-Philadelphia region. A month later, Live! Casino began using their strikingly similar verbiage and Ocean Casino is claim-

ing foul play.

Th e legal counsel for Ocean Casino is accusing Live! Casino, which opened last January, of unfair business prac- tices since Live! Casino infringed on a copyrighted slogan.

Th e suit states that Ocean fi led an intent-to-use application for the phrase “Go for the Win” with the U.S.

Patent and Trademark Offi ce in early May. It was approved and converted to a use application. It argues that Live!

Casino eff ectively stole the phrase for its own fi nancial gain.

Ocean is seeking an unspecifi ed amount in damages, as well as for Live! to remove all advertising that uses the slogan. Live! Casino used it on TV and website ads, as well as billboards in Atlantic City. Th e suit was fi led at a federal court in Camden,

New Jersey.

Th ere was a similar copyright battle between a pair of Las Vegas casinos in 2019 when Wynn Resorts sued Malaysian gaming giant Genting, which owns Resorts World Las Vegas.

Th e suit stated that Resorts World, which is located right across the street from Wynn and Encore Las Vegas, was architecturally too similar to Wynn’s copyrighted design.

After receiving the $169 million lawsuit for fi ve counts of copyright infringement and unfair competition, Genting changed course and altered the design. ♠

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TO HOST CARD PLAYER POKER TOUR THIS FALL

More Than $10 Million In Guaranteed Prize Money To Be Awarded During The Series

This fall, it’s time to go all in.

The DeepStack Championship Poker Series offers every- thing players crave: the chance to show off their hard- earned skills, the anticipation of the next hand, and the thrill of coming out on top. The best part? When you compete at The Venetian® Resort Las Vegas, you can stay in the largest standard accommodations on the Strip—where every room is a luxurious suite.

From Sept. 27 to Nov. 28, DeepStack will take over with a nine-week frenzy of spirited gaming that boasts 76 tournaments and more than $10 million in guaranteed prize pools.

The DeepStack Championship Poker Series plays out with several options and formats that include bounties and freezeouts, plus multi- and single-day tournaments.

No-limit hold’em and pot-limit Omaha are popular events that fill up quickly. Tournament buy-ins begin at $300 and vary all the way up to $2,500, ensuring there are accessible and exciting options for everyone.

The Card Player Poker Tour also returns Nov. 11-14 with a $2,500 buy-in and a $1 million guarantee.

Among the bigger events you’ll find on the schedule:

• $1,100 No-Limit Hold’em Mid States Poker Tour with a $1 million guarantee Oct. 12-16, 2021

• $1,600 No-Limit Hold’em Mid States Poker Tour with a $1 million guarantee Oct. 18-22, 2021

• $1,100 No-Limit Hold’em Mini DeepStack Championship with a $1 million guarantee Nov. 1-5, 2021

• $1,600 No-Limit Hold’em DeepStack Championship

with a $1 million guarantee Nov. 7- 10, 2021

Connoisseurs of poker know that DeepStack tourna- ments are unmatched, where grit and strategy reveal who has what it takes to win. And the ultimate way to celebrate is to indulge in all The Venetian Resort has to offer. Explore globally inspired restaurants, unparalleled cocktails at The Cocktail Collective, and legendary entertainment while playing in one of the most dynamic events in poker.

A Historical Look At The CPPT Venetian Main Event

This will be the tenth time that the CPPT has teamed up with The Venetian since the tour made its debut at the venue in 2013. More than $15.8 million in prize money has been paid out during the nine previous CPPT Venetian main events. With big fields and high buy-ins, these events have been among the very largest in CPPT history. In fact, the top 10 on the tour’s all-time money list is entirely com- posed of players that have either won or finished in the top few spots in the main events at Venetian.

The inaugural CPPT Venetian main event drew 262 entries back in 2013. WSOP bracelet winner Allyn Shulman came out on top in the $5,000 buy-in tournament to secure the trophy and the top prize of $293,966. Shulman beat out a tough final table full of notable players like Card Player Columnist Jonathan Little (5th place - $67,367), three- time World Poker Tour champion and two-time bracelet winner Anthony Zinno (4th - $86,964), and Dan O’Brien (3rd - $122,485).

