In this one, Cody talks to professional poker player Adam Hendrix. He learned to play poker when he was a kid, at his grandma’s house in Homer, Alaska. Every time he would visit, he’d play penny poker with his aunts and uncles, but what really got him interested in it was the first time he watched the ESPN World Series of Poker Main Event coverage. It was filled with these unique characters — boisterous and stone-faced — sometimes wearing funny hats, headphones, sunglasses or costumes. It was a career unlike any he’d ever heard of before.
Fast forward to college and he’s playing $5 poker games in his dorm at Virginia Tech. There, he had a solid group of friends he’d play with. Sometimes they would travel to play poker too, they’d go to places like Atlantic City where they would play until all their chips were gone. Some days they would do better than others. Poker’s unique in that way, Adam says, if you can afford the buy-in, then you can play. And because of that, you get so many different people — from beginners to experts — that come to the table every day.
He says that his upbringing contributed to his worldliness and his understanding of people — both of which are essential qualities in a poker player. His dad worked in oil, so his family traveled a lot, living in a number of different states and countries. In high school, he lived in Egypt. It was an experience that introduced him to a lot of different people and cultures. Looking back on it now, he says that his time in Egypt made him the poker player he is today. Because, after all, poker is also a game of psychology. The better you can read people, the more formative a player you’ll be.
Photo courtesy of Omar Sader
Special Conversation: Bean's Cafe Executive Director Lisa Sauder on COVID-19
Special Conversation: Teacher Abby O'Neill on COVID-19
Special Conversation: Dr. Andy Elsberg on COVID-19
065 with Malcolm Harris
EP 064 with Peter Wallack
EP 063 with Carrie Hambach
EP 062 with Callan Chythlook-Sifsof
EP 061 with John Stallone
"lost anchorage" EP 07 with Joe Rambur
EP 060 with Laura Cole
EP 059 with Micah Hollinger
2019 Recap: EP 023 with Scott Liska
2019 Recap: EP 033 with Jason Borgstede
2019 Recap: EP 053 with Roger Sparks
2019 Recap: EP 029 with Jay Liska
2019 Recap: "lost anchorage" EP 05 with Claude "Muff" Butler
2019 Recap: EP 032 with Andy Elsberg
EP 058 with Brian Adams
EP 057 with Dan Redfield
"lost anchorage" EP 06 with Aaron Leggett
Create your
podcast in
minutes
It is Free
The Modern West
Just Dumb Enough Podcast
Voices of Misery Podcast
House of Whimsical Terror
Stuff You Should Know
Timcast IRL