The Heart of Poker
Mustapha Kanit on Learning Languages, Magic The Gathering & What Makes A Life Well Lived | Ep: 42
With his recorded winnings closing in on the $20 million mark, it would be easy to think Italian high roller Mustapha Kanit’s greatest skills are on the felt. However according to Kanit, it’s his natural willingness to embrace making mistakes and his drive to confront his fears that are his real super powers. In this candid and personal interview, Mustapha tells the story of his early entry into poker and the lessons he learned along the way. In fact, his ...
Vivian Saliba on Self Improvement, Work Ethic & Paying For College With Poker Earnings | Ep: 41
With 4 WSOP final tables under her belt already, Brazilian poker pro and streamer Vivian Saliba is a force to be reckoned with at the PLO and NLHE tables. The 888poker Ambassador’s drive to succeed in poker was actually born out of necessity. At just 18 years old, while her family was contending with financial difficulties, a young Vivian played poker to put herself through college and pay her bills. Failure was not an option for her. With that kind ...
David Tuchman on Fatherhood, Snake Bars & Love At First Sight | Ep: 40
For this episode of the Heart of Poker podcast, Kara digs into the history of one of the most prolific and recognizable voices in poker commentary, David Tuchman. With extensive credits, going all the way back to the early 2000s for Live at the Bike, David Tuchman is easily recognizable as one of the OG player/broadcasters of the poker industry. Kara and David start off discussing how they became friends, traveling the poker circuit and working on many of the ...
Nick Wealthall on The Old Days of Poker, Live Television & His Fear of Hippos | Ep: 39
With a wealth of experience in poker, British funnyman and commentator Nick Wealthall has an insight into the industry that rivals anyone. Currently one of the main voices of 888poker’s live and online events, Nick has had a long and storied past in the industry. In fact, it was nearly 20 years ago now that he and The Heart of Poker host Kara Scott were doing commentary on a tiny, middle of the night cable TV show in London. The ...
Ryan Laplante on Black Friday, Family Secrets & The Importance of Friendships | Ep: 38
Well known for his incredible work ethic, both as a poker pro and as the founder of his own training site Learn Pro Poker, Ryan Laplante believes that life and poker reflect the hard work we put into them. Laplante took down his first bracelet in a 2016 PLO event as one of the highlights of a live poker career that started the literal moment he turned 21. When Black Friday shut down online poker, Ryan waited an agonizing 4 ...
Jaman Burton on loyalty, being immune to embarrassment & how quitting a race shaped his life | Ep: 37
If you follow poker vlogs, then you have no doubt come across The Drawing Dead vlog by Jaman Burton. Burton, who is one the most influential poker vloggers in the space, brings something completely unique to the table in the form of a poker vlog with graphic novel style illustrations woven in. And while it may be nice to gain some recognition within the poker community, Burton shares with Kara that it’s not all roses. Between the pressures of being ...
Greg Merson on becoming a father, hypnotherapy and how poker saved his life | Ep: 36
One of the more notable names from the ESPN era of the World Series Of Poker is undoubtably Greg Merson. Merson, who took home $8,531,853 for winning the Main Event in 2012, instantly became a household name within the poker community. Having gotten sober a year prior, his story and accomplishment became an inspiration to many who battled addiction. But where do you go after winning the Main Event? For Merson, his obsession with becoming the best version of himself ...
Tiffany Michelle On Maintaining Gratitude Through Life’s Challenges | Ep: 35
On this episode of The Heart of Poker, Kara goes deep with poker player, social media maven and tv personality Tiffany Michelle. Michelle, who many would recognize on and off the felt, first made a splash in the poker world at the 2008 World Series of Poker, when she finished 17th out of 6844 players, making her the last woman standing. In fact, it was that huge accomplishment that Michelle credits for opening the doors to many of the opportunities ...
Katie Lindsay on Choosing Happiness & Having Fun At The Poker Table | Ep: 34
On this episode of the Heart of Poker, Kara is joined by prolific businesswoman and poker powerhouse, Katie Lindsay. Lindsay, who has racked up nearly 2.5 million dollars in live and online cashes combined, has been a been a mainstay in the poker community for many years dating back to pre-Black Friday. After getting hooked on poker by the fascinating story of Chris Moneymaker, she got a foot in the door of the industry by writing for a poker magazine ...
Legendary Poker Voice Lon McEachern on ”The Meaning of Life” | Ep: 33
In this episode of the Heart of Poker Podcast, Kara Scott speaks with long-time friend and colleague Lon McEachern. An absolute poker legend, known as the "Voice of Poker", Lon McEachern has been one half of the commentary team that started providing commentary for the World Series of Poker Main Event in 2003. And for many years Kara has been right there with him as part of the WSOP broadcast team. The two developed a strong working relationship and friendship ...
