High Society

Today's Guest: Sal Pipitone, pro card player and dealer. Sal talks about getting into card playing, hosting games and his experiences at the World Series of Poker. Sal also talks about tips and tricks to hone in your card playing skills

Episode Transcript

(00:00):
Since 1961, Court's plumbing has offered friendly, reliable service to residences all over Bergen County, New Jersey.

(00:09):
We are a fourth generation family-owned business, unnotched in customer satisfaction and professionalism while working in your home.
We are the hydronic heating and water filtration specialists, with a workmanship guarantee to put you at ease so you can rest comfortably.
We offer financing for those big projects that catch you off guard, and we have a network of excellent contractors in all fields for any project you wish to tackle.

(00:37):
Call our responsive office team and we'll dispatch a handsome and educated technician to lay the smackdown on all your plumbing issues.
You can also find us at courtsplumbing.com, search us on Google, or follow us on Facebook, Instagram, T-Talk, and YouTube.
Like, subscribe, and share please.

(01:27):
I think I only air one time where I screwed it up, but the rest of the time I edit all that out.
I don't know why, I guess learning lines and trying to spout them is more difficult than just popping off at the top of the head.
I think you chose a pretty difficult intro, too, instead of just like a simple, you know, get to the point.
Welcome to Plum Bumps Podcast, the Everyman's Podcast.

(01:48):
Boom, done. People like simplicity.
We'll put a vote. I'll put this on Instagram as a poll, and we'll vote on it.
What happens if it ties?
Then I'll stick with the longer one.
I don't know.
I thought you were going to say tie goes to me, so.
Okay, I guess that would be the right thing.

(02:10):
That rarely crosses my mind, though. The right thing.
So, how we've been doing lately?
I think we've been fine. You wanted to talk about your road rage again, right, in the intro?
I don't understand.
You told me a funny story earlier, well, later last week.

(02:31):
I'll think about it. I'll think about telling that one.
I don't understand what the F is going on.
You're a part of the problem, too. I'm just going to say your anger is so...
Hold on. Before you shoot me down.
It encompasses your face.
I thought here, yes, it does.
And it's a big fish tank at the truck. You can't help it.

(02:53):
But all day long, and it's getting worse every week,
all day long, you're battling with people just messing with you on the road,
running up on the shoulder to hit you, to jump in front of you at a red light, a truck.
It's a truck people.
I do notice that people do with trucks.
It's packed with equipment, little parts in shelves,

(03:16):
and that just enrages me.
If I'm driving my personal truck, someone does that.
I'm like, whatever.
But the work truck, my bread and butter,
now people are just going to mess with quartz plumbing trucks on the road just because...
Good thing ours isn't labeled yet.
It will be by the time this airs.
We're getting our big truck re-labeled. I'm pretty excited about that.
I can't wait to see how it looks.

(03:38):
It's the new logo with Frankie on it.
By the time this airs, it'll be on the road.
Comment what you think because I converted all our graphics to that logo.
I'm kind of in it now.
Even ordered merch with it.
Yeah.
Yeah, that's been aggravating me.
It gets worse and worse.
Okay, I will tell the story.

(04:00):
Got it.
I got it.
I'm driving down Kinderkermack.
There's this person behind me.
We're going five miles over the speed limit,
and this person is in the morning on Kinderkermack going down to Hordak and Sack.
Five miles over the speed limit is acceptable.
If you're going the speed limit on Kinderkermack,
you're just a ball buster.

(04:21):
You're doing it on purpose, and you know why you're doing it.
There's no need. Five miles over.
Even cops will give you that.
She's on this guy's ass.
Just up there and then swaying back...
Oops, sorry.
There's a whole line of traffic all the way down Kinderkermack.
Where are you going to go?
You're not going to get anywhere any faster.

(04:43):
And she's harassing this dude.
And then finally,
I guess the car in front of her pulls off.
And then she's behind me.
She's actually not tailgating me.
And then we get up to a light,
and she comes up and she almost hits me from behind.
So I'm like, whatever.
And at this point, I'm not even bothered because she's behind me.

(05:04):
And I'm going down Kinderkermack,
and then I'm going straight to head toward Ferguson,
toward Temple Ave, 20 Temple Ave, Ferguson,
Ferguson Plumbing Supply.
If you guys ever need plumbing products, hit them up.
Sponsor us first, Ferguson.
And then you can hit up Ferguson.
There's plenty of other supply houses in the area.
Then we'll give you coupons.
I come up to a red light.

(05:26):
She busts over on the right,
on the single white line shoulder,
jumps in front of me to hit the red light and stops.
And I had to slam on my brakes,
and I heard stuff like the stuff in the...
We have shelves and bins that are pretty secure on the truck,
and I heard just things that don't move, just slam forward.

(05:49):
And I'm so angry.
I'm so angry I'm trying to keep it together.
So I...
And then she starts recklessly driving the person in front of her.
So we finally get up to the last light.
This story's going on forever.
Sal's our guest this week, by the way.
I told him, don't go over three minutes telling a story.
Here I am at the five-minute mark.

(06:11):
Anyway, so we go...
You said she almost hit a pedestrian on that current jump.
Almost hit some dudes walking down with,
like just listening to headphones, bopping down.
She goes so close to that median.
He's caught off guard.
He slams on the...
So we finally get to two lights ahead,

(06:32):
and I'm going making a left.
She's going straight, and I get next to her,
and I take a picture of her license plate and her face.
And that's it.
And then I pull off and I make a left.
She calls the business number.
She goes, your employee got out of his car
to take pictures of me and video.
He's harassing me. I'm just an 18-year-old girl.
I have no idea why he's doing this.

(06:54):
She's freaking out.
She calls Nancy this. Nancy calls me while I'm at Ferguson.
She tells me this whole thing.
I go, you tell her you call her back,
and you say this verbatim.
I go, the technician has front and rear dash cams.
He was watching you all the way from continental,

(07:15):
be aggressive all the way down, kinder kamak.
And then when you got behind him,
you jumped on the shoulder to jump a red light,
and then stopped short in front of him
and made everything slam forward.
He has this on camera.
He has a front and rear video of you all the way from continental.
So she starts backtracking and saying,

(07:36):
well, I don't remember doing any of that.
She goes, and then I told Nancy to tell her,
like, listen, if you want to report us to the cops,
we'll just submit this footage as well.
So she starts backtracking and going on and on.
And then she starts playing the poor little,
I'm only an 18-year-old girl.
I'm just trying to get to work in the morning.
And it was so funny because Nancy said her tone like that.

(07:57):
She became Karen on fire to like, oh, crap.
And it felt so good because you never get to do that.
And these people just F with you all day on the road.
It's not fair.
And you're right.
I do have a bit of a temper, but day in and day out.
How much can you take? How much can one man take?
How much can one man take?

(08:19):
These people?
Yeah. Let's introduce the guests.
Did you get it out?
What, were you getting bored through my story?
No, I'm just saying, I wanted you to vent because you were like holding on to that story all from last week.
You were.
The first thing you did when you came to the job site after that incident was like,
you slammed the door, you look at me with that face like, I need to tell you a story.

(08:40):
And you just vented.
And then you told the story again later on.
Yeah, but you know what?
I get excited to show you like, stupid crap because we just talk about the same stuff all day.
So when something new, it's like,
You're good. I love this.
Frankie wants you to tell a story again.

