Chapter 4 Ep. 25 More Than Just a Card Game

Summary

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Ante Up Poker Podcast

Chapter 4, Episode 25: "More Than Just a Card Game"

Date: July 3, 2026
Host: Joe Scales
Co-Hosts: Elle, Annie (possibly), Patrick
Featured Guest: Elliot Schechter

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Episode Overview

The episode dives into poker as a social force that transcends the game itself, centering around recent experiences on a poker cruise, upcoming poker event news, and listener-submitted strategy and etiquette questions. The theme, “More Than Just a Card Game,” explores how poker creates a vibrant and inclusive community, bridging human connections across all walks of life. The episode also features a landmark rules segment and an insightful Hand of the Week—delivering both humor and actionable poker advice.

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Table Talk: Poker Cruising Recap

[00:48–16:24]

Key Points & Insights

• Returning from Poker Cruise:
  Elle, Annie, and Elliot enthusiastically recount the recent poker cruise on Princess Cruises:
  • Immersive play, top-tier staff, high levels of hygiene, and outstanding amenities ("We stayed in that poker room. Oh, my gosh… The trip in general—fan-freaking-tastic." – Co-host, 03:06)
  • Highlighted rigorous hygiene protocols on board, frequent cleaning, and friendly staff ensuring a safe environment.
  • Variety and quality of buffet food praised—“I could have just lived on that” (Elle, 05:15).
  • Nostalgic throwbacks to the "Ruby Tuesday-esque" salad bar, theme nights (80s day, Western day), and a communal cruise spirit.
  • Poker room described as a “home game at sea,” with camaraderie setting it apart from typical casino environments.
  • Most fun: PLO table, lauding Jan Fisher's humor and Linda Johnson's mentorship.

"I just want to like follow [Jan Fisher] around, just to listen to her stories and have conversations with her. So fun. Linda Johnson was phenomenal." —Co-host (08:58)

• Inclusivity & First-Timers:
  • Heartwarming story of a co-host's mom (“Miss Mary”) learning poker directly from Linda Johnson, overcoming anxiety, and being embraced by the group.
  • Age- and hearing-related challenges overcome by community encouragement.
  • She is now a team leader on Angry Birds and contemplating making poker her primary game pastime.

"She's going to be dangerous.” —Co-host, on her mom now playing poker (13:52)

• Other Cruise Highlights:
  • Watching the World Cup on the ship’s top deck ([10:24])
  • Shoutout to “Ain’t Gonna Lie” beer from Grand Turk Island.

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Upcoming Events & Poker Room News

[16:24–21:20]

• Alaska Poker Cruise (August):

  • Limited cabins remaining—advised to call soon.
  • Excitement for upcoming Schenectady stop (September) and debut trip to San Diego’s Saquon Casino (October).
  • Praise for Saquon’s community engagement, promos ("They listen and see and hear what people want." —Elle, 17:43), including:
    • High Hand Extravaganza: Chance every 30 minutes to win a share of $7,000.
    • "Drive Me Wild" promotion: Earn entries toward a grand prize Can-Am Commander (18:52).

• Swag and Patches:

  • Red, black & white Annie Up hats and patches available for attendees.

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Poker News & Community Shoutouts

[21:20–28:48]

World Series of Poker 2026 Highlights

• Media and personalities:

  • “Mike the Grinder” Mizrahi kicked off the main event, bragging about going "back-to-back."
  • Entertaining ESPN commercials with Eli & Peyton Manning spoofing Go Fish.
  • Phil Hellmuth’s grandiose table entrances: The hosts are less than amused ("It's run its course... no more, Phil." —Elle, 22:27), though acknowledge creativity in his antics.

• Winners & Notable Moments:

  • Daniel Negreanu "DNegs" wins his 8th bracelet, this time in PLO (24:12).
  • Martin Cabral’s victory in an online hybrid, but called out for refusing a handshake:

    “That’s unexcused... You need to still treat other people with respect.” —Co-host (25:36)

  • Marcus Gonsalves wins six-max NLH (26:25), Sky Chen wins Ladies’ Event (26:43), Daisuke Ogita deep in Mini Main.
  • Listener community “super seniors”—a Yankees fan and a Red Sox fan—meet at the event and celebrate camaraderie despite sports rivalries.

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Call the Floor (Listener Poker Rules Question)

[31:18–39:29]

Scenario & Ruling

• Submitted by Saul Barron: In a home game, at blinds 2,000/4,000 — Button shoves 4,500. Small blind calls. Big blind wants to raise 60,000 more. Is raising permitted if the original raise wasn’t a “full legal raise”?
• Elliot Schechter’s Ruling ([33:41]):
  • Yes, big blind may raise. The incomplete raise doesn’t limit the options of players who haven’t acted yet.
  • If someone goes all-in for less than a full raise, active players retain their full options as if the partial raise didn’t exist. Those WITH money in have their action “closed” unless facing another full raise.
  • “Pay that man his money. You lose.” —Elliot, 33:44
  • Provided insight into why proper application of betting rules matters for fairness and game flow.

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Hand of the Week

[40:14–56:09]

Scenario (Sent by Jason Carter)

• Game: $2/5 NLHE, $1,100 stacks
• Villain: Solid, aggressive reg, “capable of putting pressure on people.”
• Action:
  • MP opens $20; Hero (button) calls with Q♣9♣; pot $47
  • Flop: K♦ J♠ 8♣; Villain c-bets $30 → Hero calls (gutshot + backdoors)
  • Turn: 10♦ (Hero makes straight); Villain pots $100 → Hero raises to $300
  • Villain shoves; Hero must call $780 to win ~$1,200
  • Hero calls. Villain has A♦9♦ (nut flush + gutshot Broadway draw).
  • River: 2♠ — straight holds, Hero wins.

Analysis & Takeaways

• Both Patrick and Elle agree:

  • Pre-flop call is standard, could 3-bet if dynamic fits.
  • Flop call is fine for gutshot + backdoor clubs.
  • Turn raise is mandatory with second nuts—only AQ is beating Hero, and Q is partially blocked.
  • Snap call on Villain’s shove; equity dictates call.
  • Notable Quote:

    "This is why we play Q9 suited from the button.” —Elle, 51:50

• Friends' critique that raising is spewy is disputed as “nonsense”—doing so builds pots for value with the best hand.

"If they don't think [second nuts] is strong enough to raise, what is?” —Elle, 54:27
"Option C: Get some new friends. They're wrong." —Patrick, 53:51

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Joe’s One Outer: Poker, Community, and Friendship

[56:47–end]

A moving reflection on how poker brings together people from radically different backgrounds to create lasting friendships—illustrated by the “Red Sox vs Yankees” photo from the listener Discord.

