Ante Up Poker Podcast: Chapter 3 Ep. 47
“When the Cards Fly and the Nits Hide”
Host: Joe Scales
Date: December 5, 2025

Episode Overview

This week’s episode is a lively, insightful exploration of current poker room happenings, the growing impact of AI in poker and content, a heated rules debate with the ever-wise Elliot Schechter, classic strategy breakdowns in Hand of the Week, and Joe Scales’ humorous but pointed defense of “the art of folding.” Regulars Elle, Dustin King (Poker Room Director, Schenectady), Patrick, and Elliot bring humor, banter, and sharp analysis for the everyday poker enthusiast.

Table Talk with Dustin King

[03:34 – 28:13]

Poker Room & Tournament Updates

• The Electric City Mini Event:
  • Final event of the year: $50,000 guarantee, five starting flights, Day 2 on Sunday, followed by a $10,000 black chip bounty ([04:00]).
  • New “One and Done” no re-entry tournament on some December Wednesdays, continuing into the new year ([05:39]).
  • Upcoming tournament leaderboard promo with a quarterly $5,000 free roll for the top 27 point earners ([06:04]).

“Leaderboards make people behave wild. I love watching what happens over the series.”
— Joe Scales [06:20]

• Community & Festive Notes:
  • Dustin, Elle, and Joe joke about Christmas shopping procrastination and celebrating Joe’s mom’s 70th ([04:51]–[05:02]).
  • Regular events for New Year’s, including high hands, an Uber Stack, and more “One and Done.”

WSOP No Limit Docuseries Controversy

• Overview:
  • The much-anticipated WSOP documentary was yanked from YouTube after it was discovered AI was used in the editing—altering or fabricating cast members’ dialogue without consent ([07:35]–[09:25]).
  • Notable players featured included Negreanu, Hellmuth, Lexi, Gavin Mather, Kristin Foxen, and the Keating brothers—who complained after AI tampered with their footage.

“What are you thinking when you don’t tell these people that AI is going to be used to change or enhance or fabricate things?...That’s not the way to use AI and that’s why a lot of people…have some distrust in it.”
— Dustin King [09:40]

• Big Picture:
  • AI as a tool is fine, but transparency and consent are key.
  • Joe reflects on how he uses AI for email rewrites and Vegas planning, but echoes concern about its misuse in creative contexts ([10:09]-[11:40]).

“All the good the AI can do, somebody uses it for something negative like that…and doesn’t…bother to say…‘we just thought this would be more interesting if we added it like this or whatever.’”
— Joe Scales [11:40]

AI vs. AI Poker Tournament

[12:27 – 20:38]

• Battle of the Bots:

  • In October 2025, a unique event put various large language model (LLM) AIs—including OpenAI, Claude Sonet, Grok, Meta’s Llama—against each other in simulated online poker ([12:41]–[14:32]).
  • OpenAI took first place, Claude second, Grok third; “Meta Llama” lost its entire bankroll, showing LLMs can have (quirky) playstyles.
  • Each AI started with a $100,000 simulated bankroll, playing 3,800 hands over four simultaneous nine-handed tables.

• Player “Personalities”:

  • Meta Llama’s 60% VPIP (Voluntarily Put $ In Pot): playing so loose “we might need to rename it to Meta Fish” ([16:57]).
  • Discussion about how these AI agents mimic diverse human behaviors, and what might happen as they accumulate more experience.

“It’d be really interesting to see what these AI tools start doing after they simulate, you know, millions and billions…and see how they start playing. Do they all start playing alike?”
— Dustin King [18:28]

Additional Topics

• New York City Casino Developments
  • Three major proposals for new NY casinos: $4B at Ferris Point golf course in Bronx, $8.1B at MET Park near Citi Field, and a multi-billion upgrade for Resorts World Aqueduct in Queens ([21:47]–[25:32]).
  • Revenue from these is already factored into the state budget; infrastructure improvements cited as major benefit.
  • Upstate vs. NYC poker community attitudes and predicted local impact.

“Upstate New York and New York City are kind of worlds apart. I don’t think a lot of upstate people voluntarily go to the city if they don’t have to.”
— Dustin King [23:32]

Community Shoutouts

• Rivers Casino’s Shauna
  • Won “Front of House” – Rivers Finest award ([26:48]).
  • Joe sings her praises: “She’s there to be there for the players. And you couldn’t ask for a better person in your poker room.” ([27:13])

Call the Floor with Elliot Schechter

[28:13 – 40:17]

Ruling Scenario: Is the Hand Dead?

