Card Player Poker Stories Podcasts With Andrew Lichtenberger

Poker Stories is a new, long-form audio series that features casual interviews with some of the game’s best players and personalities. Each episode highlights a well-known member of the poker world and dives deep into their favorite tales both on and off the felt.

Click here to download or subscribe to the Poker Stories podcast on iTunes.

Age: 29
Turned Pro: 2009
Hometown: East Northport, New York
Live Tournament Earnings: $8.9 million
Best Score: 1st Place — 2014 Alpha8 Bellagio $2.1 million

The Highlights

On crazy prop bets…

“Ashton Griffin… starts talking about this hill that he can climb in the distance. From where I was standing, it looked pretty unsurmountable. I lost. We eventually settled on $10,000 even money that he couldn’t climb this hill. He was pretty gassed and at one point there was a scorpion chasing him, and he saw a snake, there were various bees out there. He definitely worked for his $10,000. I got $1,000 of it back when we bet on our friend’s favorite cereal at breakfast later that morning.”

On his favorite thing about being a poker pro…

“It has to be the freedom. It has to be the freedom it allows you in your life. There’s just nothing I’m really held back from doing. It’s kind of awesome. I’m sure I could think of some things, [that bother me about the poker world], but the positives so outweigh the negatives that I tend to not really think about it.”

On what’s on his playlist…

“Celtic folk music. I like the tempo and the rhythm, it’s really exciting. Yeah, you do [feel like you are in a Braveheart battle] sometimes, but it’s not a bad mental state to bring on when you are playing poker. It kind of prepares you that this is real. Get in the game. I actually really enjoy it. I just got a new violin and have been taking lessons. I played as a kid and I intend to get more into it.”

On why he plays…

“Why can’t you play for the love of the game, and have the money also mean something? I just think, for me personally, if I’m going to play my best, and be the best I can be, the love of the game comes before the monetary element.”

Click here to download or subscribe to the Poker Stories podcast on iTunes. Catch up on previous episodes and subscribe to have new episodes automatically appear in your podcast app so you can listen on the go.