• Poker erases job titles, income, sports loyalty—everyone is just another player for a few hours.
• Community members become real friends, not just screen names.
• “In a world that constantly reminds us what makes us different, poker has this way of reminding us what we have in common.” —Elle, 59:47

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Notable Quotes & Memorable Moments (Timestamps)

• "Fan freaking tastic." —Co-host, 03:06 (on the cruise)
• "Poker cruising has a core group and you just don't know what that means until you experience it. I'm itching to be back with these people." —Co-host, 08:12
• “She’s got such a poker face. I go, no, she's actually just confused right now. Don't try to get a read because it's not going to be accurate.” —Co-host, 14:04
• “He said before we even got on the boat, this is what he was going to do. So that man came determined.” —Co-host, 15:36 (about Main Event winner Mike Pascal)
• “Pay that man his money. You lose.” —Elliot Schechter, 33:44
• “Option C: Get some new friends. They're wrong.” —Patrick, 53:51
• “In a world that constantly reminds us what makes us different, poker has this way of reminding us what we have in common.” —Elle, 59:47

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Important Timestamps

| Segment | Timestamp | |---------------------------------|------------| | Poker cruise stories | 00:48–16:24| | Upcoming events & Saquon news | 16:24–21:20| | WSOP & community news | 21:20–28:48| | Call the Floor (rules question) | 31:18–39:29| | Hand of the Week analysis | 40:14–56:09| | One Outer (final reflection) | 56:47–end |

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Final Thoughts

This episode radiates the warmth and inclusivity of the Ante Up community, expertly blending travelogue, strategic insight, spirited banter, and genuinely moving reflections on why poker is “more than just a card game.” Listeners leave with practical knowledge, a sense of belonging, and a reminder of the game’s power to bring people together.

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For event details, hand submissions, or to join the community, visit: anteuppmagazine.com
Stay safe, play responsibly, and see you at the tables!

Transcript

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[Show Host]

Welcome to the show. You're on the A team. Stack your chips and chase the dream. Joe's got the booth. His mic's on fire.

[Elle]

Welcome back to another episode of the Antioch Poker Podcast, where every hand is an opportunity, every player is a friend, and every episode is a winning experience. Elle and I are back around the poker table, hydrating.

[Co-host (possibly Annie)]

Yes, it is so hot. It is. I, I, I hate hot. And I, I just, it's not, it's just not my favorite time. So I am hydrating. I think I've had, like, all the beverages today. Yeah, it doesn't matter. I'm, like, trying to have liquid iv, my coffee, regular water, a Coke, something. Yeah, it's keep me cooled down. It is stifling.

[Elle]

People talk about, like, in Vegas, it's a dry heat. Arizona dry heat, whatever.

[Co-host (possibly Annie)]

Yeah, I'll take that every. I'll take it every day.

[Elle]

It is humid.

[Co-host (possibly Annie)]

East coast heat is. Unless you're near water. And that's the thing. I could fill up the kiddie pool. I could maybe sit in the backyard, go through the sprinkler we got for our grand.

[Elle]

There you go.

[Co-host (possibly Annie)]

Maybe that's what I'll do tomorrow.

[Elliot Schechter]

Yeah.

[Co-host (possibly Annie)]

Anyhow, right now, it is tough. We are back from poker. Cruising. We are back.

[Elle]

How's that? How's that disembarkment?

[Co-host (possibly Annie)]

It's. I'm still moving. Yeah, the, the world is not. I, I mean, I guess the earth is. Whatever.

[Show Host]

I.

[Co-host (possibly Annie)]

Yes, I'm still having difficulty, but it's better. And I'm doing my exercises. And for those of you who are going, what. What's happening? Two years ago, I started having a syndrome called disembarkment syndrome after I get off a cruise ship. I've been on boats my whole life. My whole life. But apparently, if I get on a big one and stay on it for many days, my brain just thinks we should stay there. So I have to actually train.

[Elle]

Be wrong. We could just.

[Co-host (possibly Annie)]

I know, right? Maybe that's what it's telling me.

[Elle]

Yeah, exactly.

[Co-host (possibly Annie)]

You know, it is a floating city. It's got everything we need. Medical, all the things. But I will say retraining my brain of what's vertical and what's horizontal is working. So we are not tan. No, by any means. Because we stayed in that poker room.

[Elle]

Oh, my gosh.

[Elliot Schechter]

Lot.

[Co-host (possibly Annie)]

A whole lot. The trip in general. Fan freaking tastic.

[Elle]

Yeah.

[Co-host (possibly Annie)]

And we are even more hyped for August. Like, even more excited to go back. Poker cruising play. Poker cruises is keeping poker cruising alive with an upbeat, positive fare. Professional. I don't even have enough positive words.

[Elle]

Yeah, yeah, yeah.

[Co-host (possibly Annie)]

For their staff and how they run a room. Yeah.

[Elle]

And Princess Cruise, which is going to be what we're on again.

[Co-host (possibly Annie)]

Yes.

[Elle]

In August. They were phenomenal, too. Like, the. The rooms were so nice.

[Co-host (possibly Annie)]

None of us wanted to get out of bed in the morning. The beds were so comfortable.

[Elle]

Yeah.

[Patrick]

And.

[Elle]

And the staff was. I. I've always had a good experience with staff on a cruise ship, but this was another level of good.

[Co-host (possibly Annie)]

It really was. It really, really was. And even from, like, Sam, our steward, to the people that stand. The hygiene.

[Elle]

Yeah.

[Co-host (possibly Annie)]

That is expected. The people that stand at the beginning of the buffet. Not like at the buffet line, but before you can even get into the dining room, if that's how you like to dine. Which we did a lot because we like to dine and dash. Like, not. Not pay, but, you know, get in and get out. We did two or three really nice meals.

[Elle]

Right.

[Co-host (possibly Annie)]

But they. They have sinks set up for you or hand sanitizer. And there's somebody there that just politely is like, could you please wash your hands before you come in? And I'm like, that's how you do it. I wish they did it at public school.

[Elle]

True.

[Co-host (possibly Annie)]

I'm like, wouldn't it be hard? Just set up a bank of sinks and be like, here you go. Let's. Let's all just take a minute. So, yes, I've heard, sure, there's been negative news about a norovirus. Listen, I took high school kids on a trip out in the woods, and we had a norovirus. That's. That can happen anywhere. But what I will say, the precautions are there. There's people wiping down elevator buttons. There's people wiping down handrails. There's people, like, just taking notice that we're all in the same air in the same space. And beyond that, the food so good.

[Elle]

Just a buffet. I mean, you said we ate out a couple of times, but. Or ate the nice dinners A couple of times. But the food that was, I could have just lived on that. Like it was not necessary to go to the, to the big restaurants because the food was so good on the buffet.

[Co-host (possibly Annie)]

Well, and it's because there's a variety. I mean, do you have American fan favorites? There's hot dogs, there's hamburgers. They had chicken nuggets, they had chicken wings. I could care less about that stuff. We're going to make that at home or see that at barbecues for the rest of the summer. The Indian food, the Asian food, they had a ramen station, they had fruit galore, fresh veggies galore. Then of course the European foods, they had gluten free.

[Elle]

Yeah, they, you name it, they had it there. But, but I also was, was impressed with their salad bar, which is a weird thing to be impressed with. But. But you don't find a good salad bar anymore. And they had a really, really good one.

[Co-host (possibly Annie)]

Yeah. Ruby Tuesday esque.

[Elle]

Yeah, exactly.

[Co-host (possibly Annie)]

If you are back in the day, throwback salad bar days and your mom,

[Elle]

your mom was able to go with this and she ate her weight in egg salad and bread pudding.

[Co-host (possibly Annie)]

And I might have had way too many ice cream cones.

[Elle]

That's fair. Yeah.

[Co-host (possibly Annie)]

Those are my favorite. And they didn't make them. It wasn't like a giant ice cream cone. It was just a small one. Very small ice cold frozen yogurt.

[Elle]

Yeah.

[Co-host (possibly Annie)]

Twist cone.

[Elle]

It was perfect.

[Co-host (possibly Annie)]

So lots and lots of positives came out of that week.

[Elle]

Usually I'm the one that's like, hey, let's get into the poker room. This I couldn't keep you away. Like true.

