Poker Articles

This week’s Podcast features interviews with two very successful multi-table tournament players who have taken different paths in recent months – Brett 'Gank' Jungblut and Randy 'Randers' Haddox.

Brett (known by his online name “Gank”) first came into the spotlight during ESPN’s World Series of Poker coverage of The Crew, which included other well-known members such as Scott Fischman and Dutch Boyd.  When Brett won a WSOP bracelet in Omaha H/L in 2004, the world began to follow his success not only at live poker, but also at the Online tables.  Few could have predicted the onslaught of talent that Brett ‘Gank’ Jungblut brought to the Online Poker world from late-2004 through mid-2005.  Whether it was 8-tabling tournaments on Poker Stars or dominating the Omaha cash games on Party Poker (as “PurpleLungs”), the Online Poker community couldn’t get enough of this superstar who quickly found himself ranked among the Top 10 online players in the world.

But the well-documented Tournament Leader Board Contest of August 2005 did more than raise concerns about ethics; it disgusted Brett in such a way that he stopped seriously competing for the August TLB crown when it was revealed that a high-profile player had won a major tournament by playing on a different account name after he had already busted out of that same tournament on his regular account.  Some say this was the beginning of the end for Gank's Online prowess.  In late 2005, Gank reached a point where he no longer felt the need to prove himself through results at the Online tables.  When he opened his poker instructional site, www.propokerschool.com, his weekly time investment in Online Poker quickly dropped from 80+ hours per week to less than 20.

Is Brett still capable of being a top online player?  What problems does he have with high-profile players ActionJeff, ZeeJustin, and PeteTheBeat?  Does he need a strong WSOP showing in order to regain the widespread popularity he once enjoyed?  Have the Rankings been fair to him?  If you’re interested in Gank’s answers to any of these questions, then you’ll be thoroughly entertained while listening to this week’s show.

Our 2nd guest is a full-time Junior High math teacher/football coach who moonlights as an Online tournament player.  After Randers’ (Randy Haddox) cash in the ParadisePoker.com Masters IV Tournament for $250,000, many people would have quit their day job to concentrate on the more-lucrative profession.  But Randy enjoys working with kids and believes that not being required to play poker full-time is a positive thing for his game.  Randy is only 26 years old, and is just one of a growing number of successful part-time players who must put many things before poker.

If you have a question for our future guests that you’d like to have on the Podcast, you may call us at (206) 203 – 4730, or e-mail us at podcast@pocketfives.com.  We look forward to hearing from you!