PGT Last Chance Series Heats Up

I'm gonna go. I mean now, it's just like, you know, sports are fun, and I don't feel like I feel like I look back on my younger self and how I used to get lots of highs and a lot of lows depending on how sports teams that I had a quote unquote allegiance towards we're doing. And I think that's kind of silly in a lot of rooms. So I don't really care anymore. I mean, I love sports,

don't get you're wrong. I love it more than ever, and I'll definitely wager on a bunch of games and I guess that will be where my allegiance is for that day or that night, or that week or that season. But other than that, I don't really care. That said, the Patriots are an absolute clown show. I mean, you have the number one pick in your hands, it's already yours. This isn't like one of those things where they had the number two or number three pick and then if

they lose they could get it. No, this is you are number one. You are number one on the draft board. And yes, I'm not a big follower of as I call them, unprofessed sports, and I don't think like the draft class this year is supposed to be overly great. That said, you have a chance to control the draft board. You can trade out of there, get a boatload of picks, you can do whatever you want. Okay, So I mean this is on. You can't blame Drowd Mayo for like

going out there and trying to win the game. If you're the Crafts who own the team, you absolutely positively have to fire the coach before the game. If you're gonna fire him anyway, fire him before they fire the whole staff. Say, players, you're gonna coach yourselves today. Who cares you? Make damn sure you get that number one pick. That is your job. And then once Milton gets out there and starts cooking up and down the field, you say, buddy,

you are sitting your ass down. We're putting the emergency QB in, we are calling wildcat plays, whatever we're gonna do to ensure that we get the number one pick. I know this is a poker podcast, but it is just it's it's more about the general incompetence you see on a weekly basis, on a game by game basis, from these billion dollar franchises, These people who are supposed to be these elite football minds, these elite like franchise owners and all this sort of stuff. Executives blah, blah blah,

and they just butcher things all the time. This is an absolute butcher job by the entire Patriots organization. You can't blame the players because they're playing for contracts, incentives their next jobs, like all this sort of stuff. I totally get it right. You can't blame the coaches, they're doing the same thing. But as the crafts, you have to take this into your own hands as much as possible. You have to clear out the staff beforehand. You can't

give them any shot whatsoever to like win the game. Yeah, that's what you have to do. It's just it's absolutely ridiculous. But yeah, that's my thoughts. If anyone wants legit football content this playoffs, check out my other podcast, Great Aaron Gambles. Okay, yes, selfish plug. I don't give a crap. It's myself, it's Rich Ryan, it's Monoir, it's Brett Colson. We do the Circer Sports million contests every single year, which is not over,

but playoff season is super fun. We release podcasts pretty much every single week, maybe definitely every single week during the playoffs, but more the ones. That's great. Aaron Gamble over on Wherever wherever you listen to your podcast. We're on there. It's great stuff. Anyway, let's get back to what this podcast is actually about, and that is poker first and foremost. Do need to thank our sponsor, our

new sponsor, and that's play poker Go. If you want to play online poker for free, check out play poker Go. With play poker Go, you get the thrill of authentic poker anytime anywhere. I was playing today again, I played yesterday. Yesterday I played while on commentary with Remco because he did a promotional live read for it. I said, you know what, I'm gonna fire it up. Secondhand, I was dealt pocket Five's stacked someone they had Ace king. Sorry, see you later.

now at playpokergo dot com. All right, so the topic of conversation for this podcast, and it's probably gonna end up being a short podcast, although every time I say that, Tim and I go long. Just PGT Last Chance. So, as I mentioned earlier, it is the day off for PGT Last Chance. First two events are in the books. The third event is on a bit of a hiatus. It played down to the final table yesterday. They will

resume on Monday. There are it'll be that event and then three more finishing out for the series and it all leads into the PGT Million Dollar Championship. I'm throwing it to you first, buddy. It's been a great series to start, some record setting fields, lots of fun. Like you can feel the buzz in the air. What are your initial thoughts? Just let me have it.

read I had on the playpool and I was very wrong. Yeah, we've had one hundred and what is it, one hundred and eleven, one hundred and nineteen and one hundred and nineteen entrants absolutely kind of insane numbers, lots of new faces, lots of old faces, lots of people taking their shot, and this series is just a great one to kick off the new year.

you know sports nerd as well. Like it's just how it all kind of comes together, and the season really does come down to, like this series, if people are gonna get in or out for that championship event. You mentioned, those numbers great right out of the gate. I keep telling you every single day I'm taking the over. You keep poop pooing me taking the under. The numbers are just absolutely freaking incredible. Last year for the PGT Last