[Co-host (possibly Annie)]

That's really the only place I wanted to be. I didn't even care about. You're like, can we go to the magician? I'm like, do we have to?

[Elle]

Yeah.

[Co-host (possibly Annie)]

Do we really have to go to this? We went to a comedian that was fantastic. He was hilarious.

[Elle]

He was funny, he was funny.

[Co-host (possibly Annie)]

But I really. There's so many awesome activities because this cruise was also partnered with a jewelry company called Effie and they did amazing job of keeping people connected. There were theme days. We dressed up 80s day and there was like a high school theme day. Yeah, there was a western boots and something like that. So it was fun because everybody on the ship was all into like a theme. Yeah, I was fine with the theme, but I'm like, give me the poker room.

[Elle]

Right. And then we were there at 2:00 in the morning and then it was 2:30 the next time and then it was 3 and then it was 4. I mean, that was like. It just kept getting later and later and later. The last night I understood though, because it was our last night there and, and um, so we wanted to get as much in as we could because the, look, hanging out with the people in that poker room was so fun.

[Co-host (possibly Annie)]

Yeah, we've heard of, we've heard that poker cruising has a core group and you just don't know what that means until you experience it. I'm itching to be back with these people.

[Elle]

Yeah.

[Co-host (possibly Annie)]

Top notch quality human beings who. That's who I want to play poker with sometimes. You know, when you go into a room or you go into a, a casino, you're not really sure who you're going to run into. You don't really know these people. Over the week you get to know them, you get to see who you really enjoy. I really enjoyed playing with everyone. I wish I could have been at the PLO table because the PLO table had, I think, more fun than anybody else. I don't know how to play plo. You had your most fun there at the PLO table. Right? Jan Fisher is hilarious.

[Elle]

Hilarious.

[Co-host (possibly Annie)]

I just want to, like follow her around just to listen to her stories and to have conversation with her. So fun. Linda Johnson was phenomenal.

[Elle]

And Joey, Joey was one of the dealer dealers. And when he would come to the PLO table, I mean, just turn it up.

[Co-host (possibly Annie)]

Game on. That is one thing I want to go back to is the staff. ESPY and Bev, who ran the room morning and night. Daryl, who was their right hand guy, I think all day. Tara checking people in, making sure that they're all taken care of. Tim and Melanie, of course, running the whole show behind the scenes. Then you've got the brother, double trouble brothers, Eli and JP who just keep it fun. But then an incredible set of dealers. I mean, these dealers also know each other and work together on these cruises, but they live all over the country.

[Elle]

Right.

[Co-host (possibly Annie)]

And so keeping the fun, keeping the fair. I did not see an argument, hear an argument, hear a raised voice. Was there a disagreement? Once or twice of like, oh, wait a minute, what is this? But it was like over. I mean, it was excellent. And it's not like what we've experienced before. Home game at sea. There were so many people in the poker room, we couldn't even stand up. But we played switch. They played that tag team. Switch, Switch, Switch. Yeah, but it was like you, they had to figure out pathways for people.

[Elle]

Right.

[Co-host (possibly Annie)]

So anyhow, we're really looking forward to August, to say the least. And some other highlights that we just have to talk about is we watched the World cup on the top deck of the ship.

[Elle]

That was cool.

[Co-host (possibly Annie)]

That was one of the highlights.

[Elle]

We did get wings and a burger and some fries and that even hung out up there on the top and watched the World cup on the big TV by the pool.

[Co-host (possibly Annie)]

Yeah, that was really cool. Of course, island hopping is always fun to see the water. The water.

[Elle]

Gosh.

[Co-host (possibly Annie)]

Stupid beautiful. Stupid, stupid, stupid beautiful. We drank some local beers.

[Elle]

I ain't gonna lie.

[Co-host (possibly Annie)]

I ain't gonna lie. That is an actual beer. Ain't gonna lie. Ain't gonna lie. Shout out to Grand Turk island and their local brewery. I'll even say the travel there and back. Knock on wood. Super simple.

[Elle]

Yeah.

[Co-host (possibly Annie)]

Really?

[Elle]

Oh, yeah, yeah, yeah.

[Co-host (possibly Annie)]

We had. We had a nightmare with our bags last time. Thank you, Delta, for making life easy and nice this trip. Breakfast and lunch in LaGuardia.

[Elle]

It was really good.

[Co-host (possibly Annie)]

LaGuardia Airport is like my new favorite. It is so easy to navigate and it's beautiful and it's quiet.

[Elle]

Yeah, I. I don't know if. If it's gone through like a ch, you know, updates or whatever, but I've. In the past, I had heard Nightmare stories about LaGuardia.

[Co-host (possibly Annie)]

Right.

[Elle]

Is we've traveled there twice and it has been seamless, smooth both times.

[Co-host (possibly Annie)]

Yeah, agreed. So if you're looking for a connection,

[Elle]

I would highly recommend taking your mom was. Was the highlight, though. I mean, she learned how to play

[Co-host (possibly Annie)]

poker from Linda Johnson.

[Elle]

Yeah.

[Co-host (possibly Annie)]

That is who. My mom has decided to learn how to play poker. Not from us, not from our friends. I need to go directly to the source and I'm going to go to Linda Johnson. And I said, okay, yeah, go for it. Let's do it.

[Elle]

And she had such a good time.

[Co-host (possibly Annie)]

Oh, yeah, this is the new thing. I just. I literally just was messaging with her about an hour ago. I said, mom, can you remind me how much you pay for games on your phone? Because my mom is one of those. Has to keep her mind active. She was a nurse for 40 bajillion years. Has to be on the move, has to be on the go. Has to be active, reading, learning, doing something.

[Elle]

Yeah.

[Co-host (possibly Annie)]

I'm finding out she's playing Angry Birds with people all over the world. She's a team leader.

[Elliot Schechter]

Yeah.

[Co-host (possibly Annie)]

In the, in the world. It's like a little. Little strange to say that out loud. However, she said to me on the cruise and she texted me this again, because I said, mom, how much are you Paying for games. She was like, I don't know, probably like $25. It's basically like if I went to the movies, got popcorn and a drink, and I don't do that anymore. So I'm, I'm just playing games on my phone. She said, but I'm highly considering taking that and only playing poker.

[Elle]

Oh,

[Elliot Schechter]

wow.

[Co-host (possibly Annie)]

Beyond exciting to hear her say that because I know once she was so stressed.

[Elle]

Yeah, she was.

[Co-host (possibly Annie)]

She was so stressed when she learned. She was like, you could see it. She was trying to focus on too many things at once. And then when she actually played, she played a three, six limit game.

[Elle]

Yeah.

[Co-host (possibly Annie)]

Multiple times. I was very proud of her. Still stressful, But I think once she gets more comfortable with the rules and the hands, she's gonna be dangerous.

[Elle]

Yes, she will.

[Co-host (possibly Annie)]

And I. People at the table were, they love Miss Mary.

[Elle]

And people at the table were like, I can't read her. She's got such a poker face.

[Co-host (possibly Annie)]

I go, no, she's actually just confused right now. Don't try to get a read because it's not going to be accurate. But very, very, very fun.

[Elle]

Yeah.

[Co-host (possibly Annie)]

And lots of encouragement from all the other women in the room. And thank you so much. If you're listening, that meant a lot to me. And I know her because she's very hard of hearing. Right. Right now. Just age related hearing loss. And so it's difficult for her to be in a room that's loud because then she doesn't hear anything else.

[Elle]

That's right.

