Best of the Thinking Poker Podcast

Nate and I were flattered to be nominated for Best Podcast in the 2014 Bluff Reader’s Choice Awards. Hopefully this will prompt some new listeners to come check out the show, and with nearly 100 hours of content out there, it might be hard to know where to start.

In addition to valuable strategy content, we aim to find unique guests and discuss interesting topics that you won’t hear anywhere else. If you’re new to the show, here are a few of my personal favorite episodes. If you’re a veteran listener, please suggest some of your favorites in the comments!

Best Strategy

Ed Miller – What begins as a discussion of Playing the Player turns into a wide-ranging Q&A session on beating live no-limit hold ’em cash games. Ed’s penchant for explaining high-level concepts in easy-to-understand terms really shines through in this interview.

Olivier Busquet – Even you aren’t a heads up player, you can learn a lot from listening to how one of the best heads-up sit-n-go players in the world stays sharp and works to refine his game. Olivier is remarkably open about his thought process and strategy in the first half of a this two-part interview.

Isaac Haxton – Like Olivier, Ike is remarkably open about how he plays and thinks about poker at the highest stakes. In fact, the two even talk about each other in their respective interviews, making these two episodes fascinating companion pieces.

Fascinating Guests

Shaniac’s Back – Shane Schleger returns to the show to talk about getting out of debt, getting married, getting turned around at the Canadian border, and final tabling the WCOOP Main Event. He does it all with characteristic wit, charm, and humility.

Keone Young – You might know Keone Young as Mister Wu from Deadwood, or as the voice of Storm Shadow from the 1980s GI Joe cartoons, or as Chen Stormstout from World of Warcraft, or from one of the hundreds of roles he’s had in his decades-long acting career. But did you know that he’s also a poker player? Keone shares his fascinating journey from the streets of Honolulu to the movie studios, and poker tables, of California.

Carlos Welch – We first met Carlos in Las Vegas, just days after he’d made the decision to quit his job as a high school math teacher to play poker full-time. The key to his success isn’t crushing at the highest stakes, it’s keeping his expenses to an absolute minimum so that he doesn’t need a lot of money to sustain his lifestyle. His stories of sleeping in his truck in casino parking lots and showering in laundromats are sure to inspire and entertain.

Unique Topics

Ray J – Poker media is full of stories about the people playing at the WSOP, but about the people slinging the cards? Ray J tells about his life as a traveling poker dealer and shares his thoughts about proper procedure and how dealers ought to be trained.

Tubby Boots – There’s not much poker in this episode. Instead, Andrew sits down with his grandmother to talk about her brother, a 400-pound cross-dressing stand-up comedian who loved food, gambling, and life.

Ben Wilinofsky – NeverScaredB brings some high-level strategy to the show when he and Andrew talk about a heads-up match they played as part of the World Championship of Online Poker, but Ben also opens up about his struggle with depression and his Movember campaign to raise money for mental health issues among Canadian men.

Thinking Poker Bookclub

From time to time, we feature poker books on the show. We spend several weeks reading and discussing a book and then bring the author on the show to answer your and our questions.

Jared Tendler on The Mental Game of Poker 2

Tommy Angelo on Elements of Poker

Ed Miller on Playing the Player