The next CPPT Venetian $5,000 buy-in main event was held in 2016. The tournament drew a field of 537

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entries, with Jon Turner beating Artem Metalidi for the win. Turner’s $536,858 bounty as the victor was the largest payday of his career. The 2017 running of the $5,000 buy- in main event saw Spain’s Javier Gomez emerge victorious from a field of 688 entries, overcoming Paul Hoefer heads- up to earn the $561,349 top prize. It remains the largest payout in CPPT history.

The first-ever running of a CPPT Venetian main event held outside of the summer months saw Mike Dentale beat out a field of 235 entries in a $3,500 buy-in tournament in December of 2017 to win $185,061. He outlasted a final table that included three-time bracelet winner Paul Volpe (9th - $17,026), WPT main event winner Dylan Linde (6th - $34,792), 2021 POY race leader Ali Imsirovic (4th - $61,441), bracelet winner and 2010 WSOP main event third-place finisher Joseph Cheong (3rd - $82,908), and two-time WSOP bracelet winner Mark Radoja (2nd -

$115,035).

2015 Card Player Player of the Year award winner Anthony Zinno navigated his way through a field of 547 entries to win the 2018 CPPT Venetian $5,000 buy-in main

event. Zinno survived a stacked final table, overcoming the likes of 2014 WSOP main event champion Martin Jacobson (9th - $48,068), 2013 WSOP main event runner-up Jay Farber (5th - $134,083), and bracelet winner and high- stakes tournament star Stephen Chidwick (4th - $177,091).

Zinno earned $466,670 as the champion.

That winter, Jon Turner came out on top of a field of 341 entries in the $3,500 buy-in main event held in December to win his second CPPT Venetian title and the top prize of $201,000. Turner struck a deal with 2015 PokerStars Caribbean Adventure $25,000 high roller runner-up Joe Kuether (2nd - $198,584) during heads-up play to bring the event to a close.

European Poker Tour and WPT main event winner Andrey Pateychuk took down the 2019 CPPT Venetian

$5,000 buy-in main event, earning $547,777 as the champion. The tournament had drawn 564 entries. Among the other big names at the final table were WSOP bracelet winner Chris Klodnicki (4th - $182,595) and Stephen Chidwick, who managed to improve by one spot on his fourth-place finish in 2018 (3rd - $245,199).

The December 2019 $3,500 buy-in CPPT Venetian main event was won by Ukrainian poker pro Valentyn Shabelnyk. He topped a tough final table that included high-stakes tournament player George Wolff (3rd -

$60,480) and two-time bracelet winner Steve Sung (2nd - $85,176) to lock up the trophy and the $136,080 top prize.

The most recent running of the CPPT Venetian saw WSOP bracelet winner Ankush Mandavia top a field of 652 entries in a $2,500 buy-in event in the early months of 2021. Mandavia took home $260,000 for the win after striking a heads-up deal with Anselmo Villarreal.

Be sure to make your way to The Venetian® Resort Las Vegas this fall to take your shot at becoming the next cham- pion crowned on the Card Player Poker Tour.

Jon Turner

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$400 No-Limit Hold’em Survivor $15K GTD 9/27 1 $400