[Co-host (possibly Annie)]

She only hears the background. I'm like, ma, just take your hearing aids out. Just take them out. Yeah, you said that multiple times.

[Elle]

But we, we do have to give one more shout out to Mike Mike Pascal, who won the main event.

[Co-host (possibly Annie)]

Yes. Mike, Mike, Mike, Mike.

[Elliot Schechter]

And he.

[Co-host (possibly Annie)]

Congratulations.

[Elle]

He was short, stacked for such a long time and a couple of hands and he was chip leader. And then that was it. Yeah.

[Co-host (possibly Annie)]

And you know his buddy Beach. Yeah, Buddy beach, he calls him. They are, they are service brothers.

[Elle]

Yeah.

[Co-host (possibly Annie)]

From the military. Thank you so much for your service, both of you. It was very cool to see their friendship. And they came on the cruise together. They only ate together, the two of them. I said, do you guys want to come and join us? Nope. This is how we like it. Okay, you guys have a great meal. But the two of them and how excited. And I asked Beach, I was like, is he just beside himself? He was like, he said, before we even got on the boat, this is what he was going to do. So that man came determined.

[Elle]

He did and he, and he pulled through.

[Co-host (possibly Annie)]

He did.

[Elle]

Fulfilled that. That promise or that goal.

[Co-host (possibly Annie)]

And even got a special prize from Effie. $1,000 to spend on jewelry. Did you see that bracelet?

[Elle]

I did not know that.

[Co-host (possibly Annie)]

Oh yeah, he got a bracelet before he left soon. Super nice. Like a leather. Like a leather bracelet, but a nice. It looked like it had some either lab grown or real diamonds as a connector. Really pretty. Really, really pretty. So we are hoping that you are more than excited if you're already signed up for the Alaska cruise in August. If not, get in line, call quick because I know they were calling people last minute. Last I heard they had 10 cabins left. Yeah, I don't know if that's an accurate count as of today because I know that they were talking with more people this week. So if it's something you want to come join us. Get on the horn.

[Elle]

Exactly.

[Co-host (possibly Annie)]

Or email or whatever you want to do. We've got that stop and Schenectady coming up in September.

[Elle]

Yep.

[Co-host (possibly Annie)]

We had a mini main. Yeah, we need to, we need to get in contact with Dustin.

[Elle]

Dustin's been at the TDA with, with Elliot which is awesome. So when they get back then maybe we can have him on and talk about who was the winner.

[Co-host (possibly Annie)]

Yep. Also after that we're going to be in San Diego at Sequan.

[Elle]

Yeah. I'm so looking forward. This is going to be our first trip, first of all to San Diego as a whole. But we're going to the zoo.

[Co-host (possibly Annie)]

Yeah, I keep telling you that just to remind you.

[Elle]

But also it'll be our first trip to Saquon, which I'm excited because there has to be a reason. Right. They've been voted Southern California's best poker room three years in a row.

[Co-host (possibly Annie)]

Yeah, I thought it was, I thought it was at least three.

[Elle]

And so let me tell you, their

[Co-host (possibly Annie)]

social media and this right now over the weekend. Yeah, you sign up for a particular, particular tournament, they've got red, white and blue tumblers for you.

[Elle]

Oh, that's right.

[Co-host (possibly Annie)]

I'm already like, please, could somebody save

[Elle]

me one of those?

[Co-host (possibly Annie)]

But yeah, they, they and they, they. I feel like they listen and see and hear what people want and that's

[Elle]

probably leads to them being voted number one because they do seem to, to take the players into account. What they need, what they want. I know, you know, they've got. If you're a cash game player, Friday Fridays are the day you want to be there for sure.

[Co-host (possibly Annie)]

Circle red ink.

[Elle]

They have their high hand extravaganza which gives players a Chance every half hour. Right. Every half hour to win a share of $7,000.

[Co-host (possibly Annie)]

Yeah. Count me in. Just. Just for playing in games? Yeah, Just for being in eligible games. And another one that always is catching people's attention and me too is the Drive Me Wild promotion that's going on. We've talked about it before, but we're mentioning it again because let me just tell you, every session that you play between now and August 22nd.

[Elliot Schechter]

Correct.

[Co-host (possibly Annie)]

Yeah. Is it August 22nd helps you earn an entry on the 23rd.

[Elle]

Right.

[Co-host (possibly Annie)]

Get ready for the prize extravaganza to come out. Right?

[Elle]

Yeah. They're giving away five $100 cash prizes every hour, all afternoon, that and evening.

[Co-host (possibly Annie)]

So $500 every.

[Elle]

Yeah.

[Co-host (possibly Annie)]

Okay.

[Elle]

So not one person but five people are going to get $100 and then somebody gets to drive home. Well, you probably can't drive it home.

[Co-host (possibly Annie)]

I don't think you can drive that legally on the road.

[Elle]

But a brand new 2026 Can Am Commander Max XT 7000. That one, I think it's a 700 actually.

[Co-host (possibly Annie)]

Oh, 700. It's way cool. It's 7000 cool in my mind. Yeah, it's awesome. So if you're planning to be with us in October, before that, get out there, get in a seat, go participate. Also make sure you get your Club Sequan card because it's free. It gets you dining discounts, promotional entries, giveaways. Also some of the best cash back rewards in San Diego. Once again, why are they number one? There's reasons. And one of the things that we love the most about Saquon is that there's always something going on besides poker. So let's say you bust out. Let's say you want to bring a friend that's not as interested in being in the poker room there. There's lots of ways to get involved.

[Elle]

Yeah. So if you're taking a break, just go check out what they've got there.

[Co-host (possibly Annie)]

And there's a lot of ways to enjoy the. Just the resort.

[Elle]

Yeah. Yeah. And we're so looking forward to seeing people out there.

[Co-host (possibly Annie)]

Yeah.

[Elle]

On the cruise in Schenectady and San Diego, we've got a lot going on to it coming up through the end.

[Co-host (possibly Annie)]

We do. And we have a lot of hats to order because I.

[Elle]

That's true.

[Co-host (possibly Annie)]

Keep running out of hats.

[Elle]

Yeah.

[Co-host (possibly Annie)]

Everywhere we go. So I think we need to do an extra large order of our red, black and white hats. And we've got some cool new patch designs and if we're not on a boat Then I will hand press them for you live. I don't put the patches on unless you tell me where you want them and which patch you want.

[Elle]

Yeah. So, yeah, we can't do that on the cruise ship, but we'll do that in the. In our stops.

[Co-host (possibly Annie)]

Yeah. So if you're coming and you want an Annie up patch, fantastic. We would love to give you one. If you want me to iron it on to something you already have, bring it. Bring your jacket, bring your sweatshirt, bring your bucket hat. I don't care what you bring. Just make sure it's clean and I'll be happy to press those on.

[Elle]

Yeah. And then, as always, I mean, make sure you play responsibly. For all the details on what we were talking about, the promotions that we were talking about, it's saquon. Go to saquan.com.

[Co-host (possibly Annie)]

you got it.

[Elle]

And tell them we sent you. Yeah, absolutely. And then some things happening in poker. You know, there's this thing going on in Vegas. I think you may know what it's called. The World Series. I think it is.

[Co-host (possibly Annie)]

Are you trying to pull a dad joke right now? That's being awkward. Yeah, the WSOP is happening. The main event. Off and running.

[Elle]

Yeah.

[Co-host (possibly Annie)]

Look, Mike the Grinder. Mizrahi.

[Elle]

Yeah.