(09:01):
No, she wants food again.
She wants her second dinner.
So what are you doing on my show?
What are we?
Why are you here?
I'm here to see you try to play poker.
You weren't good then. You're not good now.
Yeah.
I mean, I've had my, I've had my games, but when I look back, I'm like, yeah, that's just a fluke.

(09:22):
So Sal's an old buddy of mine.
We go way back, back to the, not quite high school, right after high school was when I started hanging out with you guys.
It's been a while.
But I remember we used to get together once or twice a week and just play cards all night long.
And that was a ritual for 15 years.
Yeah.
It used to be at the fireplace.

(09:43):
Remember playing at the fireplace?
Did you ever come play at the fireplace?
I was, I was pre pre.
Yeah. All the fireplace was to me was a good cheeseburger and now it's a good chicken sandwich.
Unfortunately.
Can you believe that?
I do love me some Chick-fil-A though.
I do too, but it's the end of an era.
Not at the expense of the firehouse.
And you know what? I thought that they actually, whatever, I don't want to get into the fireplace as business failure.

(10:07):
The fireplace.
You said firehouse. You got me calling a firehouse.
Did I say firehouse?
You did.
Good sandwich place.
Good sandwich place. Yeah.
You want to talk about Chick-fil-A has like everyone agrees Chick-fil-A has the best staff, right?
The best drive-thru staff.
The nicest people.
I have my feelings about that.
Where have you had a bad experience in Chick-fil-A?
No, it's just none.
And the, it was too nice.

(10:28):
So that chicken's like, hey, welcome to what do you want?
And I'm like, what do you mean?
I'd have to look to see if you guys have anything new.
That's, I mean, I can't.
I'm not going to get to the menu.
Anything new. It's chicken.
Everything is just a different variation of chicken.
But it's like, no, but I need to like.
Did you see the menu?
Yeah.
I mean, if you order the same thing, a number one.
Because I'm a spicy guy, right?
So if there's like a new variety of spicy chicken sandwiches, I need to see it first.

(10:53):
And it's like the guy who comes up to me, how are you?
What can I get for you?
What you can get for me is please step aside so I can look at the menu.
Out of the way, pal. Please.
Anywho, cards back at the fireplace.
Yeah.
And we played at a buddy of ours house for a very long time back and forth.
A lot of good memories there.
So.

(11:14):
And that's kind of how it all started for me.
Yeah.
You know, supposed to have a party back in the year after I graduated high school.
Then a friend's relative got into a car accident.
We thought it was a bad taste to party that night.
So someone suggested, Hey, let's play poker.
I had no idea.
But from the first night I played, I was like super intrigued and it was fun.

(11:37):
Yeah.
The more I played with the same people and I saw like the same people winning.
I was like, wait a minute.
Yeah.
It's an art.
Yeah.
Like there's something else to this.
It's like they're not winning by they're just better and I'm like, what makes them better?
And then me with my personality, I'm like, I have to find out.
Yeah.

(11:58):
And once I learned how to play,
People don't know your personality yet.
Oh, you're not doing a good job of putting it forward either.
Sorry.
So wait, but one of those people become like your mentor?
No, no, you just want to learn.
You know what?
Let's interject here.
So Sal's a professional card player.
He has been for 20 years.
On and off.
On and off 20 years.
I mean, we get the we get the bug sometimes to hit it when we'll fly out to a casino.

(12:22):
Yeah.
Like fly drive drive drive out to drive out to a casino just for the day.
As fast as you can because it's so far away.
If Nancy, if Nancy ever calls you back and be like, oh, you know what they can't get to you today.
We have to push you tomorrow.
We're at the casino.
Which casino do you go to?
Mount Airy.
Mount Airy is a, to what?

(12:43):
Not to play poker.
No, no, because I have one table there.
Not to bash Mount Airy.
No, you know what Hollywood Hollywood, if you go a little bit further is a really good casino.
They have a lot of card tables.
Hollywood.
Where were we?
We're at Hollywood.
I think that was called Hollywood casino.
I don't know what part of PA it was in, but another one that's good was, was that other one in PA

(13:04):
with the bridge?
Hollywood.
That's Hollywood casino.
Oh, Hollywood only as if.
I don't know.
I thought you were talking about the one with the racetrack.
That's parks.
That's like.
P-A-R-X, which is very well known.
It's like top three poker room in the East Coast on the East Coast.
And then there's the Sands, which is now Wind Creek.

(13:26):
Yes.
Wind Creek is the one.
Oh, sorry.
There's the old sugar house, which is close to Philly, but now that's Rivers.
Hollywood sounds made up.
It could be.
I don't know.
There's a Hollywood.
No, there's no Hollywood.
Let's just, let's just, we'll edit Hollywood.

(13:48):
I can't wait.
I can't wait to put this in and then like put up a commercial for Hollywood casino and PA
and just like roast you out.
Right.
I'm going to film like a separate segment.
Like this guy doesn't, this guy's calls himself professional card players in an
Hollywood casino.
You know, I've always hated that.

(14:09):
I've always hated that term.
Professional card professional poker player, professional card player.
What do you call?
I'd, I never labeled.
What are your pronouns?
Yeah.
Can I take a guess?
Frank, yell me out.
Um, yeah, I just, I didn't, you don't need much.

(14:31):
This might need to be edited.
I'm not sure you don't need much.
You don't have, there's no like training you need to complete to be considered professional.
I would say professional as you make your living from it.
Right.
You have no other source of income, but what you make from poker.
Well, that's what you do.
Right.
So your professional car play.
Yeah, but like you could be on unemployment for six months.

(14:52):
Professional, professional, unemployed.
Yeah.
And then be like, Oh, I won a poker tournament.
I'm a professional poker player and that drives me crazy.
Yeah.
But isn't it that how it is up down, up down?
Like, what are you, what are you saying?
Like you're just a poker player.
I'm not a professional poker, I'm a poker player.
Yeah.
Like, I don't know.
I'm agreeing to agreeing to this.
Listen, if anyone's put in the hours to be qualified as professional.

(15:16):
It's you.
Yes.
Okay.
It's fair enough.
Yeah.
All right.
You're a professional poker player.
You're a professional plumber.
You're a professional plumbers helper.
Helper guy.
Yeah.
So you make your living and I mean, to me, okay.
So here's my thing with gambling.
Obviously you're up and down.

(15:37):
You're up and down to roller coaster and the whole time you're stressed.
Do you know how, I don't mean to cut you off.
You had Kerr on here.
Yeah.
And how it's kind of like taboo to call wrestling fake.
It's kind of like taboo to, to say.
Okay, fair enough.
Poker is gambling because poker is more compared to like.
It's a skill.
So in the court of law, right?

(15:59):
Poker is considered a game of skill.
Okay.
In games like Blackjack and.
Oh yeah, that's straight up.
You are called streams of chance.
Okay.
I got you.
Poker is very similar to chess.
There's a lot of strategy.
You're not playing against the house or you're playing against other people of skill.
Right.

(16:20):
That's a skill versus my skill.
And the better player is going to win nine out of 10 times.
So there's not a lot of gambling when it comes to that.
The gambling aspect is you're risking money, but you're investing in your skill with your money and say, Hey, my skill, I mean, you play 10 times.
You might be me once.
So I'm comfortable risking my money.

