This week we have another Podcast, which came out much better than the previous. The only technical issue is my volume is pretty small, but if you jack up the volume all the way it shouldn’t be an issue.
Podcast with Shaun Deeb
DS: Hey all, this week we have Shaun Deeb with us. Shaun is a tournament professional. When Shaun turned 18 he immediately started playing online. He got hooked immediately and ended up dropping out of school to pursue a career in poker. Shaun is probably best known as being one of the original massive multi tabling sit and go players. Now you’ll find him in big live tournaments, trying to win the PokerStars tournament leaderboard, or even dabbling into some mid to high stakes cash games. And with that let’s welcome Shaun Deeb, Shaun you there?
Shaun Deeb: Yep, I’m here
DS: So you actually started college but decided to drop out to focus on poker. Do you regret that decision at all and do you plan on going back?
Shaun Deeb: I really don’t regret it, and I think maybe later on in a decade or something I’ll go and get a degree but there’s no point right now.
DS: How did your parents handle you dropping out?
Shaun Deeb: Well of course they were skeptical at first, but you know, after being pro for awhile, getting more exposure, making a lot of money, they came around.
DS: You used to play as many as 30 tables at a time of SNG’s. How has the ability to act that quickly helped your poker game?
Shaun Deeb: It’s good because I know my immediate gut reaction right away, then I have time just to recheck everything, it’s good to know your immediate reaction and then adjust your plan as the hand goes on.
DS: You are part of a team called “wafflecrush.” For those who don’t know the name, can you explain what you are and what you do?
Shaun Deeb: Yeah, it was formed originally by myself and Thayer, and then later Vivekpsyduck joined in, so as of right now we have a lot of horses who are doing well at losing a lot of money for us.
DS: (Laughs) But you think prospects are looking up?
Shaun Deeb: Oh yeah for sure, I think we have some great horses, and I have a lot of confidence in their game. It’s just a matter of time until variance evens out.
DS: How has having a good group of poker friends helped your improvement?
Shaun Deeb: Well I mean I wouldn’t have been anything I am now if it wasn’t for having good friends early. If I didn’t go to Turning Stone and meet some of the top online players, I didn’t even know who they were at the time and wasn’t even playing tournaments then, so they helped me plug a lot of leaks when I was really spewy.
DS: What do you think you do differently than other players you play with that separates you?
Shaun Deeb: I guess you could say it’s the old phrase I don’t have any respect for my tourney life, I don’t give a shit, if I bust I have another tourney to run so it doesn’t matter if I bust.
DS: Many poker players have went through staking deals and had it blow up in their face, but you on the other handled it pretty well. How successful has staking went for you and what advice would you give to those wary about it?
Shaun Deeb: Well it hasn’t been successful yet, but I know it will. I mean, you just know who is a winning player and know there edges, and you have to just keep putting them in tournaments where they have large edges and wait for that big cash where you’re going to get all your money back and then some. As far as advice (for someone who would want to do this type of thing), I recommend having a large bankroll. If it wasn’t all of our money together and just one of us on our own, there’s no way we’d be able to stake as many people or put them in the high buy in tournaments we are putting them in right now.
DS: So ummm are you coaching these people? Are you staking them for online tournaments? Or how about live tournaments?
Shaun Deeb: Well pretty much a little bit of everything. Well I started coaching some of them, Vivek and others have coached some different ones, some didn’t get coaching at all as they really didn’t need it. We stake online, live, some just online, some just live, some both. We try to cater to the strengths of our horses.
DS: Every super hero has his weakness… Is black jack your kryptonite?
Shaun Deeb: Uhhh Blackjack and a few other things. Luckily, I ran really good in it and it actually expanded my bankroll instead of ruining it like it should’ve.
DS: You have probably played more low stakes 180 man SNG’s than anyone else on the planet. First off, how does it feel to hold that honor?
Shaun Deeb: You know what I’m really proud of it. Consider I’ve played $4 180’s for 24 hours against Mr. Smokey and won a prop bet there. Who can say they have won thousands of dollars from $4 180’s? Most have only played a couple hundred.
DS: More seriously, what is the key to beating low stakes SNG’s for a solid winrate?
Shaun Deeb: Just play really tight… I mean you can play super exploitable at those stakes, you don’t have to get in to fancy play syndrome, just play your stack sizes and your hands. So just sit back and wait for them and don’t do something stupid and try to outplay them, you’ll just get yourself into trouble.
DS: Right now you mostly travel and play poker, is that a dream come true?
Shaun Deeb: Honestly I never even fathomed I’d be able to do this. I wanted to travel a bit but I never thought I’d be able to go to the destinations I’m going to or enjoying it as much as I’m able to.