$800 No-Limit Hold’em UltimateStack $400K GTD* 9/28 4 $800

$600 Limit Omaha 8/OB $50K GTD* 9/28 3 $600

$600 No-Limit Hold’em MonsterStack $50K GTD 10/1 1 $600

$800 Pot-Limit Omaha 8/OB $40K GTD 10/2 1 $800

$600 No-Limit Hold’em UltimateStack Freeze Out $200K GTD* 10/3 4 $600

$800 Big O $75K GTD* 10/7 3 $800

$300 NLH Mega Satellite (5 seats GTD) 10/9 1 $300

$1,100 No-Limit Hold’em UltimateStack $400K GTD* 10/9 3 $1,100

$1,100 No-Limit Hold’em MonsterStack $150K GTD 10/11 1 $1,100

$1,100 MSPT No-Limit Hold’em $1 Million GTD* 10/12 5 $1,100

$600 Pot-Limit Omaha $40K GTD 10/12 1 $600

$1,100 No-Limit Hold’em DoubleStack $150K GTD 10/15 1 $1,100

$1,100 Pot-Limit Omaha $75K GTD 10/16 1 $1,100

$800 No-Limit Hold’em UltimateStack $75K GTD 10/17 2 $800

$1,600 MSPT No-Limit Hold’em $1 Million GTD* 10/18 5 $1,600

$1,100 No-Limit Hold’em DoubleStack $150K GTD 10/21 1 $1,100

$600 No-Limit Hold’em MonserStack $250K GTD* 10/22 4 $600

$800 Pot-Limit Omaha 8/OB $75K GTD* 10/24 3 $800

$1,100 No-Limit Hold’em UltimateStack $400K GTD* 10/26 3 $1,100

$800 No-Limit Hold’em Seniors (50+) $300K GTD* 10/29 3 $800

$600 Pot-Limit Omaha / Pot-Limit Omaha 8/OB $40K GTD 10/29 1 $600

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CARDPLAYER.COM 2121

Event Starts Days Buy-In

$800 No-Limit Hold’em Super Seniors (60+) $50K GTD 11/1 2 $800

$1,100 Mini DeepStack Championship No-Limit Hold’em $1 Million GTD* 11/1 5 $1,100

$800 Pot-Limit Omaha $75K GTD* 11/5 3 $800

$1,600 DeepStack Championship No-Limit Hold’em $1 Million GTD* 11/7 4 $1,600

$600 Pot-Limit Omaha Bounty $30K GTD 11/10 1 $600

$2,500 CPPT No-Limit Hold’em $1 Million GTD* 11/11 4 $2,500

$300 NLH Turbo Mega Satellite (2 seats GTD) 11/12 1 $300

$800 No-Limit Hold’em UltimateStack Freeze Out $150K GTD* 11/15 3 $800

$600 Limit Omaha 8/OB $30K GTD 11/15 1 $600

$600 No-Limit Hold’em EpicStack $250K GTD* 11/18 4 $600

$800 Pot-Limit Omaha $40K GTD 11/18 1 $800

$400 No-Limit Hold’em MonsterStack Freeze Out $20K GTD 11/21 1 $400

$400 No-Limit Hold’em MonsterStack $150K GTD* 11/22 3 $400

$300 No-Limit Hold’em Bounty $12K GTD 11/22 1 $300

$300 No-Limit Hold’em Turbo $10K GTD 11/25 1 $300

$400 No-Limit Hold’em UltimateStack $100K GTD* 11/26 3 $400

$400 No-Limit Hold’em MonsterStack Freeze Out $20K GTD 11/28 1 $400

*Indicates multiple starting days

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Poker Prodigy Already Crushing The High

Roller Circuit

Zhuang Ruan Talks About Dropping Out Of High School To Pursue Poker At The Highest Stakes

By Steve Schult

W

hile many 20-year-olds spend their time just trying to stay awake through their college classes, Zhuang Ruan is busy mov- ing from one high-stakes tournament series to the next.

And despite the fact that he isn’t even old enough to gamble in most U.S. casinos, Ruan has managed to stay busy, racking up $2.3 million in earnings in locations where he is allowed to play. Luckily for the Pennsylvania native, Florida’s minimum age for poker players is 18, as it is in much of Europe.

Jumping Right In With The Sharks Ruan made a huge splash in the poker world in August, winning the

$50,000 Super High Roller event at the Hard Rock Poker Open at the

Seminole Hard Rock Casino in Hollywood, Florida. He bested an elite, 29-entry fi eld, and battled high roller regular Dan Smith heads-up to earn $562,600.

At the outset of the heads-up match, it seemed like a real David vs. Goliath type of match. A rela- tive unknown that won’t even be old enough to play the World Series of Poker this fall, against a seasoned pro with $37.5 million in live tournament earnings sitting fi fth on the all-time money list.

After discussions of a chop went nowhere, Smith jumped out to an early lead looking like he was primed to add another victory to his already lengthy resume. But Ruan battled back and eventually bested Smith, earning the title and likely some respect from the

regulars at those stakes.

Despite it being his fi rst-ever

$50,000 buy-in event and pocketing a mid-six-fi gure victory, there was no celebration. In fact, there was barely a peep out of Ruan. He took the winner’s photo with some of his friends and calmly walked over to the cashier to collect his money.

“It was just like a heads-up sit n’

go,” he told tournament reporters after the match. “I used to play those back in the day, so I’m familiar with the swingy-ness of heads-up.”