(16:41):
Shots fired.
In a situation like that.
For real.
All right, clear this.
Clear this.
That's good to other people over here.
It's five people minimum, right?
play cards with with with no I still all these years later I love playing cards
I'll play cards for for beers I'm saying like the minimum what's the minimum
okay etiquette wise what's the minimum allowed at the table or should be at the

(17:03):
table to have like a game that you can have five people he just said I think
he's talking about how many people should be at the table yeah I didn't make
it sound like that both of us both of us got you on that one what do you you want
to put your business up no I'm just that'd be gambling that'd be huge gambling

(17:26):
I because I'm not I'm not a card player well I mean I listen I like to play
cards but I'm not like you know going back to your point I just want to say
this to like the what you said about poker being not a game it's not gambling
it's like profession almost remember that remember the movie Tombstone and you

(17:47):
either you remember that with a killmer yeah yeah you remember what he what he
says to the wiretrip he goes poker is an honest game gambling and all of this
that the other all the other stuff that you see that's that's the dishonest
game house always wins I love that yeah it's true though what's the longest

(18:07):
game you ever sat for oh man how many hours got to a casino on a Friday call
it eight o'clock and played till Sunday one o'clock so Friday eight o'clock
play till Sunday Friday a p.m. probably stopped around Sunday 1 p.m. and
there are same table you guys don't like get breaks right there's no like well

(18:32):
time to like go do something right there's there there are tournaments and
then there's cash games tournaments is very structured yeah that's kind of like
here's the field and you play till there's a winner and there's breaks every
like two hours cash games it's like kind of like when you just go and sit and

(18:52):
play like at a crap table or something you kind of get up whenever you want
take a break whenever you want but you're playing until you're satisfied until
you know never satisfied yeah I saw I just started playing craps actually I've
never rolled the dice me neither do you I've actually sat at the table quite a
bit I never got to roll the dice I've watched people roll the dice I haven't

(19:13):
seen many people win even though people say that craps is one of the best I've
won a lot I've so the first time I played craps was at this alleged Hollywood
casino that doesn't exist so that a crap table that you never play yeah I
want a lot of money awesome and I'm like holy cow so the dealer was kind of
helping me out if he was so Asian that I couldn't fully understand and I was

(19:36):
trying to like be like wait say that again can you repeat that can you like
tweak your arms a little bit you know I was such a nice guy and I tipped him a
lot too because it's gonna help me out but I was start starting to get the
feel of it and like you can win a ton of money on craps yeah but I want to get to
the point where because they go quick it's very fast yeah so I'm trying to get

(20:01):
to the point where you know if you're jumping in on the action you can just
rake in a lot yeah it's well that's why some people gravitate towards poker
because it's a slower game and you you know for the casual person that's going
to the casino and they want to see their money last you know poker is a much
slower game honestly I tap out of three hours but can you play craps for three

(20:25):
hours no probably not it's too fast of a game for that at all but to sit at a
sit at a card game yeah I think three hours I would tap out but there's a lot
to it also why people go to the casino it's the poker is a very like if you're
a social person right you know you're sitting at the table with eight other
strangers and a lot of times like good conversations come up you're spending a

(20:46):
lot of hours together you know and that was part of the process for me too I
think that what I gravitated to was I always wanted to work for myself and
you know I'm a people person I can make friends with anyone and friends with you
though yeah no no I um no I'm you gotta be quicker than that yeah yeah I think

(21:16):
about it you know because people have said like I'm they don't expect me to be
how I am based off like my appearance they think I'm like very serious oh yeah
very unapproachable when it's the opposite look like this guy who used to
like collect the offering at my church when I was growing up wow just in more
modern clothing thank god it's not a fan who's a nice guy I'm sure he was or is

(21:37):
I don't know we'll never know either honest this is a long time ago so there's a
huge social aspect to poker obviously you have you you have to be close with
all those guys that you're sitting at the table with but not too close obviously
because you're still trying to win there yeah that's that's the that's the
dynamic banter I would think there is healthy ban yeah like you know you kind
of talk crap and you know try to get under you know because then when you're

(22:01):
getting under someone's skin you're making them play now with their emotions
and when that happens they start to play bad yeah because now they're upset or
now they want oh I got to get that guy and now they're not making smart
decisions yeah because now they're playing with your emotions you're right
and that's my biggest problem I know well it was for me for a long time throwing

(22:24):
cards chips are flying yeah who did at the table yelling at the dealer like it's
their fault no you know how it is someone pisses you off the table and you
just gun for that guy there's people that I can identify do it and it's part of
their game it's called speech play yeah right and there's people that are
genuine jerks will say jerks who are just miserable to be around don't you

(22:50):
know misery loves company yeah they don't want to see anybody having a good
time anybody winning when they lose it's like it's just a like it gets
awkwardly quiet yeah it's just like we don't we don't need that it's yeah you
want to play with people you enjoy playing with yeah so you said you know
finish your question I was good I was gonna say something but just finish

(23:12):
your question anyway I mean with your like road rage I don't know how if you
get if you like lose with pocket aces to someone's pocket Kings and you're like
you know how many times that has happened it happens all the time yeah
like that happens all the friggin pocket aces pocket Kings not a poker player
that's all I don't want to get like I don't like the people who talk about

(23:35):
poker and then like they tell like bad beat stories or poker hands but I about
a month ago I saw a guy so an orbit is like when you go once around the table
right like the dealer button goes once around the table in one orbit I saw a
guy lose with aces full of Kings to quad Kings you right and like four hands

(24:00):
later that same player lost with quad threes wait how was it aces full of
so they both so the guy with aces isn't ace isn't aces full of Kings means he's
got he's got three three aces you're right so the guy with aces flopped I'm
stupid we're talking hold them yeah what do you think I was miles away bro yeah

(24:24):
so you're in Hollywood casino again yeah after losing must be really nice there
like tell me more about your head a lot of Asians that are dealing you got to
be with that but the very nice hours a little bit more comfortable come on I
gonna get me a trouble don't don't reiterate don't reiterate slightly
controversial statements over here yeah I'm only following your leap so I thought

(24:46):
I thought if it was aces full of Kings he would have yes a white guy would have
three but he must have been would he have a single King and ace in a no no no so
the one guy's holding pocket aces the other guys holding pocket Kings flop comes
out gotcha ace yeah yeah yeah yeah right and then the the turn was nothing so for

(25:08):
for anyone who hasn't played poker when you play Texas hold them you then have a
community you have a community cards three come out at once it's called the
flop then one card comes out it's called the turn so now you have four community
cards and then the last card is called the river which now you have five

(25:28):
community cards which you can use with your whole cards to make the best five
card so what happened was is that the guy with aces made three aces on the
flop yeah the guy with Kings made three Kings I got it and then the river the
last card was like another King so this guy has aces full of Kings and this guy
with pocket Kings as four Kings but also in the same round this guy had the same

(25:54):
guy who lost with aces full had pocket threes and another guy had pocket fours
so the flop came three three four holy cow and the turn was a four wow see that's
what that's bad luck that's a part of the he would have handled it he handled it

(26:14):
way better than you handled your driving situation well I just mildly lied to a
woman on the road I don't get what the problem is funny story though Frankie
was looking at you the whole time like did this really happen yeah and see
that's like we used to always play after work to where I used to work when with a

(26:34):
whole crew it's luck gut and skill that's what that's what my buddy Kenny
who's passed away now God rest his soul used to always say it's luck gut and
skill yeah could be in that order would you say it's in that order
poker yeah I mean look there's always gonna when there's cards involved you
can't control them no matter how good you are there's always gonna be some