Chance Series, the opener had ninety one entries. The series ended up happening between I think it was seventy eight ninety one entries for the events. So with one eleven, one nineteen and one nineteen already just crushing what we did last year, you know, which is awesome. So shout out to you forgetting all that sort of stuff done. Nick Shulman and Shannon Shore won the first two events. Nick Schulman won the first one two hundred and eighty

three thousand dollars for him. Shannon Shore won the second one two hundred ninety seven five hundred dollars for him. The third event, as I mentioned, is going to finish out on Monday. There are seven players left. Keith Lear get on the f and Jet Cheese Monster. He is the chip leader, ahead of what Sam soverrolls in second place. David Chen is that there as well. David Chen is like it gets a cult following every time we do

a YouTube stream. It's amazing. So yeah, just some other notes. Quickly, We got Ren Lynn. He has climbed his way currently at least into the top forty of the PGT Lead Award. He did that with a sixth place finish in event number two. This is important. Of course, we've said it before, I will say it again because the top forty players on the PGT lead aboard at the end of the season, they qualify for the season ending at PGT million dollars championship.

So Lynn moved into the top forty. I think he's thirty eighth right now, thirty ninth. He bumped Justin Saliba out. Justin Seba is now sitting forty first. Also of note, Brian Kim was one of those nine players coming into this series who was in the top forty points wise, but needed to get to three PGT cases. You need to have at least three PGT cashes in order to officially qualify get that eligibility for the championship. He cashed in the first event, so he came, got in there,

he got his cash, so he is qualified. He's pretty much locked in.

have talked about it before. He was right on the outside of the top forty looking in and just trying trying to get points, trying to get points, trying to get points, and then the final event happens, he busted out and he needed to like sweat some other people. It was like literally he was sitting at the bar like drinking while the final event was playing near the bubble, like waiting. Sure it happened, it didn't break his way, and it was just sad Jim Collipe, It seems like

sad Jonathan Tomorrow every time I see him. Yeah, I mean, it's just entries, entries, entries. He played like he played everything at the napt that we did in partnership with Poker Stars, right. He went to Texas, he played the the plo stuff down there. He the guy needs one cash. He's got enough points. He's got seventeen dred and thirty points. He's sixth place on the PGT leader where just needs to hit the money one time, and he just can't seem to do it.

he was one of those nine. He's not one of the eight because, as I mentioned, Kim got in what were you gonna say?

other series which allow maximum three entries. This is unlimited, so no matter what, he'll be able to max late redge with twenty. So you might as well just come earlier and fire off. It doesn't matter. Whereas if you come earlier and you have that cap at three entries, you might go through all three and then you're screwed. But here he can just he can be in for

ten who the hell knows. I mean, like you know, but yeah, like just kind of go nuts, like I would probably play a bit crazy to start, just you know, dani Legroanney style, all in every hand like he does in some of those crazy bounty events or whatever, and then you know, play a little bit more normal second entry, and then of course, you know, if you have to fire that max late red entry, I mean you're just tank every hand, fold the cash. That's the goal there,

if you even can do that. So you mentioned Brian Kim did check that box. Jonathan Toyo is still searching the other players, still searching. Nicholas Oustadt, but he's not here. Don't think he's coming. We'll see. Jason Segel needs two cashes. He's been here, it's been playing everything. So time is starting to run out for mister Sagle, who needs two cashes. Boris Angelov missed what.

there are two leaderboard races going on simultaneously. There's obviously the one that we've talked about many times where it's getting into the top forty. So that's on a lot of people's minds. I mentioned Renlin had already done enough at least right now. If things were to pause right now, Renlin would be in because he got that sixth place

finish in event number two. But there's other players, you know, right both like in that I would say, what thirty five to forty, and then the ones that are like forty one to sixty ish or so, like they're within striking distance. The thirty five to forty that's Chance corn Is Scott, sever Alex Foxen, Elis Parsonen, Renlin and Jonathan Little, everyone but Cornith and Parsonen have been here firing a lot.

Kind of I would say, slight surprise to see sever I thought he might be more of like I'll monitor it and maybe I'll come right at the end type of thing. But he's been there every single day, tirn Away, Jonathan Little is now the last person in.

leader board and everyone gets slotted up one spot. Okay, So that would mean in that case, specifically, if if one person didn't qualify Tomle we're using him as an example, then Justin Saliba would go from forty first to fortieth and then he's in. So there's those people that are in like that forty one through forty nine range, Justin Saliba, Matthew Wantman, Isaac Hackson, Sergio Ido, Steven Chidwick, Danny Tang, Joshua Atkins, Bryce Jockey, and Brock Wilson, who are all

like have the chance to move up. Atkins doesn't have the qualifying cashes yet though he has one cash, he needs to get to three. So everyone else that I just mentioned has at least three cashes. But Atkins is you still looking to get into the money two more times in order to Yeah, he is here playing, so it could happen. So that's like the one leaderboard race.

