888poker has shared another stellar interview as part of its 888Ride series and the latest poker superstar to hop into the passenger seat is none other than six-time WSOP bracelet winner Shaun Deeb.
Deeb, who is in the midst of a $1 million weight-loss bet, joined David Tuchman and his Chevvy for a cruise around Las Vegas.
The duo touched on Deeb’s unprecedented multi-tabling skills prior to Black Friday, what can be done to improve the poker industry, as well as the dreaded Jeff Platt curse!
Could You Play 40 Tables at Once?
During the World Series of Poker, there are few who can compete with Deeb’s work ethic. He is simply relentless when it comes to his summer grind and has been known to play several live tournaments at the same time, running back and forth between different rooms to play hands. However, this should come as no surprise when you hear about how he began cutting his teeth as an 18 year old during online poker’s glory years.
“I was the first massive multi-tabler in online poker,” said Deeb. “I don’t know what about me; maybe it’s just my ADHD; I used to do speed math competitions as a kid. I process information very quickly, I talk quickly and I just keep hitting register.”
“I made my decisions quickly, I have a great memory on players…I had such great instincts on player history.”
Even while having 40 tables up at once, Deeb could identify different player types, and with the added reps, he was playing millions more hands than his competitors.
Now, with all those tables, you’d think Deeb would have some insane computer setup with an ungodly amount of monitors. Amazingly, he revealed that he did all of his playing off a single laptop with a touchpad. Now, that may seem too hard to believe, but Tuchman verified the story while reminiscing.
The State of Poker
“One of my favourite things in the industry, from early on in my career, was to call out the scumbags and try to clean up the industry.”
It would be fair to say that the reputation of online poker has taken a bit of a hit as of late with superuser and real-time assistance (RTA) scandals. 888poker even announced that it paid out $250,000 from its own pocket to players who they identified had been cheated last year.
Despite this, Deeb believes the state of online poker isn’t all doom and gloom. Tuchman asked “Are you worried with solvers, RTA and cheats out there?”
“One of my favourite things in the industry, from early on in my career, was to call out the scumbags and try to clean up the industry. Those things are a concern, but the players have done a great job at doing [that]. The sites have made such an effort to curtail that stuff.”
“I think COVID showed that convenience for poker is great. Numbers are booming everywhere. Tournaments, online, everything is doing great in poker, and it should. It is an amazing industry, it’s an amazing intellectual sport and have a chance to win life-changing money,” replied Deeb.
“I don’t love that people have switched to the private clubs and apps because I think the security is a lot more lacking but every year, new states are being regulated, new sites are coming, more security features. It’s always been a cat-and-mouse game.”
Watch the Full Interview
The above only covers a few topics discussed in the 45-minute interview, so sit back, relax, and discover a few more things you likely didn’t know about one of poker’s most talented players.
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Editor & Live Reporter
Calum has been a part of the PokerNews team since September 2021 after working in the UK energy sector. He played his first hand of poker in 2017 and immediately fell in love with the game. Calum’s proudest poker achievement is winning the only tournament he has ever played in Las Vegas, the prestigious $60 Flamingo evening event.