It was his fi rst high-stakes win, but Ruan was already acting like he belonged there. Because in his mind he did. Ruan was already playing high-stakes cash games and tournaments online well before he even set foot in the Seminole Hard Rock. ^©^M

erit Poker

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Poker Beginnings

During his days in high school, Ruan was an avid gamer and spent quite a bit of time playing video games. He eventually made the switch to poker after a nudge from one of the most unlikely sources.

“I used to love playing Minecraft and League of Legends,” said Ruan.

“And my mom actually got me into poker when she saw me playing video games. She saw some doctor playing poker on ESPN and so, in her mind, it was like if I played poker, I might be a doctor. I started playing poker then.”

After his mother convinced him to start grinding it out on the felt, Ruan found himself gambling for fake currency in one of the video games he was playing at the time.

“I was playing Runescape at the time she mentioned poker,” said

Ruan. “And then there was this bot that was advertising for Runescape poker. I checked it out and that’s how I first played.”

From there on out, he was hooked.

He was winning video game currency that he could sell to other gamers for real money. He eventually converted enough fake money into legit cash to make a small deposit on Global Poker under his father’s name, and play for real money for the first time.

Ruan’s poker journey was different than most other younger players that came before him. With poker lacking the mainstream appeal it once had, there weren’t as many 17-year-old high school kids dreaming of being the next Chris Moneymaker.

He wasn’t a poker fan. He wasn’t watching poker on television. He was just playing poker.

When he got heads-up with Dan

Smith, he didn’t even realize he was squaring off against one of the most decorated players in the history of the game. There was no intimidation.

Smith was just another guy in his way.

A Quick Rise Up The Ranks

After he converted enough Runescape gold for actual money, he started his real money poker journey playing no-limit hold’em cash games with a maximum buy-in of $1, but quickly worked his way up the ranks.

It’s how he built a $50,000 bankroll by the time he was 17, at which point high school became monotonous.

“I had to commute an hour each way to school, so that wasn’t great,”

said Ruan, who attended a magnet school outside of Philadelphia. “High school was super boring for me. I slept through my classes. I liked the social aspect of it, of course, but eventually it was just… I was making enough in poker that I just didn’t feel like going to school anymore.”

With the amount of time he spent at the table, he had very little time to do anything else. He was already playing 50 hours of poker each week, coupled with two hours of daily travel time to and from his school, as well as several hours spent in his actual classes. He knew it was time to leave and give full-time poker a try.

One day, he accidentally got the jumpstart he needed to dive head-first into poker. There was a scheduled protest at Ruan’s school where a large group of students were supposed to walk out. Ruan was the only person who did it, and on his way out he got caught by a teacher who slapped him with a detention.

“At that point what went through my head was, ‘I’m making more than you and I don’t really want to deal with this anymore.’ So, I took the train home,” said Ruan. “I told my parents I wasn’t going back to school, and never went back.”

His parents were aware of his growing bankroll and took the decision in stride. Within five months of dropping out, Ruan was playing

$10-$20 no-limit hold’em, the highest stakes available on Global Poker at the time.

The Secret To His Success

During the poker boom, most players that made rapid ascents did so through trial and error and discus- sion among a group of poker playing friends. Ruan, however, figured it out on his own.

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CARDPLAYER.COM

“Solver work,” he said, when asked how he improved. “Solver work, and I probably have some level of intuition for the game that not everyone has.”

Through countless hours of study and aggressive bankroll management, Ruan found himself at the top of the online poker pecking order before most of his friends graduated. He was so successful at no-limit hold’em, he decided to move over to pot-limit Omaha because he “got bored” with the two-card game.

The winning didn’t stop in Omaha either. He was beating the biggest Omaha games online and he found himself falling out of love with the game that he had such wild success over the course of a few years.

“I didn’t like poker,” said Ruan. “I was playing cash games at the time and it was super bum hunty. You would have 16 tables open and you would wait for someone bad to sit. And then everyone would fill the table. And at the time, I wasn’t making any more progress in poker in terms of increas- ing the amount I could be making. I was just very stagnant.”

And when he did find some action, he compared playing long sessions to incarceration.

“It’s like jail,” said Ruan. “When someone really bad would join, he was like the jailkeeper. You would not be able to leave until he felt like leaving.

I’d probably play about three hours on average, but if someone really bad joined a high-stakes game, I’d be there for 16 hours just sitting in prison.”

