The Heart of Poker Podcast

Jen Shahade Shares Her Innermost Thoughts and Feelings | Ep: 12

Next up on the Heart of Poker Podcast by 888poker is the one and only Jennifer Shahade. Competitive chess player, poker pro and podcast host, Jennifer is one of the most interesting and engaging characters in the poker world today. In this episode, Kara and Jennifer have a far-ranging conversation that touches on tons of interesting topics.

How will AI and data-mining change relationships in the future? What do you find most terrifying? What was it about New York that hooked you from day one? Kara also digs into Jennifer's new award-winning poker podcast The Grid and what makes it so special.

Listen to the entire episode and make sure to check out previous shows with poker pros including Jason Koon, Jamie Kerstetter, Vanessa Selbst, Maria Ho, Danielle Andersen, Faraz Jaka, David Williams, Brad Owen, Chris Moorman, Dominik Nitsche and Barny Boatman. 

 

How Jason Koon Learned to Battle Poker Superheroes | Ep: 11

On the latest episode of the Heart of Poker Podcast, Kara speaks with ultra high-stakes poker pro Jason Koon. Known best for his huge high roller wins and his ability to compete and win against the best poker players on the planet, Jason is also an extremely thoughtful and down-to-earth human.

Don't judge a book by its cover. Jason Koon might look like a tough guy, and he is, but he's also very tapped into his emotions. He's also honest and that's a combination that sets up very well for the Heart of Poker Podcast.

Kara asks Jason increasingly personal questions, modeled on the famous questions developed by psychologist Arthur Aron, and the conversation goes in all sorts of interesting directions.

Jason opens up about the changes he's been making in his own life over the last 5-10 years, some of his favorite people in poker and a few of his most embarrassing moments.
Jason also goes into detail on how he was able to get good enough at poker to play for millions of dollars against the best players in the world.

You may have heard interviews with Jason Koon before but we're willing to bet you've never heard one like this. Listen to the full episode for tons if interesting insights and make sure to check out previous episodes with Jamie Kerstetter, Vanessa Selbst, Maria Ho, Danielle Andersen, Faraz Jaka, David Williams, Brad Owen, Chris Moorman, Dominik Nitsche and Barny Boatman. 

The Person Behind Jamie Kerstetter's Twitter Personality of the Year | Ep: 10

Poker pro, podcaster, broadcaster ... political activist? Jamie Kerstetter is all over the poker scene. In this episode of Heart of Poker, Kara Scott goes in-depth with the woman who won Twitter personality of the year at the Global Poker Awards.

Kara and Jamie are long-time friends and their bond makes for an intimate and fascinating conversation that goes way beyond the poker table. Kara' probing and provocative questions, a spin on psychologist Arthur Aron's famous questions, help reveal things about Kerstetter that we've never heard before. It's a rare chance to really get to know one of poker's most interesting and outspoken characters.

Listen to the full episode, subscribe, and check out past episodes with Vanessa Selbst, Chris Moorman, Maria Ho, Faraz Jaka, Barny Boatman, Dominik Nitsche, Brad Owen, David Williams and Danielle Andersen.

How Faraz Jaka Survived a Category 5 Fijian Cyclone | Ep. 9

We're so excited to welcome American poker pro and entrepreneur Faraz Jaka to the Heart of Poker. Faraz is an outstanding candidate for this podcast. He's intelligent, thoughtful and has more interesting experiences every year than a lot of people capture in a decade.

If you've listened to the show before, you know it's not your average poker interview. Our goal is to get to know the people behind the poker faces. Faraz has a killer poker face but he wasn't afraid to take it off for this in-depth conversation with Kara Scott.

Faraz has racked up almost $7 million in tournament winnings but, as you'll find out, his most interesting experiences happened away from the poker table.

They cover a lot of ground, thanks to truly probing and personal questions. Listen to the full episode and check out previous episodes with poker pros including Barny Boatman, Brad Owen, Vanessa Selbst, Maria Ho, Chris Moorman, Dominik Nitsche and more.

Barny Boatman Has Seen It All, Lived To Tell About It | Ep: 8

British poker legend Barny Boatman doesn't always open up in interviews, which is why this episode of The Heart of Poker is so special.

To put it mildly, Boatman has seen a thing or two during his decades as a poker pro. It turns out that his personal life was just as varied and compelling.

According to Wikipedia, Boatman has worked as a bartender, builder, English teacher, journalist, computer programmer, and as a legal advisor in Bermondsey, where he never lost a trial. It's hard to imagine that the real story is even more interesting.

Kara and Barny go way back and you can tell there's a lot of trust there right away. Boatman gets personal in a way that we haven't seen in other interviews.