(26:56):
element of luck but you know the skill part is being able there's things called
like pot control where you know you you don't allow a pot to get so big right
now like you know you can't control like your your money you know like in the
sense that how there's betting right did we call it stacked to pot ratio so it

(27:23):
kind of like when the last card comes out and I don't want to confuse anyone
but part of controlling the luck factor is controlling some some things like
bad we call pot control or you know slow playing yeah that you know all the
all the like a delayed seabed like a delayed continuation but yeah but those
are those are pretty obvious tell sometimes like that can get like well

(27:45):
the better players will make those to pick up yeah but the better players
won't they'll change their patterns are you a better player well it's how would
you rate yourself poker is be honest um like one to awesome how do you rate that
on a scale one you know I've never been asked this question on a scale of one

(28:08):
ten what's your skill ratio you know like yeah five being like like I've like
what I consider myself as a player yeah or as like my understanding of poker
like in depth we wouldn't have that all right that I'll rate higher okay so
let's do yeah we could do both let's do your skill as a player right and then
your morality I give it a two I'll give my skills a player I'll give my skills

(28:34):
a player does your mother know about this yeah my that's another thing I mean
we don't have to get into it but one of my best moments in this whole like on
this whole path was my like my parents family friends I didn't have any support
from anyone they're like you know you're wasting your time this is a dead-end

(28:58):
road I would say the same thing if I was but it can work out well yeah but the
the the best one of the best moments of this whole journey was not only having
their support but my dad would come to my games and really watch me and support
me like in person that's pretty cool yeah while like the Giants game was on I'm

(29:22):
sure he was there for the football game but no like he'd be like you know like
he's like you know you'd never be able to support yourself and to prove him
wrong like not in the sense like I wanted to prove him wrong but I wanted you
know that feeling of proving all those people yes exactly yeah it's not like
the music playing in the headphones no you press something no yeah I heard yeah

(29:45):
so it was something like that before was it or was it just a motorcycle that just
passed that sounded like music maybe we have to start over no and actually this
is that this is the these are the bloopers that everyone loves they just
get a grand old kick out of yeah what were we talking about oh you disappointed
parents that's right that's like I just I wish he was trans I wish he just came

(30:10):
out as trans how do we go from Asian dealers who can't speak English said
now my dad wanted me to be trans you know not wanted you he would have
preferred yeah you know my dad my mom wanted to name me Prince what thanks
you just love Prince that much I mean I have thank God for my dad you wouldn't

(30:33):
ever have any friends if you wanted me to be this is not getting aired we're not
talking about trans but if you wanted me to be trans he would have been okay with
the name Prince Pipitone can you imagine peepee peepee initials come on you can
never like do anything you've I hope you understand that's the name of a totally

(30:56):
different life yeah you would have a totally different life you'd be some
like Dragon Ball Z fan in his basement 600 pounds why because like I'm the
first born so I guess might it would make my dad the kink and me the prince
that's horrible I don't know or I don't know if it was because of Prince you

(31:18):
know what sucks Michael Jackson named his kid Prince and then you would just
grow up be like oh like Michael Jackson's gosh I don't know thank God your
father slapped that out of your mother instead my dad went with just hey let's
name them after both our dads so I'm named after both my grandfather's instead
of Prince there you go good so you dropped out of college we were talking

(31:41):
about this you dropped out of college yeah to actually pursue this yeah I mean
which is ballsy I would you know most college kids like I live the way a
college so most college kids would where'd you go East Rausberg I mean it
was it's an hour away yeah like it was a perfect amount of yeah that's perfect
distance you know like college kids are like casinos you know what's funny I

(32:04):
wish Mount Airy was around at that time because that's exactly where it is yeah
but I this is how crazy it was most college kids are drinking partying on the
weekend I'd get in my like beat up I don't even know what it was and drive
three hours to upstate New York where you could gamble it was on an Indian

(32:26):
reservation turning stone yeah you could play poker and gamble there at 18 so
this is before I'm 21 oh wow so I would literally wait for the weekend and just
sometimes I'd go by myself and at like eight at like 19 20 years old I built up
enough comps to like stay in this beautiful resort and while like the kids
but when we would play poker back in like the dorms well we had apartments we

(32:50):
do like five dollar buy-ins I remember like I had a hundred dollar bill one
time and the kids like is that a hundred yeah that's unheard of for college kids
like ten other kids I was like yeah I could buy into this 20 times wow that's
what I'm gonna do every time I get knocked out but I'm not getting they hated
that I was like do you understand rebuying into a poker tournament is a good
thing there's more money yeah people are like yeah but no yeah but like if you're

(33:13):
out yeah what do you mean that's what I say more beer money right exactly I'm
happy to donate there's more money to win yeah they let people keep buying in
what and then you cut it off at a certain ante and that's it we still play
like me and a group of friends we still play like just a $20 home game and I
actually like I miss that sometimes I'll invite you the next time we do it who is

(33:37):
it you don't know any of that they're they're nice kids if you could do if you
could handle anyone at our buddy Joe's house you could handle these guys they're
actually you know it's funny this is why I say you never know like you can make
friends at any stage in your life the last job that I had on well that wasn't
poker it was a it was a banking job at PNC and this was like an intermission

(34:06):
during my poker playing right because my girlfriend at the time wanted me to get a
job and be you know just a normal citizen of what I've never been right so you
know I played the part but you know luckily I met my friend Andrew at the
time and he had stayed in close contact with all of his frat brothers from

(34:28):
Rutgers and they're like they honestly have become like some of my best friends
now and there's like 12 of them yeah and they're a world the same age that's
that's who we get together my buddy's house who has like a really nice man
cave in his garage and play cards watch UFC pay-per-views really like man it up

(34:49):
if you guys want you know yes yeah but I you know what it is I've reached a point
now though like you're all gonna take my money I said right I tell them all the
time I'm happy to deal for you guys and not play I enjoy dealing why cuz you
beat them all not only that but it's like the pace of play is agonizing
green a green oh my goodness when everyone hope they're gonna watch this and

(35:13):
I want you guys to know pick it up don't tell stories in the middle deal
absolutely a hundred percent that drives me insane the timers going Annie's are
going up yeah wrap it up deal and then tell your story I always say they never
get it they never get it coming up next time I'm gonna lay on the law deal

(35:34):
everyone has one card we're supposed to get to mid deal he's just let's
story tell yep let's story cuz we drink too much when we play too so it just
becomes like now a night out I'm getting strobe lights I'm gonna work yes so now
it's like I'm happy to deal yeah I'll sit there I get the same enjoyment out of

(35:54):
it I'm hanging with the guys I'm dealing they're playing I'm keeping you know
control of the time yeah the blinds and stuff you know so they don't have to do
anything yeah like this is a dream for you guys I'm right there with you I would
enjoy it when somebody else decides to deal with my friends because they all
make me deal like now you're good at it yeah and that's the other thing too it's

(36:16):
not even like the mid-mid hand storytelling it's like the shuffling
it's like so you get weird with it no because they take their time oh I got
just saying it's slow there's no I'm just like oh but then even in the middle
of the shuffle it's like hey do you remember I'm gonna go deal the car wrap it
up be please the sign is real simple be it says wrap it up that's what I'm saying

(36:43):
I'm happy to shuffle I don't need anyone to shuffle for me I don't need you know
just yeah do whatever you guys go do you know what I want to do play the kind of
yeah let's take a quick break and then when we come back I want to talk about
the technicalities advice tips also like he got into it because we're thinking