Taking A Break

At that point, Ruan decided that he was going to get his GED and give college a try.

“I got my GED faster than my high school mates got their high school degrees because I just went in and took the test,” said Ruan. “So I took six months off [from poker], and I went to Japan for college.”

In December of last year, Ruan enrolled in a university in Tokyo.

He majored in International Business Management, but before long he got the familiar itch, and realized that he wasn’t going to get that degree either.

“I didn’t really want to actually go through college,” he admitted. “I just wanted to see what it was like. Japan sounded like a nice place. I attended classes for a month and a half and then I stopped going. But I stayed in Japan for another five months because it was a pretty cool place to be.”

While he was in Japan, he dove back into poker. He was developing a piece of poker software dubbed

“SquidTool” which was functioning as a preflop solver. Since he was work- ing on the tool in Japan, he had access to online options that weren’t available to Americans.

He opened an account on GGPoker and saw that the tournaments running on the site were much bigger than the ones running on the other side of the Pacific Ocean.

“I was like, ‘Wait, they run $10K’s every week?’

Becoming A High Roller

Shortly after turning 20 years old, and having played poker profession- ally for nearly three years, Ruan made his second major poker transition, this time to multi-table tournaments.

Unlike cash games on American- facing sites, however, he felt the upside in these games was huge.

able. “The reason cash games aren’t as profitable is because there’s a limit to how much you’re able to play, and for which stakes you’re able to play.

Obviously, the higher you play, the more you make. And you get to play higher stakes more consistently with tournaments.”

He spent a couple of months figur- ing out tournament strategy with more solver work while playing anything between $109 and $1,000 buy-ins. He realized that tournaments involved a more complex decision tree since stacks sizes constantly fluctuated, and ICM [Independent Chip Model] was weighing on your every decision, espe- cially as the money bubble neared.

“Cash games are sort of solved.

If I wanted to, I could figure it out.

I could build a whole game tree and show you,” said Ruan. “It’s like everyone is studying from the same mate- rial. But because of ICM and the varying stacks in MTT’s, it’s a much more complicated game.”

After a couple of months studying, Ruan jumped up in stakes. Instead of playing a max buy-in of $1,000, he made the leap to $5,000, $10,000, and even $25,000 buy-ins. He was playing the biggest stakes online. Once again, for the third time, in a third poker variant, Ruan was on top.

While he was in Japan grinding online tournaments, he nabbed a score larger than the High Roller title he won in Florida. Ruan made a deep run in the GGPoker Spring Festival

$1,500 no-limit hold’em main event.

The event had a $10 million guaranteed prize pool and 6,803 entries to maneuver through over the course of two days.

After a small chop and save heads- up with an unknown Austrian player, Ruan finished runner-up for a whop- ping $952,195.

And once again, he got bored.

Transitioning To Live Poker

“At the time, Japan was under quarantine, so I couldn’t go out,” said Ruan. “I wasn’t even playing all day.

I’d just play Sundays.”

Ruan decided it was time for another change of scenery and trav- eled back to the United States. Instead of going back to Pennsylvania, where he would be limited to online poker with much smaller stakes than he just became accustomed to, he headed © PokerGO

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south to Florida, where the legal age to play live poker is just 18.

At the Seminole Hard Rock property in Tampa, Ruan took down a $5,000 no-limit hold’em World Poker Tour prelim event for $66,837. He then took the ride down I-75 to its sister property near Fort Lauderdale, where he made his splash in the High Roller.

Since the tournaments around Florida were wrapping up, it was time for Ruan to leave his home country once again in search of bigger buy-ins that he was eligible to play. First was a stop in Vancouver to play several WSOP Online events. He earned a single min-cash in a $1,000 buy-in event before deciding to make yet

another jump in stakes.

Ruan hopped on a plane and flew from the west coast of Canada to the Mediterranean. Having just played his first five-figure buy-in in Florida a few weeks prior, Ruan ponied up

$250,000 to play in the Super High Roller Bowl main event.

Out of the 41 entries, Ruan finished third, earning $1.64 million and the first seven-figure score of his career.

Who knows how long it will take until Ruan gets bored again? But in the meantime, the high roller circuit has been put on notice that there’s a 20-year-old waiting in the wings, ready for his turn at the top.