The questions, designed by psychologist Arthur Aron and tweaked by Kara, cut right to the core. Listen to the full podcast and make sure to check out previous episodes with other poker greats including Chris Moorman, Maria Ho, Brad Owen, Vanessa Selbst, David Williams, Dominik Nitsche and Danielle Andersen.

Tell us what you think of this episode in the comments!

Pandemic Has Made Danielle Andersen Grateful for the Important Things | Ep: 7

You might think you know poker pro Danielle Andersen. After all, her life was explored in-depth in the documentary Bet, Raise, Fold. We love that documentary but with all due respect (and humility), this podcast episode is 1,000 times better.

Kara and Danielle have been friends for a long time and their familiarity with and trust in each other is obvious right from the jump. This conversation goes deep and wide, tackling personal issues that are often approached in the context of the current Covid-19 pandemic.

Danielle Andersen's poker playing is usually the focus of her interviews and it's refreshing to hear her speak from the heart about the things that are most important to her. The Heart of Poker format is designed to help us get to know the people behind the poker face, and this interview definitely delivers.

Subscribe to our podcast and make sure to check out previous episodes with poker pros including Chris Moorman, Brad Owen, Maria Ho, Vanessa Selbst, Dominik Nitsche and David Williams. Also, keep an eye out for new episodes coming soon including UK poker legend Barny Boatman.

The Time Dominik Nitsche Had a Gun Pointed at Him | Ep: 6

Dominik Nitsche and Kara Scott have known each other for a long time which is probably why this episode of the Heart of Poker is instantly one of the most candid so far.

The high-stakes tournament pro has a lot to say and for once, not much of it is directly about poker. Dominik opens up on a long list of topics, some of which he's never talked about in interviews before.

Stories, honest feelings and opinions, even life advice for Kara Scott herself are all included. Listen to the full episode and subscribe to the Heart of Poker podcast for in-depth introspection with the most interesting characters in the poker world.

David Williams Tells ALL His Secrets (Yes, Even THAT One) | Ep: 5

Kara Scott's next guest on the Heart of Poker Podcast is David Williams. If you've followed his career, you'll know that Williams is anything but boring. He was runner-up in the 2004 WSOP Main Event and a finalist on Season 7 of Masterchef. In this interview we learned that he's also very comfortable participating in deep conversations.

Kara and David cover a lot of ground. The questions range from funny and introspective to probing and serious. For example, when asked if he could use a crystal ball to find out the answer to his life's greatest mystery, David goes into detail about how he was disqualified from the 2001 Magic: The Gather World Championships for using marked cards, an allegation he denies to this day.

Listen to the full episode to get to know David Williams like you never have before and check out previous interviews with Vanessa Selbst, Maria Ho, Brad Owen and Chris Moorman.

VLogger Brad Owen's Most Embarrassing Moment Ever | Ep: 4

In the fourth episode of The Heart of Poker Podcast, Kara Scott interviews poker VLogger extraordinaire Brad Owen. Brad's poker YouTube channel has almost 200,000 subscribers and his videos get millions of views so he's no stranger to opening up to the audience. Nevertheless, this is far and away Brad's most personal and revealing interview ever.

Kara has tweaked the questions developed by psychologist Arthur Aron in order to fast-track a deep and authentic connection with her guests. Its safe to say that it worked. Brad opens up about the rap song he's writing about his most embarrassing moment, his cat's perspective on poker, his most treasured poker memories, his dream of writing a poker movie, going broke and rebuilding, what's most important about his poker VLog and much more.

Listen to the full show with Brad Owen and if you're in the mood for more, check out more episodes with Vanessa Selbst, Chris Moorman and Maria Ho. Also, keep an ear out for new shows coming soon with David Williams, Dominik Nitsche and more.

Don't Ask Vanessa Selbst for Help Fighting Zombies | Ep: 3

If you're a fan of Vanessa Selbst, this is a must-listen interview. It runs the gamut from fun topics like how Vanessa would fare in a zombie apocalypse (horribly) to much more personal revelations about being a first-time mom with a second baby on the way, mortality, life goals and much more.

Selbst is one of the most interesting players in poker, hands down. She's a Yale-educated lawyer with almost $12 million in live tournament earnings and she has one of the most aggressive and creative playing styles of all time.

She's done hundreds of poker interviews during her career but she's never done one like this. For Episode 3 of Kara Scott's new podcast The Heart of Poker, Vanessa opens up about a wide variety of topics, both in and outside of poker.

Kara is using a modified version of the questions that were developed by psychologist Arthur Aron to try to hack intimacy and fast-track two people falling in love. Kara has modernized the questions and tweaked a few to make them more poker-specific, but overall the goal is the same: Try to create an authentic and intimate connection in a single conversation.

Listen to the full episode and check out past interviews with Maria Ho and Chris Moorman. Also, subscribe to the podcast for notifications on upcoming episodes with the likes of Brad Owen, Dominik Nitsche and David Williams.