[Co-host (possibly Annie)]

Kicked it off. He said. He said he's going back to back. So second place free might not be so bad after all. That was just his welcome and shuffle up and deal speech. I thought it was great. The commercials surrounding this freaking stellar. I know there's new partnership with ESPN and they can pull people in like. Like Eli and Peyton Manning playing Go Fish.

[Elle]

That was so funny.

[Co-host (possibly Annie)]

Well done. And I love the most recent commercial they released. That's three words.

[Elle]

Yeah, yeah.

[Co-host (possibly Annie)]

The main event. And that's been really neat to see. And it's been neat to see the reception.

[Elle]

What's not neat to see is Phil Hellmuth walking in with his little outfit all the time. It's run its course. Phil Hellmuth. I think that he should really, really stop with that. Next year, just no more of that. This year he was a superhero. Nobody cares. You know, it used to be people would gather and watch and. And now it's just empty. Everybody stays at their table and turns. It's just like I said, they have Jungle Man's there with him every time.

[Co-host (possibly Annie)]

I think his son was next to him as well. He looked to be trying to be Batman and his son Superman. I'm not sure what Jungle man, but

[Elle]

he wore some wings.

[Co-host (possibly Annie)]

Yeah, I. I just have A hard time with it, though. Every year I applaud his creativity or his team's creativity, because every year it's something. It is something different. I appreciate the fact that there aren't scantily clad women flanking him now. Like, they have been in, like, mermaid outfits or what? Angel. Whatever they have been doing for years, I'm just done. I'm not a. I'm not a fan. I'm not a fan. Phil, I know this is a fun thing for you to do, but, like, kick off the whole series this way, be a part of that. It's just. I don't get it. Is that his way of starting the main event? Is that just something he needs to do?

[Elle]

I don't know. I don't know. But they had this guy in a green sweater there that just looked like he was lost, like they had just picked him up along the way.

[Co-host (possibly Annie)]

Yeah. Well, there's our two cents. Long story short, there's some big names that everybody recognizes and some cool things that have happened in the past week. De negs.

[Elle]

Congratulations.

[Co-host (possibly Annie)]

Daniel Naranu.

[Elle]

Eighth bracelet.

[Co-host (possibly Annie)]

And he took it down in plo, which he loves to play. He took down the whole event with a straight.

[Elle]

Okay.

[Co-host (possibly Annie)]

It was just neat to see. I thought runner up did a nice job of, like, sucking. Not sucking it up, but just taking it on the chin. And. And it was. I thought it was a neat. A neat moment.

[Elle]

Yeah.

[Co-host (possibly Annie)]

So.

[Elle]

And then.

[Co-host (possibly Annie)]

Congratulations, Daniel. We have to mention Martin Cabro just because he's everywhere. He did take down the online high roller hybrid. So I guess you play online and then you play in person.

[Elle]

Yeah.

[Co-host (possibly Annie)]

Not impressed with refusing to shake the hand of third place.

[Elle]

I did not see this. So I'll have to watch this video.

[Co-host (possibly Annie)]

Oh, not impressed. This guy was directly across from him. He was. I think that he might have been seat three and Cabral was probably seat six or seven. And then there's a woman in the middle here. That's who Cabrel ended up playing. Heads up. But he literally walked around the table to shake his hand and said, would you like to shake hands? And Cabrill never even acknowledged anything. And it's just horrific to me.

[Elle]

Yeah, I'll have to watch. I'll have to watch that video because I hadn't. I hadn't seen that.

[Co-host (possibly Annie)]

That's unexcused. I don't even know what happened between them prior to. It doesn't matter.

[Elle]

Right.

[Co-host (possibly Annie)]

As. As far as the competition goes, you need to still need to treat other people with respect. But everyday poker players, I'm Gonna say Marcus Gonzalez, Sky Chin, and I think it's desuke ogita. These three really stuck out, stood out to me. Event number 73, the six. Six handed no limit hold em. How is that six handed?

[Elle]

So yeah, you call it a six max. So you have six people at the table instead of eight.

[Co-host (possibly Annie)]

Okay. So that's, that's why it's called that. But Marcus Gonsalves, he won the bracelet in that $5,000 event. So we wanted to say congratulations to Marcus. Um, and I'm also saying this because I was like, I've had these moments. He literally thought that he had won, but he didn't win a hand.

[Elle]

Oh really?

[Co-host (possibly Annie)]

But he was still in and then he ended up taking it down anyway.

[Elle]

Oh, that's good.

[Co-host (possibly Annie)]

So it was like one of those things where he was like, oh, I've got it. And then he was like, oh, wait a minute, my opponent has a straight. I'm sorry, I need to sit back down.

[Elle]

I mean we've all done it.

[Show Host]

Yeah.

[Co-host (possibly Annie)]

But it's super hard when you're got all this camera action. You're in this beautiful new arena and it's tough. Sky Chen won event number 68, the thousand dollar ladies. No limit hold'. Em. Which I know there's been tons of controversy around that game, but for the women at the seats, there was no controversy. And that's the thing that I want to applaud is they welcomed all players and that was really cool. And then event 73, the thousand dollar mini Mate.

[Elle]

Yeah.

[Co-host (possibly Annie)]

Huge field. Huge.

[Elle]

There was like over 12, 000 people.

[Co-host (possibly Annie)]

Yes. And it was a three day event, so it was like 12 000. I think I'm 12, 560.

[Elle]

Okay.

[Co-host (possibly Annie)]

So tons and tons and tons of competition there. And then our favorite, our favorite. I don't know how many people favorites.

[Elle]

I don't know how many people were in the super seniors, but I know that we're at least two too.

[Co-host (possibly Annie)]

Yes. And they have met each other on our Patreon game. And the coolest part about this is one is a Yankees fan and one is not.

[Elle]

And they one is a. A Red Sox fan.

[Co-host (possibly Annie)]

Yes.

[Elle]

Which is definitely not. So they posted a picture in the discord together and it was very cool. Yeah. And I've kind of got a feeling I'm going to talk a little bit more about that in the one outer today. But it was a cool moment. They, they both played the super seniors and unfortunately they did not cash cash.

[Co-host (possibly Annie)]

But they were there together and they got to meet in person.

[Elle]

Yeah, very cool. It's, it's an awesome thing to see our group, you know, making friends outside of online. Online, yeah.

[Co-host (possibly Annie)]

Irl. In real life, it's happening and that is. Our community's growing and that just makes our heart beam with excitement and pride and just so glad that they could meet each other because. And we love both of them.

[Elle]

Exactly, exactly. And, and, and speaking of our community, our Patreon games got screwed up, man.

[Co-host (possibly Annie)]

They got screwed up in June and I don't. We couldn't figure out what happened. We just had a mixed game. We had a five card draw, mixed game game. Something happened on the poker Stars platform. People could not get in, gotten locked out, something somehow. So we have three coming up in July. We're making it up to everybody because if we miss something, then we're going to bring back the opportunity. So July 9th, we're going to do the five card draw.

[Elle]

That'll be next week.

[Co-host (possibly Annie)]

Yeah, we're taking a break because we're getting a puppy in July 23rd we are going to hold them July 30th, mixed game to be determined by the winner of July 9th. So mark your calendars. July 9th, 23 and 30.

[Elle]

And in July 23rd will be Patrick trying to go back to back.

[Co-host (possibly Annie)]

Oh, baby, it's gonna be fun.

[Elle]

It's gonna. I'm really interested to see how he handles the bounty on him.

[Co-host (possibly Annie)]

Target on your back, baby, is not fun.