(37:12):
about the road we're getting through this like the same way as friends play
poker where it's just like well what's the goal here all the other stories you
see a finish line or something that I don't know about there's no finish line
I just want to know how like he got started to him like for younger people
how you can okay his first question after break how did you get started break
well because I'll forget it and listen you guys could ask me whatever like

(37:37):
nothing's off limits there's a there's trust me we could I don't I know you
guys are tired no I want to know his transition like what you were saying off
camera what do you know I didn't put us out yet let me put us out real quick
hang on hang on what oh you gotta cut it you gotta
folks stick with us we'll be right back

(38:08):
cold courts plumbing and heating for top rated service in Bergen County New
Jersey and don't forget to keep treats for Frankie on hand
you

(38:40):
folks welcome back to plumb on podcast the everyman's podcast period beautiful
happy yeah one the vote yeah you should have gave the old shuffle up in deal
that's what usually kicks off a poker tournament maybe you can do like some sort
of weird transition at halftime with like cards on the screen being shuffled

(39:02):
or dealt you know we should get a magician on here we had a magician on
here we did Mike that's right that's like saying we had a professional
wrestler I haven't edited his podcast yet so we're gonna totally forgot about
that no that was Anthony Capola Anthony sorry we can't play hard that now

(39:22):
that's funny all right we can't air any of that I'm sorry again 2 30
they have fun one for you to add it all right folks welcome back to plumb bums
podcast the everyman's podcast boom that's it's all done so that's a wrap
thanks for joining us we'll see you next time folks we're here with Sal Pipitone

(39:45):
professional card player so you made your millions over the past 15 20 years I
wish you look like it too I appreciate that you know thanks man I mean you know
what I have a I have a pug I'm looking at this black sweatshirt saying I could
never keep us a sweatshirt like that black with her with her hair everywhere
I had a pug too they're the best they explode and she's exploding right now well

(40:10):
we're talking about time oh yeah all this shedding yeah yeah I'm at
spontaneous exploding kids all of a sudden the bottom of the cameras like
it's just like an orange glow there's gotta be some like animation of Frankie
exploding at this point yeah so let's get back to what we were talking about so

(40:34):
professional card player you've been doing this for 15 years over 15 years on
and off 20 okay you've been through a whole bunch of different aspects of this
game right so you did you've you start as a player I'll try to assume everyone
starts out as yeah but then you got into dealing yes which you actually say
that you can actually make a pretty decent living at right even the

(40:54):
underground yeah when I found out that you can make you understand when you're
playing for a living you're risking your bankroll right which is money you
essentially set aside the part I hate to play poker with right you know just

(41:16):
like any other business where like your income your profits you divide however
you like reinvest into your bankroll so it builds right and the rest of the
stuff you just do whatever you have to do with but again you're essentially
risking money yeah then when I found dealing I found that I was able to make

(41:37):
the same amount if not more and I wasn't risking any money see that's crazy
that's a and it was just a no-brainer transition for me and I was naturally
good at it so yeah that was a fun period so I've been mostly nowadays focusing on
that on dealing yeah not so much being the player I still play I still love

(42:03):
poker just as much as I did 20 years ago yeah someone told me a long time ago
it's a hard way to make an easy living and yes because if you think about it
from just a simple aspect of like oh I get to just wake up and play cards for
living no like when I've never heard that yeah when when your livelihood is on

(42:25):
the line it's a hard way to make an easy living and you're not sharp every day
fans exactly so you're risking there your dignity pretty much yeah your parents
talking to you ever again oh my god talk to me about like running running games
so running games yeah the same way I got into dealing so being totally soprano

(42:46):
in like a hotel room um no see that's the one thing that's the one thing like
I'm a big advocate to like when people think about the underground right when
I what I mean by underground is games that are not in a casino yeah they could

(43:06):
be in places like this or like in the back of a restaurant or like you know
and you get cats from all over the place right I've played with you know
people are like aren't you afraid like you know no you have cops lawyers doctor
everyone loves to play poker no one's giving you a hard time right you know

(43:29):
and there's a notion that a lot of these games are illegal but most of them
aren't there's the legal ways to do it right there you know just like anything
else there's legal ways to do it yeah and there's a legal ways to do it but
I've always cared about doing things the right way and always shining poker under

(43:56):
a positive light and not give it the stigma of like back room dungeon yeah
dark violence shady yeah it's nothing like that yeah so a friend of mine brought
me to a game once and I've got friendly with the the host of the game yeah and

(44:17):
I don't know how it happened but we got friendly and then there was an offer on
the table about him needing a dealer because you need two dealers for one
table they rotate every 30 minutes okay and I expressed interest because I saw
how much they were making because it's tip-based yeah they make a pretty good
living so said you know what and because I wanted to like explore different

(44:42):
avenues with poker I tried it was good at it got better at it and was
comfortably able to make a living that way I mean that's pretty cool it was yeah
I that's a that's actually a pretty interesting transition from being a
player because you think you think you're being a player I'm not gonna go back

(45:05):
down to dealer I want to be a better player better player bigger player there's
a lot of ego with players well yeah and I also know that like I said if you're
not sharp if you're not continuously studying and adapting to the times and
to the game yeah you're gonna fall behind you know like when I got into it I

(45:25):
was just turning 20 I'm approaching 40 so I'm considered one of the older guys
now you're more than approaching 40 I'm gonna be here I'm 30 like pull it into
the parking spot right here but yeah I'm considered like one of the older guys
now so to me it's always like how does it feel I feel the same physically as I

(45:48):
did it like when I was 18 I can still do a full blown cartwheel right here in one
year at me in one year you'll be able to know what do you mean I'll take that
bet and what in one year full blown cartwheel from today in one year yeah the
second I had my 40th birthday everything started collapsing the driving
started getting angry well I do you I don't want to put you on the spot but do

(46:12):
you do you exercise no well that's no but I'm saying like do you
even do you know we have a I mean we work all day yeah but I'm saying like you
know we it's not we have an easy job this is why like I'll say this to anyone
I walked at work why do I got to do it after work but I'll say this to anyone who

(46:34):
like feels like crap oh I'm getting older and everything hurts yeah I'm sure
that's a real thing but like it's really about like how you do you exercise I
mean got him he's pointing the finger at you he doesn't exercise it's not it's not
like I I always and I am active like when you say exercise like do I go to the

(46:56):
gym yeah five days a week no but you know like I'll run a walk I'll play like
us like a sport you know so walking yeah but I'm like for me like I just it
helps keep me sharp well no you're right listen I'm just making excuses for
myself I know that I don't want to come off like I'm like some I'm fine you know

(47:20):
it's fine we're here for poker tips not how tips but how it translates into
poker is that when you're putting in a session it's like I'm probably eight
hours on average and you're sitting for for dealing or for playing well well
both right so when you're dealing you're you're dealing pretty much from the time

(47:41):
the game starts to the time the game ends that could be more than eight hours
when you're playing you're gonna put in a solid session they say after a certain
amount of time you're you know your brain isn't as sharp you know starts to
deteriorate at the time but being active and staying active however it is
keeps me sharp like so in like hour six when I'm still like focused and you're

(48:06):
like you're starting to fade people like me take advantage of that because it's
like it's not my fault you can't keep up yeah you're like you know what I'm
tired I'm just gonna go all in well that's stupid okay I can't even count
how many times I've said that right yeah so it's just like so I make sure I never
get to that yeah like I want to get up the same way I sat down as online poker

