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Timestamps:

0:00:09
Guest intro: Kristen Bicknell

0:01:09
Hello Kristen!  Where did she grow up, and how did that period of her life affect her development into the person she is today?

0:04:03
Does she ever wonder what life might have been like if she’d grown up under more conventional circumstances?

0:06:13
When she was growing up, how did her parents balance their passion with other more conventional elements of life, like raising her?

0:08:00
How did her parents introduce her to the concept of risk in regard to pursuing a goal or passion?

0:11:16
What was she like in school, academically and socially?

0:14:11
How did she fit into the various social hierarchies that existed in her school years?

0:16:32
Is there anything about her childhood that makes her difficult to live with today?

0:17:29
When did poker first become a part of her life?

0:20:02
How would she get rid of a dead body?

0:21:09
What was the inciting incident in her Hero’s Journey as a poker player?

0:25:10
Has she ever had moments of personal resistance or doubt in her pursuit of poker?

0:28:45
Did she or does she ever feel fear regarding the type of life she’d have to fall back on if poker didn’t work out?

0:34:14
What are the elements of the poker lifestyle that she really enjoys?

0:37:40
How do people fit into her life?  What character traits does she value, and what character traits turn her off?

0:40:45
Has she ever had periods in her life during which she’s felt stagnant?  A discussion drawing a parallel between poker tournaments and addiction.

0:45:05
Further discussion about the importance of managing emotions in poker, especially in live tournaments.

0:47:13
What advice would she give new players for managing their emotions in poker?

0:49:10
What are her thoughts and feelings about failure?

0:52:50
Are there any areas of her life or game in which she feels she’s continually failing, and continually trying to learn from her failures?

0:56:35
How good is she at repairing ruptures that occur in her relationships?

0:58:54
Who have been the most influential mentors in her life?

1:03:09
Where does she stand on the energy / spirituality axis?

1:10:44
How does she manage the negative aspects of the poker community?  A conversation about the community reaction to her and boyfriend Alex Foxen playing together.

1:19:16
Who or what have been the biggest villains in her life?

1:21:56
How different is she now, in comparison to who she was before she found poker?

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What’s it REALLY like to win big in poker? The excitement, the thrill, the sleepless nights… Is it all it’s cracked up to be? With three bracelets under her belt, Kristen Bicknell certainly knows a thing or two about it…

She’s one of the top MTT players in the world. She’s a dedicated mental athlete. She’s also down-to-earth and honest about the highs and lows of getting there. In this episode, Kristen gives you a candid peek into the reality of becoming a WSOP champion.

Want to be the best in the game? You’ve got to bring your best to the tables. Staying at the top takes a commitment to continuous growth—what investment are you willing to make? Listen to this episode to learn more.

Click here to get the full show notes and resources from this week's episode

Bicknell headlined the WSOP $2,500 6-max event, and this hand was one of her most interesting. The Guys break down some really interesting choices made by both Bicknell and her oponent.

FLOP: Jd 4d 6d TURN: Ad River: 10d

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Timestamps:

0:00:49
Welcome Kristen!  Interviewing from Toronto, Canada.

0:01:31
Kristen talks about her recent “Start Again” blog post, with thoughts related to meditation, yoga, and the Waking Up app by Sam Harris as it applies to overcoming small everyday perceived failures.

0:05:23
Expanding the conversation to personal workout routines, and not allowing a small failure to sabotage your progress or ruin your motivation.  Thoughts on the difficulty of appreciating less intense workouts when you’re used to high intensity exercise or competitive sports. 

0:09:12
When applying the Start Again concept to poker, how does Kristen manage to psychologically overcome errors she makes at the table?  Learning to respond to yourself like you would respond to a friend who’s made the same error.

0:11:47
Thoughts on our tendency to be overly hard on ourselves, blowing up at the first error or sign of difficulty.  Plus some stories from Jamie of witnessing Kristen’s more tilted reactions.

0:14:11
Meet Kristen’s dog, Riley!  A conversation about the ethics of bringing your dog to a live poker event.

0:16:06
Publicly, Kristen seems to be a relatively private person.  Is that intentional?  Thoughts on social media, curation, and self promotion.

0:20:03
The value of authenticity in social media.  Showing not just your highs, but also your lows.

0:21:13
Kristen pushed her poker efforts into overdrive after the first time she achieved Supernova Elite status at PokerStars.  What was it about that achievement and that year that made her want to take her game to the next level?

0:25:15
How does she feel about being a sponsored pro?  What were her thoughts on sponsored pros, in general, when she started taking poker seriously? 

0:28:10
Thoughts on what makes Kristen a good role model for female poker players, and a broader conversation about the way women are perceived in poker.

0:35:35
Is the hostility toward women less pronounced as you move up in stakes?

0:36:52
The difficulty of building and maintaining confidence when moving up in stakes.

0:39:19
The difficulty of gaining respect in the poker community, especially as a woman, and the value of letting go of your desire to impress others or to feel accepted by them.

0:45:09
How women are often patronized in poker using a “you’re pretty good, for a girl” style of thought.

0:46:06
Is she annoyed by the poker media’s tendency to highlight the fact that she’s a woman?  The ins and outs of this type of media bias in general.

0:51:04
Are female poker players becoming more common?  Is the situation improving?

0:53:25
What’s her favourite spot that she’s travelled to for poker?

0:54:50
What’s the first thing she’s going to do when the travel situation becomes more normal?

0:55:24
What are her upcoming plans in terms of online poker?

0:55:59
Some info on an upcoming charity event that Kristen is taking part in, raising money to develop a vaccine for COVID-19.  Thoughts on the importance of highlighting kindness and generosity in the poker community.  We’re not all just degenerates!

