Jason Senti Goes from November Niner to CEO of Run It Once Poker
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Remember Jason Senti? At the 2010 World Series of Poker, the man from Grand Forks, North Dakota finished in seventh in the Main Event for more than $1.3 million. Despite that success, he hasn’t cashed a poker tournament since 2016. So where is he now?
What if we were to tell you that the 38-year-old is living half a world away in Malta assisting Phil Galfond with Run It Once Poker, currently home to the highly-publicized Galfond Challenge?
Well, it’s true, and PokerNews actually had the opportunity to catch up with the former November Niner to learn more about his journey from the upper Midwest to being a general in Galfond’s online poker army.
Drawn to a Life of Poker
Senti had a typical middle-class upbringing in North Dakota, and studied electrical engineering, along with computer science and entrepreneurship, at the University of North Dakota. That included a semester studying abroad at the University of Leicester in England.
Upon graduating, he moved to Minneapolis with his soon-to-be-wife, Jessy, and began work as an electrical engineer in wireless technologies, which he did for three years. After that, he embarked on a decade-long career as a professional poker player where he racked up more than $1.6 million in lifetime live earnings, including his WSOP final table appearance, while also grinding hard online.
“I started playing online poker in the evenings after watching Greg Raymer win the 2004 WSOP Main Event on ESPN,” Senti told PokerNews. “I dabbled in SNGs and MTTs for a year before taking it seriously. Like many eventual professionals, I ran hot to start.”
He continued: “In early 2006, I started playing limit hold’em after reading the book Small Stakes Hold’em. After playing seriously for a few months, I ended up cashing out my small four-figure bankroll to help my fiancé transition jobs. After taking the summer off from poker, I started a new bankroll by selling a $200 tournament ticket that I won with frequent player points. I moved over to NLHE starting at 10NL (the bankroll requirements were a bit looser in those days). I loved poker and put a lot of time into it over the following year becoming a regular at 400NL+. I ‘went pro’ in the fall of 2007 after it was clear I could make significantly more money playing poker than as an engineer.”
In 2016, he shifted gears by relocating to Malta to work for the newly-launched Run It Once Poker. Within a year, he and his wife welcomed their daughter, Elsie, who is going on three years old. The three of them, along with their dog, have called Malta home ever since.
“Moving to Malta was a very big decision for my wife and I. We traveled a lot, both for poker and for fun. Still, we thought we would live in the Minneapolis area for the rest of our lives. We were close to family and many long-time friends. Leaving Minnesota meant leaving them, saying goodbye to my band of nearly 15 years … It was stressful at the time, but we are pleased we did it. Malta is a unique and very cool place to live. We like being in Europe, and I love what I do. We're fortunate to have the opportunity.”
Deciding to Run It Once
"I am now the CEO and ultimately responsible for overseeing the execution of the direction decided by the board of directors.”
In 2015, Senti was approached by Galfond, who had an idea for a new online poker site. At the time, Senti was in Vancouver grinding online and met with both Galfond and the site’s CEO. Months later, he learned about the Poker Room Management position in Malta. He decided to interview for it and was ultimately the man for the job.
“My position has changed over the years. I started as Poker Room Manager and played a large part in deciding our policies, designing our features, and determining our rake and rewards structure,” Senti explained. “Over time, I became more engaged in other areas of the company. I am now the CEO and ultimately responsible for overseeing the execution of the direction decided by the board of directors.”
Senti admitted: “That sounds much fancier than it is. We are a small company, so my role is very hands-on, and I am involved with the day-to-day operations of most aspects of the business. I am also Phil's main point of contact, as he is heavily involved in the company. I work closely with him on many items from business strategy to the details of specific software features.”
The Daily Grind
Like his favorite game of pot-limit Omaha, there’s a lot of variance involved in Senti’s day-to-day life. Working for a small company requires him to wear a lot of different hats, so he has some involvement in nearly all departments.
“We have 25 employees working in the offices in Malta, so most of my business hours are there. I also coordinate with people in the US, especially Phil, and our peak traffic hours are in the late evenings, so I tend to put in a lot of hours from home as well. With everything going on now with COVID-19, the average workday may be a bit different for a while, but I'm sure it will still have a lot of variety which I enjoy.”
Of course, one of the hot topics in the Malta office is the “Galfond Challenge,” which started off as a disaster (at least as far as Galfond’s results were concerned), but has since reversed course a bit.
“A lot of the staff at Run It Once Poker are poker players themselves, so many understand that €900k in this context was a 45 buy-in downswing. While that is not a pleasant thing to go through, many regular players have multiple times and understand it is something that happens. Some who have less poker experience were concerned about it, but the poker players in the company did their best to explain the situation. Fortunately, things have been heading in the other direction since returning from the break. I'm eager to see where it goes from here.”
From Poker Pro to Recreational Player
As pointed out at the top of this article, Senti hasn’t cashed a poker tournament in nearly four years. That seemed unusual for someone who grinded so hard for 10 years.
"For now, though, I am a recreational player who plays one night a week while watching TV with my wife.”
“I play little poker these days,” Senti revealed. “When I first moved to Malta, I played semi-regularly on the side. The last few years have been too busy for me to be able to play seriously, though. I have a two-year-old daughter and a job that requires a lot of my time. I expect to play at least semi-seriously again eventually, as I still love the game. For now, though, I am a recreational player who plays one night a week while watching TV with my wife.”
Even if he doesn’t get back to a full-time grind anytime soon, Senti can always fall back on the fact that he lived a dream so many players hope for – to one day make the WSOP Main Event final table.
“Making the November Nine in 2010 was a fantastic experience that I'm grateful to have had,” he offered. “It was surreal to have a chance to play on the same stage that introduced me to the game in the first place. I am fortunate to have an incredibly supportive family and amazing friends who were there to root me on … Making the November Nine legitimized my profession to those in my life who didn't follow poker.”
Images courtesy of Jason Senti.
