Thallo - winning WSOP bracelet, high stakes private poker games, poker apps, ethics

In one year Thallo went from a recreational amateur poker player to winning a World Series of Poker (WSOP) bracelet in 2019, getting into some of the juiciest private poker games in Las Vegas and Los Angeles, playing Triton events and in many other ways living the poker dream.

In this conversation, we talk about Thallo's poker studies, winning WSOP bracelet, getting into high stakes private games. He reveals some of his degen stories and doesn't hold much back when talking about private poker games. We also talk about ethics in poker, discuss poker apps, collusion, some cheating scandals, and much more.

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Timestamps

00:00:00 Intro

00:01:33 Thallo's poker career

00:04:30 Studying for 6 months, 8-12h a day

00:05:55 Thinking through a hand like Phil Galfond

00:10:36 From real-estate career to poker

00:13:38 Making the final table after 6 months of studies

00:17:31 Total degen

00:19:52 Real-estate safety net

00:21:01 Competitive personality, failure wasn't an option

00:22:06 WSOP bracelet and how it helped to create relationships

00:26:01 Private games that make casino games look pretty boring

00:31:11 Down half of bankroll in one session

00:34:15 Fire another bullet

00:35:54 You're losing too much… Are you OK?

00:38:52 It's not about the rake, it's about the games

00:41:06 Different types of fun

00:42:22 Poker apps traps

00:52:27 180bb/100 over 45k hands in private poker apps

00:57:07 Collusion

01:03:14 Regs taking unbelievable lines

01:04:21 Henry Kilbane card mechanics story

01:05:56 Jungleman

01:11:04 Unsustainable bum-hunting

01:14:00 Thallo was never a grinder

01:16:18 King of the hill system

01:23:32 There should be nothing that sets up competitive unbalance

01:24:53 Environment for shady games

01:28:29 Private games. A solution?

01:29:42 How to get invited to good private games

01:33:17 First hearing about private games

01:34:41 Short deck PLO

01:36:31 High stakes angle shooting

01:39:47 Things that are allowed in the High Stakes area

01:41:06 Punching a guy at the table

01:47:26 Physical aggression at the tables

01:48:49 Playing the Triton series

01:53:49 Secret Triton tournaments

01:55:30 Game selection

01:57:51 Results-oriented perception

02:03:17 Huge variance on Galfond vs VeniVidi1993 match

02:06:48 EV graphs - a blessing and a curse

02:09:17 Thallo's stable project on Run It Once Poker

02:15:56 Site policies

02:16:50 Providing high-quality coaching

02:20:23 Sunrise in Las Vegas

02:20:55 Wrapping up