DS: You accomplished an amazing feat last year: winning the Poker Stars Tournament Leader Board and therefore winning a free trip to Monte Carlo. How do you feel about such an accomplishment?
Shaun Deeb: I think the package is worth $20k and climbing. When I got the email from Stars I had just busted out of an EPT event, I think it was Australia, and I was kind of miserable about live poker. So it was nice to get that email saying here’s your free trip to go to Monte Carlo as I was planning on going anyways…
DS: Woah wait, so you had no idea you were going to get a free trip to Monte Carlo?
Shaun Deeb: I had an idea because I got to know tnetter who won it the year before because we were on the same world cup team, and he told me he got one. But it was never stated anywhere that you get a free Monte Carlo package if you win, I was never told that until I got that email. But now Stars TLB has really publicized what you get so I’m excited to go for the repeat!
DS: Oh cool, so earlier you told me your favorite live poker story, I was just wondering if you would share it again?
Shaun Deeb: Oh yeah, this is from Turning Stone six max tournament. I was playing aggressive but some kid came a little late and sat to my left. And he kept threebetting me every hand so I was getting really frustrated and my stack bled down to 7 or 8k, so I tightened up and waited to play back at this kid. I just wanted to tilt him as much as he was tilting me. So I get KK in the CO and raise 3bb to 150, and he had threebetting me everytime I raised from the CO, but this time he flatted me, which really was a surprise. The BB came along as well. The flop was 99T rainbow, I bet 325 and they both called. I was ready to go into c/f mode as I felt like one had me beat but then I hit my two outer on the turn, which completed a QJ straight and a flush draw on the turn. I bet out 700 and button raised to like 2200, BB folded and I called and checked river in the dark knowing he’d bet his entire range on the river whether he had a draw, K, etc. River was like a 6 and he asked for a count and bet like half my stack and then I tanked for 15 seconds and shoved. He thought about it and folded (Shaun thought he was acting with a bluff), later I found out he had trips and he was pretty pissed off that I completely owned him.
DS: So that was actually Massimo from FTR, so I thought that was a cool story and awesome to hear that was your favorite live story.
(Two things Shaun didn’t include that Max told me. When Max was threebetting him non-stop at one point Shaun turned to him and said “Don’t you know who I am?” as a joke, but Max actually didn’t. Also, in an earlier hand Max made a sick valuebet with 99 on a JJTxx board, in which he fired a large bet on the river which Deeb promptly snap called with 88, amazed to see he was beat.)
DS: Okay so now we’re going to move to the lightning round. Pretty much I’m going to ask you a bunch of pointless questions and just answer them as quick as possible.
DS: What’s your favorite Vegas Casino?
Shaun Deeb: Rio
DS: Favorite beer?
Shaun Deeb: Crown Lager
DS: Favorite Book?
Shaun Deeb: To Kill and Ornthel
DS: Never heard of that before, whose it by?
Shaun Deeb: Actually its by my uncle, it’s about killing OJ….
DS: Oh! So this is just shameless self promotion?
Shaun Deeb: Pretty much (laughs), I’ve got to do what I can. There’s a couple of chapters that are based on stories by me.
DS: Favorite tournament player besides yours….
Shaun Deeb: Myself! Argh damnit, Betgo then, a 2p2 poster.
DS: Favorite Movie?
Shaun Deeb: The man who knew too little.
DS: Favorite classic video game?
Shaun Deeb: Like Baseball 2020 maybe?
DS: Favorite poker Hand?
Shaun Deeb: seven eight offsuit
DS: Uhhh any reason why?
Shaun Deeb: Uhh yeah that was in my early degenerate days, when I was 17 or 18 we’d go to my buddies bar and get drunk, and when we got back we would always do flips for $100, and I would always get seven eight off and win so I then called it the Deeb at my homegame.
DS: Favorite possession?
Shaun Deeb: Yankee hat for sure
DS: Favorite song to grind to?
Shaun Deeb: I don’t listen to music when I play, but I do have one thing, when I have my 1k final tables we do break out the jock jams.
DS: What are your plans for the future?
Shaun Deeb: Well hopefully run good at staking, keep playing poker, and traveling.
DS: Alright well thanks for the interview, wish you luck in staking and at Monte Carlo.
Shaun Deeb: Your welcome, maybe if we play together I’ll get to own you as hard as I did your brother.
DS: Haha, alright if we that ever happens maybe you will. (Too late: https://flopturnriver.com/pokerforum/so-glad-i-play-5-10-t65945.html)