Then you have the other leaderboard race, which is the series leaderboard, and that's going to award three dream seats, and a dream seat is a direct entry into the PGT Million Dollar Championship. So the top three players on that leaderboard, players who aren't already qualified, they would get into the million Dollar Championship, and then right behind them the next five spots get an entry into the Dream

Seat Invitational. And then in that Dream Seat Invitational, which is an invite only event that will be played on January ninth, the top six players from that event, which is essentially an invite only satellites they get into the PGT Million Dollar Championship. So as things stand right now on the series leaderboard, yes it is Nick Schulman on top points wise, but Nick is very much qualified already for the championship, being in what.

and who doesn't. Matthew McEwan and I guess you can include Dan Shack also kind of with an asterisk depending on what happens with Bryce Yaky ahead of them. So there's just a lot going on, a lot of different moving parts, but it's super fun. The best part of it. I mean, it's great to fall along from where we are, but it's great to see the players like so involved. They're all well aware of like what's going on. You know, They're like, I need these many points, I need that,

Like where's the leaderboard? What's this? Can you give me an update? What do I need? What don't it? Like all this sort of stuff. I'm sure they're asking you a bazillion questions every single time.

It's gonna be hard to chase him down. So there's a bit of anti sweating going on. You know, the players are never gonna admit that, but we definitely know it's true. So it's definitely a fun a fun race, and with three more events to go, it's gonna be very interesting.

Like it's almost the guys kind of throw the money to the side, and and I'm like, I'm kind of exaggerating that, but I'm also not, because that's why everyone's playing this series is to get the points. Now. Like one kind of weird example of this is the first event which Shulman ended up going on to win. He pulled this crazy bluff on the river where he checked jammed on Joos Samoo with what was bottom pair at the time. I think it was Jack ten three turn

was a blank river was an ace. Nick had King three and check jammed into Jos Samaou's King Queen who had the nuts, and Jos sma obviously called and doubled up. It doesn't matter Nick went on to win anyway. But what I'm getting at is, does Nick pull that bluff if he's not like already locked in and he's like on the outside of the top forty looking in, or he's in the race for the dream seat or the

sorry the PGT Last Chance Leader, you know what I mean? Like, yeah, he was kind of just he was totally free to do whatever he wanted at that final table because he's well locked in. I mean, yeah, obviously for Nick he wants to win and the money and all that sort of stuff, Yes, but like you know, he can kind of just be like, yeah, I'm gonna take it to the streets on this one, because it doesn't matter if

I end up screwing it up, right, Yeah. Whereas if you're like if you're a Ren Lynn, for example, or you're somebody like that's look right on the outside looking in, or maybe you're not and you just want to fight those fight the battle to get to win the leader board or get one of those dream seats. Do you ultimately pull that bluff? I mean, maybe you don't. You don't pull the trigger there, right, So, like, I'm sure that's in the in the minds of people at some point.

So yeah, I think it's I think it's just great. I freaking love it, and it's it's only gonna, you know, become kind of crazier when when things get down to these final three events, the final two event, and then obviously that final event and then another another situation that that sticks out to me from the early events. I think it was the first event, might have been the second, which which event did. Yeah, it was the first event.

Jeremy Becker bubbling with the Kings versus Ace King on the river, like I mean, and Becker's like, you know, we obviously talk with him during the poker stars an apt when he's like he's like, I played this twenty five k because you guys got me chasing points that crazy hand where he loses to what he had to Jonathan Little's Ace King like super early, Like there's that now this with the Kings, you know, like he needs the points. Yeah, Like so that must stick sting extra

extra hard for him. So like he's out there fighting for points like he's because he's close, right.

you know, you're in pretty good shape. They had to double up, and that Ace on the River is pretty pretty dirty for Jeremy.

crap out of this thing, you know, So like we like it'd be great if you had like like if you had Jeff Platt running around being like the sideline reporter while people are like having all these sorts of

sweats and like all these points things and whatever. Like like if you could get Jeff to grab Jeremie Becker, for example, right after he got you know, knocked out there with that ace on the river and like what that actually meant to him and how much it hurts and like all that sort of that would be great.

Like all this stuff would be great. So like, yeah, yeah, we need to push for that just because like it's this series is just i know, like at first when we put it together at first, when you put it together at first, was kind of like, Okay, we're going to do this as as the last chance to get in you know, pun intended of course, but it's become like amazing. You also have people like I mean, Michael Burke comes to mind right where like he doesn't doesn't play a lot of stuff on the PGT all season.