(48:30):
still a big thing not as big as it used to be no no unfortunately there was a
lot of huge yeah online porkal poker was like people would miss school to play
online poker I mean you could get into the main event at the World Series of
Poker which is considered the most prestigious poker tournament of the
year right and it's a $10,000 buy-in but you could get into the main event for

(48:56):
like five bucks through online qualifiers this is why the poker boom
happened in like 2004 5 6 yeah every year it went from like 2500 entrance to
5000 entrance to almost 8000 entrance in 2006 Wow and most of the field were

(49:18):
online qualifiers I didn't know that yeah so it happened unfortunately there's a
date and time called Black Friday it was April of 2011 where the US
government essentially shut down all US well they weren't that's the thing they
were technically technically not US poker sites like poker stars full-till

(49:42):
poker what was all out of the country yeah so it technically wasn't regulated
and just means the government wasn't making money and they weren't making
money off of it I remember people would win tournaments for like you know a
substantial amount of money and that money would hit their account on tax

(50:02):
free this went on for years and I think it just got too big yeah it made too much
noise and the US government just said no so that same day did they did they like
close all their Swiss bank accounts to like the government and you know well
so today for them as well when all the corruption ended poker stars and full

(50:24):
till continue to operate in Europe and other parts of the world but yeah I'm
here no poker stars eventually made its way back so you can now everything is
regulated it's nowhere near as big as it used to be close full till was bought
out by poker stars okay but the interesting story with full tilt is there

(50:47):
was a whole scheme going on there so when they when the government sees full
till poker they were supposed to have something like 440 million of player
funds that people deposited over time and when they seize their money they had
less than a hundred million nice so I remember all the all the sharehold

(51:11):
whatever the people that have pieces of full till they all pocketed that money
yeah I was gonna say yeah based scumbags yeah how's that based there's a lot of
people that were well-known poker pros that even to this day like 13 years
later they still don't show their face really yeah because they sold from all

(51:33):
of us yeah good millions hundreds of millions of dollars yeah yeah you know
and yeah I mean that's the thing too like it's easy to be greedy in a world
where there's a ton of money and your reputation like I've cared about mine you
know is is you know it's it's it is all about character and I think my longevity

(51:57):
in all of this is because of how I've you know adapted not only that but like how
I carried myself and how I was you know with integrity and you know just it is
about relationship building to especially when you go from player to dealer to
host yeah that's true you need a good you know good referral yeah if you don't

(52:19):
have a following you can't have a you can't have a poker game you can't have
a business I think that's pretty cool you're able to build it like that yeah
to be honest when you think underground poker you think of those scummy
disgusting basement smoke filled like they show in movies yeah yeah no but if
there's an actual what's the deal with sponsors sponsors kind of like

(52:42):
mainstream sponsors kind of kind of died out when online poker got shut down
oh so they were pretty interconnected yeah I mean if you found yourself on a
TV table in a tournament or like in a in a cash game that was being broadcasted
you would see a lot of guys that were wearing patches yeah sponsored pros or

(53:06):
whatever even if you weren't a pro and you got onto a ESPN table it's like free
advertising it's not free but like they pay you to wear their patch so you're
being sponsored even if it's just for that one tournament but that kind of went
out the window when online poker got shut down that's crazy that they're
so intertwined with each other yeah that makes sense though because that's where

(53:29):
you're gathering that's where you're finding people who are coming up you
know yeah well that's where the game is changing like what you said before and
I've watched a couple poker videos because I started playing again with my
friends so I'm trying to like how you've been doing it I'm doing all right I'm
doing fine um it's a process yeah I'm one of the I would say out of my group
I'm one of the better players probably me and my other friend TJ were usually

(53:53):
would he say that yeah it would always say it's it's you know it's almost like
a heads-up match but I've been watching a lot of the these videos of like the
older guys in poker and they're talking about because they're not winning as
much right the younger newer guys that maybe you don't know their names but
they're winning a lot more often and they were talking about it at the table

(54:14):
like if you don't change with the times yeah these kids you might just think it's
a simple card game of poker that's you know been around for however many years
but the way they bet changes the way that they re-raise change all these
different things that you know I'm trying to understand but it's really cool
yeah I'll change this interesting yeah that's an interesting game there that's

(54:37):
the one thing I've always loved about it the dynamic you'll never like for me
like anything that I've ever done like I'm a very passionate person so like when
I you know get into something like I just want to like immerse myself with all
the knowledge and poker is a game that you can never master so why don't you

(55:01):
look you know what I'm gonna make suggestions on what you should do with
your with your professional career but like and I think we talked a little bit
of off-campus that I think we talked a little bit of this off-camera a lot of
way to make different ways to make money in this industry is to have a YouTube
channel right coaching channel and that's what it is now yep I mean what do you

(55:26):
think about that what do you mean I think it's great it's again everything
changes with time full tilt pipitone calm you know what you know what you know
what's funny about that full tilt peepee so usually when we say someone's like
losing control or getting angry like you used to it's called we'll be like

(55:49):
Phil's going on full tilt you know I remember that so more so my friend you
know I'm Sicilian you know like so I've had growing pains we'll call it you know
I was a very bad loser once upon a time you like I don't remember these days
well I'm telling you know I don't want to come off as this guy who has it all

(56:13):
figured out but you know it's it's just like it's just like anything where you
do something for 20 years you're gonna get better at it yeah and it is a skill
you learn to control your emotions those stupid little games that we used to have
it was up to the person who was playing to either pick up and like learn from it
or just go there just to screw around right you know a lot of time it was just
a pastime yeah that's what cards are really yeah you know what do you think

(56:36):
about having a coaching channel um I never took one personally are you're
asking me if I would do one YouTube channel um or you know sometimes I don't
know if I could express something how I would want it to come off I can tell so
this whole podcast thanks don't make me go until so um I don't know I don't know

(57:03):
if it's my strong suit okay that's fair you know I mean you got a whole bunch
of other stuff going on with it I'm just saying yeah like in a formal setting I
don't know if I'd make the best teacher you know I say this because like that's
like besides the podcast a lot of our YouTube channel is training teaching
showing customers showing jobs stuff like that's that would be my shtick you

(57:24):
know what I mean okay so that's why I'm trying to like relate it to that but I
get it if you're if you're going all the other all these other avenues and there
are plenty of other avenues and if you're excelling go for it it is a to me
it's a very cool way to make your money yeah to feed yourself that's the thing
too I think from an early age you know before YouTube before vlogging or

(57:46):
podcasts or any of that stuff like I was like I think I got it from a young age
where it's like you don't have to succumb to this like dreadful series of
events that are supposed to go on in your life like oh I'm supposed to go into
all this debt with going to college not being guaranteed a job now that I'm

(58:08):
looking for a job it's something completely different than I went to
college for you're welcome to rag on college all you want well we freely do
that on this show you know I wanted to go to college because I was the first in
my family to do it okay and my dad used to say it's just a business and he's like
unless you're going for like something prestigious yeah yeah it's a waste of

(58:30):
time and I used to say shut up let me do let me live my life and he was totally
right totally right he was totally right a lot of parents don't say that they say
the opposite but I'm saying in regards to that point you especially nowadays in
2024 if you're like just if there's one light bulb on you don't have to like do
something you hate there's a million different ways to make money yeah with

(58:53):
the internet now I mean like YouTube and podcasting I wish you guys all the luck
you know like when we need it you know I'm just saying like people don't open
their minds to like you know like for me it was like I'm just gonna chase
something see how far it takes me yeah and luckily do you recommend to like