[Elle]

Right?

[Co-host (possibly Annie)]

It isn't. It isn't. Because people really do come.

[Elle]

Come at you then tomorrow.

[Co-host (possibly Annie)]

Happy birthday, America.

[Elle]

That's right.

[Co-host (possibly Annie)]

250 years. Wherever you are, whatever you're doing, we hope you're living your life to the fullest, that you're safe and that you're enjoying the day. And before we leave, I have to say it, I have to. If you have not ordered your poor. Oh, there's still stuff in this one. Yeah. If you have not ordered your poor caddy, use our code ante up for an additional 15% off. I think there's extra items available right now at Super Sale. It's a no brainer. Yeah.

[Elle]

Oh, it's Maker's Mark.

[Co-host (possibly Annie)]

Anyways, I'm just mentioning that I really, I just passed by this in the kitchen on the way down. You gotta get one.

[Patrick]

Yeah.

[Co-host (possibly Annie)]

I mean I've had so much fun with my tumbler that plays music and has a light or this one that carries booze. Wherever you want to go, do it. We have a lot to get done this weekend. As always, Joe, it's a pleasure being around the table with you.

[Elle]

Likewise.

[Show Host]

Big blinds, big stakes. Raise it up. Let's make no mistake.

[Elle]

Hello. Elliot Schechter joins us each week to say how he would run situations that come up in your games. And he's with us again this week. Elliot, how's it going?

[Elliot Schechter]

Things are going pretty nicely, thanks. It's going pretty well. How you doing?

[Elle]

Good, good. We're kind of like for a pun intended, I guess, somewhat ships passing in the wind here because we got back from the cruise. And then you're heading out because tda.

[Elliot Schechter]

Yes.

[Elle]

Is going on. So you'll be attending that. So got to record early again. But we are always going to keep things moving. So let us know how things go out there. I'll be really interested to see what comes out of the tda. It's always interesting to see what not only what officially the rules change with, you know, but also, you know, what some of those discussions are like. So maybe one of these call the floors will be.

[Elliot Schechter]

Absolutely.

[Elle]

In the meantime, we have a call to floor that's sent in by Saul Barron and he actually ends this with saying that he has a hundred dollars riding on this one. So the situation is from a home game tournament. The blinds are 2000, 4000, and he is in the small blind. It folds to the button and he goes all in for 4,500. So just 500 over the. The big blind.

[Elliot Schechter]

Right.

[Elle]

He Saul says, I say that he has not made a complete legal raise and the small and big blinds can only call. No one says anything. So I call and the big blind starts to make it 60,000 more. I protest, saying that the rule is you can't raise his all in. And the big blind says he has all his options. So he says, what is the correct rule? And I have a hundred writing on this, so help me out.

[Elliot Schechter]

Well, so in the.

[Elle]

Yeah.

[Elliot Schechter]

In the immortal words of Teddy KGB, pay that man his money. You're at 100 bucks. So you lose. You're wrong. You are right that his all in bed is not a complete raise. But in this very specific instance, that matter is not a hill of beans. Anybody who hasn't acted yet still gets to act with all their options. As the big Blaine big blind tried to explain. Let's say the guy on the button just called the big blind. Then you would complete and then the big blind would have an option to raise. So why does that change if you put in an extra chip? So, yeah, the rule specifically states that if somebody makes an an incomplete bet, that does not qualify as A raise or cannot be rounded up to a raise. So yeah, in this instance, going all in for 4,500 when the bet is 4,000, anybody who hasn't put a chip in the pot yet, who has not acted on the hand in any way retains all of their options. Because if they're raising, they're not raising the 4,500, they're theoretically raising the 4,000. So they still have a chance to act on that bet. But if they've already called the 4000 and somebody goes in for 4500 all in after that, and everybody acts and is now up to them and up to only the people who've already called the 4,000 initial bet, those people can't re raise because they wouldn't effectively be re raising themselves. They've already put one bed in. And if you make the first bet, you can't make the second bet. You can only make the third bet. So that's why the action is closed to people who have acted. The blinds have not acted. It's almost in the name blinds. They were acting before the cards were dealt, before the betting round started, not after. So.

[Elle]

Right.

[Elliot Schechter]

Yes, the big blind retains all their options as if the extra chib did not exist, which for betting purposes is the way the game is played. You're right. So, yeah, you were right. The fact that it's not a raise doesn't mean the blinds don't get to do what the blinds get to do. So, yeah, I hope you escrowed that money and set it aside and didn't spend it all in one place because you owe it to somebody else.

[Elle]

Right. Essentially it would be chaos if somebody was allowed to bet all in for 4, 500 and not allow anybody else to make any bets over that. You know, if I wanted to stop a maniac in, in the small blind or big blind from being able to raise my friend over there that just put in a call, then I just put in my last 4,500 knowing, you know, that it's. Whatever I do is a coin flip anyway and I'm, I'm saving him his money. You know, so many different ways to angle in that if, if that was the case.

[Elliot Schechter]

Yes. Oh, God, yes, quite. And I've seen this the, in very absurd ways. I many, many years ago played in a neighborhood pot limit cash game. So it was literally cash only, no chips, no check and raise. But you could bet a dollar blind, which was the equivalent of the check and raise. Also, there was no recognition of a bet. So If I bet 20 into the pot, the next guy could raise a dollar because it was a dollar ante, and the next three people or two people actually could raise one more dollar. So the. The round would cap at 20, $23, preventing me from, you know, raising the pot again. So. Yeah. So it's good to have rules that make sense as opposed to what I just described.

[Elle]

Yeah.

[Elliot Schechter]

Also, you certainly don't want betting shut down just because somebody threw in an incomplete bed. And you don't want to have an incomplete be impact of a complete bet. Completely unfair. If he wanted in a tournament, obviously if he wanted the impact of a bigger bet, he should have, you know, not had a small stack in a cash game. He was welcome to buy more chips in either case. It's certainly completely unfair and, and is entirely disruptive of the game itself and the rest of the players at the table. So, yeah, yeah. Shutting down the betting because one guy puts an incomplete bet is anathema to the game very much.

[Elle]

Yeah. And it sounds like, Saul, you knew the rule, just not how to apply it necessarily.

[Elliot Schechter]

That sounds about it. The circumstances changed with the position of the button and the blinds.

[Elle]

Yeah, exactly. So. So I, I'm sorry that you lost a. Lost an extra, extra hundred on that one. But everybody comes out ahead because now everybody knows the rules and that's why we do this segment.

[Elliot Schechter]

A very good learning experience and in the long run, I dare say a somewhat inexpensive lesson.

[Elle]

Yeah. But you did have some money on it, so maybe that will never leave your brain. That's how it works for me. If I lose a little bit of money on it, then I'm definitely going to remember that forever. So that's silver lining. I guess so. Thank you for sending that in. If anyone has a call the floor that they would like to know how Elliot would rule, send it to podcasty.com Elliot we'll see you when you get back.

[Elliot Schechter]

Looking forward to the trip and looking forward to being back.

[Show Host]

Patrick's a fish, but he's learning fast. He's all in. This hand might be his last.

[Elle]

Welcome to hand of the week where Patrick, our resident fish and I dive into listener submitted hands. Each week we tackle everything from questionable bluffs to hero calls and the hands that make you scratch your head. Whether you're looking for strategy tips or you just want to see if we would have played it any better, we've got you covered. Patrick. How's it going, man?

[Patrick]

Welcome back, my friend.

[Elle]

Got got to see some land and

[Patrick]

get to get the sea legs out.

