After a GCP roundtable that delves into some Twitter drama, Ben goes solo this month for an interview with Joel Dias-Porter, one of the poker world's most fascinating figures. As he himself likes to say, Joel is self-unemployed but is rumored to gamble for a living. He's a man of stark contrasts: the homeless cardplayer who lives in four-star hotel rooms. The math whiz who writes poetry. The loner who has the rare ability to speak eloquently about seemingly anything—chess, literature, hip-hop, the World Cup, life in Atlantic City, you name it. This is a long interview that covers a lot of ground, so strap in and enjoy!

1:00: Intro

• Pearl River Poker Open, September 24th-October 4th
• https://www.poker.org/latest-news/the-internet-is-crucifying-me-whats-the-story-with-abby-merk-abTCv0R2acnu/

32:00: Interview

• https://www.poetryfoundation.org/articles/69779/poet-at-the-poker-table
• https://www.threadmakesblanket.com/shop-1/p/ideas-of-improvisation

In this episode Chad Disante, the Horseshoe Bossier City's cardroom manager, joins the podcast to tell us how things are going at the Louisiana State Poker Championship. We also discuss the WSOP Main Event final table, an epidemic of hacked Twitter accounts, and how Chad got into poker.

1:00: Intro

• https://southernpoker.net/
• Lucas Jumalon wins the WSOP Main Event: https://www.espn.com/espn/betting/story/_/id/49554787/world-series-poker-2026-final-table
• hacked Twitter accounts: https://x.com/ToddWitteles/status/2091930999899009151?s=20

29:00: Interview

Gene, Ben, and Bill recap an action-packed summer in Las Vegas, including the big winners, a harrowing robbery, and the WSOP Main Event. We also chat with BJ Cockrell, one of the bigwigs at the Horseshoe Tunica's poker room and a veteran on both sides of the felt.

1:00: Intro

• The GCP Tour in Tunica—July 16-26
• Kristen Foxen and Adrian Mateos win 6th WSOP bracelets
• SoCal Pro allegedly hogtied and robbed of winnings: https://nypost.com/2026/07/15/us-news/socal-poker-pro-allegedly-hogtied-and-robbed-in-las-vegas/
• Lexy Gavin on the stone bubble: https://x.com/LexyGavinPoker/status/2077090153940861072
• Shot clocks implemented deep in the Main Event: https://www.pokernews.com/news/2026/07/wsop-main-event-shot-clock-debate-51856.htm
• Jonathan Tamayo reflects on the health of poker: https://x.com/Table1Vegas/status/2078869712382132575

1:20:00: Interview