Submitted by Jason Shut

• Situation:
  • Old-timer gets excited after realizing he's won; slams his two cards down, one flies off the table. Villain demands the hand is dead; floor rules in villain’s favor ([29:00–30:12]).

Elliot’s Analysis

• Historical Context:
  • Some rooms have ancient rules: any card off the table is dead (from “deal your own” era).
• Modern Standard:
  • As long as the card is “identifiable and retrievable,” it should be live ([31:26]).
  • Surveillance and witnesses can confirm it was the correct card.
• Principle:
  • The spirit of the rules: best hand should win, avoid technicalities being exploited by angle shooters.

“The goal is to…make sure the best hand gets the money, and…that the outcome is fair for everyone…This was only fair to the person who didn’t have the best hand and not fair to anybody else.”
— Elliot Schechter [32:19]

• Advice:
  • “Don’t be cute, don’t be fancy, don’t be stupid. When you’re showing your cards, just simply turn your hand over and put it on the table.” ([34:38])

Hand of the Week with Patrick

[40:31 – 61:12]

Submitted by Will Cameron

• Game: $1/$3 cash, $400 buy-in
• Hand: Cutoff with A♦ J♣
• Preflop: Two limpers, raises to $15; three-way to the flop.
• Flop: J♥ 9♥ 4♣ – bets $25, only button calls.
• Turn: 3♠ – bets $45, button raises to $120.
• Analysis:
  • Joe advocates caution, noting the raise likely means a set or strong draw.
  • Patrick’s tempted to call, playing the “curious hero.”
  • Will calls, pot now $306.

“I have been called a nit the last two weeks…I’m saving my $75.”
— Joe Scales [51:04]

• River: K♠ – Will checks, button bets $180. Will tanks and eventually calls.
• Result: Button has Q♠ 10♠ (rivered straight).
• Lessons:
  • Turn raise was the warning; river bet is rarely a bluff at these stakes.
  • Need to ask “Who plays this way, with what hands, how often?”
  • Recognize when you’re up against strength, not just “fishing to be right.”

“But in the moment, my brain found just enough reasons to convince myself to be curious, and it cost me a solid chunk of my stack. That’s the pain of $1/3 poker.”
— Will [58:41]

Joe’s One Outer:

“The Art of Folding”
[61:22 – 64:47]

Joe humorously addresses being labeled a “nit” for folding more lately, defending folding as the often-overlooked skill of true discipline.

“Folding is actually the adulting of poker. It’s paying bills. It’s eating a salad when you really want a cheeseburger. It’s choosing not to argue with that guy on Facebook who decided the earth is flat. It’s not fun, but it saves your life. Your poker life.”
— Joe Scales [61:22]

• Key message:
  Folding isn’t weakness—it’s poker survival. It’s what keeps you in the game long enough to exploit the real profitable spots.

Notable Quotes

• “Leaderboards make people behave wild.” – Joe Scales [06:20]
• “If a bot can bust, I can bust.” – Joe Scales [16:31]
• “It’s okay to use [AI] as a tool, but…you need to be getting consent and making sure that it’s used with some transparency.” – Dustin King [09:40]
• “Don’t be cute, don’t be fancy, don’t be stupid. When you’re showing your cards, just simply turn your hand over…” – Elliot Schechter [34:38]
• “Folding is underrated. It’s survival. It’s discipline. It’s self-preservation for people like me that like to tell themselves they play aggressively when it matters.” – Joe Scales [63:54]

Key Timestamps

• Table Talk begins: [03:34]
• NY Casino Proposals: [21:47]
• Call the Floor w/ Elliot: [28:13]
• Hand of the Week: [40:31]
• Joe’s One Outer (Folding): [61:22]

Episode Flow & Tone

The show is playful, witty, frank, and rooted in everyday poker. There’s enthusiastic banter, occasional self-deprecation (particularly around folding and “nitting”), and genuine curiosity about both poker’s cultural side (“table talk”) and the modern edge (technology, casino developments). The episode skillfully weaves humor with useful insight, making it a must-listen for both casual and serious players.

For Further Information

• Participate:
  Email your Call the Floor or Hand of the Week scenarios to podcastyupmagazine.com
• Home Games:
  Patreon-only Hold’em game: Thursday, Dec 11th, 8:30 EST
• Discord & Magazine:
  See show notes or anteupmagazine.com

Note: Intro/outro ads & credits excluded from summary.