[Elle]

Unfortunately, the land that we are seeing is not surrounded by blue water.

[Co-host (possibly Annie)]

Yeah.

[Elle]

But we are back. I'll tell you some of that. The water at Grand Turk was incredible.

[Patrick]

I've not had the pleasure, but I have heard many great stories about that general area. So. Yeah.

[Elle]

But I am glad to be back. It is good. You know, vacation is vacation for a reason. But it does make. It does make things hard when you come back because then you've got to catch up from all the things, but. Which I am still trying to do. We've been back for almost a week and I am still trying to catch up, but.

[Patrick]

Well, you'll get there. It's so much the force. You. You'll have some time then. But on that note, let's play some poker.

[Elle]

Yeah. We've got a hand of the week this week sent in by Jason Carter, and Jason is playing in a 25 cash game. He says both the villain and I have right around 1100 to start the hand. And he says the villain is a solid, aggressive regular. He isn't reckless, but he's capable of putting pressure on people and isn't afraid to make a big move. Feel like that is information that is going to be useful.

[Patrick]

I think. I think it is. I think that's. I think Jason's telling us that for a reason. So. All right.

[Elle]

All right. So he says a player in middle position opens to $20 and it folds to us on the button. Look down at the queen of clubs, nine of clubs. What should I do here? He says,

[Patrick]

you're not gonna like it.

[Elle]

I feel like you say that so often here.

[Patrick]

I do. And you know what? Sometimes I'm wrong. Not necessarily knowing the table, but. Did he say. Did Jason say where the villain was sitting or is the villain the middle position?

[Elle]

We don't know.

[Patrick]

He has no.

[Elle]

Okay, so he's.

[Patrick]

I don't. I mean, I. I like the position we're in. I like, you know, suited almost connectors sort of. Ish. Not really. I'm. I'm just calling. I. I'm. I'm good. I don't need to blow up the pot anymore. I, you know, I, I'm. I, I want to play clearly, but I'm not coming over the top on this one.

[Elle]

Is there ever. Is there ever a thought in your mind of folding this in?

[Patrick]

Not a single one.

[Elle]

Yeah.

[Patrick]

Not from that position and not. I. Unless now here's where I get in trouble a little bit. And. And I. But I'm getting better at it, you know, I mean, I. We're on to the Next month here, you know, but I mean, I don't know if you, you heard, but last month I was the.

[Elle]

Wow. We're really gonna, we're really gonna revisit

[Patrick]

this bill one more time. No, but I, I think where I, where I will get myself in trouble or I'll waste, you know, you know, 20, $20. Here is I, I'm gonna call this, and then if, you know, smaller big blind raises us, then I'm probably gonna fold then, and I will have wasted 20. But I want to see a flop on this one. I, you know, I'd like.

[Elle]

Yeah, yeah. I think a lot of things depend on what I think of these players behind me too. Are they capable of putting in a raise? I think I want to call here too. If I had been setting, actually, if I'd been sitting at this table for a long time and I wanted to put some pressure on that middle position, I could three bets and make sure that we get heads up. But that could also maybe get us a free card on the flop if we went that direction. But in this case, right now, I'm just gonna call because in more most cases I'm. I'm gonna be calling rather than three betting. So here, that's what I'll do. Jason says I call and both blinds fold. So the pot is $47. And the flop comes the king of diamonds, jack of spades, eight of clubs. He says I flopped an open ended straight draw, which is not true. We have a gut shot straight draw. But yeah, with a backdoor club draw, my opponent continues continuation bets for $30. So to answer your question from earlier, our middle position friend must be our villain.

[Patrick]

Yeah,

[Elle]

and he.

[Patrick]

What did we say was in the pot? 47.

[Elle]

47. So he bet 30 into 47.

[Patrick]

Yeah, it's definitely not an open ended straight draw, just, you know, because everyone clarifies me and corrects me. You know, Jason, don't listen to the haters, including myself, but also try to

[Elle]

get your friends right.

[Patrick]

Yeah, I don't know. I'm kind of torn on this one. I'm probably calling, you know, reluctantly. I'm gonna see another card at 30. But I also wouldn't care folding. I mean, if the king or the jack was a club, I'm in.

[Elle]

But, you know, I mean, I think folding would be a little too weak here. We've got the gut shot, any 10. Plus we do have that backdoor equity, so we can, we can still hit runner. Runner, which isn't a lot of equity, but it does give us A little bit.

[Patrick]

The Red Sox can make the playoffs too, you know, so, you know, if

[Elle]

we're open for pipe dreams, you know, whatever.

[Patrick]

You're right.

[Show Host]

You're right.

[Patrick]

I'm calling.

[Elle]

Yeah, yeah. And then if we hit a Queen or a 9, then we have some kind of showdown value. So. Yeah, I'm not ready to let it go yet. I call. Looks like Jason calls as well. And the turn is exactly what we needed. We got the 10 of diamonds. So we complete our straight.

[Patrick]

Yeah.

[Elle]

And our opponent bets a hundred dollars into a hundred and seven dollar pot.

[Patrick]

I feel like there's going to be some correctness on this one, but I'm going, I'm going. 350.

[Elle]

Okay. You went. We're both, we're both on the same page as far as raising. You went a little higher than me. I went 250. I, I do think, you know, we need to raise here. We have the second nuts. Right. The only thing that's beating us right now is ace, queen.

[Patrick]

Yeah.

[Elle]

And we block that to some degree because we have a queen.

[Patrick]

Yeah.

[Elle]

So what do we think they could have right here? King, Jack, King, 10.

[Patrick]

Yep.

[Elle]

Jack, 10. Do we put sets in their range? Like,

[Patrick]

you know, I, I don't know so much. I mean the 30, the, the opener to 30 off of the flop was low for that, but I mean, it's a good seed bet, so. Yeah, I guess. Maybe.

[Elle]

I don't think they have pocket kings.

[Patrick]

I wouldn't either. I really don't think they have jacks either.

[Elle]

I mean, eights, if they have a set, it would be like a set of eights, right?

[Patrick]

Yeah, you know, king, jack for sure. You know, ace, ace, king.

[Elle]

No, maybe.

[Patrick]

I mean ace, king, they're sitting there waiting on.

[Elle]

Still just one pair though.

[Patrick]

That's true. So, but, but he did say, Jason did say that, you know, this guy had no problem, you know, what did he say? You know, being aggressive when he needed to. Yeah. Putting pressure. Yeah. I mean, ace, king, you know, you have top pair, top kicker. You're kind of forcing the issue now. You're going to find out something. I mean that, you know, it's not out of the realm. I mean, two pairs definitely more likely for sure. You know, king, queen, maybe. And you've got an open ended now, so.

[Elle]

Yeah, I think, Yeah, I think raising here is, is good. I'm going to make it 250. You said 350.

[Patrick]

Yeah.

[Elle]

Jason says I decide to raise to 300. So he's right, right in the middle.

[Patrick]

I like it. Jason.

[Elle]

And he says our opponent doesn't take very long before moving all in, putting me to a decision for my remaining $780.

[Patrick]

Okay. If he's got two pair, he's got to pair up the board to beat.

[Elle]

If he has a set, he still has to pair the board or. Or make quads.

[Patrick]

So ace queen is the only thing that's got his beat right now.

[Elle]

Yeah.

[Patrick]

Snap call.

[Elle]

Yeah, I. I think it's pretty standard.

[Elliot Schechter]

Yeah.

