Gossip Column: Nate Silver Drops $50K at The Lodge; Solve For Why & Americas Cardroom Release Poker Documentaries 

Nate Silver & Ebony Kenney
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  • Attreyee Khasnabis February 24, 2023
  • 5 Minutes Read

Nate Silver, the founder of the popular FiveThirtyEight political polling analysis blog, recently dropped a significant sum in a high-stakes poker game at The Lodge Card Club in Round Rock, Texas. Playing with a talented group of poker players like Jamie Kerstetter, Mariano, and Brad Owen, Silver ended up losing $50,000 in the $50/$100 no-limit hold ’em game.

As the popularity of poker continues to soar, two new documentaries have emerged that delve deeper into the world of high-stakes play. To Be Determined, created by Solve For Why, and High Stakes: A Woman’s Seat in a $200,000 Poker Tournament, produced by Americas Cardroom, offer unique perspectives on what it takes to succeed in poker. Both films provide a detailed exploration of the challenges players face as they strive for success, but each takes a different approach to telling the story. While To Be Determined follows a group of poker players seeking to improve their skills, High Stakes: A Woman’s Seat in a $200,000 Poker Tournament chronicles the journey of a female player, Ebony Kenney, competing in a high-stakes tournament.

 

Nate Silver Takes a $50K Hit in $50/$100 NLHE Cash Game at The Lodge

It was a night of high stakes, intense competition, and crushing defeats at The Lodge Card Club in Round Rock, Texas. Nate Silver, the famed founder of FiveThirtyEight, entered the arena confidently, but little did he know that the cards would not be in his favor.

Nate Silver
Nate Silver

 

The $50/$100 no-limit hold’em game boasted a star-studded lineup, with poker pros Jamie Kerstetter, Mariano Grandoli, and Brad Owen all vying for the pot. But the drama began when Doug Polk joined the game and upped the ante to a staggering $200,000.

As the night wore on, tensions ran high, and the chips piled up on the table. Silver’s fortunes, however, took a sharp turn for the worse, as he lost nearly $50,000 in the session. Despite his valiant efforts to claw his way back, Lady Luck was not on his side that night.

Here’s a glimpse of how things played out.

Silver, a former limit hold’em pro from the 2000s who changed careers, has recently returned to his poker roots. He’s been playing regularly for the past year and has even competed in The Lodge stream on Tuesday and Wednesday.

In his first session on Tuesday, he made an impressive profit of around $28,000. However, luck wasn’t on his side the following day, as he lost a staggering $47,000 in just five hours.

While some of his losses were due to bad luck, he may have also overplayed a hand preflop during his second buy-in. He four-bet jammed preflop with for $20,250, only to get snap-called by Grandoli’s , with the latter taking down the pot.

In another huge pot, Silver went all in preflop for $15,075 with but was up against Kerstetter’s and Avi‘s . Amazingly, Avi won both runouts, leaving Silver fuming. Kerstetter won the side pot since Avi was the short stack by a wide margin.

Despite the losses, Silver managed to exact some revenge on Mariano when he jammed all in with for $18,000 on the flop . Mariano, holding , couldn’t call with King-high, even though it was the better hand then.

The session had been running for six hours when Doug Polk joined in, injecting new life and excitement into the intense 12-hour marathon session. Unfortunately for Brad Owen, who lost a whopping $80,000 in Tuesday’s game and had been having a bad run all week at the card room he co-owns, he picked the worst possible moment to mess around with seven-deuce.

Doug Polk
Doug Polk

 

In the hand in question, “EZ” made a sly $200 limp in early position with , luring Mariano on the button to raise to $800 with . Owen, sitting in the big blind, made a bold three-bet to $3,000 with . “EZ” retaliated with a quick limp four-bet to $9,000, scaring off Mariano but not Owen. He moved all in for $36,800, effectively putting “EZ” to the test. In a snap decision, “EZ” called, and the pot grew to $74,750. The board ran , securing the win for “EZ,” who stacked Owen.

 

Although that hand was wild, it paled compared to the largest pot of the day, which was taken down by Dylan DeStefano, who joined the game late. He won a massive $224,500 pot, the biggest in Lodge Live history, by flopping top set against “EZ’s” middle set. DeStefano’s luck continued to shine as he ended up rivering quads and made sure to get the most value off his monster hand.

 

Solve For Why & Americas Cardroom’s Poker Documentaries Highlight Different Aspects of the Game

Two poker documentaries have recently surfaced amidst a sea of poker-related content and controversies. These films, To Be Determined by Solve For Why and High Stakes: A Woman’s Seat in a $200,000 Poker Tournament by Americas Cardroom, offer a more in-depth exploration of what it truly takes to succeed in poker.

Through long-form storytelling, these documentaries showcase two different paths to achieving success in the poker world. While To Be Determined highlights the journey of one group’s efforts to improve their poker skills, High Stakes: A Woman’s Seat in a $200,000 Poker Tournament showcases the experience of a female poker player competing in a high-stakes tournament.

High Stakes, which debuted this month, offers an inside look at Ebony Kenney‘s journey to the $200,000 Super High Roller at the 2022 Triton Series. In the first 20 minutes of the documentary, viewers are taken behind the scenes with Kenney as she travels and prepares herself for the biggest tournament of her career. Without revealing too much, Kenney’s performance in the tournament is impressive.

Ebony Kenney
Ebony Kenney

 

You can watch the documentary below.

 

To Be Determined follows the story of Oscar, a low-stakes grinder playing underground games in the northeast and at casinos in Atlantic City. Despite his lack of ambition, Oscar enjoys his journey playing $1/$2 hold’em. In the 90-minute documentary, he travels to Las Vegas to attend the Solve For Why Academy, hoping to improve his game and advance to the next level. The outcome of his journey may surprise you.

You can watch the documentary below.

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