Jon Van Fleet on Streaming Success, Mental Health & His Purpose in Life | Ep: 32
On this episode of The Heart of Poker, Kara sits down with a true online poker OG, Jon “apestyles” Van Fleet. Van Fleet, who regularly crushed the biggest online MTT’s in the mid 2000’s, continues to grind to this day and currently sits at #3 for all-time online poker winnings with over $20,300,000 in online cashes. But his journey to this accomplishment hasn’t been without its share of challenges along the way. Now nearly 9 years sober, Van Fleet recalls ...
Adam Pliska on Gratitude, Opportunities of the Modern World and Singing to his Dogs | Ep: 31
Outside of big-name players, few people have had such an impact on the growth of poker globally as World Poker Tour President & CEO Adam Pliska. Pliska, who has now been part of the iconic WPT brand since 2003, is credited as being the driving factor behind the company's expansion into numerous foreign markets around the world and exposing new players to the game through their big-budget, final table productions. However, for all the accolades, you’d be hard pressed to ...
Benny Glaser on Pursuing Music, Being “Poker Famous” and Living a Fulfilled Life | Ep: 30
In a time where No-Limit Holdem still dominates the poker landscape, it’s rare to come across a young pro so proficient in mixed games as Benny Glaser. This is perhaps best demonstrated by Glaser’s most recent WSOP results, where he cashed in 5 events (including winning his 4th bracelet in the $10k Razz Championship and placing 2nd in the $25k H.O.R.S.E. event) for a total of $784,243. But don’t let these results fool you into thinking Benny is a one-dimensional ...
Nadya Magnus Talks Philanthropy, GPI POY and Staying True to Herself
Fresh off the heels of her 2021 GPI Player of the Year award, Nadya Magnus gives Kara a glimpse into the sacrifice and dedication it took for her to achieve this prestigious title. Magnus, whose first Hendon Mob cash dates back to 2008, has been steadily grinding the tournament circuit for well over a decade en route to the top of the GPI index. Her consistency paid off last year with her taking home $426,161 of her $1,287,596 total career ...
Brandon Shack-Harris Talks Music, Muay Thai and the Meaning of Life (NBD) | Ep: 28
In this month’s episode, Kara asks poker pro Brandon Shack-Harris why it’s so important to bring the fun, the silly, the unexpected to the poker table. Shack-Harris is a two-time WSOP bracelet winner with $3.5 million lifetime tournament earnings. Top-level poker skill notwithstanding, he’s probably better known for his personality and antics at the poker table. Shack-Harris also made news when he voluntarily released his ROI numbers for every World Series of Poker he ever played. All told, Shack-Harris competed ...
Xuan Liu is Reigniting Her Love for Poker by Branching Out | Ep: 27
In case you haven’t noticed after 26 episodes, Heart of Poker is about a lot more than just poker. We’ve had incredible guests from the top of the game share insights into their lives off the felt, including some of their most personal and intimate moments and struggles they’ve overcome. Enter Xuan Liu. Over a star studded career in poker Xuan has won over $3,000,000, but these days she’s just as interested in seeing how poker experience can be applied ...
Patrick Leonard Is Pretty Sure We’re Living in a Simulation | Ep: 26
Patrick Leonard is an online superstar. He has collected $13 million in online tournament cashes so far, regularly just crushing online MTT fields. He’s no slouch on the felt either, with more than $2.5 million in live tournament cashes. That’s a huge amount of money in anyone’s book - even if money is ultimately irrelevant and we’re all just living in a simulation. That’s just one of the pretty out there theories that Patrick and Kara get into on this ...
Philosophy 101 with Fedor Holz | Ep: 25
Quite simply, Fedor Holz is one of the best poker players of all time and one of the most emblematic players of poker’s modern era. At just 28 years old, Fedor has more than $32,000,000 in live cashes alone. What makes all of this even more remarkable, is that poker is just one string to Fedor’s bow. As Kara says in this episode, he’s a true modern day Renaissance man and he’s a dream guest on Heart of Poker. Kara’s ...
Ebony Kenney on Owning Her Mistakes, Learning From Her Kids, and Helping Other Women | Ep: 24
Ebony Kenney is so much more than just a poker pro. She’s a model and a content creator. She’s an entrepreneur, a women's advocate and a life coach. And this week she’s joining Kara on Heart of Poker. Heart of Poker is all about stripping back the layers and getting to, well, the heart of each guest - and Ebony couldn’t be more open to the experience. Kara uses a specially modified set of questions that were originally designed by ...
Kristy Arnett on Facing the Biggest Challenges in Life with Honesty and Grace | Ep: 23
This week’s guest on Heart of Poker is one of the biggest and warmest personalities in the extended world of poker. Kristy Arnett is a poker player and former poker journalist, but she is still very much in the world of media and content creation. As she mentions in the episode, Heart of Poker is right up Kristy’s street. Over her career presenting poker coverage for PokerNews and others, she developed a well deserved reputation for creating original and interesting ...
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