The Quick Start To Ruan’s Career

Date Event Finish Payout

Jan. 2019 PokerStars Caribbean Adventure $1,100 PLO 1st Place $20,260

April 2019 Hard Rock Poker Showdown $2,200 PLO 3rd Place $15,120

April 2021 GGPoker Spring Festival $1,500 NLHE 2nd Place $952,194

June 2021 World Poker Tour Hard Rock Tampa $5,000 NLHE 1st Place $66,837

Aug. 2021 Hard Rock Poker Open $50,000 NLHE 1st Place $562,600

Aug. 2021 Super High Roller Bowl Europe $250,000 NLHE 3rd Place $1,640,000

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CARDPLAYER.COM

HIGH-STAKES LIVE TOURNAMENT

POKER RETURNS TO EUROPE WITH A BANG

Super High Roller Bowl Europe Series Paid Out $27 Million Across 10 Events In August

By Erik Fast

The international high-stakes tournament circuit made its way to Merit Royal Hotel & Casino in Cyprus during the final days of August for the 2021 Super High Roller Bowl Europe. The festival fea- tured a total of ten nosebleed buy-in events ranging from $25,000 all the way up through the $250,000 championship event.

The tournaments alternated between two formats: no-limit hold’em and short deck, with five events of each game. A total of

$27,650,000 in prize money was ultimately awarded across the series, with plenty of big names coming away with trophies and massive pay-

outs.

The first event on the schedule was a $25,000 buy-in short deck, which attracted a field of 48 entries.

10-time WSOP bracelet winner Phil Ivey emerged victorious in the end, securing the final four knockouts to lock up the $408,000 first-place prize and his first live poker tournament title of 2021.

The 44-year-old Poker Hall of Famer’s last recorded cash in a live open event came in March of 2020, when he racked up nearly $1.7 million in the span of a week at the MILLIONS Super High Roller Sochi, one of the last high-stakes tournament series to run before the live

poker shutdown that lasted through most of 2020. Ivey did have one win since then, but it came in an invita- tional $25,000 heads-up event. Ivey defeated fellow high-stakes legend Patrik Antonius in the finals to lock up the title. He was also not yet done making deep runs at this year’s SHRB Europe, though. More on that later.

The $25,000 no-limit hold’em event drew the largest field of the series, with 81 entries building a

$2,025,000 prize pool. France’s Johan Guilbert came out on top, taking home $506,250 for the win.

This was the largest live tournament score of Guilbert’s career, blow- Wiktor Malinowski Wins SHRB Europe Main Event

Photos courtesy of Merit Poker

PLAYER_26_SHRB.indd 26 9/16/21 10:47 AM

Vol. 34/No. 21

www.CardPlayer.com

Tom Dwan Hands Phil Hellmuth His

First Loss On High Stakes Duel

Zhuang Ruan:

Meet The 20 -Year-Old Already Crushing The High Roller Circuit

Wiktor Malinowski Banks $3.7 Million In

Super High Roller Bowl Europe

Over 35%

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TOM DWAN HANDS PHIL HELLMUTH HIS FIRST LOSS ON POKERGO’S HIGH STAKES DUEL

News

POKER COMMUNITY DIVIDED OVER WORLD SERIES OF POKER VACCINE MANDATE

NEVADA CASINOS SMASH REVENUE RECORD YET AGAIN

Golden Nugget’s Grand Poker Series Moves To Fall For 2021

NEWS FROM THE GAMBLING WORLD

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Phil Galfond Wins Fourth Straight High-Stakes

Poker Match In “Galfond Challenge” Series

PAIR OF TRIBAL CASINOS

CONSIDERING BUILDING MARIJUANA DISPENSARIES

ATLANTIC CITY CASINO SUES PHILADELPHIA PROPERTY OVER COPYRIGHTED MARKETING SLOGAN

TO HOST CARD PLAYER POKER TOUR THIS FALL

More Than $10 Million In Guaranteed Prize Money To Be Awarded During The Series

Poker Prodigy Already Crushing The High

Roller Circuit

Zhuang Ruan Talks About Dropping Out Of High School To Pursue Poker At The Highest Stakes

W

HIGH-STAKES LIVE TOURNAMENT

POKER RETURNS TO EUROPE WITH A BANG

Super High Roller Bowl Europe Series Paid Out $27 Million Across 10 Events In August