0:59:32
Thoughts on the lack of competition in online poker platforms in Nevada (and elsewhere in the US).  WSOP needs a competitor.

1:00:35
Wrapping up.

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Today’s guest is PartyPoker pro and the current #7 GPI ranked player in the world Kristen Bicknell.

Kristen has over $5,000,000 in live cashes to go along with $3.7 million in online earnings which is, as Larry David might say, “Pretty, pretty, pretty, pretty good”.

There was a hand Kristen played recently that I stumbled across on Twitter that shows you why she’s one of the best in the world:

With blinds at 15k/30k and a big blind ante of 30k, former CPG Guest Dara O’ Kearney min raises from UTG with KK sitting on a 2.9 million chip stack.

A loose passive rec that covers flats on the button, Kristen (Sitting on a 1.38 million chip stack) comes along from the SB, and the BB folds.

With 240k in the middle, the flop is Kd7h5c. Kristen checks, Dara checks, the rec bets 115k, Kristen calls, and Dara overcalls.

The turn is the 2d putting up a backdoor flush draw and with 585k in the pot, Kristen leads 220k into Dara and the rec.

Dara smooth calls with top set (the nuts) and the rec folds.

The river is the 7 of diamonds, completing the backdoor flush and pairing the board, Kristen bets 650k (leaving herself with 350k), Dara shoves, and Kristen folds getting 6.5-1 (Needing to be right only 13% of the time in order to profitably call).

Her hand, pocket 5’s for a full house.

I VERY MUCH wish we could have had the opportunity to discuss her thought process in the hand but, alas, I didn’t know of it’s existence until after we had finished recording.

However, I will give my thoughts and they’re fairly simple: Dara is simply NEVER bluffing here and Kristen doesn’t beat ANY of his value (K7, KK, or Quads).

The best hands Kristen beats are AA and AK, which are never shoving the river, and because Dara didn’t cbet the flop we can heavily discount his backdoor diamond draws (And, to be fair, he probably shouldn’t be shoving AdQd even if it is in his range).

So, the next time you get annoyed that folks aren’t folding enough in the games you play, try to at least be a little grateful that they aren’t Kristen Bicknell who is capable of correctly folding a full house getting 6.5-1 on the river.

In today’s episode, you’ll learn:

Why Kristen HATES selling her own action and would never want a full-time backer.
Why asking for help and being vulnerable takes you way farther in life than always trying to be a stone cold killer.
Kristen’s thoughts playing the final day of the Shooting Star Classic, the last tournament before we were all sent to our rooms without a key.
And MUCH more!

So get ready, strap in, and get prepared for the perpetually GREAT Kristen Bicknell.

In this episode, Kristen Bicknell, a Party Poker ambassador and professional poker player with $4,777,107 in live earnings, shares what it’s like to play in high-stakes tournaments. She reflect on how people’s attitudes change as you move up and explains why tournaments can actually feel relaxing. She sees the need for a healthy level of confidence and ego to attract stakeholders and has also cracked the code on how she learns best. Tune in to learn Kristen’s opinion on re-entries and the current state of poker, and learn the strategies she implements to keep improving her game. 

Visit Jeff Gross - The Flow Show or find us on iTunes to subscribe, visit previous episodes, and learn more about your host, Jeff Gross.

Time Stamped Show Notes:

• 00:00 – 12:00 - Introducing Kristen, her journey, and her wins.
• 12:00 – 22:00 – On respect, credibility, people’s reaction and being a Party Poker ambassador.
• 22:00 – 34:00 - On how she learns, her 2020 goals, and what tournaments she plays.
• 34:00 – 45:30 - On the high-stakes atmosphere and the ego and confidence involved in poker.
• 45:30 – 56:30 - Kristen’s opinion on re-entries and the current state of poker.
• 56:30 – 01:09:00 - On when she fell in love with poker and where/when she likes to play.
• 01:09:00 – 01:31:00 - Her New Year’s resolutions and when she plays best.

3 Key Points

• Communicating with other players about the worst hand’s you’d play in a situation can improve your came.
• A healthy ego and level of confidence is important if you want to be staked.
• Be sure to balance your life with other things besides poker.

 Contact/Resources

• Partner - Party Poker
• Website - Jeff Gross Poker

Kristen Bicknell flopped well, but she suspects it's not good enough. Should she turn her very good hand into a bluff? Grant and Jonathan break it down.

FLOP: Qh 9d 2h TURN: 8h RIVER: 2c

For access to exclusive Poker Guys freerolls and other tournaments on Nitrogen Sports Poker Room, use this link to sign up: www.nitrogensports.eu/r/632610

Kristen Bicknell is only 31 years old, but has already accomplished quite a bit in the poker world. The St. Catherine's, Ontario native started with online cash games and earned Super Nova Elite status on PokerStars for three consecutive years before turning her attention to live tournaments.

Bicknell has two World Series of Poker bracelets, having won the ladies event in 2013 for $173,922, and a $1,500 bounty event in 2016 for $290,768. She has been on quite a run in the last six months, having won an event at the Five Diamond Classic for $199,840 and the APPT Macau high roller for $284,960. Most recently, she chopped the $5,000 MSPT event at the Venetian DeepStack Championship Poker Series for $200,000, with her boyfriend Alex Foxen of all people.

Highlights from this interview include the perils of pre-workout, the difference between Tim Horton's towns and Starbucks towns, growing up with Mr. Small Block, racing against the boys, a different college experience, 24-tables at once, spewing in ladies events, a love for European cities, relationship heaters, nailing a hole-in-one, army pants and black eyeliner, romantic heads-up battles, an intense focus on Daddy Yankee, and bluffing it off on Poker After Dark.