(59:18):
younger people the path that you took like dropping out of college and pursuing
this kind of stuff because you said that your father I don't know if you told
this on or off camera but you said that your father specifically wasn't happy
about you doing it and also obviously your mother but like you I don't know if
you're a father you father no no I mean would you let your kid do so or would you

(59:39):
encourage your kid to do something like this so you bring up a really good point
and this is gonna answer the question you brought up I don't encourage people to
take this path what I encourage people to do is chase your dreams your passions
it's okay to fail like even you know for me it didn't start to all come together

(01:00:03):
until I was in my early 30s like I went through a lot of trial and error a lot of
like ups and downs a lot of moments where I questioned myself and it was very
hard on myself but so to the poker life it could seem like very on the outside

(01:00:24):
looking in it could seem very like luxurious it could seem very like cool
I don't encourage people to it's a very like I said hard way to make it easy
living you're you know yeah you if you can't separate like it you have to want
it just like any professional sport like if you're not practicing every day if

(01:00:47):
you're not getting better you're not gonna make a team you're not gonna get a
big contract right it's the same thing yeah but you gotta put in this what I
will encourage is that I feel like a lot of people are afraid to go after the
dreams and fail and I'd like to think that you know if anything maybe I'm not
the best poker player in the world but I'd like to think that I'm a good example

(01:01:11):
of you know you can make your dreams a reality do something yeah yeah I mean I
don't mean to sound corny but it's the truth it's manifestation it's believing
in yourself and it's okay I was reading off the teleprompter not well done well
done turn that coke bottle just but I mean like that's if there's any message

(01:01:37):
that comes from it from this you know this is the path I chose because I saw
the bigger picture of what it I wanted it to look like you know it started with
like I want to make a lot of money I could be famous by getting on television
but then it was bigger than that it was like I wanted to do things my way I
wanted to be proved to people and to myself that it's possible that like

(01:01:59):
chasing your dreams isn't like you're just wasting your time in this and that
you know even if I don't if I end up doing something else later in life you
know like I'm gonna look back at this time I'm like you know what good for you
curse said the same thing when he was on he goes even if this doesn't work out I
end up just doing something else he's like oh I won't look back on this time as
a time of regret yeah and he he does another completely unorthodox thing and

(01:02:24):
I love it yeah we're wrestling so underrated we're gonna stop real quick
I'm gonna turn on the AC and we're gonna pick right up because I have one more
question unless you've had something else to add one good yeah okay so where

(01:02:54):
were we oh so um you mentioned let me stick that again so you mentioned world
series of poker you've made a couple of appearances over there what the heck was
that like intimidating at first that's huge right yeah you walk into the event
center or ballroom wherever it's hosted and you just see a sea of tables and

(01:03:20):
people and all you hear are chips yeah it's just like I don't know yeah it
really is a it's incredible everything that surrounds the game is very enticing
there's a lot of flashing lights and colors but then but to that point when
you're there like the world series of poker is considered the biggest event
of the year yeah so you walk into the room mind you there's three of those

(01:03:43):
rooms right like I said there's like they have to accommodate up to last year
the 2023 main event was broke the record for biggest field mind you it's a
$10,000 buy-in just to get in that over 10,000 entrance oh they have to
accommodate you could only fit 10 people at a table yeah imagine how many tables

(01:04:04):
you need to fit 10,000 people how many dealers how many dealers you know
dealers all that money this it's so when you when you walk into these rooms and
you do see like the lighting and all the the ESPN and all the cameras it's like
holy crap look mom made it it's it really is like even now like I get goosebumps

(01:04:28):
thinking about my first time going it's like how many times have you gone um
maybe like eight wow really play yeah wow yeah yeah and I've spent like the
world series is like well it's it's considered like a poker festival yeah
because there's the world series is comprised of like 80 different events

(01:04:51):
okay and it goes from like the end of May till like 4th of July weekend actually
past it which culminates with the main event yeah so I've been there for like
three weeks at a time ten two weeks at a time people like leave come back because
like you know you look at the whole schedule you're like I want to play this

(01:05:12):
this is yeah and then something at the end well main events at the end is it not
just like knockouts where like people like all these tables have to get
eventually knocked down to the final yeah it is yeah I mean the you can but you
just said you can like choose games to play well like like I said it's there's
like 80 different events over the course of six seven weeks mm-hmm so you could

(01:05:34):
just kind of map out and you could map out an entire schedule there's a whole
bunch of different things like Monday I'll play this tournament I got you if I
make day two and I wanted to play this tournament on Tuesday like you just
won't play it you don't have to prepay for any of it you kind of just pay as
you go I say I got you know but the main event is literally an eight day long
tournament yeah you have to weed through ten thousand people to get to the final

(01:05:58):
table yeah that is all we see is the final hand and I'm like it's like they're
throwing million dollars into the pond I'm like but that's what now you explain
it's like like with the wrestler you explain it and all of this has to get
done before you even get here yeah that's that's the crazy part I used to

(01:06:18):
think that just those people are like the best poker players around and they
can pay entry fee but I mean that's that's a that's a beautiful thing about
poker to especially poker tournaments the guy who won in 2006 is from
Paramus yeah I did actually just met him he won his seat I'm sorry he won he did

(01:06:40):
win his seat online back then and at the time he won the biggest main event
which had like 8,000 plus entrance anyone 12 million dollars Wow for first nice
so yeah like the poker boom happened because an average Joe yeah one of a

(01:07:04):
seat on poker stars for $40 he qualified on poker stars so he turned a $40
investment into a $10,000 buy-in and he went to Vegas and played with you know
back in 2003 the fields were smaller but they were tougher and he won he won like
like three million dollars maybe a little less but $40 into three million

(01:07:26):
and then boom and back then there was much more exposure so that's why every
year after went from right right fields doubled because more people got into it's
buying it's buying a $10,000 lotto ticket yeah you know just the odds are way
better yeah are they would they be yeah yeah 8,000 to one versus well I'm

(01:07:46):
trying to I'm trying to take into account like the price million to one but
so how about some how about some tips and tricks tells stuff like that like it
was an insight to how you play what you look for I think for me it's always been
easy to see to read body language you know kind of like well I mean I know what

(01:08:12):
body language is where we're creatures of habit right so like we kind of there's
things that we do without knowing that we're doing it that will give off tells
like so kind of like your Delta hand right and you're on your phone right you
look at your hand it's a bad hand so you fold your back on your phone right now

(01:08:33):
you get dealt a good hand you put your phone down you're very engaged that
gives away the strength of your hand so little things like that so you put so
you you basically taken to several several rounds right start picking up on
that stuff yeah you can't pick up some stuff right away you could also tell
who's comfortable playing who's played a lot who hasn't played a lot just by

(01:09:01):
based off how they pick up their cards or how they play with their chips you
could tell like guys who know like how to shuffle chips they've been here before
whereas guys that don't know like how much to put out and it's like oh god or
they're just playing a game yeah no no it's very obvious but alright so you're

(01:09:24):
reading you the first couple rounds you're starting to pick up on body
language I could also tell like if someone's starting a conversation with me
if it's a genuine conversation that he's interested in whatever we're talking
about or if he's trying to pick up something right so it's interesting
yeah there's nothing I have detention span to pay attention there's a lot
that goes into that so I was gonna say like it's almost like counting cards in