Maybe if he had some more success on the PGD he would have pushed more. But now he's out there for this series. Yeah, you know, he knows that, Like, Okay, I had some success. He had some deep runs at some stuff. At the win in December, I think he had two six figure scores and now all you have to do is you have to finish in the top three this leaderboard, or you finish in the top eight and you can get into you know that that dream

Seed invitation shot. So you know, I think a lot of people are just really, really really pushing for this sort of stuff.

and you know they're firing in this. So yeah, the PGT Last Chance is front and center. It's absolutely awesome. As as I mentioned, on Monday, January sixth, at four pm Eastern time one pm Pacific time, we will have the final table of event number three with the same one hundred nineteen entries that we had in event number two, same the first place prize there, so two hundred and

ninety seven five hundred dollars up top. Keith Lear is in front, Sam Silverall is second, Dylan Lindy is third, Landon Tice fourth, David Chen, Brandon Wilson sixth, Darren Elias his seventh. So that's important for I mean, David Chen, this is good for him, you know, if he can, if he can get another top three finish. I mean, he's got to be a favorite win a dream seat.

coming down to the final two in one event. You know, like it's just going to be a lot of fun to see how that all shakes out there. So still a lot to be had, lots of play for here. All these players are going to be out there battling of course, anything else on the Last Chance Series, any sort of final thoughts before we get the heck out.

know won the Dream Saint last year. They're all they put volume all season they're grinding hard for this, so hopefully everything breaks right for some of these guys and they can get in, But otherwise I think it's going to be a pretty good conclusion to this series, and then obviously the PGT Championship kicking off on Friday.

Eric s Idell is right there. He's been out playing. Joey Wiseman is out there playing. Uh Noel Rodriguez played he played it right, He's been playing everything right as he I know he played the I.

Like I'm I'm assuming Tom I was gonna get a cash like in this calculation. So I mean, I have no idea if he will or won't the way he's going, who the heck knows, But I'm gonna assuming he gets it and everyone else. I'm gonna say he gets and Boris Angelov gets it, and then everyone else won't. So that would bump Foxing up and give him a little bit more comfort in terms of qualifying. It was also bumped some of these players you know that are right

outside the top forty up and in. But of course, as I've mentioned a couple of times on the broadcast, you know, if you're someone like ad Justin Saliba, Matthew Wotman, Isaac Hackson, Steven Chidwick, you know you just you want it. You'd rather take your feet into your own hands, just get the cashes, get the points, and don't have to sweat the other stuff. Because we saw that heartbreak with

Jim Callaby last year. I guess just quickly you had a funny little conversation with Steven Chidwick where you were like, you have to get a cash or what?

rolled up the cash. Yeah, he cashed that event. It didn't even It was funny because like people that have at least watch Steven shiitway, he doesn't talk, doesn't really give off much of a personality, but he's actually a very entertaining and funny person when he speaks. And when he said that, kind of the whole table started laughing, like just the the uber confidence he had that he'll be right, like I'll be right, I'll get another.

that event. The event is capped at fifty players, there won't be more than that, but likely a few less, and then the top six will pay five hundred thousand dollars up top. And then I also want to mention that we just announced the new season of High Stakes Poker, premiering Monday, January thirteenth. Several few new faces, I should say, are making their high stakes poker debut Jared Blesnick Scott,

sever Ryan Feldman, and Sam Kekey. Sam Kekey is the name that you guys probably have no idea who that is. He is the I think founder and president, founder and a CEO. I don't know exactly, but of Monkey Tills. They like sports betting and fantasy platform all that sort of stuff, but absolute wild character plays, probably wilder than his personality is. So get ready for that because it's

gonna be an absolute gong show out there. You have Phil Helmuth, Andrew Robol, Alan Keating, Nick air Ball, and Rick Solomon are all turning this season. That should give you an idea just of how wild and crazy this season can get. I mean, Keating, Airball, Solomon, I mean, come on, probably got a helmets blow up in there at some point. I mean, the guy always blows up on our show, so expect that. Of course, I haven't

seen anything. I was there for like some of the tapings, and I kind of got an idea of like what was going on, but I have no idea really what was going on. So I'm I'm very much anticipating this season. Steaks are two hundred four hundred all the way up to five hundred one thousand. I saw the teaser video and there's like one clip where Solomon like looks aside and says, give me a million, So I mean that just tells me it's gonna be bananas. So I can't wait.

That's again coming up Monday, January thirteenth. In the new episodes, will be airing every Monday for High Stakes Poker exclusively on Poker Go. All right, that's gonna do it for us. Tim's Broncos are in the playoffs. I'm sorry he's pumping. Although they're gonna get their doors blown off by this, right, they're gonna get crushed.