[Elle]

Ace queen, the only thing beating us. Here's where I don't know if you still have your little cheat sheet or not, but I forgot about that. We have to call 780 to win. Somewhere around 12 or 1300.

[Patrick]

Yeah.

[Elle]

Which means we've got to be way ahead of the equity. We need to call because it's somewhere around one and a half to one. So somewhere around 40%. We have to be right 40% of the time. And there's only one hand that's beating us.

[Patrick]

I think well above that.

[Elle]

Yeah. And then this is why we play Queen 9 suited from the button. Right. Like this.

[Patrick]

They were who they thought we were. Let's play this thing.

[Elle]

It's like that bowler that says, who you? Who do you think you are?

[Show Host]

I am.

[Elle]

So.

[Patrick]

I love that guy.

[Elle]

I guess if they have ace queen, we just tip our cap and reload.

[Patrick]

Yeah, that's exactly right.

[Elle]

So let's see. He says, I go into the tank. Obviously, ace queen has me crushed. Sets are possible, although I think most players would have raised those on such a coordinated board by now. Two pair hands like King Jack or Jack 10 would certainly be possible. And there are also plenty of big combo draws that might decide to pile the money in. Okay. All of that is true and exactly why you should be calling. Right?

[Patrick]

That's. Yeah, that.

[Elliot Schechter]

Yeah.

[Elle]

He says. After thinking it through, I decide I just can't fold a maid straight. Thank God. I thought he was going to. To fold.

[Patrick]

Love it, Jason. Shove him in, he says.

[Elle]

I call. And the villain tables. Ace of diamonds nine, a diamond. So here we go. We still have to fade a little bit here because he's got the diamond draw.

[Elliot Schechter]

Yeah.

[Elle]

The nut flush draw. And a gut shot to Broadway. I didn't even think about the gut shot. The river is the two of spades, and the straight holds.

[Patrick]

Boom. Winner, winner.

[Elle]

He says. After I told a few of my poker friends about the hand, every one of them said I got lucky. They thought raising the turn was a mistake because I only get action from hands with huge equity or from ace queen, which Already had me drawing dead. They all said I should have just called the turn and reevaluated the river. So my question is, did I play this hand correctly, or was I just fortunate that my opponent's massive draw missed another?

[Patrick]

That was option A and option B. Jason, I got another option for you. Option C. Get some new friends. They're wrong. Only kidding. No, I think he. I think Jason played that hand great. I think, you know, I'm glad he tanked and ended up calling. And, yeah, again, you've got all the percentages in your favor. You gotta fade a little bit with a diamond draw at the very end. But it's a good call. And, you know, if. If he's got ace, queen, or the diamonds come, then you tip your hat, but you're making the right call. I think. I think every street was played. Yeah, I think you're played every straight. Great.

[Elle]

Yeah. You've got the second nuts. If they don't think that's strong enough to raise what is.

[Patrick]

Yeah. And it was always.

[Elle]

If you have the nuts, that would

[Patrick]

be a very lonely, lonely, plain poker style. I. I like that. That'd be no fun for me. It'd be like, you know, for all the golfers out there. Be like hitting the fairway every time and then hitting the green and then two putting for bar. That sounds boring.

[Elle]

I mean, that's the way I play.

[Patrick]

Yeah. On video games, Jason, I think you played every street great.

[Elle]

I wouldn't even on a video game. What was that. What was that one that was in the. The arcade that had the rolling ball? What was that called?

[Patrick]

A tea. I'll own you at that. There's a couple here left in town. Maybe that's the next. That's the next video of Hand of the Week outside of this, of, you know, what we do in our spare time, you know, when we're not, you know, breaking down poker hands. We'll go play Golden Tea. So.

[Elle]

All right. That's the only way I'll work on. Probably play.

[Patrick]

I'll work on that. No, Jason, I think this is great. I challenge you to send this, you know, clip or, you know, tell them, you know, when it starts in the. The episode, make your friends listen to this and. And have them send in a hand of the week and let's break down one of theirs.

[Elle]

Yeah, there you go. I like that. I. I think the bottom line is you made money in a spot where you were. Ha. You have the best hand most of the time. So all you can really say is, nice hand. Well played.

[Patrick]

That's exactly right. Well done, Jason.

[Elle]

Yep. And if anyone has a hand of the week that they would like to know how Patrick and I would play it, send it to podcastyupmagazine.com Patrick, we'll see you next week.

[Patrick]

Same to you and happy 4th of July to everybody. God bless America.

[Elle]

The other day, there was this picture in discord that made me smile. The caption was, only through poker would two mortal baseball enemies become friends. And the picture was of what's up, Doc? Proudly wearing his Red Sox gear, sitting alongside Yankees fan who obviously roots for that team in pinstripes. But when I saw that picture, I didn't see rivals. I saw two friends that found each other among a big tournament with people everywhere. And I realized that's what poker does, right? It has this incredible ability to erase all the labels we usually put on one another. I mean, think about who's sitting around a poker table. The CEO and the mechanic, the nurse and the truck driver, College student, retired marine teacher, electrician. I don't know, business owner and retiree. People who probably never would have met if not for this game. And even if they did, they might not have a reason to talk. Right? But poker gave them one. You know, here. Here's your seat. Here's your chips. Shuffle up and deal. For the next several hours, nobody cares what your job title is or what neighborhood you live in. Nobody cares how much money you make or if you cheer for the Yankees or the Red Sox. The cards don't know the flop isn't taking sides for a little while. All of those labels just disappear. You're just another player trying to make the best decision you can. Somewhere between all of those hands, conversations tend to start. You find out the guy three seats over served in the military. The woman across the table has been a teacher for 30 years. Somebody graduated college. The gentleman in seat nine, how he's been married for 50 years. You laugh together, you needle each other, you celebrate big pots. You sympathize over the bad beats. Before you know it, you're all making plans to grab dinner after the tournament or meet up on the next poker cruise or ante up tour stop. That's how friendships start. Not because you rooted for the same team or grew up in the same town. Not because you voted the same way or worked in the same profession, but because you happened to love the same card game. And I think that's exactly what happened with the A team, right? Yes, it was poker that brought us together, but it isn't what keeps us together. Over these past few years, I've watched this community become something much bigger. Bigger than listeners. You've become friends. We've all celebrated each other's victories and encouraged each other through difficult times. We've traveled together, met up at casinos all over the country. And some of you only knew each other as screen names just a few years ago. Now it's so much more than that, right? That's so cool. In a world that constantly reminds us what makes us different, poker has this way of reminding us what we have in common. And that's why I love that picture so much. It isn't really a picture of a Red Sox fan and a Yankees fan. It's a picture of two members of the A team, two friends, two people who probably never would have crossed paths otherwise. Honestly, I think that makes that such a beautiful picture. That's today's one outer and that's today's show. I'll see you next week, A team. And until then, I'll see you at the tables.

[Show Host]

The Antioch Podcast is a production of antioppmagazine.com contact the show at podcastsnyupmagazine.com or call the show at 540-339-7741. If you'd like to advertise, send an email to editoryupmagazine.com the 2026 FIFA World cup meal at McDonald's is underway, with one of nine legendary cups in the lineup. Christian Pulisic, David Beckham, Lamine Yamal, Ronaldinho, Thierry Henry, Son Hyung Min, Alfonso Davies, Santi Jimenez and between the posts, it's Grimace. Get one of nine collectible cups with a FIFA World cup meal at participating McDonald's for a limited time while supplies last. All rights reserved. 2026 McDonald's at FIFA World Cup 2026.