(01:09:47):
blackjack have to pay attention to all that stuff right be like alert the
whole time another thing is and this is when you really like want to get good
when you're not in a hand you pay attention to the people that are in the
hand yeah like they don't know you're watching right and you kind of like make

(01:10:09):
it you don't make it obvious that you're paying attention but you could use a lot
of the stuff that they're doing in those hands against them later on and they
won't even know that you picked up on it because you weren't even in the hand
yeah so like I could be in them I mean at this point like I could fold a hand
be in a conversation with you but I'm seeing everything that's happening using

(01:10:30):
your peripherals yeah like I'm it's just like a second nature to me at this
point but that's the difference between live poker which is what I've mostly
done where's online poker is just all math based you know there's no you there's
none of these online poker there it's like they call it timing tells like how
fast you bet the amounts you bet yeah that's true like odd numbers yeah you

(01:10:54):
know it's just not like in rounders where he listen right yeah that's so
ridiculous yeah but rounders is a great movie it's a great movie I can't believe
that movie came out in 98 that movie is way out of its time there's so much
about the lifestyle like that movie is so good at telling a story you know

(01:11:16):
yeah the life and the ups and downs the dilemmas you'll face you know you're
remember too like people won't support you like if you're single and trying to
date you know like you get to you get to a wall where it's like so what do you do
for a living and it's like well you know but you know there's a lot of close

(01:11:40):
minded people you have to deal with all that stuff yeah and it could take a toll
are you lonely no what else you got some tips what are we looking for my last
question what's your favorite poker player professional poker um I've always
liked Daniel Lagrano yeah he's I think I like him because a lot of the things I

(01:12:04):
do are similar to the things he does he's very chatty yeah but like kind of
like you know with me it's genuine but also like the back of my head it's like
I'm processing what I can use I feel like it's always like with him in

(01:12:26):
a Lagrano it's just anytime he's talking he's gathering information yeah
talking to you he's a great ambassador for the game he like I said always
shines a bright light on the game you know there's not listen at the end of
the day how we make our living is taking other people's money and that sounds

(01:12:47):
kind of how it sounds you know but there's ways to shine poker in a light
where there is positivity that comes from it everyone's going there willingly
it's not like everyone's going there knowing what's gonna happen what they're
put what they're up against you know I was gonna say well we do the same thing
but we actually give them like a service in exchange for them there's a lot of

(01:13:09):
there's a lot of people successful people in poker who stepped away from
poker because because of that because they they just feel like they're not
making a positive contribution so like society I've had those dilemmas because
you know it's a gray area if you choose to do this for a living you have no

(01:13:33):
choice but to be a certain way and I try to balance that with being who I am and
that's you know I like to consider myself as a generous person as a
charitable person you know like kind of like the opposite of who I am at the
table but I kind of just just try to have a healthy mix of the two and to

(01:13:54):
answer your question before this is kind of why I don't like encourage people to
you understand to with poker if you're not disciplined and a lot of what makes
people successful poker is being disciplined with money and your emotions
and stuff like that but if you're not and you're a hothead and you don't have
and you lose control now the money you're like oh I lost in poker now I'm just

(01:14:15):
gonna go into the pits and try to make it back playing blackjack or roulette you
know so it leads down this road yeah you know so that's why I say I don't
encourage people to learn the game it is a beautiful game what but at the end of
day I'm just gonna encourage people to whatever their dreams are like her and
professional wrestling awesome poker the same way they're not too different you

(01:14:39):
know there's a lot of travel involved you could have a good life doing it and a
lot of good things can come from it you just got to make the best of it and you
know what was the last time you paid taxes that's not on there that's definitely
not on there all right I was like there's no way this guy's gonna ask me that
question don't worry about it you know you I file as professional gambler you

(01:15:05):
could file as professional poker player professional gambler so why can't we put
that in here you can but like you don't ask anybody else about their fucking
taxes I guess so how's the relationship with your parents now great so I kind of
want to um what is we talked about the year longest time at a table right you

(01:15:29):
said yeah it was two days essentially like two full freaking days which is
insane to me yeah that's like flying around the world twice I'm just sitting
there on the opposite spectrum I one time drove to a casino took me an hour
and a half to get there and I played for 30 minutes and won a good amount of

(01:15:53):
money yeah and I was like you know what take it leave I just left there you go
that's the way to do it well yes but it was kind of a weird thing because I don't
typically do stuff like that well you did the right you did the right it was
just like I've been here 30 minutes it took me an hour and a half to get here
now I'm just gonna leave yeah you made your money yeah you can't but that's

(01:16:16):
a that's another thing too a lot of people have that dilemma where it's like
oh just ride the hot hand let me see how much I could win no never and then it's
it never works never ever then it's like oh I should have left when I had all
this and now not only did you give back everything you were up now you gave back
all the money you came here yeah but that's why I say it's discipline like if
you can step out of it yeah for me to be in that space where it's like have that

(01:16:39):
realization of like doesn't matter if it took you three hours to get here yeah
like the amount of money it was it was a lot more money than I typically would
make in one session uh-huh and I was able to identify that and I was able to say
hey this is gonna put you like way ahead of like you know a couple months of

(01:16:59):
income or whatever yeah so just like it would be really stupid not to get up and
leave right now even though it's not my style because I like to put in the hours
and I still enjoy playing but to be in that space where it's like I'm good I
made my money yeah no that's perfect and that's it I walked out we're feeling
but it's the right thing to do so you got any advice for the kids out there

(01:17:22):
instead of going to college go to learn how to play Texas hold them learn it
there's so many things you can't sell it not just learn a learn a trade learn a
this it's not like this is learn a skill this is a skill ours is a skill although
it's a trade but yours is a skill yeah but I'm saying like just open your mind

(01:17:46):
like you literally could learn anything there's so many different ways you could
learn nowadays like even not that we're old but like when we were in high school
there was no social media there weren't even cell phones yet the world is a kid
you guys have it easy they have access to everything yeah if you don't succeed
it's because you just don't want it and you're lazy let's just call it what it is

(01:18:10):
if there's so many different ways statement up yeah it's true if honestly
there's so many ways you can get an entire college education for free on
YouTube anything you want to look you want to go to school for marketing
accounting whatever right just you can get your education on YouTube that the
information is so accessible yeah right now which is insane and to be honest I

(01:18:30):
don't think the society knows the ramifications of all that this is a
whole bunch of negative stuff out there too yeah so I want to thank you for
coming on this very interesting industry thanks for having me I mean thank you
it brings me back remember I remembered honing skills when I was when I was
younger I never really bothered to do it yeah I mean we can I'm down to go up and

(01:18:53):
play you want to go up and play some cards I'll show you a text you know all
right I'll make sure the deck is rigged and you're like how the hell did I lose
this I know I know your tells though so yeah thanks for coming on I appreciate
it folks thanks for joining us again plum bums here every week for you every
or every other sometimes if I don't get to the editing we'll get you a new

(01:19:16):
episode as soon as possible we want to remind you that courts plumbum's is
sponsored as always by courts plumbing and heating since 1961 no job too small
201 262 2656 we've been in business for a very long time our Google reviews will
tell you how good we are in the job give us a call we do full range plumbing

(01:19:37):
service and we just want to remind you to like share subscribe share our reels
well let him toast his social media for this where you just are you just like I
mean I don't advertise myself right yeah you know this is not your social
media thing right I mean you could Google me crazy stuff they just see a

(01:19:57):
bunch of me like pictures of me like that just Google moose knuckle pee pee all
right folks be sure to check us out here next week