The Bernard Lee Poker Show 12-05: WSOP Dealer Daniel Harris & PN’s Chad Holloway

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In this episode of The Bernard Lee Poker Show on the PokerNews Podcast Network, Bernard Lee first interviews Daniel Harris, 2018 World Series of Poker Dealer of the Year. After discussing how he became a dealer, Daniel discusses common mistakes by amateur players and also first-time dealers at the WSOP.

During the second half of the show, Bernard interviews Chad Holloway, who is the Head of Live Reporting, USA for PokerNews. Chad also co-hosts the LFG podcast with Jamie Kerstetter on the Pokernews Podcast Network. During the interview, Chad discusses the roles and responsibilities of the reporting team during the WSOP. Then, Chad describes a typical day in the life of a reporter.

Show Time Stamps

0:00Welcome to The Bernard Lee Poker Show as this week’s guests will be Daniel Harris, 2018 WSOP Dealer of the Year and PokerNews’ Head of Live Reporting, USA, Chad Holloway
0:19Bernard discusses the latest news at the WSOP with all the results from Week #1, including Employee’s Event, $10,000 Super Turbo Bounty, $50,000 High Roller, $1,500 Omaha Hi-Lo 8 or better and $400 WSOP.com Online event. Bernard also discusses The Big 50 breaking the all-time entries record for a live poker tournament and highlights the Week #2 events.
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6:19Bernard welcomes Daniel Harris to the show.
7:03Daniel joins the show.
7:19Daniel explains why last summer was his first WSOP in Las Vegas, which was to help her daughter pay for her nursing program. “In the summertime, it’s real important to me to stay with family. I work hard all year…I wanted to spend time at home with my family.”
8:36Daniel commits to going back to WSOP this summer. “I’m definitely coming out. I think I got the bug now. It’s a great experience.”
9:34Daniel recalls his first experience last summer at the WSOP. “Wow! I had no idea it was like this…Even though with me, I’ve been doing it (dealing) forever, but I was still nervous about it because it was my first time there.”
10:37Daniel states what made him really nervous. “At the end, doing the final table, working with THE boss, Jack (Effel). I had never worked with Jack before.”
11:18Daniel describes the WSOP as “The Super Bowl of Poker.”
11:52Daniel remembers having to fly out early and doing an audition and refreshing his memory of the rare mixed games.
13:51Daniel describes a typical day (which is typically ten to twelve hours, but can be eighteen hours) at the WSOP from introduction meeting, setting up your table and dealing. Daniel states that dealers get one day off a week.
16:40Daniel discusses the games he is usually assigned. “Pretty much the $10k events, all the mixed games, dealer’s choice, specialty games…You got great floors there too…You’re dealing with a lot of high-profile players.”
17:35Daniel discusses what makes him satisfied about dealing to these top players. “I feel good about it because if I can deal those games and the players walk away happy, it makes me feel like I did my job. And I hold myself to a high standard anyway…I really like what I’m doing. I like interacting with the players.”
18:25Daniel describes what it meant to be voted 2018 WSOP Dealer of the Year by his peers. “When you get accolades from your peers, I think that’s the top of the line. It makes you feel so special.’
19:32Daniel describes how he got started dealing poker, including dealing his first WSOP Circuit at New Orleans.
21:34Daniel gives some advice to rookie dealers including learning race offs, color ups and dealing mixed games. Also, Daniel suggests having a schedule in your pocket to help answer any player’s questions.
25:24Daniel asks players to have patience with the rookie dealers. “You got to give them time…Just be a little patient with them.”
27:19Daniel recalls his time dealing the WSOP Main Event final table. “(It was) really cool. My family, my wife, my daughters, they had a blast with it. They taped it all and they were watching it while we were doing it. I was really excited about it…I really enjoyed it. I really did.”
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30:00Bernard continues his interview with Chad Holloway, Head of Live Reporting, USA for PokerNews. Chad is also the co-host of the LFG podcast on Pokernews Podcast Network.
31:04Chad joins the show.
31:17Chad praises Bernard’s longevity in the poker industry and congratulates him on his 12th anniversary of the show. “What I think is impressive is your longevity. There are not many people in this industry that remain relevant and active for as long as you have. To me, that’s really impressive. Really shows that you’ve stood the test of time in the poker world.”
33:00Chad recalls the surreal nature of being a WSOP bracelet winner, winning the 2013 WSOP Employee’s event. “It definitely is…It seems just like yesterday…It’s something special etched in my mind.”
34:25Chad reveals the behind the scenes for reporting the WSOP. “The World Series of Poker is a massive undertaking…February is when we start reaching out…We have about 30 people who will be out there at the World Series of Poker.”
35:21Chad discusses the monumental task of scheduling and estimating the average day for a reporter is about twelve hours.
37:17Chad describes how to manage the reporters and the different games that they are proficient in and also how to report them, which is unique per different game.
39:01Chad describes a typical Day 1 no-limit hold’em event for a Pokernews reporter including the prep work and the typical day’s activities.
42:45Chad describes a typical Day 2 no-limit hold’em event for a Pokernews reporter, including the ID cards to help reporting the action.
44:34Chad describes a typical ending for Day 1 no-limit hold’em event for a Pokernews reporter. “usually if there are two reporters, they will split it up. One of them will wake up early to do the intro, the other person stays a little late to do the recap.”
45:51Chad discusses why they like to keep the same reporters on the tournament from start to finish. “Ideally, we like to keep reporters on the same tournament because when you work a tournament from start to finish, you get a sense of the tournament storyline…Unfortunately, sometimes it’s just not the case due to the logistics of it, the scheduling of it.”
46:56Chad discusses reporting on the WSOP Main Event. “The (WSOP) Main Event is awesome…We have so many reporters focusing on this event because it is the biggest poker event of the year. We are getting updates just left and right.”
49:20Chad discusses his PokerNews podcast, LFG, who he co-hosts with Jamie Kerstetter. The podcast is devoted to the mid-majors such as WSOP Circuit, HPT, MSPT and RGG poker series.
51:43Chad highlights Bernard’s last year interview with Aaron Johnson who won 2018 HPT and MSPT POY.

Let us know what you think of the show - tweet about the podcast using #BernardLeePokerShow, and be sure to follow @BernardLeePoker on Twitter or Instagram.

You can follow Chad Holloway on Twitter @ChadAHolloway.

The Bernard Lee Poker Show is now available on iTunes.

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